Only in Bhutan

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“Only in Bhutan” is something I kept saying to myself again and again during my brief time (5 days) here, because this country really is like no other. It has its own beautiful style of architecture, its own very unique way of keeping away evil spirits, its own national dress, its own cuisine, weird national animal, it invented a new measure of national success, and more. It really is a special and wonderful place, having been completely isolated until recently.
The 50 minute flight from Kathmandu passed over most of the Himalayan Mountain range. I was glad I took my guide’s wise advice and requested a window seat; the views were breathtaking. Druk Air, the national airline, is the only airline that flies into or out of Bhutan. Its fleet consists of two airplanes. An international airport served by only one airline? A national airline with only two airplanes? Yes. Only in Bhutan.

As soon as I arrived, I was struck by several things. The roads were paved and in good condition, unlike Nepal. The cars were newer and in much better condition. Everything seemed cleaner. And, most of all, the architecture was simply amazing. Houses are built without nails or any adhesive, pieces of wood simply made to fit together. Bhutanese architecture is quite beautiful and unique. Have a look at the photos. In more good news, rooms here have heaters, there is hot water, and power outages are extremely rare. Quite refreshing coming from Nepal. But though I expected Bhutan to remind me of Nepal, it doesn’t really. It is a completely unique place. Though, in some ways, it reminds me more of another place I have traveled to - Iceland. Geographically remote and sparsely populated, both countries have a population in the 6 figures (Bhutan about 650,000; Iceland about 300,000) and quaint and quiet capitals, with populations of about 100,000. Culturally, of course, they are very different. Bhutan is probably closer to the old Tibet than any other place, including today’s Chinese occupied Tibet (I haven’t been, but have read and heard a lot about it).

The level of English is very high, surprising since the country was never colonized, and in many ways has chosen to limit outside influences. But the Oxford educated King decided, almost 40 years ago, that learning English was important, so everyone learns it, beginning in kindergarten. We had dinner at a restaurant, and I noticed all the menus were in English. I asked my guide if they had Bhutanese menus, and he said Bhutanese will also get an English menu, since they can all read English quite well (they are less confident and experienced at speaking it). In fact, many of the signs are in English, or in both languages, and bookstores were full of English language books. This is not for the benefit of tourists or foreigners, as there are very, very few. I also noticed that in conversation, Bhutanese will use occasional English words, and will frequently say numbers in English.

The royal family seems to be truly revered here, like in Thailand, and their pictures are everywhere. In an unusual move, without any pressure from the population, the King decided to give up absolute power, establish democracy and open up the country a few years ago. In fact, most Bhutanese didn’t want him to do this. Television and the internet were permitted in 1999, though the effects have not all been positive. For example, English swear words have begun appearing on buildings (though in a country which paints large penises on houses, that might not be a big deal) and young people have been imitating the clothes and hairstyles of Korean pop stars they see on TV.

This is the low season for tourism (winter, and no major festivals), and I am presently one of only 200 or so tourists in the entire country. I keep running into the same people I flew here with in different towns. It really is a small country! Bhutan tries to limit the impact of tourism, and requires tourists to pay about $200 per person per day to travel in the country. The rate is all inclusive - that means a guide (yes, you have to have one), a driver, accommodations, and all meals - and varies a bit depending on the number of people and the season. But to dispel a couple myths: There is no annual limit to the number of visas issued. And it doesn’t take long to arrange a visa and visit. I arranged everything in about two weeks. I highly recommend Bridge to Bhutan, the tour company I used. There are many others, but the rate is fixed by the government.

My interactions with people here were friendlier, more helpful, and less commercial than most developing countries I have visited. For example, I was in a bookstore and asked some questions. In other places, I was usually met in such a situation either with sales pressure, or indifference. Here, the clerks were genuinely helpful, and there was no pressure. I asked my guide if people, including children, will ask tourists for money, and he said they are taught not to behave that way. And this really never happened. I was also asked not to give out any money or gifts; and though I have done this in many countries (and don’t think it’s a bad thing, usually), in Bhutan they really are different, and I respected this. There is no haggling here, even among locals. When I asked my guide why, he said people will just price things with a fair markup, they won’t try to cheat, so there is no point in haggling, since the price is fair. Coming from the places I’ve come from, this was quite shocking to hear. He also said they were a bartering culture until recently, so that makes them more fair in pricing things. Walking through the souvenir market, no one called out to me, even though I was the only tourist around. I found people to be very shy. Such a contrast from the aggressive behavior I encountered earlier in my trip, particularly in Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Here, I didn’t have a single encounter where someone tried to hard sell me, ask me for money, or even ask me to come into their shop. And I spent a lot of time walking through shops and markets alone, without my guide. I was ignored, unless I needed or asked for something. In those cases, people were friendly and helpful. Today, I asked a villager who was walking his horse if I could sit on the horse for a few minutes. Afterwards, when I tried to pay him, he refused, saying "I am happy that you are happy".

Bhutan has very friendly relations with its southern neighbor, India, receives all kinds of assistance from it, and does a lot of trade with it. But it has no diplomatic relations with its northern neighbor, China, and the border is closed. Bhutan has no diplomatic relations with the U.S. or Russia either, or with many other major countries. But visitors of all nationalities are welcome here (if they pay; Indians are exempt).

Unlike many of its neighbors, one doesn’t see abject poverty in Bhutan. Everyone seems to have the basics - food, shelter, etc.
Polygamy is not very common, but is practiced. The King is married to four sisters! And among the nomads, several men will sometimes share one wife.

Archery is the national sport. It is quite popular, with archery competitions taking place every weekend. I happened to see one on my first day. There are also archery shops, and even kids play with toy bows and arrows rather than toy guns!

I’m not normally a big architecture buff, but the beautiful buildings here were among the highlights of my visit. From the simple houses, to the monasteries, to the huge dzongs, or fortresses, these were all a delight to look upon, and different than any place I have been.

The national dress is called a gho. It is kind of like a bathrobe or a bit like a kilt. Men wear it over a shirt and boxers, down to their knees and pull up their socks. I would say in the capital nearly half the men wear it, and outside, an even higher percentage. Women wear a similar outfit, but a full length skirt.
I found the food in Bhutan to be tasty, but too spicy. The like to put a lot of chili in everything. In fact, there is a large section of the weekend market in Thimphu dedicated to selling chili.

The capital, Thimphu, is quite attractive. It feels like a small European town in some ways, though it has the unique Bhutanese architecture everywhere. It certainly feels nothing like the crowded big cities of neighboring countries like Nepal or India. There are no traffic lights, though there is a policeman who directs traffic at one “busy” intersection. That “busy” intersection probably sees less traffic than a typical suburban street in the U.S. The modest traffic is due to the small number of people. I was actually told that most people in the city own a car. In every other country I visited on this trip (Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Nepal) only “rich” people owned cars.

Arriving at my Thimphu guesthouse the first night, I was greeted by two giant penises painted on either side of the front entrance. In Bhutan it is believed that these guard against evil spirits, and many houses have them painted on the outside walls. Only in Bhutan.

In a trip to a valley in central Bhutan, I got to see black neck cranes, an endangered species, and lots of yaks. Although they don’t look that different from cows, I was excited to see this famous shaggy animal for the first time. Some of them were carrying loads for nomads. Another strange kind of cattle is the takin, Bhutan’s national animal. There is a legend that it is half cow and half goat, and that seems like an accurate description. The takin even appears in public service announcements, dressed in the national dress (see photos).

Bhutan is known for coming up with the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH), an alternative to most of the world’s fixation with Gross National Product (GNP). GNH measures quality of life through 7 different indicators, not just economic. You can read about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_national_happiness

Even in purely economic terms, the standard of living and GNP per capita here are much higher than most of its neighbors. You hardly see any real poverty here. Surveys done have also shown that Bhutanese are among the happiest people in Asia. Not to say it is a utopia or a Shangri La, but they do have it better than their neighbors in many ways. Doubtless, a lot of this is because they don’t have a billion people like China or India. They don’t even have a million.

Bhutan is completely “green”. All of its power is hydroelectric. Well, 99% of it, anyway. The rest is solar. The government has given solar panels to different villages. Bhutan not only has no power outages (unlike Nepal), it even exports a lot of electricity to India. This is one of its major sources of revenue.

Bhutan’s daily tourist tariff of approximately $200 a day is meant to generate sustainable, high value tourism, with minimal impact on the unique local culture. But there are discussions now about drastically reducing this tariff, and bringing in more tourists. Currently, there are about 20,000 a year. But in the low season, like now, only a few hundred per month.

Bhutan is lucky to still be an independent country. Some of its Himalayan neighbors were not so fortunate, and got absorbed by their large neighbors. Everyone knows that China conquered Tibet, but nobody talks about Sikkim and Ladakh, two other Himalayan kingdoms that were annexed by India. Bhutan could have easily suffered a similar fate, and was saved mostly by its inaccessibility - Himalayas to the north, and swampland to the south. Even the British left it alone.

People who come to Bhutan from another Asian country, are usually used to the kind of sensory overload experienced in Thailand, India, Nepal, etc. So Bhutan can seem especially quiet coming from places like that. While this was refreshing in many ways, in some ways it can seem too quiet, even boring at times. There are so few people out, even in the capital, and there’s almost nothing to do once the sun goes down. So if you’re looking for nightlife or big city life, Bhutan is not for you.

Nevertheless, I highly recommend Bhutan for a truly unique cultural experience. Before I came here, I thought it would be a lot like Nepal. But they are nothing alike. Bhutan is totally different and unique. Yes, it’s expensive, but there’s a good reason for that, and you can see a lot in 5 or 6 days here. I felt like it was enough time for this small country, and I covered a lot. There are flights from India, Thailand and Nepal. If you want to see a unique place with a beautiful culture and gentle spirit; a place that hasn’t become commercialized like Bali or (to a lesser extent, but still) Nepal, consider Bhutan as an addition to your next Asian trip.

James Hilton wrote the classic novel Lost Horizon, describing “Shangri La”, a utopian Himalayan society, isolated from the outside world, filled with happy residents living in a valley. Though no place is perfect, today Bhutan is probably the closest to fitting this description. In a fast changing world, region, and country, hopefully it remains that way.

See more of my Bhutan photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/pfnjobs/Bhutan

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Comments

[jas subba]

kujho
i like bhutan because it so natural country and beautiful places .

[liliram]

great blog, great photos
Hey, Bhutan suddenly found its way into my bucket list. I will most certainly visit , perhaps next year. Your blog is most informative, and your candid thoughts on how you found shangrila is very encouraging for a would-be visitor like me. Thanks for this blog. Keep writing. You write very well.