Bhutan Tourism » Bhutan Holidays

BHUTAN
Mix up vast landscapes of untouched forest, wild rivers, unnamed high peaks and remove any flat lands possible. Sprinkle in yak-hair tents and tokins—an animal boasting a goat’s head on a cow’s body. Add gravity-defying Buddhist monasteries, and impressive residents such as yetis, angels and black hat magicians. Then top it off with a legacy that was born when Guru Rinpoche, or Padmasambhava, paid a visit in AD 746 and altered history.

Now add to the above, newly installed Internet cafes, a handsome king, the lack of traffic lights and a capital where kids dig kung fu and hip hop, and the youngsters grab a drink at places such as Buzz Club or Benez, and you get the complete image of an isolated Himalayan kingdom, with a dramatic new world twist.

Lhasa, Europe and Utopia, melded into a modest medieval city: now that was something we had to see. This incredible combination could only be found in Thimphu, which meant undertaking a long, arduous journey involving one train ride and three bum-breaking bus rides on dusty roads. Yes, you could fly to Paro and reduce it to one bus ride, but then you sacrifice the pleasant surprise that awaits you at the border, that special gateway where facial features change, ATMs disappear and frowzled roads give way to well-paved footpaths winding up the slopes.

Finding Boto
‘The world needs Gross National Happiness’ is what the newspaper headline stated on our first day in Druk Yul, the Land of the Thunder Dragon. Volunteer Day celebrations were in full swing at the Clock Tower Square, kicked off by the National Anthem and followed by traditional Bhutanese dances and a Japanese Fan Dance. Next came passionate renditions of ‘Heal the world’ and ‘Country Roads’, and the programme was wrapped up by four young Bhutanese men, impersonating The Beatles, looking far more peaceful than the ‘mop heads’ did after a month in Rishikesh. The television was tuned into Bhutan’s national channel,-which showed the aerial view of Thimphu city. Once in a while the ticker flashed a picture of a small Lhasa Apso with the following text: “MISSING. Name: Boto, Size: Small, Prize: Nu 2500”.

After hours on a road that seems to curve endlessly you suddenly find yourself in Thimphu valley, on a modern expressway that dips and drops you in a unique place. Things get interesting, often quirky, in this high altitude capital city. Beautiful women dressed in kiro (traditional dresses) walk unfazed by the chilly winds, men climb out of their swanky SUVs to practice traditional archery, dogs insist on barking throughout the night, roads seem a tad too clean to be ]- 2 developing Asian country and every building is symmetrical and so beautifully painted that even a grocery store could easily be mistaken for a small monastery. It didn’t take long to adapt to the slow pace of life in Thimphu. We’d walk up to the monasteries and shortens (small dome shaped Budhist shrines) around the capital, spin prayer wheels, spend afternoons watching arrows whiz past at Chamlimgithang Archery Ground, and fool around at the Weekend Market for hours.

Crimson emotions
Druk Gyalpo, as the king of Bhutan is known, has preserved the Dragon Kingdom’s legacy well. Keeping with the tradition of elaborate art, there are various schools in Thimphu offering free art education to the Bhutanese. There is the Royal Academy of Performing Arts, where students are taught folk dancing; The National Institute of Zorig Chusum teaches wood carving, doll making, traditional painting style and embroidery among other skills. Three years into the painting course one may paint houses, but it takes eight years of rigorous practice to be privileged enough to paint for a monastery.

Bhutan is dotted with monasteries. We had walked a long way to visit the Trashi Chhoe Dzong, only to be informed that we needed to go back and obtain a permit to enter. Deciding to explore the surrounding area instead was a good decision; it proved to be our first experience of Bhutanese hospitality. Ney Khang Lhakhang houses a statue of Sakyamuni Buddha and a very humble family of monks. The head monk introduced us to his younger brothers also dressed in crimson as they frolicked around with a ball, fetching it everytime it fell into the well. The grandmother, a Buddhist nun herself, requested us for a copy of her photograph. We did go back the next day with the picture, and ended up spending the entire day there.

The world’s only capital without traffic lights, the only one with a benevolent king who insists on wearing traditional dress to work, the only place in Asia where you wouldn’t ever have to haggle; Thimphu is special. Here, parents don’t tell their children to ‘beware of foreigners’; they instruct them to ‘be polite to them’. If you happen to go there, sit by the banks of the Wang Chhu River for some time, and you might just wonder whether we actually need the shopping malls and credit cards.