Recently I came across these photos from our trip to Bhutan five years ago and this led me to write a small account of my trip. Since then, naturally, a lot will have changed, so there won’t be much practical information about prices, hotels, restaurants etcetera. But nature, culture and people’s mentalities don’t change so quickly, so I hope I can spark an interest in going to this amazing country that’s not like anywhere else in the world.
So, shall we get going?
The Kingdom of Bhutan, or as they call it Druk Yul (Druk tsendhen) – the Thunder Dragon Kingdom.
You can only go to Bhutan with a tour group, with whom you need to discuss a programme beforehand, pay for everything and receive confirmation that you’ll get your visa at the border. There is a fixed price for one day’s stay in Bhutan and this included all expenses (vehicle, a guide and driver, entrance tickets, three meals per day, hotels en route). In our case it was 200USD per person (there were three of us). We paid for drinks and souvenirs separately. As far as I know, the price per person per day has since gone up.
The duration of the trip was from the 1st until the 10th of May 2009.
We chose the agency Bhutan Scenic Tours on advice from the LP forum and were happy with everything – they complied with our wish to reserve specific hotels which we had looked at earlier, were happy to change the programme, the car was new and comfortable, our guide Namgang and driver Karma we simply wonderful professionals of their trade.
We flew into Paro Airport on a flight with the national carrier Druk Air from Kathmandu.
If you sit on the left side of the plane by the window you get to see a gorgeous panorama of the Himalayas.
The airstrip at Paro airport is considered to be one of the most dangerous in the world, because the valley is located at a height of 2280m, surrounded by mountains on all sides, and the pilots have to actively manoeuvre while they descend in order to fly around them.
In Paro we stayed in the Gangstey Palace hotel – the former residence of the head of the Dzong (fortress). The hotel is located on a hill opposite the Dzong. Inside there are beautiful murals on the walls, and in one of the rooms they’ve preserved the ancient family altar.
This is the Paro Dzong.
‘Dzong’ is what people in Bhutan call fortresses surrounded by high walls. The fortresses are dual-purpose. They function as the centre of spiritual life – monasteries, where members of the priesthood live and work, but also as administrative centres of the local area with offices, officials, and various management bureaus. The Bhutanese can only visit the Dzong while wearing their national dress (men in a ‘Gho’, a specifically tailored robe), women in a ‘Kira’ (pinafore and jacket). Furthermore, men have to wear a specifically coloured scarf: ordinary men must wear a white scarf, ministers wear orange, regional governors wear purple, members of parliament wear blue, and the king wears yellow. It’s very practical – you can immediately tell who’s who. It’s a classic: ‘A society without colour-coded pants…’. While we travelled around we could identify parliamentarians, governors and the king, but I’ll talk more about this in a bit.
The next day we had some trekking planned to the ‘Tiger’s Nest’, one of the most sacred monasteries in the country.
According to the legend, the most highly esteemed monk in Bhutan, Guru Rinpoche, flew to this mountain on a tigress, meditated there for 3 months in a cave and by doing this defeated a vicious local demon. Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) is a very powerful and influential monk in Buddhism, who “on Mt. Kailash connected the stellar forces of the best palaces and on Mt. Targo ended the dark forces of the Planets under the control of the Dharma”.
The route up takes about 3 hours, and along the path you’ll find places of worship for pilgrims.
Market in Paro.
The next day we were going out on the eastbound road towards Punakha Dzong.
On the way we went through the Dochula pass, at 3050m, with a view of the eastern Himalayas with their 108 stupas.
Putankha is the most beautiful Dzong in Bhutan, built on the confluence of two rivers – male and female.
Inside you can look around the central temple of the Dzong and listen to the prayer gatherings. The praying monks sit in rows, with the oldest at the front and the boys at the back, who sneakily whisper to each other and pass notes (like all boys in all schools around the world) for which they occasionally get a harsh blow to the back with a whip from an older mentor.
They’re hanging a giant tanka on the walls, getting ready for the king’s visit. Returning from the Dzong we see him – an attractive young man with a western education, the Fifth King of the Kingdom of Bhutan, the successor to his father’s throne a couple of years ago, deeply adored by the people and a man who has done a lot for his country.
We go further, heading towards Trongsa Dzong.
Blue mountains, rhododendron trees flower in the forest.
On the mountain pass our driver goes round the stupa twice.
The locals bring all sorts of little things here to sell.
This guy is squeezing his charm, or amulet, to his chest.
The same guy five minutes later, after a profitable deal with some tourists.
Trongsa Dzong is the most powerful Dzong in Bhutan, located in the middle of the country on the only road from the west to the east. The ruler of this Dzong became the most influential political figure in the country at the end of the 19th century, united Bhutan under his rule, and his son became the first King of Bhutan. Ever since, there’s been a tradition, according to which the Crown Prince must work as a deputy of the Trongsa region before becoming King.
We’re heading further into Bumthang valley. On the way we stop to observe the village’s ‘Tshechu’ – a holiday and festival. ‘Tshechus’ take place throughout all of Bhutan at various times, and the most important ones attract huge amounts of people.
The most interesting moment of ‘Tshechu’ is its magical dances. The magical dances can have different aims and differ in their choreography and music, but each movement in them has been precisely fixed for centuries, and no improvisation is allowed.
So, Saint Pema Lingpa (15th century), having seen in his meditations the purgatory of Bardo after death, set up sacred dances that reproduce this state. His reincarnated form is considered to be the Pastor of the Gangtey Gonpa monstery, and because of this the monks of this monastery perform this dance for ‘Tshechu’.
There are dances linked with the much-loved national saint Drukly Kyunle (the Mad Saint), an eternally drunk womaniser and not a fool to fight. He is depicted as a man in a dark mask and a wooden phallus in his hand, with which he uses to tap the other participants and spectators of the festival.
We arrived in Bumthang.
Bumthang valley is made up of 4 villages, but we only need to go to one – Ura.
In this remote village we wanted to visit the ‘Tshechu’ that takes place annually at the start of may and lasts for a few days. The time of the celebration is established beforehand, but at the last moment the Lamas can change the festival due to bad omens or events. Our ‘Tshechu’ should have started a couple of days ago, but was only just starting right now.
The celebration starts with a service and religious procession from the monastery to the local Dzong.
A startled boy darts out.
Monks blowing into shells.
Religious procession.
The participants of the procession wash their hands and go up to be blessed under the relic.
A member of parliament amongst the honorary guests (blue scarf).
A character depicting the Mad Saint Drukly Kyunle also took part in the procession.
In his hands is a wooden phallus, a very popular esoteric symbol in Bhutan, which we often saw pictures of in Bhutanese homes.
The magical dance Shana (purification) starts.
This dance was developed by a Zhabdrung, a lama and distinguished historical figure of Bhutan, who came from Tibet in 1616, merged the fragmented parts of the country and created a united state. This name means ‘before the feet of’. This dance is performed by some of the first monks without masks in the purification festivals and ceremonies. The monks carry drums, which they beat with iron hooks. The monks depict the mighty yogis, who can kill and resurrect all living things. During the dance a tantric mandala is set up, and then the demons are hacked to pieces, cleansing both person and space of evil.
The grey monk on the left is the head of the monastery.
During the dance the monks go into a trance, their movement becomes more and more synchronised, the music becomes more droning, the spectators gaze on, and it’s really impossible to look away from this meditative sight.
There was a feeling of some kind of presence near by, some sort of ancient, unexplained and powerful energy.
It has been five years since this trip, and the strong feeling left by this dance has not gone away, even though we are neither Buddhists nor particularly happy-clappy people.
In Bumthang you can see a few unique Buddhist sacred sights, for example, the oldest monastery in Bhutan – the 8th century Jambay Lhakahng,, and the Tamshing monastery, founded by Pema Lingpa.
We turned back and headed down the long road back to Paro.
On the way we stopped off in Gangtey, a very beautiful monastery, restored thanks to sponsorship from Europe, the USA, and Japan.
This is our hotel in Gangtey.
The view of the valley from the window of the hotel.
The very powerful Wangdue Dzong – the only one in Bhutan which has never caught on fire. Instead it’s been torn down by the wind.
I didn’t like the capital Thimphu at all after the silence of the countryside. There are too many people, too much noise and too much movement.
Thimphu Dzong.
And where would we be without the national animal of Bhutan, a takin with the head of a goat and the body of a cow?
Our guide Namgang.
The majority of guests in this amazing country are very strongly moved by the officially proclaimed aim of the government of Bhutan: to increase the level of national happiness.
And in the end we resist any longer and asked our guide where these aims had been reached, whether he or other Bhutanese are happy. Namgang pondered a little and said that happy is too strong a word, but they’re generally content.
