BHUTAN VISIT - 9/19/07-10/1/07

Introduction

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 14:07:00 -0500

In June, my sister Susan sent me an e-mail saying she always wanted to visit Bhutan and now was the time to go. Did I want to join her? Not knowing anything about the place, I said okay. I am sure many of you reading this post are in the same position, so I am including a brief introduction to the country.

Bhutan is a small (about the size of Switzerland), Himalayan country, just south of Tibet, east of Nepal, north of India and west of China. It is the only Buddhist kingdom remaining in the Himalayas. It has about 700,000 people spread out over many small valleys, most of whom are farmers and 6,000 are monks. The largest city is the capital Thimpu (pronounced “Timpu”), which has about 98,000 people.

Until the 1960’s, the country had no roads, no electricity. After the invasion of Tibet by the Chinese in the 1950’s, the king of Bhutan realized his country could not remain isolated from the world. He embarked on a process of modernization and economic development including building hydroelectric dams, roads, and schools and joining international organizations including the UN. There is now a road going across the middle of the country though the main valleys and south at strategic points. There are still many villages that can only be reached by walking 1-3 days over the mountains.

The country has an open border with India which is its main source of labor and goods and its main export market. The Indians built the roads and buildings and supply the trucks and other industrial goods needed to build a modern country.

Bhutan was opened to tourists in 1974 but only in 1990’s were private tour operators allowed to offer tours. One must use an official tour operator to visit the country. To keep out the rif raf/backpackers, one must spend at least $200 per day of one’s tour package, a portion of which goes to the government. There are no quotas on the number of tourists but there are only about 17,000 visitors per year

Bhutanese Buildings

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 14:05:15 -0500

Bhutanese buildings are extremely picturesque, built in the traditional style, by royal decree. They have sloping shingled roofs, many held down by rocks. The walls are either built of compacted mud or stones, which is then whitewashed. The windows, door frames and all wood trim are all painted in colorful traditional designs. Frequently there are also pictures painted on the walls. The mud walls are very hard and durable. We saw many ruins of houses where the mud walls were still standing after the roof and wood had rotted away,

Typical house

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:59:08 -0500

Typical house

Detail of painted woodwork

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:55:43 -0500

Detail of painted woodwork

Typical store in Bhutan with paintings on whitewashed walls and...

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:53:07 -0500

Typical store in Bhutan with paintings on whitewashed walls and colorfully decorated woodwork.

Traffic cop in downtown Thimpu, the capital of Bhutan. There...

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:51:44 -0500

Traffic cop in downtown Thimpu, the capital of Bhutan. There are no traffic lights.

The phallus of the “Devine Madman” Durkpa Kun-le...

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:48:43 -0500

The phallus of the “Devine Madman” Durkpa Kun-le (who lived from 1455-1529) is often painted on walls of houses. It is believed he scared away demons with his penis, so painting in on one’s house will keep away evil spirits.

Our hotel in Bumthang burned cypress branches in incense burner...

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:44:45 -0500

Our hotel in Bumthang burned cypress branches in incense burner every morning

Typical farm house with drying chilies on roof

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:39:38 -0500

Typical farm house with drying chilies on roof

House ruins - compacted mud walls still standing

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:38:25 -0500

House ruins - compacted mud walls still standing

Traditional Dress

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:33:36 -0500

Bhutanese have a traditional style of clothing which they wear most of the time. The men wear a “gho” (pronounced “go’), which is like a robe, hitched up to the knees with a sash. Underneath is worn a shirt and shorts. Shoes and knee socks complete the outfit, except in cold weather, when long johns are frequently worn.

Women wear a kira, a long seamless ankle length dress, folded under the right arm and wrapped around, fastened at both shoulders with two silver brooches and tied with a sash. They wear a blouse underneath the kira and frequently wear a waist length button less jacket over it.

Both men and women must wear a ceremonial scarf over their traditional dress, when they visit a government building. For men, this is called a kabne and the color denotes their position - white for most people, orange for senior officials, yellow for the king and chief abbot, etc.

Jigme, our guide, and Ugyen, our driver, in traditional...

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:27:05 -0500

Jigme, our guide, and Ugyen, our driver, in traditional “gho” clothing

Longjohns are worn under gho in cold weather.

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:20:16 -0500

Longjohns are worn under gho in cold weather.

Men wear kabne (ceremonial scarf) over their gho when entering a...

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:17:00 -0500

Men wear kabne (ceremonial scarf) over their gho when entering a government building.

Families wear their best traditional clothing to attend the...

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:14:14 -0500

Families wear their best traditional clothing to attend the temple festivals (except for little boy in combat fatigues).

Kira with ceremonial scarf worn when visiting governmen...

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:11:45 -0500

Kira with ceremonial scarf worn when visiting governmen buildings

Grandfather and granddaughter visiting temple

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:10:00 -0500

Grandfather and granddaughter visiting temple

Dzongs

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:04:48 -0500

One of the main tourist attractions in Bhutanare therir dzongs (pronouced “zong”), the administrative forts built by the monk Shabdrung, the unifier of the Bhutanstate in the 17th C. They are all situated at a strategic location, either on a hilltop or at the confluence of several rivers, and dominate the valley. They all contain a monastery and administrative offices for the area. Men and women must wear traditional dress including a ceremonial scarf when entering the dzong.The high walls, built of stone and compacted mud, taper toward the top and are whitewashed. The wooden windows and balconies, all built without nails, are richly decoratively painted. Usually there is a central tower (“utse”) containing several temples and two wings, one used as the monastery, the other by the lay administration. Each wing has a flagstone courtyard

Paro dzong, sits on hill overlooking Paro town and rice fields

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:02:46 -0500

Paro dzong, sits on hill overlooking Paro town and rice fields

Paro dzong courtyard

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:00:50 -0500

Paro dzong courtyard