Country #127: Day one in Beautiful Bhutan

Everything about country #127 is special. I know this sounds like something I would say about every single country I visit, but here I mean it just a bit more.  Tiny Bhutan, nestled in the Himalayan mountains between two behemoths, India and China, is truly a jewel of a nation. Its people, its architecture, its scenery...all of it is just so, well, special. 

Take the approach into Bhutan. As we were descending towards Paro International Airport, the first officer made an announcement that I have never, in all of my years of flying, heard before. She said "As we prepare for our final approach, we will be coming very close to the mountains. This is normal. Please do not be afraid". Wait, what??

There was a reason for her disclaimer. The approach is bonafide wild. The airplane has to thread its way through the mountains and execute the equivalent of a 3 point turn without the benefits of reverse in order to land at this tiny airport. It is considered the most difficult landing anywhere in the world, taking into account the mountains, an all visual approach (meaning computers and autopilot can't help you) and a short runway to boot. Only 24 pilots are officially authorized to make that landing. I say "officially" because I met a guy who used to fly charter in India and actually flew into Paro once. He said he reached out to Bhutanese captains for advice and the directions included things like "when you see the house with the green roof, you have to bank left". 

It is also pretty stunning, which I kind of expected going in. When asked if I wanted a window or aisle seat, I responded that I wanted a window on the Mt Everest side. Did I spend the entire 45 minute flight, glued to that window, taking pictures and videos as if it was my first time on an airplane? Fuck yeah, I did. 

According to my seatmate, this is Mt Everest. All the peaks look pretty similar to me so I'm just repeating his claim.

Then there was the airport itself, it was absolutely gorgeous. All of us passengers- all seasoned travellers cuz no one begins their fly life in Bhutan- were posing and snapping photos right there on the ramp. like a bunch of rubes!! 

It was hard to wrap my mind around the fact that I was actually in Bhutan, a place I had dreamt of visiting for so long. Now might be a good time to address a question I got a couple of times when mentioning my itinerary. "Bhutan? What is that? Is that a country?" Yes, absolutely, it is a country and has been so for centuries. It has the rare distinction of never having been colonized and thus has always been independent. That said, it is an understandable question. How many people talk about summer vacations in Bhutan? By design, Bhutan has managed to fly under the radar. Foreigners were not even allowed to visit until 1974. Once tourism was permitted, the emphasis was on "high value, low volume", meaning you could visit but you had to have $$$. It was originally $250 per day, which included your hotel, a guide and meals. Post Covid, it was changed to $200 per day but no longer included anything but the right to step foot in the country. At the moment, it is $100 per day with no extras. Technically, independent travel is permitted, however if you want to visit any of the dzongs (monasteries) or touristic sites, you need to be accompanied by a guide so practically speaking, you need to book a tour. 

After contacting a bunch of tour operators, I opted for a 5 day package with Omsha Travel. They were reasonably priced, quick to respond and took charge of all the preliminary paperwork. Nawang Dorji, the owner, was waiting for me as soon as I stepped out of the airport. 

He presented me with a traditional welcome scarf, introduced Ugyen, our driver and immediately began our tour. As someone who likes to waste no time when traveling, I loved this. Not 30 minutes after I had landed, we were already at our first stop. We were at Tachogang Lhakhang, a small private monastery just off the main highway. 

Although we could not enter the monastery, it was a great introduction to many of the Buddhist traditions we would repeatedly encounter throughout Bhutan. Take for example, Tibetan prayer flags, which are a constant presence in this very religious country. They come in five colors each representing one of the elements. There is blue representing the sky, white for air, red for fire, green for water and yellow for the earth. The idea is that you hang them somewhere windy and the wind will carry your prayers off into the distance. 

Much of the history of the country is intertwined with Tibetan Buddhism. Little is known before the 8th century when a Tibetan holy man, Guru Rimpoche, came to spread the religion. 

After about an hour's drive along the gorgeous mountain roads, we reached our destination, Thimpu, the capital and largest city. We checked into the Tashi Yoedling hotel, where my room provided me a great view of the National Memorial Choeten across the street. This stupa was built as a memorial to the third king, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck and is known as the most visible religious landmark in Bhutan. 

Talk about a room with a view.

What impressed me the most about it was the number of people who were constantly circumnavigating its base (always clockwise). As with most Bhutanese people, particularly the older generation, they were dressed in traditional clothing. Many carried prayer beads and chanted as they went round and round. 

Most religious practices make little to no sense to me. This is one of the rare instances where I kind of get it. In the morning, the Memorial was crowded with people doing laps while saying their morning prayers. Looked at through a different lens, this is exercise and meditation. If you start your day, breathing in that clean mountain air, while getting your body moving and meditating, odds are good that you are going to feel happier throughout the day. This is the country, after all, that instead of only using economic indicators to measure success, created the Gross Happiness Index. 

After lunch, we continued onto the Tashichho Dzong, which is a combination monastery/ administrative complex that was once a fort. It was originally built in in 1216 but has undergone many renovations, the latest being in 1962 when the capital moved from Punakha to Thimpu. It now houses the throne room and king's office. 

Only the monastic side is open to the public and no photography is permitted in this or any temple. Even with only a portion accessible, the scale of the complex is both awe-inspiring and bedeviling difficult to photograph. I was not alone in this struggle. Pretty much every single passenger I had seen on the flight earlier that day was there, each with their own guide in tow. By virtue of our arrival date, we were all on the same touristic loop and would continue running into each other. 

Next up was the Motithang Takin Preserve, home to the country's national animal. I'm not one to body shame anyone but these creatures are just bizarre looking. The story is that a 15th century holy man, known as the Divine Madman was at a feast and wanted to show off his powers. He took the head of a goat and the bones of a cow, rattled off some magic words and ta-da, the takin was born. You know what? Sure, why not, it's as good an explanation as any. 

This lot was originally housed at a zoo but the king objected to the national animal being confined like that and attempted to set them free. Problem was that they simply wouldn't leave so a sanctuary was built for them to comfortably live out their lives. 

Finishing off the day, we went to the Dordenma Buddha Statue, a 169 foot tall gilded Buddha overlooking the city. Inside, there are 125,000 smaller Buddhas, all of them meant to honor the 4th King's 60th birthday. That's a lotta Buddhas.

As the largest city, with a population of 114,000 people, Thimpu has a happening little downtown. Or it would have been happening but for the fact that there was an election on this day and everything was closed. 

One downright adorable fact about downtown Thimpu, as more young people move there in search of work, traffic has increased. The solution, which I would have considered sensible, was to install the country's first traffic light in the main intersection. This led to a public outcry about something as impersonal as a traffic light besmirching their streets (and dinging that happiness index). The light was removed and a traffic booth was installed. Now, on busy days, there is a person in that booth directing traffic.

After the day's tour had concluded, I walked over to the downtown area to see if anything had opened once the polls closed. A couple of places were coming to life but overall, it was pretty slow and my phone (and its all-important map feature) didn't work and I didn't want to risk getting lost so I returned to my hotel and its cool view. 

Druk means Dragon and is another name for Bhutan.

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After a great night's sleep, I awoke to see the sun rising over the mountains from the comfort of my hotel bed. In Bhutan. Talk about a "wow" moment.

Nawang and Ugyen were waiting for me after breakfast. We had one last stop before leaving Thimpu, a farmer's market selling both locally grown and imported products. With its harmonious architecture, quiet streets and colorful traditional outfits, Bhutan can sometimes feel like a pristine movie set. It was a nice chance to see a glimpse of what regular daily life looks like. 

Once we were done at the market, we set off on yet another spectacular drive. Our destination Punakha, was a city that was somehow even more special. Not surprising, considering that's kind of Bhutan's thing.