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BHUTAN
I wanted to visit Bhutan for several years but the high cost of a visa -- $250 per day -- made it difficult. I partnered with a local company in 2012 who got me in for a more reasonable daily rate. |
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Bhutan, the Land of the Thunder Dragon, is no ordinary place. It is a Himalayan kingdom replete with myths and legends, where the best of traditional culture thrives and the latest global developments are enthusiastically embraced.*
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Thimphu is the 50-year-old capital of Bhutan. With crimson-robed monks, Indian labourers and government ministers clad in ghos and kiras (traditonal dress), Thimphu never feels more than a friendly over-sized village.*
Based on core Buddhist values, Gross National Happiness places real value on cultural heritage, health, education, good governance, ecological diversity and individual well-being.*
Gross National Happiness considers growth not as an end but rather as a means of achieving more important ends.*
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Paro is the heartland of the Drukpa people and is home to the only airport, the most popular festivals and the largest, oldest and most spectacular dzongs (monastic forts) in the kingdom.*
Gross National Happiness has become Bhutan's philosophical banner and a gift to world grappling with materialist growth economics.*
Gross National Happiness has become Bhutan's philosophical banner and gift to a world grappling with materialistic 'growth economics'.*
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We accidently came across a group of soldiers playing a game with rocks.
Based on core Buddhist and human values, this measurable index is a counterpoint to the economist's Gross National Product.*
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However, artists do express their own personality in minor details (for example, the shading of clouds or background scenes).*
Dechenphu Lhakhang is home to Gyenyen, the valley's protective deity, and so is off-limits to tourists.*
The Taktshng Goemba (Tiger's Nest Monastery) is miraculously perched on the side of a sheer cliff 900m above the floor of the Paro vallley. The only way up to the Tiger's Nest is to walk, ride a horse or fly up on the back of a magic tiger.*
The National Memorial Chorten is for many Bhutanese the focus of their daily worship. Throughout the day, people circumambulate the chorten, whirl the large red prayer wheels and pray at a small shrine inside the gate.*
Once inside Paro Dzong, my guide told me I couldn't take any photos or video so I placed my camera on the floor still running and caught this monk dancing.
Paro Tsechu features four days of cham or ritual religious dance followed by the pre-dawn unfurling of a giant thangka or painted picture depicting the eight manifestations of Guru Rinpoche.*
Thimphu is apparently the world's only capital without traffic lights. A set was installed a few years back, but residents complained that it was too impersonal, which is why the beloved white-gloved police continue to direct traffic with balletic grace.*
The main form of dance is the cham, performed at the tsechus and other festivals held throughout Bhutan.
It was easy to forget that young monks were still boys at heart.
Young nuns too are just girls at heart.
A wedding singer entertains the wedding guests.
A small factory produces tradition Bhutanese paper handmade from the daphne bush.*
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Bhutan's arts and crafts vary from sacred murals to bambo bows.*
Traditional art has two important characteristics: it is religious and anonymous.*
A Nepalese-style chorten sits on on the ridge above Begana.*
Near Paro, stand the ruins of Drukgyel Dzong built in 1649 in a location chosen for its control of the route to Tibet.*
Zilukha Nunnery is a modern nunnery in the hills surrounding Thimphu.
ven unfinished, the huge 50m tall steel statue of Buddha Dordenma commands the entry to the Thimphu valley.*
On the hike up to the Tiger's Nest Monastery, we stopped at a small monastery.
The first day of the spring Paro Tsechu is held in the courtyard of the Paro (Rinpung) Dzong.*
Pancham is an energetic dance based on a vision by Pema Linga and is thought to lead believers directly to the presence of Guru Rinpoche.*
Dranyeo Cham celebrates the diffusion of the Drukpa lineage in Bhutan by the Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal.*
Hand-woven and embroidered textiles are generally recognised as Bhutan's premier handicraft.*
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There are strict iconographical conventions in Bhutanese art and the Bhutanese artists observe them scrupulously.*
A photogenic gold-painted rock painting of Guru Rinpoche can be found near Begana.*
The Dochu La is marked by a large array of prayer flags and an impressive new collection of 108 chortens. On a clear day, the pass offers a panoramic view of the Bhutan Himalaya.*
The Paro Dzong is one of Bhutan's most impressive and well-known dzongs, and perhaps the finest example of Bhutanese architecture.*
The Royal Academy of Performing Arts is the home of the Royal Dance Troupe which works to preserve Bhutan's folk-dancing heritage and trains professinal dancers who perform several of the dances at the Thimphy tsechu.*
Bhutan's national sport is archery. The targets seem impossibly tiny and the distance immense and yet the target is hit quite regularly.*
Khuru is a darts game played on a field about 20m long with small targets similar to those used by archers.*
The Choki Traditional Art School trains disadvantaged kids in traditional arts of painting, sculpture and carving.*
Of approximately 5500 formal monks in Bhutan, half are under the patronage of the Je Khenpo, the other half subsidised by private support.*
Thimphu's incense factory churns out between 5000 and 10,000 sticks every month.*
The takins, Bhutan's national animal, were so tame that they wandered around the streets to Thimphu looking for food, and the only solution was to put them back into captivity.
It was a great honour to invited to a traditional Bhutanese wedding.
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* These captions are from Bhutan -- a Lonely Planet travel guide.