..... THE LOST SHANGRI-LA

Bhutan is no ordinary place. It is a Himalayan kingdom with a reputation for mystery and magic. The Bhutanese pride themselves on a sustainable approach to tourism in line with the philosophy of  Gross National Happiness !

Firstly to bust the myth - there is no limit to tourist visas. Tourists famously pay the US250 per day tariff, making it as one of the world's most expensive and exotic travel destinations! However, this fee is actually all-inclusive - accomodation, food, vehicle and even an official guide are all provided.
Our travel itiniary is all customised to what we want to see and do but only a guideline as we can change as we go along. We actually started our homework and planning process almost 10 months before. After considering a few alternatives we narrowed down to the registered Bhutan agent, " DrukAsia " based in Singapore more for easy communication and convenience, and lucky we did because in June 2014 (5 months before departure) all flights and accomodation are fully booked out!


and so our adventure begins  !                 ...... Oct 2 to Oct 8th 2014........

DrukAir 501Y  depart Singapore 0630, arrive Paro 1025  Oct 02 2014.

The flight into Paro is one of the most spectacular in the world. Whether flying along the Himalayan range from Katmandu or over the foothills from Kolkatta each flight is mesmerising aeronautical feat and offers an exciting descent into the kingdom.

The dramatic landing of the DrukAir (Airbus 108 seater) coming in and down thru the narrow S-shaped valley of Paro was amazing. The approach onto the runway is fast and zigzag, both sides we can see only the sides of the mountains . No wonder only their own pilots are allowed to navigate and fly into Bhutan. All it needs is just a gust of crosswinds and thats it ! 

They all say to book the left side of the plane, which we did but i guess we still missed the breathtaking view of the snow-capped Himalayas!    probably we didnt know what to look for..

view from plane window

landed in PARO International Airport

 Our 6 nights itiniary covers from Paro, Thimphu and Punakha on land in a amazingly strong 12 seater minivan and it is this vehicle that miraculously drove thru the winding hillside terrain across the country.  Of course it must be the driver's skill, name is Joker. Most of the itiniary covers the interesting sights ie temples, Dzhongs, towns, Thimphu Festival and monasteries, with our excellent young guide, Lhawang Dorji.  However, we have specially arranged with the Bhutan agent for some of us to trek up to the Bumdra Monastery, 4000masl and camp for a night. 

And so we had to form 2 groups ie GroupA for those who wants to venture 4000masl to trek up  by foot thru the beautiful Rhododendron forest to the Bumdra Monastery and camp a night in 2C in tents ... approx 7hrs of labour , sweat and tears (almost) to reach the green meadows at Bumdra..

Group A

  


...and to say "  We made it !  "








and the other Group B who will be driven to the scenic Chele la Pass (also about 4000masl ) and to the Haa Valley for a picnic by the river...  and can even squeeze in a half day shopping in Paro town.  

Group B

and to say   " we are the smart ones ! "





Both groups reunited at the iconic  spectacular Takshang Monastery -  one group that went thru "hardship" (no regrets, I hope) and the other a very relaxed group.

         I guess there are many reasons for people/tourists to want to visit this country. Some for its mystical attractions as curious tourists, some just being "fashionable" to have visited this far-away "shangri la" and some to really appreciate its "holiness" and its way of life and culture and of course some to meditate there . 

But whatever reasons we have, I sincerely wish that this beautiful culture and place will not be spoilt by the outside world in the future. I wish Bhutan can stay this way and not open up too much or too fast to the outside world. Our trip, we can see already people on the streets and even the monks with handphones ! As a means of convenient communications is good but not to totally being "unsocialble" like what the rest of the world is today. Even our guide, Lhawang Dorji told us that they appreciate the time or bonding they have with their family or loved ones more before the mobile phones came in. Soon, just like us, we sometimes dont even have a decent chitchat over the dining table but everyone heads down on their mobiles, ipad, iphone etctec 

They are very positive-thinking  people, very happy people... and recycling and environmentally friendly are natural to them.
As like everyone knows, this is the only country in the world that measures GNP with "happiness"  - GNH (gross national happiness) and they actually do a survey regularly to get feedback from their population (700,000 whole of BHUTAN) .  Bhutan operates four main hydro-electric facilities and this hydro power is the backbone of Bhutan's economy. The rugged terrain, compounded by the fact that the country is landlocked does not provide much economic advantage to Bhutan. Bhutan's ability to harness the hydro resources has been made possible because of its close and friendly ties with its neighbor, India.

I am very honoured to be a guest of Bhutan and to witness its happiness and its way of life.

..our arrival at Paro Oct 2nd

Upon arrival in Paro international airport, after the dramatic approach onto the airport runway, first thing is to whip out your camera !
On the runway, we are allowed to take photos with the spectacular view of the mountains surrounding us.
And to greet us is a super huge photo of the handsome young King and Queen.
We were efficiently checked out of immigration with our approved visas, and met our guide at the gate. Lhawang Dorji ( 33 yr old young man ) , very pleasant, friendly and very informative.

our guide, Lhawang Dorji says "WELCOME "

Immediately we were driven off in our 12 seater van towards town of Thimphu. On the way we stopped at the iron chained bridge.

Druptrob Thangtong Gyalpo was the man who built these iron-chained bridges all over Tibet and Bhutan in the late 1300s and is said to have built 108 of these, many of them are still in use today.

PARO INT'L AIRPORT

LHAWANG, our guide

at the IRON BRIDGE, ALL CAMERAS ROLLING.....

Our own Spider-woman in action . . .

SPIDER-WOMAN

Hansel & Gretel ??

and just for photo-taking sake ,

Thimphu town

Oct 2nd - from Paro Int'r airport to Thimphu, took us about 90mins,  thru the scenic mountanous drive and finally arrived in Thimphu 55km from Paro . It is the capital city and has a population of less than a hundred thousand. It became the capital city in 1961. It is a bustling town set on the banks of the River Chuu and set gloriously on the hills of the Thimphu valleys . (2300masl)

Thimphu is home to the revered Bhutanese Royal family, the royal government, and several foreign missions.

On arrival we went straight for lunch . Smack in the center of the town at a cute little round-about with a police hut, our eating place is right on top.

police roundabout

our FIRST lunch in Bhutan was exciting and very anxious . .  especially their famous "Chilli Cheese" and turned out to be pretty good ! spicy and tasty.

CHILLI CHEESE 

the town of Thimphu is unusually busy now because of the Thimphu Festival which is Oct 3 - 5th and all Bhutanese and tourists come all over to witness this event.

and of course, all tourists MUST GO to the GENERAL POST OFFICE ! Bhutan has one of the best stamps in the world, and truly is. We spent almost an hour in there  , of course . . .
 and also made our very own stamps of ourselves.

INSIDE THE G.P.O.

 busy busy. . . sticking own-made stamps , gotta send to all my friends laaa  !!!

 I think the Fongs and Laus decided to bring back the postcards and stamps... probably post from the hotel later...

 Bhutan makes beautiful stamps...

and a little bit of window-shopping...

 and of course those waiting outside patiently are the NON-SHOPPERS. . .

 and off we go to the NATIONAL MEMORIAL CHORTEN. The Chorten was consecrated in the memory of the third King of Bhutan, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck on July 1974. Visitors will find a lot of elderly Bhutanese people circumambulating the Chorten thoughout the day, in a clockwise direction.

 Chorten literally means the "Seat of faith" and Buddhist often call such monuments , the "Mind of Buddha".
The Chorten is an extraodinary example of the Buddhist architecture and artwork with its intricate sculptures and paintings. The Chorten is a large white structure crowned with a golden spire.
The memorial in the heart of the city is designed as a Tibetan style chorten, patterned on the design of a stupa, with a pyramidal pillar crowned by a crescent moon and sun.
The feature that is distinct here is the outward flaring of the rounded part, to give the shape of a vase ( pyramidal shape ) unlike the dome shape.

 at the entrance to the Chorten,

Lhawang & me in front of Chorten

 and inside ,

offering prayers

happy faces 

 as they circumambulating clockwise  reciting prayers and whirling the large red prayer wheels.

getting hungry ??

and before we call it a day, BUDDHA POINT, located at Kuensel Phrodang, the 169 ft bronze statue of Buddha Dordenma. It is still under construction . We drove all the way up to this point and the view of THIMPHU VALLEY is SPECTACULAR !

THIMPHU VALLEY

almost sunset ....spectacular view !

And the next morning in front of our Norbuling Hotel, is the ARCHERY FIELD.

In Bhutan, archery is not only the national sport, it is also a celebration of the way of life and an expression of their rich culture and heritage.

When they play archery, the players have to participate in singing and dancing especially when the player hits the target !

dancing and singing after hitting the target !