My Trip to Bhutan

Day #1

We took a city bus and I talked to these delightful High School seniors. We went to an art school where underprivileged students can attend to learn the traditional arts of weaving, embroidery, woodwork, painting and tailoring. Our nature walk took us up the mountains. The white flags are to honor the dead.

This was a home hosted dinner last night. Siri is a high school English teacher. Listen up my teacher friends...Teachers are the highest paid civil servants in the country. She teaches 3- 50 minute classes a day and has 5-50 minute periods to plan, correct, collaborate. She does not bring any work home. She has a master’s degree paid my the government and is planning on getting her doctorate. Education is highly valued. Men and women are given equal opportunities and given full equal rights. There are 14 people living in her home. They own the building as well as another one. She is in charge of the finances and most everyone else has a function. Her sister does all the cooking. She is married to a retired monk. He has his own tour business and is hired to do ceremonies. She has three children. This is her second marriage. Her father and stepmother leave every day to work on their farm. Her grandfather and niece, who is visually impaired are the only ones who do not work. They graciously served us. Then showed us around the whole apartment. There are 4 bedrooms and an alter room (seems like everyone has one) 2 bathrooms, a small kitchen, and two gathering rooms. They are upper class - remember she is a teacher and the main breadwinner. After dinner she dressed us up in her clothes. She even chose colors that flattered us. Most people here wear traditional dress.

Day #2

The biggest Sitting Buddha in the world. It is magnificent! I could not take pictures of the inside.

Then we went to a stupa, a monument, that was erected to honor the third king. The king and his predecessors are so incredibly respected. The first one was elected and there have been 5 descendants from the royal family. It appears that all the citizens love their king, past and present. They all have pictures of the king in their home and banners on the street. They all talk about how kind the king is. The third king -who this is dedicated to is credited with bringing Bhutan the modern age. He brought education and hospitals to the country. I will tell you the philosophy of the country on another post. Since there are no old age homes many old people come here for the day and then are picked up by their family at night. There is absolutely no begging in this country!

The old woman in the picture says she’s 79. She is originally from Tibet and was run out when she was 12 years old by men with guns. She has a daughter and a granddaughter. Loved to talk to us and dance.

Next we went to RENEW. It is a woman’s center set up by the queen to help women who are victims if domestic Mx violence. I bought that turquoise scarf from a woman who had just finished making it. They have wonder for services for the women.

More craft items sold by the women who made them.

Day #3

Invited into the home of the woman filtering rice. So lovely! They served us moonshine. Local corn on the Cobb.

A beautiful hike today. Was able to see the black neck cranes. I had the honor of serving the student monks at the Buddhist monastery.

Archery is Bhutan’s national sport. I wasn’t that bad. But I sucked at darts.

Day #4

The black neck cranes that are so rare in the world. A lady making fried rice for the celebration of the neighborhood’s new home, built by the people of the village. A feast and blessing celebration will be the next day with 250-300 arriving and the monks will bless. A day in the life of a farming family. They grow potatoes. In the summer the father sometimes has to sleep in the field to keep the wild animals away. They are not killed nearly chased away. That has improved since the government has provided electric fences. There is an leader in the village who is elected and served for 5 years. Went to a monastery and the monks played us a welcoming song and we were blessed with holy water by the reincarnated monk. Then we went to the village hospital. It has been there for 6 years. It has one doctor and 6 nurses. One ward that can serve 10 patients. The doctor is always on call. He was sent to Sri Lanka for his medical degree paid for by the government and now needs to serve the country for 12 years. It was his choice to come to this village hospital. No pics on Facebook of hospital.

Good by Gangtey Valley. It has been my honor to enjoy your beauty. I am humbled.

Day #5

The highest point. Breathtakingly beautiful!

This is the Temple of the Devine Madman. He is the fertility monk. People come to this temple if they wish to have a baby. I’m not sure I have the whole legend correct but, he came from Tibet. He had a choice of three things. 1. Drinking a lot of moonshine 2. Being with a woman or 3. Killing an animal. He chose the moonshine since it was not as against the practice. Well, he got so drunk that he ended up doing all three. And then did everything he wasn’t supposed to do while preaching spirituality. Legend has it that he slept with 5000 women. The white scarf is the traditional welcome.

The nunnery. There are 120 girls here. It is voluntary, although they do have a few orphans. Women are not allowed to enter the nunnery until they at least finish 8th grade, so they have an education to fall back on if they decide differently. The country very much empowers women. Not like the boys, who can be in monk school as young as 6 years old. The nuns study at the school for 9 years. After that they go on retreat for 2 years. Then they can teach or continue to meditate. I was able to meditate while they chanted. Another special activity.

This is the chief of police who joined us for dinner. He is also the uncle to the Queen Mother. They do not carry guns and try to settle most issues with mediation. Guns are not allowed in the country. Crime is very low in Bhutan. It is a disgrace to the whole family to be brought into the police station. He may have one serious crime a year. There was an incident that we heard of where an Indian climbed up on a stupa, a sacred monument, which is against the law. It went all over social media and created a huge stir. It was nice to hear the end of the story. When the chief questioned him, he was extremely remorseful and said if he had known it was forbidden he never would have done it. The police took this into account and let him go. The king was called and agreed with the decision. The man wrote an apology letter to the Bhatanese police. It was nice to hear the end of the story that had created such a social media stir.

Day #6

The fortress. This is now half a momentary and half the administration building of the government. It has the most beautiful monastery inside. The coronation and marriage of the king took place here. We went rafting down the river then had a picnic lunch. It was so much fun! I have a lot more pictures on my waterproof camera. The last picture is a depiction of Om Mani Pad Mi Hume. When chanted you are helping the world decrease negative emotions such as desire, anger, jealousy, etc.

Wangdi, Our amazing guide who takes such good care of us. To go into the administration building he

added the shawl. Sort of like a tie in our culture. Various ranking officials wear different colors.

Our Christmas dinner in Bhutan. We have been treated like royalty.

Day #7

We made our 6 hour journey up and back to the Tiger’s Nest. We all made it, thanks to our fearless leader Wangdi, who paced us and supported us. We rode on horseback halfway up. But it was still a steep and challenging climb. It is 10,000 feet above sea level. Sixty percent of the people who start the climb do not make it all the way. Near the top alone there are over 700 stairs. It is truly a pilgrimage. It is considered Bhutan’s holiest site. It was worth the climb. As the monk was chanting, Wangdi led us in a meditation. I could feel the energy of the monastery and received holy water from the monk to help rid me of negative emotions.

Later In the day, we were treated to a hot stone bath Bhutanese style. The rocks were heating up since the day before.

I will remember this trip and this day forever.

Day #8

Our last night. A cultural show with traditional dance, music, and singing. I will put a video up if anyone wants to hear the beautiful singing.

Wangdi, you and Bhutan will be in my heart forever. Thank you for making this so special!

If anyone is interested in this or any OAT trip, let me know, I will send you a referral for a discount. This may sound like an advertisement but it truly is special. Ten percent of what you pay for your trip is donated to the countries they serve by building schools, hospitals, etc. OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) has donated 200 million dollars to over 60 countries. When you travel with them you fell like a welcomed guest.

This is the philosophy of the “Happiest Country on Earth.” It is written in their constitution. Any developing activity will have a green value. There are four aspects to it: 1. Preservation of nature. ( over 70% is still green forest) 2. Preserve the culture- although it is not mandatory, most people wear the national costume and all service providers wear it when working. When there is a National celebration it is worn by all. Most Bhutanese who get a higher degree outside the country come back to Bhutan. All buildings are built in the traditional style.3. Good government. The love that these people have for their king is so authentic. This is the 5th king. They do elect a prime minister every five years. I arrived on Dec. 17th which was the National Day. The king addressed his citizens in the stadium in Thimphu. All citizens who had volunteered to help with the day were treated to a lunch with the king the next day, including our teacher host. 4. Social economy- (education is very important and women, in particular are very educated. Many with advanced degrees. And health care is being developed- started by the third king)

Their two biggest industries are hydroelectric power and tourism. They are so gracious to us, Americans.

Imagine a constitution with these principals? Over 80% of the citizens report being happy. They are a gracious beautiful people.

Thank you for following my beautiful trip to Bhutan!

More to come.

-Susan R. Schlank