Finding Wonderland – Bhutan Day 1

I can’t believe what’s happening.

It’s 4am in Singapore and there’s a group of very hilariously drunk Koreans leaving the K-Pop bar next to where I’m staying.

But that’s not what I can’t believe.

I can’t believe that I am waiting for a taxi that is going to take me to the airport so I can get on a flight that is going to take me to Bhutan.

I can’t believe it. 

I have dreamed of Bhutan for as long as I can remember and I’m now waiting for a taxi to take me to the airport to so I can get on a flight that is going to take me to Bhutan.

It’s happening. It’s really happening.

Druk Yul.

Bhutan.

Land of the Thunder Dragon. Land of mystical Buddhism. Land of Gross National Happiness.

Traveling to Bhutan requires pretty specific protocol compared to most places. Watching what excessive and unregulated tourism did to nearby Asian countries like Thailand and Bali, the King of Bhutan decided that tourists needed to make a commitment to visit the country by spending a minimum amount, not just backpack in and squat at the cheapest place you can find. In addition, to visit Bhutan you have to work with a Bhutan approved travel agency – and it turns out everyone in Bhutan and their sister, brother and cousin have Bhutan approved tour agencies. It’s overwhelming to know where to start. And because it’s less traveled, finding suggestions from friends is also a complete dead end. Somehow by complete luck, and a little help from Trip Advisor, I settled on a tour company named Bhutan Swallowtail and started the conversation. Now given that I decided to take the plunge with this trip when I was in Bali there wasn’t a lot of time to research and plan ahead. I was completely dependent on the Bhutan Swallowtail to make something happen for me. The first round of emails left me a bit discouraged, not because Bhutan Swallowtail wasn’t great but because the dates that I could visit were a very busy time for travelers because it’s festival season and flights were pretty full. But they were going to look and see what they could find. Sigh but fingers crossed and 24 hours later I was saying YES! to a trip to Bhutan. They found a flight in and out on DrukAir as long as I was ok with Business Class on the way in. Um, for the trip of my dreams? Yes. A very complicated wire transfer and a visa application later, the trip was booked. I was Bhutan bound.

It’s a pretty big feeling when a long-held dream starts coming into form in your life. It brings with it huge feelings of disbelief, gratitude and at times disorientation. 

And a whole lot of hell yeah.

Bhutan is a small, land locked country in between India and China. Unlike so many of its neighbors that were colonized by Europeans, mostly British, in the past, Bhutan escaped the outside influence on its culture and has as a result maintained one of the most unique and unbroken cultural heritages still in practice (legend says its protected by a divine Buddhist relic). Its history starts and still lives and breathes Buddhism through the arrival of Guru Rinpoche in the 7^th century (on a flying dragon from Tibet as the story is told) and today not only is Buddhism widely practiced but it is actually the state religion. Buddhism is everywhere.

Bhutan is ruled by a King, the 5^th in the line, but in 1997 he allowed democratic elections and the country is slowly learning to adapt to the new blended form of government.  When the new government was created along with a new constitution, the constitution created the philosophy of Gross National Happiness as the goal of the government, not Gross Domestic Product. Bhutan is also the only carbon neutral country in the world. It absorbs more carbon than it produces due to its hydroelectric power production and adherence to protection of the natural environment. Combine all of this and Bhutan is unlike any other country in the world. 

Knowing this I’m starting to nerd out about my trip and decided, what the hell. I’m going to take pictures of every single minute of this because this is the trip of my lifetime. So I take pictures of my food on the plane because I’m so excited. 

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And then they tell us we’re about to land and I start doing something I almost never do. Take photos from the plane window. I even get excited that I can see the shadow of the plane on the ground. And as we start to land I am so excited I’m watching all the houses we are flying over and it looks a little more rural than I thought it would and think for a second, hmmm, this isn’t exactly what I was expecting, but hey, airports are usually in weird locations outside of town so who am I to know what it’s supposed to look like when I land in Bhutan. So I keep taking pictures and we land and pull up to the gate. I’m so excited I can’t take it. I’ve checked to make sure I have everything (because I’m pretty excited and ripe for losing stuff) and I wait. And a guy gets on the plane and counts everyone and I think, hmmm, that’s different but I know they’re pretty serious about immigration here so I guess that’s just a cute oddity about Bhutan. And I wait. And it’s taking forever to deboard the plane. But hey, it’s a small country and they don’t get a ton of visitors, so I’m sure there are just different processes. So I’m patient. And so excited. I’m in Bhutan. And then I watch as the stairs start to pull away from the plane and no one has gotten off. And I think, hmmm, that’s strange. But maybe we have to go to another gate to unload? It is starting to get a little weird, until the pilot comes on. Welcome aboard to our passengers joining us at Guawhati, India. We will be taking off soon and our flight time to Paro is about 45 minutes. 

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I was not in Bhutan. I was in India. Guess I put my headphones on a little early in the flight and missed the part of the announcements that said we had a stopover in India.

And so, just like a kid at Christmas I pulled out my camera and got ready to do it all over again. Pictures out of the window and everything until 45 minutes later we landed. And this time it was Paro, Bhutan.

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And here’s me nerding out with pictures of the airport. I mean, look at how cute it is. And the baggage claim…..

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Bag in hand I know I need to get cash which shouldn’t be a problem at an ATM but once I’m in Bhutan my cell service is DOA. T-Mobile has a fantastic international plan but their fantastic efforts don’t appear to have reached this part of the world yet. Without data I can’t check the exchange rates and without knowing the exchange rate I have no idea how much cash to get out of the machine. Luckily, I had a few Singaporean dollars which bought me a local SIM card on my way out of the airport as I headed out to meet my guide and driver for the week. 

Right on time, sign in hand, Thinley and Siri greeted me with a white welcome scarf and loaded me and my stuff into the car. I opted for the front seat so I could see everything and right off the bat couldn’t get the seat belt to fasten. No worries I’m told, you don’t have to wear a seat belt in Bhutan.

Let the adventure begin.

Thinley tells me that today is the last day of the famous Thimphu festival and asks if I’d like to go. Um yes. But on the way there’s a few things to see. And when we get to the first fortress, I know Thinley is going to be a great guide for the week. See when we get to the fortress, which also serves as a monastery, the guards won’t let me in because my shawl isn’t covering my all of my arms (just slightly past my elbow). Crazy I think. This is a tougher standard than Brunei. But I want to be respectful and tell Thinley I can get a different sweater from the car. Just wait he says and I see him working the crowd. Thinley’s got hustle and Thinley gets us in. (Apparently, the head of the department or something like that was there today and the guards were being more strict than usual.)

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So a quick pass through the fortress, then across a bridge and into town we go to the Thimphu festival. Lesson learned I change sweaters and before I know it I’m front row at the annual Thimphu festival and there are really not enough words to properly describe, so I’ll just the pictures do the work.

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It is every bit as incredible and awesome as it looks. 

And I even got my first blessing in Bhutan. 

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By the time I got to my room at the Hotel Taraphendeyling in Thimphu (with the cutest USA blanket in case I needed extra) I was so overwhelmed and full of joy that I’d almost lost my camera, I did lose my sweater and I spilled water on my laptop. 

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I go to bed, heart pounding, and couldn’t be happier. This is going to be great.

love,

rk

PS. Oh yeah. Here’s my first meal in Bhutan where I got to try the famous Ema Datshi, better known as chili cheese, which has officially dethroned its distant cousin Chile con Queso as the best food on the planet, while watched over by the Dalai Lama.

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