10 - Traffic Lights.
There are not any. Not one in the whole country. But they do have traffic police:
9 - Altitude,
Bhutan is in the Himalayas, so its high. The places we went were only considered to be the foot hills to the Himalayas, which does not sound very high, but it was. Most places we went were about 7,000 feet, and the highest we got was about 10,500 feet. But we did see a peaks that are over 24,000
These bags of chips are fully inflated because Science!
8 - Penises.
I have to be very careful with this one. The last time I blogged something that was even slightly off color (Travel Goals) I received an e-mail from a reader telling me it was an embarrassment (Thanks, Mom!). But if you want to know about what it is like to visit Bhutan, you need to talk about Penises. Mom, if you are reading this, you might want to jump down to number 7.
In the 15th century, Lama Drukpa Kunley, known as the divine madman, was said to have defeated a demon using his penis. As as a tribute, there are paintings and carvings of penises everywhere. They are on buildings, signs, postcards, gift shops, etc.
In the gift shops, they have them on key chains, and stand alone. They have them regular and larger than life. They have them painted and or natural. They have them with wings. They have books of the "Phalluses of Bhutan." And the penises are displayed right next to statues of Buddha and other religious items.
7 The Royal Family
Bhutan LOVES their royal family. Their monarchy was founded on 1907, and in 2006, the fourth king abdicated and let his 26 year old son take over. In 2011 he married and earlier this year, his wife gave birth to their first child. There are pictures of the happy family everywhere, and many people where buttons dipicting the royal family. Everyone we asked spoke of the poyals with real affection.
There were three bridges in Bhutan that are worth mentioning.
Thangtong Gyalpo lived in the 14th century and he loved to build bridges. His bridges we made of chain links, and we crossed one of them. It was like trying to walk on a chain link fence. It was awkward, and you could see to the river below.
Just to put this in perspective, this was the first thing we stopped at in Bhutan. We had been traveling for 2 days - Flight delays, missed connections, lack of sleep, etc. Then they have us walk across this see-through bridge, And right in the middle of the crossing, I noticed that the chain going down the center of the bridge is missing a couple links and is wired together. Still, I thought it was pretty cool.
The second bridge is right next to the first. After we crossed hard to walk on bridge, our guide told us we would walk back on the "modern bridge." Low and behold, there is anther bridge I had not even noticed. However, instead of Modern Bridge, I would describe it as pretty good bridge except for the missing and rotten planks.
The third bridge is Punakha Suspension Bridge. At 525 feet, it is the longest suspenstion bridge in Bhutan.
5 Festivals
One of the highlights of going to Bhutan is going to a festival. We were lucky enough to go to two while we were there. Festivals usually take place at the local monastery. They are all day family affairs. All the attendees wear traditional clothes. They bring blankets and picnic near the main performance area. Its good people watching territory.
The performances are traditional dance and singing. It usually tells the stories and legands of the local area.
Sometimes you people watch. Sometimes people watch you.
4 Dragons
Bhutan has a dragon on their flag. Seriously, how cool is that? They love the symbol of the dragon. They don't call themselves Bhutanese, but rather People of the Dragon.
3. Buddhism
I have been to 3 Buddhist countries - Bhutan, Cambodia and Laos. Somehow, the feel of Buddhism is different in Bhutan than the other two. While there are a lot of Buddha statues, and Buddhist monks, it feels like there are fewer. Instead there are Prayer flags and Prayer Wheels.
When Bhutanese spin a prayer wheel, they recite a mantra - Om Mani Padme Hum. I asked our guide what it meant and he said its not a simple or short answer. The overly simplified answer is that the words represent important ideas in Buddhism.
The flags represent the same mantra. In fact, there are some prayer flags that have the words written right on them.
When spinning a prayer wheel, always go clockwise
This Buddha is 168 feet tall. They told us it was the tallest in the world, but I found a list that puts it at #17,
There were 108 stuppas at this location. Evidently, 108 is an important symbolic number in Buddhism. We came across it regularly, including a special gift to honor the new crown crown prince - planting of 108,000 new trees.
This is a bodhi tree. The Buddha was sitting under the same type of tree when he achieved enlightenment.
We bought prayer flags that we hung right here, in full view of the Tiger's Nest (more on that later)
Prayer wheels came in all sizes from huge ones 10 feet in diameter to hand held.
2 Things I Cannot Show You
I cannot show you some of the best things we saw in Bhutan. Photography was not permitted in many places of worship. This was another difference from Cambodia and Laos. Inside the temples was colorful and interesting. Lots of art - statures, paintings, tapestries, etc.
One of the most memorable was a temple were were told we could not go in because there were monks having their daily prayers. But we were allowed to a room above it that looked down on the monks. They were chanting, there were drums and horns. It was fascinating to watch. And I have no pictures or video.
1. The Tiger's Nest
Without a doubt, The Tiger's Nest was the highlight of the trip. It typifies many of the items on this top 10 list. Its at high altitude. Its very Buddhist. There are parts I was not allowed to take photos.
Paro Taktsang (its real name) is located on a cliff wall at just over 10,200 feet. It is a 3,000 foot climb to reach it, and it is well worth it. It was built in the 17th century, and rebuilt a couple times due to fire.
I have rarely seen such a spectacular place.
Great blog post, Tom. I can't wait to get over there someday soon!
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