2017 Himalayas - Bhutan Day 1: Transit and Arrival

We made our final trip through the congested Kathmandu traffic to the airport. Many streets in the city are torn up for a water pipeline project and also because of general reconstruction. There are many more scooters than cars, and they accumulate into dense clusters of bikes at traffic circles as they weave between cars to get as close to the front as possible. And then there are the cows, who take full advantage of their protected status and go pretty much anywhere they want.

 

After getting our Bhutan visas we waited at the gates for our flight to be called, and boarded our Royal Bhutan Airlines jet to Paro. The descent into Paro did not disappoint. Ten or fifteen years ago only a handful of Bhutanese pilots were certified to land there. The topography is one folded green mountain ridge after another, lush and beautiful.

 

 

By necessity, the runway is short, tucked into a narrow valley between parallel ridges of hills that we might call mountains (like the Alleghenys) but our Bhutanese local guide later shrugged off with, "these are hills. The Himalayas are mountains."

The descent was steep, as we took a series of controlled but pronounced turns weaving through the "hills" to approach the landing strip. Success! Here is the view towards either end of the runway:

 

 

After quickly clearing immigration in the beautiful but tiny terminal, we were loaded into our small bus while the luggage was lashed on top. And we were off for the 35 mile drive to the capital, Thimphu.

 

Paved roads are relatively new to Bhutan, and some areas of the country are easiest to get between by driving south to India and heading back north further east. The road to Thimphu is one of the loveliest drives I've experienced, weaving along the edges of the hills while we paralleled a rushing river.

 

We stopped at the confluence of two rivers to see a trio of stupas: Nepalese, Tibetan and Bhutanese.

 

Wandering cows had the right of way. The drive was enlivened by rhyming safety signs along the way:

Peep peep, don't sleep

Speed thrills, then kills

Drive slow to avoid grave below

Shades of Burma Shave.

And growing wild along the side of the road:

 

Our Nepalese guide, Kinga, provided an overview of Bhutan during our 75 minute drive.

Bhutan has a population of around 700,000. The major source of income is hydroelectric power, with tourism ($81MM last year) second.  The country is 72% forested, with an average elevation of 7,400 feet. The constitution mandates that at least 60% of the country are will remain forested. There are 3 main geographical regions: eastern, western and central south. Nineteen dialects are spoken. 

For centuries, most people lived in valleys that are cut off from each other by the mountains. Large fortress-monasteries called dzongs were built in the valleys in the 17th century, providing both an administrative and religious center for the inhabitants. 

Bhutan became a monarchy with a single king in 1907.  Over the next 100 years, five successive generations continued to rule the country. The progressive fourth king, who inherited the throne as a teenager when his father (let's call him K3), died in his mid-40s, initiated a series of policies designed to modernize Bhutan. Educated in India and the United States, K4 was the father of Gross National Happiness (1979) and Bhutanese democracy (2008). He established wide ranging and far reaching domestic reforms, including commencing drafting of the constitution in 2001. He announced his abdication and introduced democracy in 2005 and abdicated in favor of his son in 2006. The transition to a parliamentary democracy occurred in 2008.

The national dress (gho for men and kira for women) has been mandatory since 1990.

 

 

In 1952, China moved into Tibet. Bhutan was concerned about possible encroachment into their own country and turned to India for help. India is still the major trading partner for Bhutan, accounting for 90% of imports and exports. As young Bhutanese choose to leave rural farming areas to live in the cities and larger villages, India provides more produce and meat (for animals are not butchered in Buddhist Bhutan) for the Bhutanese people.

Our hotel is in the center of Thimphu, which has a core of older buildings with a great deal of new apartment construction around the perimeter. All construction, including homes and religious sites, must be approved by the government, which seeks to preserve Bhutan's distinctive architecture. Traditionally, there is a gap between the roof and the top floor, where crops can be dried and preserved. 

There are no traffic lights in Bhutan. There used to be one, but people protested so it was dismantled.