Thimphu
Going to Bhutan is something special for every traveler. Bhutan limits its number of tourists by imposing a daily fee on its visitors. Although the fee is perhaps as much as a stay in New York or London would cost, it still keeps many people, especially backpackers, from visiting this country. I decided to go to Bhutan more or less on a hunch. It seemed like a short detour from my Southeast Asia trip, it happened to be the right season to travel in Bhutan, and by arranging the visa with a small unknown organization I was able to get a good deal.
My flight left Bangkok at 4am. The plane was fully packed and everyone was visibly excited about going to Bhutan. The flight was only three hours from Bangkok, but because of weather conditions, the plane had to circle Paro for a while before it could land. I think for once everyone enjoyed the delay as we got to fly around the Himalayas a couple of times.
At the airport, the agency that helped me organize my trip was there to welcome me. The manager, her sister and my guide were all there and immediately put a white scarf around my neck as a sign of welcome. We then went for tea and drove from Paro to Thimphu. As we were driving to Thimphu, I could already see a glimpse of Bhutan’s beautiful countryside.
Thimphu is the largest town of Bhutan and its capital. I was fortunate that a festival called Thimphu tsechu had just started on the day that I arrived. The festival consisted of various dances that were performed to honor Guru Rinpoche who brought Buddhism to Bhutan. The dances were all performed by monks and were very colorful. Equally interesting was to watch the crowd that attended the festival. Bhutanese just have so much natural style that it is hard to not be impressed… The festival took place in the dzong that is the seat of the government. Because of the location, everyone had to dress in formal Bhutanese clothes. It is the day when Bhutanese (especially teenagers) dress up, the day to “see and be seen”. I attended the festival for two days. The second day was clearly more interesting in terms of the dances and the dzong was totally packed with people. Thousands had gathered to see the performances. For Bhutanese, witnessing these performances is believed to bring good fortune and negate past sins.
On my first day in Bhutan and Thimphu, I went back to the hotel around 4pm. Since I had only slept two hours the previous night, I was about to collapse. And indeed, as soon as I reached the hotel, I went to sleep. However, at 7pm I heard someone knocking at my door. It was the sister of Savitri (the manager of my tour agency) who was at the door with a bottle of sweet wine and some home-made snacks! Savitri arrived shortly afterwards. Both of them just wanted to make sure that I am ok and further welcome me in Bhutan. We spent the next few hours chatting and drinking in my hotel room. What a welcome!
On my second day in Thimphu, I went to the festival in the morning and then did some additional sight-seeing in the afternoon. I visited the Changangkha Lhakhang, one of the oldest temples in Thimphu dating back to the 15th century. Note that nobody is allowed to take any pictures inside of temples, so I cannot show you what they look like. But most commonly, these temples are very colorful inside with many religious paintings and statues painted in gold. I also visited the Memorial Chorten, a memorial stupa that was built in 1974 in memory of the father of modern Bhutan. Finally, we went to Buddha Point which is a 51 meter high statue of Buddha that overlooks Thimphu. This statue is still under construction and was sponsored by a wealthy businessman from Hong Kong.
On my way back to the hotel, I noticed a street fair that was part of the festival. I decided to walk through it. On one side of the street, it was like any regular fair with people selling all sorts of handicrafts and other merchandise on the street. However, the other half of the street was full of games: darts, a game where a blind-folded person had to hit a pan, a game where you had to throw down a pyramid of empty cans, etc. Watching everyone, including monks, play these games was a delight!
In the evening, Savitri had invited me to dinner at her place. So she, her sister and Sarap (my guide) picked me up and we all went to Savitri’s place. We had a great evening of eating, drinking and dancing! It was such a great way to start my time in Bhutan! I would have never thought that Bhutanese are such partiers…
See more images here.
