About
Bhutan
The silence of Hidden kingdom...............
The Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan is fast emerging from centuries
of self imposed isolation. First opened to tourists in 1974 in
very regulated manner upon the coronation of present Bhutanese
King, this mountain kingdom is still perhaps the world’s most
exclusive tourists destination.
Due to the Royal Government’s far-sighted policy to preserve the
countries pristine environment and its culture, the harmful
effects to industrialization and mass tourism on the environment
and the traditional lifestyle of Bhutanese have been carefully
avoided. This makes Bhutan a truly unique destination.
An unspoiled country with majestic mountains, a unique cultural
heritage preserved for many centuries, an architectural style
like no other, a landfill of warm hearted and friendly people,
reveals a true paradise in the lost era of the present century.
Fact for the Traveller
Bhutan’s policy of restricting tourism has three purposes.
First, it aims to preserve the natural environment and the
lifestyle of the people without upsetting their existing
socio-economic balance. Second, it recognises the lack of
infrastructure and tourist facilities, the rugged character of
the terrain and problems of communication. Third, by charging
all travellers a daily fee for tourist services (hotels,
transport, meals, guide, etc). Bhutan is able to earn the
foreign currency it needs for expenditure in other areas of
development. Bhutan receives and average of 2,500 tourists a
year.
Getting to Bhutan
It is impossible to visit Bhutan as an individual traveller
except by official invitation from the government. You must come
in a group. The Bhutan Tourism Corporation (BTC), an office of
the government, provides tourist services within the country and
manages all tourist affairs (except for Indian nationals, who
enjoy a special status). Rates vary according to the season and
type of accommodation, but you should count on at least U$170
per day. Diplomats can take advantage of slightly different
conditions. For further information about arrangements, rates or
methods of payment, write in English to the HIGHLAND ADVENTURES.
Individuals travelling in India and Thailand can join special
groups to Bhutan organised by us leaving either from Calcutta on
Fridays and returning on Tuesdays, or from Bangkok, where a
‘Three Kingdom Tour’ is offered through Thai International,
starting from Thailand and taking in both Nepal and Bhutan. A
five-day tour departs from Bangkok on Wednesdays and a four-day
tour departs on Sundays.
By Air The only practical way for tourists to enter Bhutan is by
air. Druk Air, Bhutan’s national airline, has been in operation
since 1983 and has its headquarters at the airport at Paro.
Outside the country it is sometimes known by the name of Royal
Bhutan Airlines. The fleet currently consists of one twin-engine
Donier 228 propeller aircraft carrying 17 passengers, and one
BAE 146 four-engine jet carrying 70 passengers.
From October to April, when the skies are generally clear, the
flight into Bhutan provides fantastic views over the Himalayas (Ganesh
Himal, Cho Oyu, Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, Kanchenjunga,
Chomolhari, Gangkar Phunsum, Kula Kangri). Upon landing at Paro
Airport you will be met by a tour-guide and a bus. Druk Air also
operates a bus between the airport and Thimphu. The bus ride
from Paro to Thimphu takes 1 hour 15 minutes and costs 25
ngultrums, or US$2.
Druk Air timetables are often subject to change without prior
notice, so you should confirm times by telex from Druk Air
Thimphu, or ask the Druk Air agent in Bangkok (Thailand), Dhaka
(Bangladesh), Delhi, Calcutta (India) or Kathmandu (Nepal). To
give a general idea.
Paro Airport is in the mountains, where weather conditions
sometimes prevent flights from landing or taking off. You should
therefore try to avoid tight connections, if possible allowing a
full day between the flight out of Bhutan and any on going
flight. If Druk Air is unable to fly, it normally takes no
responsibility for passengers, expenses while they wait (hotel,
food, etc.), except on the Bangkok flights.
All air costs into or out of Bhutan must be paid is US dollars,
either in cash or travellers’ cheques. Credit cards are not
accepted. The only exception is when Druk Air tickets are bought
in Thimphu. Chundu travel and Yu Druk travel both accept America
Express.
Visas
Bhutan requires visas but it does not issue them abroad. Details
about your passport must be given to the travel organisation
arranging your trip at least 15 days before you leave for
Bhutan. You will not be permitted to board the plane into Bhutan
unless the clearance has come from Thimphu. The visa itself will
be stamped into your passport on arrival at Paro Airport. It
costs US$20, which must be paid in cash.
Leaving Bhutan
Airport Tax There is an airport tax of 50 ngultrums per person
upon departure from Paro. The airports from where you catch your
flight into Bhutan may also charge a tax. The amount varies from
one country to another, so it is a good idea to inquire in each
country.
Customs
It is strictly forbidden to export antiques. It is also
forbidden to take out religious objects such as statues, prayer
wheels, reliquaries, bells or vajras, whether old or new. It is
better to avoid trouble and buy what you want in India, Nepal or
Sikkim. If you have already bought a religious object before
entering Bhutan, declare it on your customs form and mention it
to your Bhutanese guide. However, an exception is made for new
thangkas (painted religious scrolls) purchased at the state
store, the Handicrafts Emporium, in Thimphu, but they must be
accompanied buy a certificate from the Department of
Antiquities.. Your guide will take care of that formality for
you. Tourists are strongly discouraged from buying anything
directly from villagers in order to safeguard Bhutan’s cultural
heritage. It is advisable to ask for sales receipts from all
shops to show to customs inspectors when you leave Bhutan.
Purchases without sales slips run the risk of being confiscated.
it is also forbidden to take out any butterflies, plants or
floers.
Money
Bhutan’s unit of currency is the ngultrum (Nu.), which equals
100 chetrum. A ngultrum has the same value as an Indian rupee,
which is also legal tender. Tourists can exchange travellers’
cheques or cash at the Bank of Bhutan in Thimphu or in their
hotels. American dollars, pounds sterling, French or Swiss
francs, German marks or Japanese yen are the accepted
currencies.
Credit cards are still unknown in Bhutan except in Thimphu where
a few shops and travel agencies will take American Express
cards.
Communications
The Bhutanese postal system is slow but relatively reliable. The
honesty and goodwill of Thimphu’s postmen are worth a mention.
As of 1989, postcards for all destinations except India, Nepal
and Bhutan require a 3 Nu. stamp. Letter for Europe require 4.50
Nu., for Asia 4 Nu., for America 5 Nu., for India, Nepal or
Bhutan 50 Pychetrum. A letter takes about ten days to reach
Europe, one week to Japan and three weeks to America. Packages
(up to 5 kg or 11 lb.) should be sent by registered mail.
Bhutanese stamps are beautiful and a joy stamp collectors. If
this is your interest, ask at the philatelic office of the
Thimphu Post office to see the stamp albums and also buy
first-day covers there.
There is a public telex in Thimphu, in addition to telex lines
used by government offices. The rates are for a minimum of three
minutes but the lines are frequently out of order. Likewise, if
the telephone lines are working, it is possible to make
international calls but there is likely to be a long delay as
calls have to go through two exchanges, one in Bhutan and
another in India. If you should get through and are not cut off,
a clear connection is rare. Telephoning can be a trying
experience for the nerves and a waste of time. Moral: only try
telephoning in a real emergency and don’t count on a good
connection.
Medication
Bring all your customary medicines with you plus a laxative, an
anti-diarrhoea medicine (an oral dehydration solution is also
very helpful in case of diarrhoea), antihistamine tablets,
anti-nausea tablets (in case of mountain sickness), eye lotion,
lip salve and one or two syringes with disposable needles.
Thimphu has three pharmacies that are well stocked with
antibiotics and analgesics.
Hospitals
The hospital at Thimphu is a far cry from hospitals with Western
facilities but it is the best equipped in the country, with
general physicians, specialists and dentists, a laboratory for
tests and an operating room, but no intensive care unit. Simpler
hospital units exist in all major centre throughout the country.
Medical care is free.
Climate
It is hard to generalise about Bhutan’s weather since the
mountain climate varies enormously from one region to another.
It varies with the altitude and can also reach extremes of heat
and cold within the same 24 hours at any given altitude.
Southern Bhutan is tropical, with a monsoon season. The east is
warmer than the west. The central valleys of Punakha, Wangdi
Phodrang, Mongar, Tashigang and Lhuntshi enjoy a semi-tropical
climate with very cool winters, Paro, Thimphu, Tongsa and
Bumthang have a much harsher climate, including occasional
snowfalls in winter. The north of the country is inhabited up to
5,000 m (16,400 ft) in summer. The climate there is rough, with
monsoon rains in summer and heavy snowfalls in winter that block
the passes leading into the central valleys.
In these valleys, where most tourist activities are
concentrated, the winters (mid-November to Mid-March) are dry,
with daytime temperatures of 16-18oC (60-65oF) if the sun is
shining. By contrast, the evening and early mornings are cold,
with night-time temperatures falling below freezing. Snow covers
the mountain tops but reaches the valley only two or three times
each winter.
Spring lasts from mid-March to the beginning of June, with
temperature warming gradually to 27-29oC (80-84oF) by day and
18oC (64oF) at night. However, cold spells are possible up until
the end of April, with a chance of new snow on the mountains
above the valleys. Strong, gusty winds start blowing almost
every day from noon to about 6 pm, raising clouds of dust. (Many
roofs get blown off in this season!) The first storms break, and
they become more and more frequent with the approach of the
monsoon which arrives in mid-June.
This brings the rainy season. Bhutan then receives abundant
rain, especially in the south, as it gets the full force of the
monsoon coming up from the Bay of Bengal, to which its mountains
form a barrier. However, apart from the first days of the
monsoon when it rains without stopping, the rain falls mainly in
the late evening and at night. Temperatures get a little cooler
- 23-24oC(73-75oF) by day and 15-16oC(59-61oF) at night but the
sun often comes out from behind the clouds and the days are very
pleasant. It is worth noting that, unless you are extremely
lucky, it is almost impossible to get a clear view of the high
Himalayas from the end of March until the end of September.
At the end of September, after the last of the big rains, autumn
suddenly arrives. All at once the sky clears, a brisk breeze
picks up and temperatures start falling towards freezing at
night although bright sunshine continues to keep the days warm.
Autumn is a magnificent season that lasts until mid-November.
Clothing
The wide range of temperatures does not make dressing easy. The
best solution is to wear several layers, such as a cotton shirt,
pullover, wool cardigan and jacket, which can be taken off or
added as needed. Do not bring delicate clothes: conservative
sportswear is the appropriate style for a traveller in Bhutan.
Even in summer you will need a sweater or light jacket in the
evening. An umbrella is a ‘must’ in all season. It is more
useful than a raincoat and acts as protection not only against
the rain but also against the sun, which can be fierce at these
altitudes. Comfortable sports shoes are strongly recommended;
mountain boots are not necessary unless you plan to go trekking.
From May to September, cotton clothes are sufficient, plus a
woollen sweater or light jacket. From November to the end of
April on the other hand, you will need very warm clothes
including long underwear or woollen tights to wear under
trousers, and a down jacket or coat. Houses and hotels are very
poorly heated; the electricity is often cut off and rooms can
become icy cold, especially at night when the temperature
indoors can drop to 3-4oC(37-39oF). It is dangerous to leave the
small electric heater running all night because of the risk of a
short-circuit and fire.
Clothes dry fast and you are able to get your laundry returned,
washed and ironed, on the following day in all the hotels at
Thimphu, Paro, Phuntsholing, Bumthang and Tashigang. Dry
cleaning takes two weeks!
The Bhutanese are conservative and wear their own national
costume. Clothes that are too tight-fitting, short or revealing,
such as shorts, miniskirts or low-cut T-shirts, cause offence,
especially in the countryside, and should be avoided by
visitors. If you are going to meet a member of the government,
city clothes are recommended (jacket and tie for men, skirt for
women).
Equipment and Supplies
As well as the medical supplies mentioned earlier, you may want
to bring with you: sunscreen lotion, sunglasses, a water flask,
a torch (flashlight) with extra batteries, a folding pocket
knife, a hat or headscraf in summer, cap and gloves in winter,
disinfectant tablets for water, insect repellent (summer) and
paper tissues. Toilet paper and talcum powder can be purchased
in the main towns. Sanitary towels for women can be found but
are expensive and mediocre in quality-better to bring your own.
Coffee-lovers may want to bring their own preferred brand.
packets of dried soup and herbal tea bags are very comforting
when you are not feeling well. Dried fruit is available but
expensive and of poor quality. Salami, cheese, etc. brought from
abroad help to liven up ordinary picnics.
Cigarettes imported from India are available but expensive. In
Thimphu only, you can find Western cigarettes (555, Rothmans,
Dunhill, Marlboro) but at prohibitive prices. If you smoke, you
would do better to bring your own.
Photography
You should plan to bring all your own photographic equipment,
including film and bateries. You can find film for prints in
Thimphu but rarely for slides. There is no way to get a camera
repaired in Bhutan. Video cameras are permitted but 16mm movie
cameras are not, the latter being considered professional
equipment and subject to very high duty.
Photography is not allowed inside religious monuments or dzongs!
Electricity
Bhutan’s electricity is 220 V but it is erratic. Power cuts are
frequent, even in Thimphu. In the rest of the country, the power
supply depends on so many factors that it tends to be very
irregular. Always keep a torch (flashlight) handy. Do not rely
on an electric razor.
Food and Drink
Lack of variety prevents Bhutanese cooking from ranking among
the world’s great cuisine, but it is nonetheless quite
interesting.
There are three conditions for fully appreciating Bhutanese
cooking: you should like hot, spicy food, you should like meat
fat, and you should like dried meat. However, to set your mind
at rest, there are many vegetable dishes that do not contain the
last two ingredients though hot chilli peppers are to be found
in some form in all of them. The national dish, hemadatsi, is
made entirely of chillies (hema), treated as a vegetable rather
than as seasoning, and served in a cheese sauce. Nowadays, a
typical Bhutanese meal consists of mountain of rice (the
Bhutanese eat up to a kilo of rice a day) and two or three
dishes with various stews, the number of which increases with
the status of the family. The rice may be white or red; the
latter is a special variety, not whole-grain rice. Rice is
becoming increasingly the staple food throughout the country
whereas, until quite recently, buckwheat pancakes (Kulu) and
noodles (buta) were the main component of the diet of Bumthang
in Central Bhutan, and maize in the eastern regions.
Melted, soft fresh cheese (datsi) is used to make the sauce in
which many vegetables are cooked, especially potatoes,
mushrooms, asparagus and fiddlehead ferns. The Bhutanese are
skilled at using wild food products from the forests:
fiddleheads, bamboo, mushrooms, taro, yams, sweet potatoes, wild
beans, banana-flower buds, and even orchids and dried river
weed. Soya is only eaten in certain areas of Eastern Bhutan.
Most stews contain a little meat or small bones. The favorite
meats of the northern Bhutanese are yak and pork. Beef and
chicken are the second choice, while mutton and lamb are not
eaten at all. Meat can be eaten fresh or dried and, except in
summer, it is common to see strips of meat drying on lines or
hanging from windows. Pork fat is considered a delicacy, and the
best of all and second most popular national dish after
hemadatsi is undoubtedly phagshapa, strips of pork-fat, often
dried, stewed with radishes or turnips and dried chillies.
Scrambled eggs cooked in butter are the main ingredient of
gondomaru, while Bhutanese salad, eze, composed of hot peppers,
soft cheese, tomatoes and finely chopped onions, complements
other dishes. Fresh fish is rare because religious
considerations rule out fishing, but dried fish brought up from
the plains makes a tasty stew mixed with hot peppers.
Small pieces of liver dredged in chilli power, lung stuffed with
a special variety of pepper, pig’s feet and blood sausages
filled with hot peppers are specilities that the casual visitor
will probably not have an opportunity to taste. Rice is eaten
with the right hand, pressed into a small ball and dipped in the
stew, or alternated with bits of meat or vegetable. The powerful
hot peppers often cause noses and eyes to run, but this just
provides proof of a properly seasoned meal. Sweets and desserts
barely exist except for kabze, dried fritter in various shapes
that are prepared for festivals. Roasted flour, called pchie
(similar to Tsampa), toasted rice (zao), flattened rice (sip)
and flattened maize (gesasip) are served with tea as an
appetizer or for breakfast. They can be eaten dry or dipped in
the tea.
Tea is generally considered to be the most widely consumed
beverage, but it is surprising to note that in parts of Central
and Eastern Bhutan, area, a drink with 20 per cent alcohol
content, is the commonest drink. There are two kinds of tea:
seudja, which is tea churned with salt and butter, and nadja,
tea brewed with milk and sugar in the Indian style. Coffee, or
rather Nescafe, is a recent innovation and luxury which is not
to be found in village homes.
Drinking pure milk is also a new habit that has not become
widespread. Traditionally, milk has always been turned into
butter and cheese. Datsi, the small, round, soft cheeses on sale
in the market, are never eaten raw but are used to thicken
sauces. Another kind of cheese is churpi, which you will see as
a loop of big white cubes strung together. This cheese, made in
yak-breeding areas, is nibbled between meals and is unbelievably
hard. The last kind of cheese, and the most sought-after because
it is the most difficult to find, comes from Eastern Bhutan and
is called seudeu. It resembles a greyish green blob and is sold
in leather containers. Its pervasive smell and unappetizing
appearance may repel foreign cheese-lovers. It is never eaten
raw but is mixed in small quantities into broth to make soup.
Among specialities of Tibetan origin, by far the most popular
are momos, little raviolis stuffed with meat, vegetable or
cheese. Thukpa is a noodle soup that many people enjoy in
winter. Shabale are fried dumplings stuffed with minced meat.
The more rarely found trimomo is steamed bread served with a
soup.
A meal must always end with the passing around of doma. Doma is
quid of betel, but in Bhutan this is much more than a simple aid
to digestion. To offer doma to somebody is to express friendship
and it is a symbol of sociability. Ready-made quids of betel
wrapped in little paper cones can be bought perfectly but the
true betel-lover prepares his own, which involves a whole
ritual. Apart from its social significance, doma is an
intoxicating substance on about the same level as tobacco, and
also has harmful effects. The government is now trying to limit
the use of doma and young people are eating less and less of it.
In the south of Bhutan, supari or pan takes the place of doma.
There the regional cooking is much less distinctive, being very
close to the cuisines of India and Nepal. There are more
vegetables, lentils and onions, and the favorite meats are
mutton and chicken.
Indian beer is available in all urban centres, as well as
whisky, gin and rum, produced in Bhutan at reasonable prices.
According to connoisseurs, Special Courier and Bhutan Mist pure
malt whiskies are good. There is no wine but there local
alcoholic drinks made from grain, arakand chang, which are not
always produced under the most hygienic conditions.
A distillery in the Bumthang Valley produces very reasonably
priced cider, apple wine and apple and peach brandy. These
products can be bought in Thimphu at Lhatshog. It is impossible
for tourists to buy Western alcoholic drinks.
Shopping
Bhutan has very fine handicrafts. Objects are fashioned from
bamboo, wood and silver, and there are many kinds of fabric and
even thangkas. Bhutanese handicrafts differ from those of other
Asian countries in two respect; they are not oriented to the
tourist market, there by remaining authentic,, and they are
relatively expensive. Bargaining is not a custom in Bhutan so
you cannot hope to get more than a 10 per cent reduction.
There are no handicraft shops except in Thimphu, so shopping
elsewhere is difficult and there is very little choice. You
might meet somebody while you are travelling across the country
who will sell you something typical of that region, but it is by
no mean certain. Thimphu is without question the best place to
find a variety of goods from all over Bhutan; here you can make
comparisons and choices. One word of advice: if you see
something you like, buy it at once because shops do not keep any
stocks.
Thangkas
Religious banners that are new but painted according to the
strict rules of traditional iconography are sold primarily at
the government-run Handicrafts Emporium. they can be mounted on
brocade or not, as you like. Without brocade, the lowest price
is around US$25; a large thangka with brocade can run up to
US$335.
Fabrics and Clothing
Handwoven fabrics are the pride of Bhutan and will remind
textile-lovers of weaving from Laos, from the tribes of
northeastern India or the Amerindians of Central America and
Peru. Prized around the world, some pieces are collector’s
items. Handwoven fabrics cannot be bought by the metre or yard.
The cheapest fabrics are plain cotton, while the most expensive
are masterpieces, representing many months of intensive work,
which are covered with silk designs on a base of either cotton
or silk. There are different types of textile for different
purposes: belts; the women’s national dress (kira); the men’s
garment (go); the wormen’s ceremonial scarves (rachung); and the
men’s (kabne); ceremonial cloths (chasipangkhep); bags (pechung
or bundi); and rolls of woollen cloth from Bumthang called yatra
which, when sewn, serve as coverlets, sofa covers or jackets.
A woman’ dress, or kira, is a simple rectangular piece of cloth
2.5 by 1.5 meters (roughly 2.5 by 1.5 yards). It is wound around
the body secured at the shoulders by two silver clasps and
gathered in at the waist by a wide belt. A kira is usually made
up of three pieces of cloth sewn together to form the rectangle,
but it can also be made from a dozen narrow strips which in this
case are always of wool. A man’s go is cut somewhat like a
kimono and reaches the ankles. It is pulled up to the knees and
fastened at the waist by a narrower belt than the woman’s,
forming a large pouch over the abdomen.
In 1989, a simple cotton kira was worth about US$20, a kira with
silk designs on cotton cost US$300 and US$800 and a kira of silk
on silk cost US$1,150-2,500. A go made of raw silk cost
US$130-170; a go or kira of wool was between US$60 and US$75. A
yatra was US$50 for a fine silk one. Shops in Thimphu which sell
excellent traditional textiles are the Handicrafts Emporium.
You can also buy a kira or go made of Bhutanese machine-woven
material at Gyeltsen Tsongkhang. There are also Bhutanese
children’s clothes of machine-woven material which are cheap and
make delightful gifts.
Jewellery and Silverwork
The most popular products are wooden alcohol-receptacles mounted
and decorated with beaten silver, and containers for ingredients
used in the preparation of betel nut: these are rectangular
boxes to contain the betel leaves and areca nut (about US$135),
and little round boxes to hold the lime. Bhutanese jewellery is
limited but spectacular: large clasps of chased silver connected
by a chain, earrings of gold an turquoise, heavy silver
bracelets with simple engraving or set with coral and turquoise,
silver belt ornaments and elaborate pearl necklaces.
Woodwork
The most beautiful woodcarving is found on wall panels and small
folding tables that are nearly always painted. Masks represent
human characters, animals or gods who appear in scared dances.
They can be made of wood or papier-mache and are always painted.
They come in two sizes: normal and miniature. Lacquered bowls
and receptacles vary considerably in price depending on the
quality of the wood (ordinary wood or gnarled) and whether or
not they are mounted with silver. Woodwork and masks can be
found at the Handicrafts Emporium and Ehtometo.
Carved Slate
You can sometimes find etched slate objects of excellent quality
at the Handicrafts Emporium but their weight can create a
problem if you are travelling by air.
Bamboo and Rattan Wares
Common objects for everyday use are the cheapest, most authentic
souvenirs you can purchase. In certain shops in Thimphu and in
the Sunday market you will find tea or alcohol strainers,
conical hats, quivers, tall baskets for serving rice,
rectangular mats for sorting rice and other grains, or slender
bamboo cylinders covered with braided strips and pierced with a
hole - they are for carrying alcohol. Rectangular baskets with
lids, called zem, are meant to be slung over the flanks of pack
animals. They are now very rare except in miniature. Finally,
there are the famous banchung, light round baskets decorated
with coloured decorated with coloured geometric designs whose
two parts stack one inside the other and close tightly; they are
very practical for carrying food and can also be used as plates.
Paper and Books
Bhutanese paper is handmade in large, square sheets with flecks
of bark still visible. It is excellent for painting on, for
doing calligraphy or for making original gift-wrapping. It can
be bought by the sheet at the Handicrafts Emporium.
Rugs
Most of the good rugs that you find in Thimphu are made locally.
Bhutan has always produced outstanding fabrics but never rugs.
They are imported from Tibet. The best choice of rugs is a
Tshering Drolkar, at the Motithang Hotel and sometimes at Zangmo.
Although rugs are starting to be woven in Bhutan, the quality is
poor.
Other Things of Buy
Some other interesting things you may find at the Handicrafts
Emporium are waterproof black hats, made of yak hair, which come
from the eastern region of Merak Sakteng. The appendages that
stick out around them allow the rain to run off without getting
your face wet. Wallets and other articles made out of
traditional fabrics are very popular.
The only non-religious musical instrument, which can sometimes
be purchased at the Handicrafts Emporium, is the dranyen, a kind
of flute made of painted wood. In the Sunday market it is often
possible to buy the long, copper telescopic trumpets that are
used for religious ceremonies. Bundles of incense are available
everywhere. The quality is better than that of Indian incense as
it is composed of pur incense without added sticks of wood for
strength, but that means it is also much more fragile. Bhutan’s
stamps are greatly prized by collectors and are very cheap since
they are sold at their postal value.
Excellent maps of Bhutan and the town of Thimphu are available
as well as cassettes of secular and religious Bhutanese music,
although they are not professional recordings. The Ethometo shop
sells maps and cassettes, also postcards, T-shirts and sweat
shirts with emblems of Bhutan, and magnificent Bhutan calendars.
A good selection of Tibetan and Bhutanese calendars and modern
religious paraphernalia can also be found.
Darjeeling tea is a good buy. The best brands are Lopchu (pink
and blue package) or Makaibari Apoorva (green and yellow
package). These can be found at Lhatshog, where you can also
find the alcoholic drinks produced in Bumthang: cider, apple
wine and apple brandy. Out of curiosity, take a look at the
blackish cones and bricks of tea leaves that are used for making
butter-tea has a whole asortment of such typical goods and is
worth a visit if you do not have chance to see the Sunday
market.
Boots made of leather or felt look attractive but are fairly
uncomfortable because they are cut very wide.
Bhutanese machine-woven check material made of mixed wool and
polyester can be bought by the metre at Gyeltsen Tsongkhang,
mentioned above. Warm and strong, it is intended for school
uniforms and costs about US$5 per metre. It makes excellent
winter shirts, skirts or dresses. You can also find printed
flannelette (ask for pooche) at about US$1.25 a metre. you can
have a shirt made for US$2.50 in 24 hours by the Indian tailors
located on the left side of the tourism building or at the
Emporium. Unfortunately, they do not know how to make skirts or
dresses.
The two pieces of Bhutanese woman’s costume, which can be easily
worn in the West, are the blouse (onju) and the little jacket (toego).
Neither one fastens, both are cut on the same pattern and one
size fits all, more or less. They can be found most easily at
Gyeltsen Tsongkhang, Ugyen Dorje Tsongkhang and Karmapa
Tsongkhang. They are usually made of polyester and cost about
US$7 for the blouse US$14 for the jacket. When they are made of
silk or imported brocade, the price goes up to US$40 or more.
Area Open to Visitors
Since January 1988, foreign visitors have been forbidden to
visit most of Bhutan’s temples, fortresses and monasteries. This
decision was taken in order to protect the works of art, to
prevent any commercialization of the religion, and to preserve
the sancity of its ceremonies. In exceptional cases and for a
particular site, written permission may be granted by the
Secretary of the Special commission for Cultural Affairs. The
list of religious monuments where tourists were still permitted
to enter was as follows in 1989 :-
Western Bhutan
Paro district: Ta Dzong (National Museum), Drukyel Dzong,
viewpoint looking at Taktsang from the tourist inn, Bitekha
At Thimphu: Tashichoedzong (in winter when the monks are at
Punakha), Memorial Chorten of the Third King, Temples of
Changlimithang and Jigmeling.
Chukha district : Temples of Zangdopelri and Kharbandi at
Phuntsholing, Temples of Kamji, Chasilakha and chime, and
Chapcha Dzong.
Chirang district: Temples of Damphu and Lamidara.
Punakha district: Punakha Dzong (in summer when the monks are in
Thimphu).
Central Bhutan
Jakar (Bumthant) district: Wangdichoeling Dzong, Scared Lake of
Mabartsho, Temple of Ura.
Geylegphug district: Monasteries of Tharpaling and Nyimalung,
Temples of Sershong and Sergang.
Eastern Bhutan
Mongar district: Mongar Dzong.
Tashigang district: Temple of Zangdopelri at Kanglung, Temples
of Radi, Merak and Saketeng, Tashi Yangtse Dzong.
Samdrup Jongkhar district: Temple of Zangdopelri.
The Land of Bhutan
Geography and Population
Bhutan’s isolation from the Western world can be explained in
large part by its geography. Located between India and the
autonomous region of Tibet, China, between 88o45' and 28o15' and
92o10' longitude east and between 26o40' and 28o15' latitude
north, the country covers 47,000 sq. km (18.147 sq. miles). It
has a population density (1987) of 28.9 people per sq. km (74.8
per sq. miles). Population growth is 2 percent per annum.
Bhutan forms a gigantic staircase from a narrow strip of land in
the south at an altitude of 300m (985 ft) up to high Himalayan
peaks in the north with an altitude of over 7,000m (23,000 ft).
Access
The most densely populated and fertile regions are the southern
borderlands, the foothills of the Himalayas, with an altitude
between 300 and 1,600 m (985-5,250 ft) and the central valleys,
with an altitude between 1,100 and 2,600 m (3,600-8,530 ft).
Until the 1960s, the central valleys were very hard to reach
from the south because a formidable mountain wall rises 2,000 m
(6,500 ft) from the plain, cut through with jungle filled gorges
that made travel dangerous and slow. It took five days to cover
the hundred-odd kilometers (150 miles) of paths that separated
the capital of Thimphu from Buxa Duar on the Indian border.
Paradoxically, until the closing of the border with Tibet in
1959, the High Himalayas provided easy access in several places,
with certain passes open even in winter. There were numerous
cultural and economic exchanges between the two countries, going
all the way back to the seventh century.
In the first half of the 20th century, some of the more
accessible regions of Bhutan were settled by people of Nepalese
origin who could tolerate low altitudes. In 1962, a paved road
was constructed for north-south traffic linking Thimphu with
Phuntsholing in the southwest, and in 1963 another was completed
between Thimphu and Samdrup Jongkhar in the southeast.
Southern Bhutan
With the coming of the paved road, the narrow southern plain,
formerly called the Duars, ‘the Gates’, and the Himalayan
foothills - up to 1,700 m (5,575 ft) - could now be made
productive. The proximity of markets in northern India and
Bangladesh contributed to the development of these areas and
small trading towns came into existence: Phunsholing, Geylegphug
and Samdrup Jongkhar. Small industries producing such goods as
alcohol, bricks, clothes, matches, fruit juice and jam started
up in this border region. Two big cement plants, Panden in the
west and Naglam in the east, and a calcium carbide factory at
Pasakha, export the major part of their production. Apart from
rice grown for local consumption, other crops, including oranges
and cardamom, are directed towards foreign markets.
The southern regions are inhabited mainly by peasants of
Nepalese origion high-case people and tribal populations who
continued to immigrate from the end of the 19th century until
about 1950. They are full Bhutanese citizens, citizens,
officially designated as Southern Bhutanese.
The Central Himalayas
In the central Himalayas where Bhutan is located summer rice and
winter wheat are grown in the valleys of Paro, Thimphu, Punakha,
Wangdi Phodrang, Lhuntshi and part of Tashigang, while barley,
buckwheat and wheat are the crops of Ha and Bumthang which lie
above 2,600 m (8,500 ft). Since the beginning of the 1980s,
potatoes have made a remarkable breakthrough in areas that are
too high or too poor for rice. Thus, Chapcha, south of Thimphu,
Bumthang, the glacial valley of Gantey (Phobjika) near the Pele
La (la means pass), and the Kanglung region near Tashigang are
experiencing an economic boom thanks to this tuber that has made
itself at home in Bhutan. In the east, where the soil is poorer,
maize is the main crop, with the best soil saved for rice
cultivation. Millet is grown everywhere and turned into alcohol.
The Thimphu and Paro areas also produce peaches and plums but
specialize in apples and asparagus. A large part of the two
latter crops goes for export. Oranges and bananas, consumed
locally, grow in Punakha, Wangdi Phodrang, Mongar, Lhuntshi and
Tashigang. The raising of livestock - pigs, cattle and poultry -
is widespread both in the central valleys and the south, but the
purpose is home consumption rather than mass production. Sheep
are raised in Bumthang to produce wool rather than meat, as the
Bhutanese do not like mutton. Moreover, religious beliefs
prevent the killing of animals for meat.
The central Himalayan region is the home of the Drukpa people,
mainly peasants and livestock breeders, who are of Mongoloid
stock and speak language of the Tibeto-Burman family. Their
dwellings are normally scattered but towns are now developing
around the dzongs (monastery-fortresses) which formerly defended
each valley. Their appearance is directly related to the
improved network of communications, the growth of an
administrative infrastructure and the birth of a middle class
made up of civil servants and small shopkeepers.
In addition to the High Himalaya’s which run east-west, mountain
chains also run north-south at a height 4,000-5,000 m
(13,000-16.400 ft) traversing the country and forming veritable
barriers between different regions. Each of the central valleys
is thus a microcosm separated from the next valley by a high
pass (average altitude 3,000 m, or almost 10.000 ft), a great
hindrance to communications within the country. A main road now
links up all the central valleys but it still takes three days
under the best weather conditions to go from Ha to Tashigang.
The Black Mountains form the main watershed separating two river
basins on either side, where the rivers are originated
north-south, watering the valleys. The rivers are turbulent,
rushing through gorges before they empty on to the Indian plains
to become large tributaries - the Torsa, Raidak,
Sankosh and Manas - of the Brahmaputra. Their hydroelectric
potential is enormous and a 336 megawatt power station, Chukha
Hydel, has been built with India assistance on the Wang Chhu (chhu
means ‘river’).
The Central Himalayas, inhabited by the Drukpas, can thus be
divided into three parts with very distinct characteristics,
enhanced by the fact that each has its own language which is
mutually incorprehensible to the others.
Western Bhutan
Western Bhutan is made up of the valleys of Ha, at 2,700 m
(8,850 ft), Paro, at 2,200 m (7,200 ft), and Thimphu, at 2,300 m
(7,500 ft), while Punakha and Wangdi Phodrang, at 1,300 m (4,260
ft), form a single long valley. Except for the Ha valley, which
has a climate suited more for livestock raising and which used
to be very active in trade with Tibet, Western Bhutan is a land
of rice paddies and orchards.
The relative wealth of the people can be seen in the very large
houses that accommodate several generations. The walls are of
rammed earth and straw, the upper storeys boasting remarkable
woodwork with paintings frequently seen on the frames of the
three lobed windows and on the ends of beams. Wooden shingles,
the traditional roofing material, have often been replaced by
corrugated iron. However, traditional roofs have come back into
favour and the recent opening of a slate mine provides a totally
satisfactory alternative to shingles. The mountain slopes are
covered by fine coniferous and deciduous forests where logging
is strictly controlled by the government. All the valleys are
rich in reminders of the past: monasteries, temples and
fortresses abound, and the country’s permanent capital has been
located in the Thimphu valley since the early 1950s.
The five valleys which make up Western Bhutan are the domain of
the Ngalong, ‘the first to rise’, meaning the first to convert
to Buddhism, who speak Dzongkha, the ‘language of the Dzong
(fortress)’, now the national language of Bhutan. Although
closely related to Tibetan, it has many differences,
particularly in the pronunciation of final syllables and the
conjugation of verbs.
Central Bhutan
Central Bhutan is made up of several regions, all of which speak
a language (kha) with local variations (Bumthangkha, Khyengkha,
Kurtoekha). Its archaic usages place it linguistically in the
eastern Proto-Bodish subgroup. The most southerly district of
central Bhutan is called Khyeng, a region blessed with a
semi-tropical climate and famous for its dense jungle. The
inhabitants of Khyeng understand the forest well and include in
their diet all sorts of wild plants: yams, orchids, ferns,
rattan shoots, tiny wild mangoes, banana flowers and even
poisonous roots and seeds, which they are able to treat in ways
that make them edible. The people produce splendid bamboo and
rattan basketwork.
Tongsa, north of Khyeng, lies along the main road. It is in a
gorage cut by the Mangde River with a few cultivated areas
terraced on its steep slopes. Bhutan’s most impressive dzong
holds a strategic and privileged position here. A 3,300 m
(10,800 ft) high pass, the Yutong La, leads to Bumthang which is
a group of four valleys at altitudes of 2,700-4,000 m
(8,850-13,000 ft): Chumey and Choekhor are mainly agricultural,
Tang and Ura practise yak-and sheep-herding. The mountainsides
are covered with dark coniferous forests, rice gives way to
buckwheat, and the houses are built of stone rather than rammed
earth and are more sparsely decorated than in Western Bhutan.
Bumthang is very proud of its rich art and history. Its
religious traditions are very much alive and each monastery,
each holy place, is the subject of long stories that blend myth
with reality.
The region of kurtoe (Lhuntshi) to the northeast is separated
from Bumthang by a pass at 4,000 m (13,100 ft), the Rodong La.
Kurtoe is closely connected to Bumthang by language and
family-kinship, but geographically it belongs to Eastern Bhutan.
At lower altitudes 1,600-2,500 m (5,250-8,200 ft) rice and maize
are grown, but the area in general is best known for its
production of fine fabrics with varied and extremely intricate
designs.
Eastern Bhutan
From Bumthang, the motor road crosses into the eastern region by
a more southern pass than the Rodong La, the 4,100 m (13,500 ft)
high Thumsing La. Bhutan’s east consists of the regions of
Mongar, Tashigang and a southern part that extends as far as
Samdrup Jongkhar on the Indian border. This eastern region is
the land of the Sharchopas, the ‘people of the east’, who speak
their own language. The climate is generally warmer and drier,
the forests thinner and the altitudes lower than in the west. It
is a region of deep V-shaped valleys, with fields and dwelling
clinging to the bare slopes. The main crop is maize, though rice
and wheat can also be grown. Numerous cattle, especially the
famous mithun, a native bull with spectacular horns, graze
alongside the roads, roaming freely and rarely put in barns.
Most of the houses are built in traditional Bhutanese style, but
one can see many made of bamboo matting and raised on stilts, a
reminder of the region’s close proximity to Southeast Asia. The
Sharchopas are well known for their piety, and the land is
dotted with small temples where gomchens, laymen trained in
religious practices, live with their families away from monastic
communities. As in Kurtoe, the women possess matchless weaving
skills and produce magnificent fabrics of raw silk and cotton.
At the eastern tip of the country, three days’ walk from
Tashigang, lie the high valleys of Merak and Sakteng inhabited
by herdsmen, semi-nomadic people belonging to a special ethnic
group, the Dakpas.
Northern Bhutan
Lying above 3,500 m (11,500 ft), Northern Bhutan is the
beginning of the High Himalayas. Lingshi, Laya and Lunana are
inhabited only by yak-herders and, as such, could be considered
as similar to the high valleys of Merak and Sakteng in the east
and of Gantey (Phobijika) in the Black Mountains. The high
altitude limits cultivation to barley and root crops. Potatoes
have recently made their appearance and are an important
addition to a diet made up essentially of milk, butter, cheese
and yak meat. The inhabitants are semi-nomadic yak-herders. They
spend most of the year in black tents women from yak hair, but
they also build drystone-walled houses, which serve as shelter
during the coldest months of the year and as storehouses for the
goods and grains that they barter with the central valleys.
Flora and Fauna
The three relief zones (the foothills, the central Himalayan
valleys and the High Himalayas) also define three climatic
regions: tropical, variations, coupled with the huge changes in
altitude, make Bhutan a country with an extremely rich flora:
within a distance of 70 km (44 miles) one passes from rice
paddies, banana and orange groves at 1,300 m (4,200 ft) in the
Punakha region, through deciduous forests and then an alpine
forest (at Gasa), finally arriving in the Laya are where yaks
graze and only barley and winter wheat can be grown. The wealth
of floral variety includes rhododendrons, junipers and magnolias
several metres (yards) high, carnivorous plants, rare orchids,
blue poppy, edelweiss, gentian, medicinal plants, daphne, giant
rhubarb, high- altitude plants, tropical trees, pine and oak.
Bhutan is such a botanical paradise that one of its ancient
names meant ‘Southern Valleys of Medicinal Herbs’.
The fauna also varies with the different types of vegetation and
is abundant since, in accordance with their religion, the great
majority of Bhutanese neither hunt nor fish. the dense forests
of the south offer haven to elephants, tigers, buffaloes, snakes
and monkeys, one species of which, the Golden Langur, is unique
in the world. In the rivers, the masheer is sometimes compared
to tropical salmon. The central Himalayas are the domain of
pheasants, hornbills, red pandas, monkeys, wild boar and, above
all, fearsome black bears with white fur ‘collars’. Black-necked
cranes migrate to Tibet to winter in the isolated valleys of
Gantey and Bumdeling. The desolate high valleys belong to yaks,
mountain goats, or tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus), timid blue
sheep, the extremely rare snow leopard and the strange takin (Budorcas
taxicolor).
History
Ancient Times
No archaeological research has yet been carried out in Bhutan,
but stone implements found on the surface of the ground seem to
indicate that the country was inhabited fairly early, probably
around 2000 BC.
Secular and religious history in Bhutan are so intertwined that
the religious school - the Drukpa - which prevailed from the
17th century on even gave its name to the country it unified and
its inhabitants. It is thus that in the Dzongkha language,
Bhutan is called Druk Yul and the Bhutanese people Drukpas. The
poetic translation of Druk Yul is ‘Land of the Dragon’, which
can be explained by the following anecdote. When Tsangpa Gyare
Yeshe Dorje (1161-1211) was consecrating a new monastery in
Central Tibet at the end of the 12th century, he heard thunder,
which popular belief holds to be the voice of a dragon (druk).
He therefore decided to name this monastery ‘Druk’, and the
religious school which he founded was likewise called ‘Drukpa’.
In the 17th century, when the Drukpas unified Bhutan, they gave
it their name.
Before becoming Druk Yul, Bhutan was called by various other
names: Lho Jong, ‘The valleys of the South’; Lho Mon Kha Shi,
‘The Southern Mon Country of Four Approaches’; Lho Jong Men Jong,
‘The Southern Valleys of Medicinal Herbs’; and Lho Mon Tsenden
Jong, ‘The Southern Mon Valleys where SandalwoodGrows’. ‘Mon’
was a generic term applied by Tibetans to the Mongoloid,
non-Buddhist populations who lived on the southern slopes of the
Himalayas. The origin of the name ‘Bhutan’ is unclear, but the
most plausible guess is that it comes from the Indian term
Bhotanta, which refers to all the regions bordering on Tibet.
Bhutan’s ancient history is known through written Tibetan
sources but unfortunately they are not explicit about the
population or type of government that existed in those times
