Out of Norm Travels -2010 - Bhutan 11-20 June 2010- Day 1

Reminiscing of my 1st Photo trip with my DSLR - Bhutan, the Land of the Dragons aka Happiest Place in the World. 

I woke up at 3a.m. in Bangkok for a 3.50a.m. checkin for the 5.50a.m. flight using Bhutan’s national carrier, “Druk Air”, the only flight that travels from Bangkok to the only airport in Bhutan that is in the area of Paro. We touched down in Paro at 750a.m. Bhutan is 1 hour behind Bangkok i.e. 2 hours behind Singapore.
 

The touchdown was fairly exciting as the plane had to navigate through a maze of the mountains and valleys and flight path was almost in a zigzag manner. I managed to get exciting birds-eye view of the flight path.

For the first few moments after touchdown, passengers like me was busy taking photos of the exquisite airport with the intricate carvings and paintings. Immigration for 11 pax took some time as there was only 1 copy of the group visa for us to gain entry into the country. Here’s my fav shot of the airport.

According to the pilot in our group, the flight path to Paro including its runway is very special as it is very short and high using plain old visual flight rules i.e. pilot must be able to see the runway before landing and the surrounding hills before takeoff. This means that no flights can be operated at night or in poor visibility.

My first impression of Bhutan was that it was certainly a lovely country – filled with rolling mountains as far as the eye can see, clean crisp air (as long as the trucks do not blow their exhaust in your face), warm sunshine (although frankly, it was much hotter than I expected) and the bluest of sky.

Throughout the trip, I was guided by Mr. Tsencho who was impressive with his English speaking skills and knowledge of Bhutan. It was thus not surprising for me that I later found out that he is the representative of Bhutan’s travel agents and involved in discussions with the government covering tourism sector. His assistant (Pelden) also spoke English very well.

After stopping for some aerial shots of the Paro airport, we stopped by the National Museum of Bhutan. BTW no photography in the museums, dzongs, temples so I have no photos related to that…. I noticed all the walls and pillars (both outside & inside of the building) are adorned with carvings or paintings. The National Museum has an interesting collection of both mythical and historical items where items supposedly used by spirits, deities and those of more modern creations like famous Bhutanese philatelic collection stamps where 3D stamps, record playing stamps are displayed. I was so fascinated by their stamps that I got my own set of 3D stamps on the last day of my travels.

What was intriguing was that all the work is mainly done by hand i.e. the paintings on the houses were painted by artisans directly on its walls after using stencils to draw outline using white powder. Paintings (murals) on the temple walls were done on canvas 1st after measuring the size of the walls from top to bottom. In the early days, painting was done using natural dyes which needed to be repainted 10-12 years. In the past, paintings were only done on houses owned by wealthy folks but it gradually became more popular. Many of these artisans were trained by the National Institute.

Bhutan is located in the earthquake zone so there are regulations to state that houses cannot be higher than 3 floors. In other words, no high rise to block the spectacular views!

The guide explained that education is free for Bhutanese. English is learnt from young together with the Bhutanese language. Even the small children speak excellent English!

As I was holding onto my newly purchased DSLR, he advised us to ask for permission before taking a photo of a person by saying "kuzuzangbo la" or “hello” in Bhutanese & the “la” added as a sign of respect. I am pleasantly surprised that somehow, when I made the greeting, a smile will be reciprocated especially from a child. It appears that photography is very much still a novelty in Bhutan. To me, this is surprising as there really aren’t many countries that come to my mind when considering this. I am particularly intrigued by the children's faces as it is apparent that innocence can be seen in their faces. The guide also shared that Bhutan does not have aging issues as a normal family will generally have 3 children.

Here’s my favorite shot of the Bhutan children.

Here’s my favorite dog shot as roaming dogs are a common sight in Bhutan’s streets. I read that it is partly because Bhutanese, being devout Buddhists, do not believe in killing animals. They are generally seen everywhere sometimes in packs of 5-6 but there was never a time that I saw an aggressive dog in Bhutan. Perhaps the zen-ness of Buddhism got to them as well!

Another common sight is the prayer wheels. Some are even generated by hydraulics where water is used to turn the prayer wheel. You can hear the prayer wheel as it touches the bell whether due to human effort or water action…remembering the sound resonates of Bhutan….

Before a drive from Paro to Thimphu, we chanced upon an archery competition at the side. Archery is a national sport in this country with the young playing alongside the old. I saw quite a few Bhutanese undertaking archery throughout my trip. With the target at 140m away, it’s definitely not easy to hit the target! Nearby was a group of singers and dancers akin to cheerleaders for the team. I spent a delightful time watching the archery and here’s my favorite shot of an elderly archer.

The drive took me along the windy Bhutanese roads – unfortunately, the mode of transport for the next few days will be road as there is essentially no other means of going from one place to another....either that, or by foot…..

After a 2 hour drive, I checked into the headrest at Thimphu before heading down to the National Memorial Chorten (Thimphu) for some sightseeing. There were many elderly people chanting near the prayer wheel section. The guide explained that Buddhism believes in reincarnation and as such, the elderly (after the elderly are too old to work on the fields, they usually congregate at the chortens/ dzong (temple) to pray for the past, present and future for themselves and their family. He also explained that for Buddhists, one has to walk in a clockwise direction around the chorten or dzong as it is said to be a ritual that was conducted by the attendees of Buddha after he attained enlightenment. At the Memorial Chorten, I saw a few old ladies grinding their betel nuts. They exhibited great spirit and gamely offered some of their betel nuts for us to try. They were also very open and happy to allow us to take their photos. Here’s my favorite shot of the ladies.

That's the end of my 1st day. I will definitely come round to penning down other parts of my Bhutan trip...well then, till my next blog entry!!