Bhutan – Land of The Thunder Dragon
In an age where most countries measure their achievement by their Gross Domestic Product, Bhutan’s fourth King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, decided to measure his countries’ success by the overall wellbeing of his people. He thus created his now famous Gross National Happiness (GNH) index. He believed that “unless an inward change in human consciousness and perception occurs, the mere creation of wealth and economic growth alone cannot guarantee collective human happiness”. This approach was quite easily implemented in his kingdom for a few reasons. Firstly, his subjects absolutely admire him and truly believe he is an enlightened and selfless ruler. There is no other country we’ve been to so far where everyone so universally loves their leader. They all call him wise, farsighted, and passionate about their wellbeing, and from what I can see that does actually seem to be the case. Secondly, Bhutan is a deeply Buddhist nation, and Buddhist ideology stresses the impermanence of material things. The notion that happiness comes from within is deeply rooted in its teachings. We, on the other hand, are constantly bombarded by commercials that tell us happiness is measured by how big our house is or how many cars are sitting in our garage or how many Apple gadgets we have. Though I’m not saying one approach is right and another is wrong, I think it’s great that Bhutan has a different (and arguably better) take than the rest of us. If you want to learn more about GNH, I suggest you check out www.grossnationalhappiness.com. It’s pretty cool stuff and a completely different perspective on nation development than any other county on Earth.
I forgot to mention that the King recently did one thing that was quite unpopular with his adoring citizens. He abdicated his throne back in 2006 at the age of 51 after ruling for 34 years. Was it because of some scandal or some ridiculously unsuccessful war effort? Nope. It was because research has shown that citizens are generally happier in democracies than in Kingdoms, and he wanted to do what he thought was beneficial to the welfare of his people (from a happiness and a democratic governing standpoint). Have you ever heard of an all-powerful King doing something like that? Ya, me neither.
We visited the Western part of the country, staying in towns like Paro, Thimpu, and Punakha. We hiked high up to the mystical Tigers nest monastery (pictured above) that literally clings to the side of a steep cliff, straight out of the pages of some epic movie. Punakha has a beautiful dzong (fortress/monastery) that looks like it’s built from what mythical Himalayan legends are made of. Bhutan even has a unique animal called the Takin. Legend says it was created by a magical saint/monk who combined a goat with a cow (which is exactly what it looks like) when asked to perform a miracle. Eat that Napoleon Dynamite, your Liger has nothing on a Takin. But even with all those spectacular sights, it truly was the spiritual, humble, and peaceful aura of the people that touched us the most.
Bhutan is by no means a wealthy country; you’re not going to be seeing a Porsche dealership opening here anytime soon. However, it also doesn’t seem like a poor country either. The roads are all paved, infrastructure is good, cities are quite clean, and there are no signs of homelessness or extreme poverty. Its citizens are definitely not rich, but they do seem very happy. In fact, I don’t think we’ve seen more genuine smiles from people of all ages in any other country. It also helps that the Bhutanese valley is strikingly gorgeous. Add to that the beautiful, well-preserved and busy monasteries, temples, and dzongs with hundreds of red-robed monks and you’ve got an amazing place. Driving on the road you’ll have no problems seeing archery contests (where dudes hit small targets 145 m away!) among farmers harvesting rice, you’ll see big penises painted onto the sides of houses as a sign of fertility (awesome), and you’ll see groups of children in traditional Bhutanese wear running to school. Since it’s so isolated, the almighty tourist dollar doesn’t seem to have seriously affected the monastic way of life or the peoples view of tourists. English is spoken amazingly well by the average citizen and they had no problem, be it monk or student or waiter, engaging us in friendly conversation. Bhutan’s strict tourism laws, which everyone groans about, actually seem to be a very good thing now that I’ve seen the results. For those who don’t know, in order for you to visit Bhutan, you must spend a minimum of 200USD a day per person and be on a personalized tour. You basically have to wire the money over first to them before you can get a visa. Though this does include hotel and food, it is still extremely pricey. This part of our trip has hands down been the most expensive portion. However, by forcing people to spend that much, the Bhutanese have been able to attract the type of tourist they want. They’re typically getting the traveller that is very interested in their culture and less interested in drinking as much alcohol as they can at a hotel’s open bar (which very quickly creates a jaded general population). Also by making it that expensive, it really limits the number of visitors coming into this tiny nation of 700 000 people so the locals really don’t get overwhelmed.
So what do we think of Bhutan? We love it. A lot. It’s a truly, truly amazing place unlike anywhere else on Earth. Much of the world believes happiness is the physiological response to a favourable stimulus, like a new big-screen TV. Governments have thus created policies and economies which have the ultimate goal of making more money for its citizens. Bhutan’s more humanistic (as opposed to materialistic), holistic, and spiritual approach to happiness gives it an unrivalled uniqueness among its peers. You can definitely feel the positive effects this has had on its populace. But as with everything, things can change. Bhutan is still investing in economic growth as well as it does want to increase its level of development. The younger people (who really are the future) are wearing traditional clothes less and less, and with easy access to the internet they have a larger understanding of the outside world and its many luxuries. Bhutan has made huge investments into the education of its youth and the promotion of its culture internally. Only time will tell if they will modernize and progress into the 21st century while maintaining their distinctive view on what constitutes a happy society. I’m really hoping that they can achieve their goal of socio-economic development paired with the preservation of their Buddhist and Bhutanese cultural values. It’s a fine line to walk, but I’m highly optimistic that they can do it.
Bye-Bye Bachelorhood
He Said:
Up here in the extraordinary land of Bhutan, nestled in the Himalayas, Diana Chen married me with the blessings of the head monk at the Dechen Phodrang monastery in Thimpu. Yes, a real-life beautiful girl married me! Even I’m having a tough time believing that.
After learning more about Bhutan, Di and I made the decision to get married there a few weeks before we went. We asked the tour company to organize a small ceremony for us, which they graciously did. Though Bhutan doesn’t have much of a wedding industry (none in fact, catered to foreigners) they were able to provide a wedding bouquet freshly cut from someone’s yard that morning. We could tell it was fresh because there were still small caterpillars crawling inside the flower petals. They also took us to a shop the night before to get us fitted in traditional Bhutanese wear. The ladies all got a Kira each and Didi and I bought a Goh. Susan and Lorea decided to buy identical outfits to fill the bridesmaid role, while Didi looked pretty sweet in his Goh combined with my Converse kicks. I had to borrow the dress shoes he brought instead, since the Bhutanese guys wear a Goh with black leather shoes at formal events. Di looked graceful, elegant and absolutely beautiful in her Bhutanese Kira. After we got all prettied up, we headed around town to visit a couple of auspicious sites for good luck before our ceremony. One was a large stupa that we had to walk around 3 times in a clockwise direction, and another was an old monastery on top of the hill overlooking Thimpu where we were to ask for blessings. We then made it to the monastery where we got married amid monks chanting and playing music. The chanting was monotonous and the music was quite basic but put altogether with the monastery and monks it was a surreal experience and I don’t think we could have picked a better place to do it on this trip.
After letting everything settle in we took a few pics with the monks and our guests (who included the people from the tour company). Didi then got us to change into the western clothes that he brought for us. Di was stunningly gorgeous in her white dress! Seeing her was breathtaking, and no I’m not exaggerating. We took pics around the monastery with the young monks all running around. Some of the teenage monks were playing volleyball so I decided to join in with them. Even Di came to serve a couple of times in her wedding dress. Pretty soon we had the whole place surrounding us watching the game and laughing. I never thought I’d be playing volleyball in a suit with a team of monks in a Bhutanese monastery, but I’m super happy I did. After that we headed to the centre of Thimpu to take a few pictures as well. It was quite a sight, for all the Bhutanese! Our guide told us that everyone watching on the street had probably never seen a girl in a white wedding dress before. A large crowd of onlookers quickly amassed around us, taking pictures with their cell phone cameras. When we wanted to take shots on the road, the traffic cops helped us out. When we wanted to take shots in people’s cars or from peoples windows, they quickly let us in. Everyone was extremely accommodating. As I’ve said before in this blog, I’m no model; uncomfortable is an understatement of how I felt with the crowds watching us and Didi shooting. But the pics turned out great, especially if you focus more on Di’s face and less on mine. Thanks Didi (and his assistants for the day Susan, Lorea, and our guide Dhendup)!
I’m extremely grateful to Bhutan, its monks, and its people for giving us the wonderful opportunity to get married in a place that felt perfect for us. The people at Blue Poppy travel and our guide Dhendup (dhendupnill84@hotmail.com) did a remarkable job. We were originally planning to do a wedding with just the 2 of us somewhere on this trip, but having Didi, Susan and Lorea join was a fantastic surprise.
Di and I have had an incredible journey for the past 8 months, and now we’ll have the rest of our live to continue the fun. Rock On!
Oh I forgot to add that technically we aren’t married yet by Canadian law as they don’t really recognize the marriage certificate given by the Bhutanese monastery. We’ll still have to register back home, so you know what that means? Bachelor paaarrrttaay!
The Happiest Moment in the Happiest Country
She said:
“Are we married yet?” I whispered, Eug replied “I have no idea.” I looked back at the monks chanting in unison and one of them gestured us to walk up to the head monk. We shuffled along (alright, it was mainly me because I was in the traditional Bhutanese kira and I kept on stepping on it) and came to a stop when we reached the head monk sitting higher up on a raised platform. He had looked very serious when he was chanting earlier but he instantaneously broke into a warm smile and gave us his blessings. He then handed us a certificate (only our names were legible to us, the rest was in Bhutanese) and sent us back to our seats. “We are married?!” I asked Eug while trying hard to refrain from jumping up and down since the monks continued on chanting. “Yeah, I guess so.” Eug replied quietly. He looked like he was about to let out some tears of joy, or was it tears of sadness parting with his bachelor-hood? Then we decided to do a quick ring exchange on the side to say the magical “I Do’s” to each other before a cup of hot milk tea was brought to us. We were told to take turns feeding each other some tea to signify that we were one together (or something like that). I was too excited to remember the details but I did remember the tea being very good and the biscuits that came with the tea were delicious too. I couldn’t stop eating because I was famished by then. And I couldn’t stop smiling because I was ecstatic. We got married!!!
That all took place in the Dechen Phodrang monastery in Thimpu, Bhutan. We took a short flight from Kathmandu to Bhutan and the time change was a difference of 15 minutes. I thought that was strange. Bhutan is supposedly the happiest place in the world. It measures neither GDP nor GNP but GNH – Gross National Happiness. Since then 90% of the people have been ‘happy’, so we were told by our passionate and enthusiastic guide Dhendup. Dhendup also pointed out that there aren’t any traffic lights in the entire country. They aren’t necessary because the drivers tend to let others go first. I might also add that there aren’t any Stop signs either. The Bhutanese people lead simple lives and their beloved King encourages the people to strive for true happiness derived from within and not from materialism. McDonald’s and almost any stores we are used to seeing don’t exist in this country. In such a place, you might question how did Eug get a suit and how did I get my wedding gown and makeup? Especially since you can probably count out all the times I’ve actually worn makeup, which is not much at all. Thanks to our dear friends, Didi, Susan, and Lorea, everything worked out perfectly. Eug looked like a rock star (yeahhhhh! That’s my husband!) and I was able to get the most gorgeous wedding dress, ample makeup supplies, and even a curling iron! They brought everything necessary. Didi is also an excellent photographer and a professional model himself, so the pictures he took were absolutely amazing. I really can’t thank them enough. When we booked our Bhutan trip, we only expected to be in some Bhutanese traditional wear with our jeans and our guide would help to snap a few pictures here and there for us during the ceremony. Initially, Susan and Lorea were going to join us in India, but they couldn’t make it in November so they decided to join us earlier instead in Bhutan. And Didi offered to shoot some pictures for us in Bhutan around the same time too. It all worked out incredibly well somehow. Thanks for everything guys!
We will have a celebration back at home with everyone next year. Stay tuned! 🙂
fromwonderintowonder 
Recent Comments