Bhutan has intrigued me for years so when I heard about a Filipino group touring the Himalayas (7 Fil-Aussies, 1 Fil-Am, two of whom were ex-NCC workmates Lealda and Gi) I grabbed the chance to join them in their Bhutan leg.
On the way there Greg and I visited the Philippines. After touring the Underground River in Palawan I fractured the middle toe on my right foot (!) 8 days before my flight to Bhutan.
I so didn’t need an injury on this dream trip. Even less so with the trek to Takshang (Tiger’s Nest), the birthplace of Bhutanese Buddhism. This 17th century monastery is carved from a cliff, up another 1000m elevation from the base 2195m at Paro. I had proper hiking shoes and sticks so I was determined to give it a go even as I worried about my fragile foot.
But as our plane landed in Paro airport, one of the most dangerous runways in the world (https://www.youtube.com/
Why this country of prayer flags with less than 800,000 people to me is a gem:
– Gross National Happiness (GNH) as a measure of progress vs GDP – how cool is that!
– The only country with negative carbon emission; ‘constitutionalised’ (my pun) environment protection of 60% of the land which they’ve exceeded: 70% of the country is now kept as natural reserves.
– 360 degree mountains; beautiful landlocked country framed by the Himalayas
– Uniform commercial and residential buildings based on Bhutanese architecture of no higher than 5 storeys; the design complements the landscape perfectly.
– No fast food restaurants, no commercial billboards or ads on highways and commercial establishments in the main streets, only business signage
– Beautiful and friendly people and they speak English
– Being predominantly Buddhist and vegetarian, they don’t slaughter animals; they import meats from nearby countries, and commercial fishing and hunting are banned. Free-range dogs everywhere
– State education, medical and aged care services
– Bhutanese women empowerment: they have access to reproductive health education and support, they don’t have to assume their father’s or husband’s name, can have multiple husbands (polygyny), and own businesses etc etc
– Crime rate is insignificant; Wikipedia says the highest rate of juvenile crime was reported in 2003 and 63 youths were convicted across the nation.
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