I’ve never been to a country before which is so photogenic that you want to stop and take pictures of literally every single thing you see, starting from the moment you arrive.
The photo above is Punakha Dzong, said to be the most beautiful building in Bhutan … a bold claim when the bar is set so high.
And have you ever seen a more attractive airport luggage belt than this?
Buildings here are traditionally made of pounded mud, which is very strong and weatherproof, and wood which is beautifully decorated, with trefoil arches over the windows and intricate painted designs. Modern buildings aren’t made of mud, but they have the same elegant painted woodwork, meaning that everything is harmonious in a town or village and nothing jars.
Our guide told us that glass is a relatively new addition to houses in Bhutan. Previously the open windows were closed by sliding planks of wood across to shut out the light and the cold at night. In those days the young men of the village would creep out at night, head for the house of a girl they fancied, prise the planks apart with their sword, climb through the window and get into bed with her. This practice was called ‘night hunting.’ There was no mention of how the girls felt about this rather direct form of courtship.
There are no traffic lights in Bhutan. They installed some in the capital, Thimpu, but the locals complained that they were too ugly and impersonal and requested a return to the traditional traffic police. These men are so graceful and balletic in their movements that they are always referred to as the Dancing Policemen.
And it’s not just the towns that are beautiful, the countryside is stunning too. Seventy per cent of the country is covered with forest, and the larches were just changing colour when I was there, creating huge sweeps of bronze across the green hillsides. Seventy per cent of the population here live off the land, and rice is the main crop – red rice more specifically. The rice terraces were golden brown during my trip, and the farmers were out harvesting their crops. Everything is done by hand, I didn’t see any mechanised farming at all. There are wild poinsettias and purple primulas in the hedgerows, and of course the backdrop to all this beauty is the Himalayas.
The only weird thing about the Bhutanese is their obsession with phalluses. Shops are full of them and there’s even a phallus-themed restaurant in Thimpu. This obsession seems to come from a monk in the 14th Century, known as the Divine Madman, who referred to his own phallus as ‘the flaming thunderbolt of wisdom’ and was fond of flashing it at other monks and scholars, which he believed would purge them of their sins. So the phallic symbol represents the birth of the new person, unhampered by guilt, shame or remorse. A phallus is also considered lucky and is used to ward off evil spirits. And of course, being Bhutan, it’s not just a basic, no-frills todger that we’re talking about, it’s a beautifully decorated objet d’art.
There will be more about Bhutan in my next blogposts … cranes, hikes and stone baths will definitely feature.