Janie and I spent a most memorable week in Bhutan as part of our trip to Delhi, Bhutan, Nepal and Dubai in the spring of 2000, looked after by a wonderful guide, Pema Gyalpo.
This page links to all of the Bhutan pages, the photographs and a music sample.
Actually, let’s start with the music sample. I bought just one album on that trip: Endless Songs From Bhutan by Jigme Drukpa. Here’s one of the tracks.
Here are links to the pages I have written about our visit.
The best of the pictures are included in the articles, but if you would like to see the albums in full, all of them (more than 180 pictures) are included in two Flickr albums, links in the list and also with embedded links below.
and then go off on hike to Taktsang (aka Tiger’s Nest) monastery.
It’s a long uphill hike – Daisy even considered giving up a couple of times…
…I think the altitude got to Janie on this occasion – the only time I remember her suffering from it on any of our altitude trips – possibly caused by the rapid ascent from high altitude to even higher altitude c2,200 m to over 3000m.
…but we make it, taking tea and biscuits at the cafeteria…
Villagers near the tea house“Volunteer labour” (aka a photo opportunity) inside the tea house
…and then descent, followed almost all the way by two dogs. Janie [also] befriended a couple of forced labour girls from the high valley.
The encounter with those girls was an interesting coincidence, given the letter I had spent a large chunk of the night writing.
Those friendly young women taking a break, while one of our “guard dogs” sniffs aroundOne of the girls helps “have a go hero” Janie briefly to bear the load…very briefly!Seen it all before? No, she looks impressed. We made it, back to the bridge at the foot of the Tiger’s Nest trail
Took lunch at Sonam Trophel [restaurant in Paro] – best meal we’ve had in Bhutan, with Momo’s, spring rolls, chicken (plain) pork (spicy for Pema).
Writing 25 years after the event, I suspect that the food available in Bhutan now is much better, on the whole, than it was in 2000. But that place proved what was possible even then in a remote hill kingdom!
Next stop the National Museum which was better than we expected and finally Paro Dzong which was a tiring walk after Taktsang.
Home exhausted for tea and snacks in the room tonight and hopefully an early night.
We did indeed get an early night after taking snacks in our room, but I have one strong memory, undocumented in my journal, about that last evening in Bhutan.
We were staying, unexpectedly, in the Olathang Hotel, as we chose to avoid the forest fires that were too close to the Druk Paro for our comfort. We had a large cottage suite at the Olathang, which had been built originally, as we understood it, for visiting dignitaries who came to Bhutan for the coronation of the King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, in 1972. I don’t think the Olthang had seen too many western tourists in the months and years leading up to our visit.
Our room attendant was a very young fellow, I’d guess a teenager. We ordered our room service snacks and I decided to take a shower while we were waiting for the food and drinks. We had been tipping our attendant regularly, and/but I left a more substantial sum out, with Janie, as I suspected we wouldn’t see him again ahead of our early morning departure.
While I was drying myself after my shower, Janie called out to me, asking me to come out to say goodbye to our friend, as he didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye to me personally.
I hurriedly made myself decent and entered the room, to find the young fellow crying, saying that we had been so kind to him and that he would miss us so much. It took quite some time to calm him down and let him go, so we might enjoy our snacks and drinks. Janie told me afterwards that the boy had been in that emotional state since she told him that we’d be departing at the crack of dawn the next day. Not our everyday experience of room service.
Photographs from this day are pictures 086 to 106 in the album you can click through below:
The forced labour Janie and I witnessed in Bhutan was, to say the least, bugging me. The night of 25/26 March, ahead of our last full day, I found myself unable to sleep for fretting about it.
I decided that night to write an open letter to the King, which I would ask Pema to deliver via Kuensel after Janie and I had flown out of the country. My ruse, to render Pema blameless for the content of a letter which might be deemed to be criticising the King, was to tell Pema that the letter was a thank you letter to the editor of Kuensel for publishing, a few days earlier, my letter with thoughts about the Bhutanese stock exchange.
Criticising the King of Bhutan was, at that time, a criminal offence subject to imprisonment, hence my extreme caution and in depth planning to arrange the timed delivery of my 26 March letter via my wise and savvy friend Pema.
I was not expecting the letter to be published in Kuensel and suspected that the letter might not find its way directly to the King, but I had written out a full draft in my log book and planned to send the letter to various relevant parties on my return to England. That I did, a few week’s later.
The Economist didn’t publish the letter, but word did reach me from Bill Emmott that he had passed the letter on to the Economist journalist who was working on pieces about Bhutan. I recall the matter of forced labour in Bhutan being raised in occasional Economist pieces in the subsequent months/years, which I sensed was, to some extent, informed by my letter.
26 March 2000: Forced labourers briefly relieved by “have-a-go-hero” volunteer, Janie
Interestingly and more directly, a few month’s later, I received a phone call “out of the blue” from an investigator at the International Labour Organisation. He was very hesitant and cautious with me, explaining that the call was entirely informal and off the record. Contacting complainants was not part of the protocol, but, he explained, the ILO had received several communications about this topic and he wondered whether I could provide him with some more specific evidence about what we had seen, where and when we had seen it, etc.
I spent some time on the phone with the ILO dude, delving into my log and photos, explaining in as much detail as I could the sightings that had motivated me to write my letter.
At the end of the call, he told me that I had been very helpful and/but that he would not be able to communicate with me formally, either to thank me or to let me know what the ILO had done/was planning to do. He did assure me, however that the ILO was pursing the matter.
I’ve no idea whether my letter had any practical impact at all. I was well-connected in the international voluntary sector world at the time and I do remember discussing the matter with one or two knowledgeable people who suggested that the issue was a “banging head against a brick wall” matter at that time in Bhutan.
But my small intervention might have helped change the mood a tiny bit, or helped others to move the dial a little towards improved conditions and/or circumstances for labourers on public works in Bhutan. If so, I’d gladly raise a glass of ara to that:
Incredible luck at Dochu La – we could see the Bhutanese Himalayas clearly.
Rose early (5:45) for early set off. Left at 7:10 (more or less on time for once) for Thimpu.
We snapped one or two street scenes – we’d done a lot of snapping on the outbound journey along this route.
Collected air tickets and did email to Fiona…
I have no idea why Pema hid behind a tree at this juncture. Perhaps he thought I was going to complain about him to our Steppes East agent, Fiona. Perish the thought. I think it was just a query about one of our onward flight documents that I wanted checked/confirmed ahead of potential problems at the airport.
Then on to Thimpu weekend market which did a lot more for us: – trinkets, vegetables, spices, etc…
…and newspapers – my letter has been published in full! On to see the archers, followed by lunch at Plums
Not every day I see my letter in the press. Pema looks underwhelmed, or at least unsurprised.
After lunch set off for Paro. We actually saw and snapped Himalayas at Dochu La! [See headline picture]…
Liked the look of the vistas a lot. Did not like the look of that forest fire.
Checked into hotel somewhat tentatively as a big forest fire seemed mighty close and there was no electricity. Went off touring anyway – took pictures of Paro Dzong, museum etc…
…then up to ruins of Drukgyel Dzong for stunning photos
…on to start of trial – then back to see round stunning Kykhu Lhakhang (really old monastery).
Then back feeling very nervous via Olathang Hotel, which has room. (By this time I have concluded the Druk Hotel is not a good idea).
We get leave to leave from the manager who is in a conference with a three star general) and flee to an Olathang Cottage (which I like but at first Daisy doesn’t), as our sense of humour fades as fast as the day!
We learnt afterwards that the Druk Paro did not burn down, but it did smell smoky and was without power for quite some time.
Photographs from this day are pictures 053 to 085 in the album you can click through below:
Day trip to Pobjikha Valley. Set off a little late, delayed by interesting American, Laurie. Through Wangdue (snapped the Dzong from a distance) and through Wangdue Valley (with river, stunning in parts)…
…then climbing into Black Mountains through Nobding (where we dispensed pens)…
…and up shortcut into Phobjika Valley (stunning)…
…went to Gante Gompa (monastery) where we snapped many young monks…
…then deeper into valley. Fortune was with us, the rare black necked crane had stayed late this year. So we trekked 20 minutes or so to the observation point and saw about 20 of them. (I even spotted two that Pema hadn’t seen).
Even if you crane at the screen you’ll struggle to see the cranes on the photo. But we got a good look at them
Super picnic after that chicken, potatoes, rice with chicken, shared with farmers, about half an hour nearer home.
This farmer was deaf and dumb and very grateful for a share of our enormous picnic.All shall have picnic.
…and then drove home back the way we came. An angry looking power worker had us in stitches at the Wangdue gas station.
I cannot explain what was so funny about that power worker. He was very red in the face and he was a great big bloke who looked oversized for his vehicle. He was angry about something at the gas station but no-one there seemed to understand his growling and we (initially me and Janie. but soon also Pema) were in fits of laughter. “Power Man” possibly got more angry once he realised that we were laughing at him, but we simply couldn’t stop laughing. If you need a mental picture, think of the angry farmer in Shaun The Sheep:
This was so incongruous in Bhutan, which is a tranquil place where our instincts suggested that expressing our frustration if things were happening slowly or inefficiently could not help, indeed could only hinder.
Enough on him. We saw plenty more beautiful and interesting things while returning to Meri Puensum.
Spent late afternoon relaxing and enjoying dinner. OK. Fried pork momos, local trout, rice, vegetables, and a little pork. Met proprietor of hotel and then early night.
The photos from this day are all on the album linked below – 019 to 052:
Thimpu – the only capital city in the world with no traffic lights.
Wrote to Kuensel about risk reward and financial exchanges. Set off via water purchase and Kuensel offices in direction of Punakha.
Pema and I enter the Kuensel offices, where Pema explains to one of the journalists that it will be in everyone’s interests if they publish a letter by such an eminent English writer as me.
Went to Dochula – couldn’t see Himalayas through mist. On through Thinleygang Valley and then on through Punakha Chuu.
The vistas on that part of the journey, through the valleys, were stunning. The above a mere smattering of the pictures we took.
Then lunch at Punakha Hotel. Okay. On to Punakha Zhong – no photos inside and somewhat disturbing take the forced labour to complete the works. Very beautiful nonetheless.
On to Dechen Cottages…
Lush scenes on the way to Dechen Cottages
…which we have been told are rustic, but the lack of electricity (we’ve been warned) plus lack of stone bath (which was why we have chosen the place) and lack of hot water (ouch, it was cold) induced us to seek a little more comfort elsewhere.
Fell on our feet by checking out a new hotel we passed on the way, Meri Puensum Resort, with a much nicer look than Punakha Hotel. We ate Chinese style (garlic chicken, pork with mushroom, mixed veg) – early night.
Our photos from this day are 093 to 096 from the first album and 001 to 018 from the second – click album links below:
Breakfast of stuffed paratha (ate little as squitty)…
We had a room with a view…this view… at the Druk Hotel
…then set off on trip to Tango monastery. Saw Queen Mother’s house, Royal Guards Training Centre and villages along the way.
Pema told us that the climb to Cheri might take 2 1/2 hours – in fact we did it in just over one hour including no rest. He must have thought that we were really feeble.
Back in the day, I could tie my own shoelaces and walk quickly up and down hills
So were we visiting Tango or were we visiting Cheri? It’s so unclear from my notes. But it turns out, the monastery we visited is known as Tango Cheri. Sounds like a soft drink that wouldn’t appeal to my taste, but let’s leave that aspect to one side.
Tango is truly beautiful although we were only permitted to see outside the buildings as a venerable visitor was about to leave.
Our bonus was to walk down with and befriend the farewell party.
Yaks at Dodina – the foot of the Tango Cheri trail
Back to Thimpu for lunch at [Hotel] 89 – tried Momos and other stuff (did Ged eat too much?). On to visit takins in semi captivity. (Ged felt strange affinity with them).
Frankly, the resemblance is uncanny
Back to hotel for squits and short meeting with Pema’s boss. Spent evening squitting and reading.
All the pictures from this day can be found in the following Flickr album – Nos 62 to 92:
First stop, Memorial Chorten – stupa with pretty prayer wheels – walked around and couldn’t go in.
“Walked around but couldn’t go in” was a recurring theme when we toured Bhutan at that time. Given the high level of per capita per diem tax that we tourists had to pay to visit Bhutan at that time, it seemed a little churlish also to deny those visitors access to the very things they might have gone there to see.
Some places were less restrictive than others and I recall Pema blagging us in to one or two places where we thought we were going to be denied entry. For example:
Second stop Changangkha Lhakhang Monastery (not usually available to the public), where the monks chanted and let us look around
Then on to the indigenous hospital, where we had an audience with the registrar of the hospital. We had a look around the grounds…
…then onto painting school – sculptures, carvings, thangkas…
…and then on to library – being renovated.
Ian & Pema check out the library
The post office, then lunch at Pema’s house. Chime cooked us dried pork, phasha ba, potatoes & cheese, and red rice. We also tried salt butter tea (no ta!) and Arra [Bhutanese rice wine] (OK).
Butter tea has never worked for me, wherever I have tried it. Rice wine concoctions, on the other hand…
It was an unusual but not unique experience for us to receive generous hospitality in the homes of our guides while on our travels. Visiting Abdel & his family in Aleppo three years earlier springs to mind…
But one aspect of our home visit to Pema’s house especially springs to mind. In Bhutanese culture, visiting friends homes for meals is relatively common, but the custom is to leave immediately after eating the last mouthful of food. We were aware of that. Indeed, Pema had told us about that.
As we ate our last mouthful, I said to Pema, “shouldn’t we now go?”, to which Pema said, “oh no, we follow Western customs in our house. Stay and try some arra”, which we did.
The expression on Chime’s face, however, suggested that she was a little discombobulated by this more western custom:
Chime (thinks): “Why haven’t they gone yet?”
The other lesson I learnt that day, and have learnt over again on the several but rare occasions that I have taken alcohol during the day…is, in my case, don’t!
Don’t fall over!
One final point about Pema’s house and Bhutanese cultural mores. It is traditional for homes to be emblazoned with particular images. Pema’s house was no exception, which Janie ensured she captured for posterity in this photo:
Last I heard from Pema about the baby in the picture – he was in Australia doing a masters degree!
…then saw the King [while we were] on a short photo stop! Then home – out again shopping (got some mats and toego jacket this time). Special order supper of pork, chicken, beans in cheese and red rice.
Red rice really is “the thing” in Bhutan. It is said to have the highest nutritional value of all rice species. Don’t all rush out and buy some at once, readers.
All of the photos from this day are contained in the following Flickr album – Nos 33 to 61:
Crack of dawn start – brought toast and bacon to our room – off at 5:30 for airport. After excess baggage debacle, said goodbye temporarily to Delhi and flew off to Paro via Kathmandu.
An erotic American woman got off at Kathmandu and then returned flustered and apologetic. She turned out to be the tour guide from American group!
Bhutan’s sole airport
Drove from Paro to Thimpu – not an especially spectacular drive. We were driven by our guide Pema, as our driver is ill.
Pema Gyalpo was a wonderful guide for our week in Bhutan. I have a feeling he ended up being our driver and guide throughout the week. We’re still in touch, 25 years later (as I write) and I’ll write more on him as the story of our journey unfolds.
Had lunch at Plums (pork, noodles, potato cheese, rice) then checked into hotel before heading off to shops.
Farce at handicraft emporium where our chosen goods got lost between the ticketing and the payment booth!
Found a small shop with a wacky lady, Tsering Dolkar, who will hopefully make Janie a Toego.
Back to hotel for rest, supper and early night.
The re are other pictures from this day, within the Flickr album below – Nos 21 to 32:
