Arriving in Bhutan

Arriving in Paro with a group of Thai monks

I don’t think we have ever felt like VIPs before arriving in Bhutan. Our guide, who owns his own company, met us at the airport. He had parked his black SUV very close to where we exited, he insisted on carrying our bags, and opened the doors for us.
He speaks fluent, educated English, and is very open and friendly. We could also after the first afternoon, tell how knowledgeable he is.
THANK YOU MUFFY for recommending Tsewang!

Link to Arriving in Bhutan

We were too cheap to reserve a room at the hotel in the transit area of the Bangkok Airport, so arrived here, at ~ 7200’ (2195m) very tired. Am starting this post in the evening of our 2nd day here, and despite still feeling a bit sleep deprived, and today having climbed up to the Tiger’s Nest Temple (10 000’) I now hardly notice the altitude walking around the hotel - better than yesterday!
We have had very good meals in restaurants catering mostly to tourists, and just returned from a delicious dinner, cooked by the wife of our guide. They have built, and about a year ago, opened a small hotel near their home in Thimphu. It seems like a family affair with nieces & nephews, and teenage kids helping out. They are incredibly attentive, friendly, and pleasant people.

Tsewang sounds like a walking encyclopedia on Buddhism. We try to follow, but even Craig is not retaining much. Tsewang is very devout, but at the same time he said Buddhism is a practical guide to life more than a religion. There are 4 forms of Buddhist tradition, and he is concerned that Bhutan may not survive if the current trend of fewer boys becoming monks, continues. This is because the monks in monasteries all across the country, perform daily ceremonies to keep ‘evil forces’ at bay (can’t remember his words..) - and that without these ceremonies, Bhutan would have been swallowed by India or China. In some people’s mind, at some point the Tibetans did not properly honor someone important, and suffered the consequences. Tsewang only mentioned this when I asked.

But he also feels the young boys now studying to become monks, should have a broader education than the current emphasis on Buddhism alone.
He has 2 married daughters, and one of them, in his words, insisted on a modern (western) wedding. This meant 700 guests! I asked where one could host so many, and apparently her in-laws own a big hotel.

I thought it a little sad that marriage here is, at least traditionally, not considered a happy occasion to be celebrated. Seems like most people just decide they are married (as he and his wife did). No monks or ceremonies. Marriage is meant to produce children, and in their tradition, we are all born with defilements - we are born to suffer, and  spend our life trying to do good to be born into the human sphere in the next life, and presumably into a higher state than the one we currently inhabit. I haven’t asked him about the smile on his face in the presence of little kids - am not sure joy is something they aspire to in the current life time.

. The final steps to The Tiger’s Nest We visited The Tiger’s Nest with LOTS of other people, on a public holiday here - the 400th anniversary of the death of the Zhabdrung who united Bhutan. This meant pretty much everyone in Bhutan visited a temple somewhere, as it is considered an auspicious day. You say your prayers, cleanse yourself from sins etc. to help gain merit for future lives. The Tiger’s Nest is a Buddhist monastery built on a cliff in the 17th century. It is built on the site where the Indian Guru Rinpoche, the founder of the Buddhist tradition practiced in Bhutan, landed, having flown there on the back of a tigress.
Young and old, fit young guys running, and some clearly disabled people with severe club feet, one older man with likely CP and obvious gait difficulties... foreigners and horses. Almost all (the humans), were breathing hard going up the steep trail, but fortunately Tsewang said we did well.

One thing I liked, despite my atheistic beliefs, was that the monks essentially perform their duties by following the traditions of prayers & ceremonies, and one duty is to be there for tourists. Tsewang considers us guests - and says this is government policy towards us visitors. This meant e.g. that we just walked in, in the middle of a 3-day-prayer ceremony, we sat down on the floor for a few minutes, and then left after Tsewang explained what was going on. The monks seemingly ignore us, and continue their traditions, other Bhutanese come and go, doing their prayers. Nothing holy about it - but the Bhutanese clearly take their beliefs very seriously.
Craig feels there is a combination of religious beliefs, and moral teachings comparable to those of Greek philosophers.

Having said all this, the young people here look just like those in the West -
EVERYONE has a smartphone, many wear the national dress one is expected to wear when doing business, or when out in public. But they add fashionable sun glasses, shoes, pocket books etc.

Will write about our aborted trek in a separate post next.