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Himalayan Switzerland or the Art of Teleportation

26 august 2009 • Travel time: with 02 May 2008 on 16 May 2008
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On our planet, the “real exotic” is rapidly disappearing. That exotic that remains undeveloped by tour operators and inquisitive travelers. What was unavailable a few decades ago now reveals itself, if not cheaply, then at least for quite reasonable money.

In the mid-eighties, I came across a fascinating book by the French traveler Michel Pessel, Journey to Bhutan. Pessel visited Bhutan in 1968 and was one of the few Europeans who managed to enter this closed country. Before him, only the John C. White expedition of 1906-1907 visited Bhutan for scientific purposes!


What Pessel described was amazing: an inhospitable kingdom, closed from the world on the one hand by impenetrable jungles, and on the other by snowy peaks; fortress-monasteries guarded by archers; dangerous mountain paths, along which mules, accustomed to everything, are moving with difficulty, now and then falling into the abyss along with their luggage. Here it is, the Klondike explorer! Pessel visited places where no European had yet set foot, and this was at a time when people were flying into space and preparing for the first expedition to the moon! There was only one highway in the country and a few jeeps belonging to the royal court. There were no hotels, and the traveler was asked first of all, “who invited you, whose guest are you? ", and it was impossible for a person who was not anyone's guest to receive shelter, food, or drink ...

So it was, but five years after the visit of M. Pessel, Bhutan gradually began to change.

The Himalayan Kingdom timidly opened the door to the outside world. An airfield, a hydroelectric power station, hotels were built, new asphalt roads were laid. At that moment, when I was reading Pessel's book, Bhutan was already completely different. The medieval fairy tale remained in my childhood along with that book. As well as "stereoscopic" stamps, more reminiscent of postcards, with the image of a Himalayan bear, an elephant and the Soviet spacecraft Vostok, on which Gagarin flew into space. Yes, I myself read in the USSR Philately magazine that these stamps are of no value, that they are made not in Bhutan, but in the Bahamas, and that, in addition to the “stereoscopic” stamps, gramophone stamps are issued. Bhutan earns currency on these “Bahamian stamps”, because there is nothing else for it to earn it. But these stamps had the inscription "Bhutan" and some other Tibetan letters, and that was enough for me.

A little more time passed, and foreign tourists went to Bhutan. There were few of them. Bhutan limited the number of tourists first to 3.000, then to 6.000; now it is 20.000 people a year. And it's not that the kings of Bhutan wanted to protect the inhabitants of the country from the pernicious influence of the West. It’s just that the hotel base and, in general, everything that is commonly called “tourist infrastructure” may not be able to withstand a larger number of guests. In addition, Bhutan is interested in "quality tourism". For this, a “mandatory minimum” has been introduced, which a tourist must spend per day of stay in the country. This "minimum" is around $240 and don't expect to find a "budget tour" to Bhutan for less than a "per diem". Bhutanese tourism operates according to the “all inclusive” system, that is, these $ 240 includes accommodation, transport, excursion services, three meals a day. In this regard, I want to immediately give advice in advance: "Trust, but verify. "


If the price of all tour operators is approximately the same, then the level of service may be different. You can be accommodated in both cheap and expensive hotels. Therefore, the level of hotels must be negotiated in advance.

This system protects Bhutan from the influx of "budget tourists", backpackers and hitchhikers, as well as the dubious public that has settled in Nepal since the 1960s. As you know, the Thamel district in Kathmandu "rose" thanks to the sale of drugs among European and American hippies, who made Kathmandu their Mecca. A more conservative neighbor - Bhutan - took into account the experience of Nepal and did not want to repeat it.

To obtain a Bhutanese visa, you need to book a tour from a local tour operator and pay for it. The tour operator transfers your payment to the accounts of the ministries of tourism and internal affairs, receives permission to receive a foreign tourist.

After that, permission (in fact, a visa) is sent to the tourist, and with this paper he arrives (flies) to Bhutan. The visa itself is placed either at the airport or at the nearest immigration office. When our group arrived in Bhutan, we checked into a hotel in the town of Puentsoling. Our Bhutanese guide collected the passports and took them to the police station. Brought back after dinner along with visas.

Michel Pessel was the first to compare Bhutan with Switzerland, primarily because of the similarity of traditional Bhutanese houses with Alpine Alpine chalets. The mountain landscape dictates the same principles of architecture, so the external similarity is not surprising. I can assume that there have been even more beautiful houses in Bhutan since the time of Pessel. The government allows citizens to build houses only in the "national" style, and therefore Bhutan looks "like a picture", without ugly interspersed with shapeless barracks and globalist structures of glass and concrete.


All citizens of Bhutan in public places are required to wear national clothes: men wear a “go” robe, women wear a “kira” robe. Such draconian measures in the Dragon Country preserve the national flavor (the self-name of the country is Druk, which means "Dragon"; the British called the country Bhutan, "in honor" of the Bhoti, who make up the majority of the country's population).

External resemblance to Switzerland is obvious. But there is also an internal similarity. And it lies in the history of Bhutan. The fact is that religious dissidents and non-conformists from Tibet have snuck into the territory of "Dragonia" since time immemorial. Behind mountain passes and snowy peaks lies Tibet - a harsh land of silent monks and gloomy shepherds leading their flocks along deserted stone slopes. The climate of the Tibetan highlands cannot be called friendly, but here, on the southern slopes of the Himalayas, it is simply heaven on earth.

Birds sing, butterflies flutter, rhododendrons bloom; forests provide shade, and waterfalls provide coolness in the tropical heat. Everything grows: apples, oranges, mangoes, and papaya. In humid forests intertwined with lianas, there live fearless animals that a respectable Buddhist does not hunt - bears, elephants, red pandas. And why not find refuge here, leaving the harsh land north of the Himalayas?

The history of Bhutan is so inextricably linked with the history of Tibet that in order to better understand it, one must first of all plunge into Tibetology. The terms are the same, the saints are common, even the writing is Tibetan. In Bhutan, there are the same currents of Lamaism as in Tibet. We will not delve into the general canons of Buddhism, but turn to the history of the Dragon Country.

Of course, there must be a lot of fabulous in it.

Its heroes build fortresses with the help of angels, imprison demons in stone mortars (where they still sit), fly across the sky on tigresses, and create new types of animals (more on that below). Otherwise it can not be! The early history of Bhutan was written from ancient manuscripts, in which parallel worlds intersected with each other, interacting. Taking into account the fact that most of the primary sources perished in the fires that swept through the Bhutanese dzongs in the 19th and early 20th centuries, one can only believe in a fairy tale.


Through Bhutan there were caravan trails from India to Tibet. Buddhism teachers traveled along these caravan routes from India to Tibet. The first Buddhist temple in Bhutan (Kuichu Lhakhang) was built in the 7th century by the Tibetan king Srodzengampo as part of his plan for the grandiose construction of temples around the edges of his state.

Until that time, on the territory of Bhutan, as well as in Tibet, the Bhotians professed the Bon religion, later partially included in Lamaism (Tibetan Buddhism). A century later, in 746, the demon-possessed king of Bumthang in central Bhutan summoned Guru Rimpoche, better known as Guru Padmasambhava. He drove the demons out of the king and converted the whole country to Buddhism. In total, Guru Rimpoche visited Bhutan three times, and the second time he flew on a tigress. The most influential sect in Bhutan, the Nyingmapa (Red Caps), ascends to Guru Rimpoche.

During the reign of the Tibetan king Langdarma (836-842), the old Bon religion regained its rights in Tibet, and Buddhism was persecuted. Buddhist monks took refuge in a warm country on the other side of the Himalayas. The name of the country also came from Tibet.

In 1180, the Druk (Dragon) Monastery was founded near Gyangse, as the dragons indicated to Lama Tsangpa Gyarey Yeshe the place to build the monastery. The Buddhist sect founded by the lama was called the Drukpa Kagyu. She was in opposition to the powerful Tibetan Gelugpa (yellow hat) sect. We won't go into details; we only note that the lamas of the Drukpa Kagyu (Kagyupa) sect wear black hats and the great yogi and poet Milarepa (1040-1123) belonged to the same sect. In Bhutan, the most notable Kagyup lama was Gyalwa Lhanangpa, who founded a system of fortified monasteries, similar in architecture to Tibetan ones, which became prototypes of powerful "dzongs" combining a fortress, a monastery, an arsenal and a storehouse of strategic supplies.

Life in medieval Bhutan flowed slowly. The monks studied ancient texts, compiled chronicles of monasteries and princely houses.


The biggest events in the life of the Bhoti were the discovery of evidence of the stay of the holy lamas: prints of feet, hands and other members; if you are shown the imprint of Guru Rimpoche's penis, then do not be embarrassed - this is the most favorite story in Bhutan, even houses are decorated with murals on this topic, so hypocrisy will not be understood in Bhutan. The second most popular guru in Bhutan, Drukpa Kunley (1455-1529), the "divine madman", was distinguished by a rare love for his spiritual students, wives and daughters of his secular patrons. Such is Grigory Rasputin in Bhutanese.

Until the 17th century, there was no political and administrative unity in the country. Spiritual and secular power was divided between the lamas of monasteries and local princelings. But in 1616, a descendant of the founder of the Kagyup sect, Tsangpa Gyaray, Ngawang Namgyal (1594-1651), arrived in Bhutan from Tibet.

When he was 23 years old, Mahakala appeared before him in the form of a raven and sent him to Bhutan to accomplish great things. The authority of the young guru over time grew so much among the Bhoti that Namgyag Ngawang established himself in the role of "zhabdrung" - the spiritual ruler of all of Bhutan. It is to him that the merit of turning feudal fortresses into a stronghold of the Buddhist faith belongs. The first dzong built by the Zhabdrung was Simtokha south of Thipmhu. To this day, the majestic dzongs remain a symbol of Bhutan, its main architectural landmark. The dzong in Simtokh was the first stronghold of Ngawang Namgyal: he waged an armed struggle against Buddhist sects and Tibetans, whom the lamas called for help in order to prevent the appearance of the supreme spiritual ruler. The war ended only in 1639.

The authority of Bhutan "in the" international arena "has grown so much that under the control of the Bhoti there were monasteries around the sacred Mount Kailash (confiscated only in 1959) and the Swayambhunath temple complex in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal.

The Bhotiyas raided Tibet and the Tibetans raided Bhutan. In 1644, a large army of Tibetans and Mongols invaded Bhutan, but was defeated by Namgyal at Paro Dzong. The aim of the war was declared by the Tibetans to be the capture of sacred Buddhist relics kept by the Bhoti…


Namgyal divided power into secular power, which was represented by the "desi", and spiritual power, which was personified by Je Khenpo - "chief monk". Such a system existed. After the death of Namgyal, the office of "zhubdrung" became a sinecure, and the actual power was held by elected "Desi" (while the new "zhubdrung" was always through the rinkarnation). For the next two hundred years there were only six zhabdrungs at 55 desi.

The country has lost its unity; in fact, Bhutan was a confederation of regions, the centers of which were fortified fortresses-dzongs under the control of penlop princes. There were internecine wars, continued Tibetan invasions. On the southern borders of the Dragon Country, the British appeared, who had already taken over Hindustan. In 1841, Britain annexed the fertile valleys in the southern part of the country - duars, later covered by the world's largest tea plantations.

In 1865 a new war broke out between Bhutan and the British Empire. Bhutan finally lost the fertile plains. The country plunged into the abyss of political instability. But not everything is so simple, however, as it may seem at first glance, because it is to the British that the Bhutanese owe their modern statehood.

During the internecine strife, the figure of a young energetic Penlop Paro, Ugyen Wangchuck, stood out, who became the most influential political figure in the country. He was the son of the Desi Jigme Namyal, a talented military leader and assistant to the British during their military expedition to Tibet in 1904. On December 17.1907, Ugyen was elected head of state and received the title of Druk-Gyalpo ("Dragon King"). In 1910, the Bhutanese-British Treaty was concluded, according to which all external relations of Bhutan became the competence of the British, and for the lost duars, Bhutan received compensation of 100.000 rupees a year.

The second king of Bhutan - Jigme Wangchuck - ascended the throne in 1926 (until 1956). It was he who concluded in 1947 a new treaty with the already independent India, to which he also transferred the right of foreign relations, as had previously been the case with the British administration of India.


Under the third king of Bhutan - Jigde Dorji Wangchuck - a gradual modernization of the country began. In 1969, Bhutan joined the World Postal Union, and in 1971 - the UN. In 1974, the enthronement of the fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, took place. 287 foreign guests arrived at his coronation, and the first hotels had to be built to accommodate them. The fourth king finally opened Bhutan to the world. In 1983, an international airport was built in Paro, the country began to receive foreign tourists. At the end of 2008, the ceremony of transferring power to the new, fifth dragon king of Bhutan, the young Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, should take place, although evil tongues in Bhutan say that it is time to abolish the monarchy, as in neighboring Nepal. “We want democracy! ”- this can be increasingly heard from Bhutanese, Nepalese, Sikkimese.

The abundance of red flags on the streets and sickles and hammers on the walls of houses in countries neighboring Bhutan once again reminds us that it is not always useful for children to play adult games ...

Yes, in Bhutan only very recently the Internet appeared and it was allowed to smoke. There are no McDonald's and Coca-Cola advertising posters in the country. It is possible that “democracy” will come to this country, and many prohibitions and obligations that now seem conservative and just funny will become a thing of the past. Walking in jeans and T-shirts is more comfortable and practical than in dressing gowns. It will be possible to smoke, chew hamburgers and listen to Bhutanese rap. But will it be necessary in this case to travel to Bhutan? Now Bhutan is interesting for the traveler precisely because of its “unspoilt”, “untroubled”, clean air and religious traditions. “We are not Tibetans, we are Bhutanese! ”- this principle of national self-identification was introduced by the first zhabdrung in the 17th century.

Above the dzong rises "utse" - the central tower. Administrative institutions, ministries and departments are located in and around it. You can get into the dzong as a "tourist" after five in the evening, when the employees disperse.

In Thimphu there is another "mini-dzong" - the Changangha Lhakhang temple, built in the 12th century by Lama Phajo Shigpo, who arrived from Tibet. In 1974, in honor of the coronation of Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, the "National Memorial Chorten" was erected, whose white silhouette is clearly visible from the surrounding hills.

Of the museums in Thimphu, the Folk Heritage Museum should be noted, which is valuable primarily because it contains a replica of a real Bhutanese rural residential building. Please note that the kitchen is always located on the top floor, and in the middle of the house there is always a family altar - a Buddhist "chapel".


Nearby is the "Zorig Chusum Institute", a kind of "school of masters", where you can watch how "tanks" (Buddhist icons) and ritual masks are created. You can go to the nearby National Library, which houses the largest book in Bhutan; employees turn one page a day. However, the book is just a huge photo album about Bhutan...

At least for the sake of sporting interest, it is worth visiting a small "philatelist's shop" at the General Post Office in Thimphu, even if you are not a philatelist. Bhutan still "issues" stamps of the highest printing quality, both in the form of phonograph records and in the form of CDs, holographic, stereoscopic, aromatic, in short, whatever the soul requires. Sets of stamps in stockbooks with Bhutanese symbols are also sold in souvenir shops. In general, souvenirs and antiques in Bhutan are quite expensive.

It should be borne in mind that the canons of Buddhist art are the same everywhere, and most of the souvenirs are made in Nepal and India, and not in Bhutan. Things like “handmade” rice paper are sold in Kathmandu for exactly half the price of Thimphu, although it is still interesting to watch the process of its production.

If you want to see the first "miracle of vivisection", then welcome to Thipmha. In Bhutan, Sikkim and Assam, a small population of an animal lives, which the Bhutanese consider their own, national. Lama Drukpa Kunley, whose love exploits we have already spoken about, once “ordered” a cow and a goat for dinner. Having eaten both with great appetite, he ordered the head of a bull to be placed on the skeleton of a cow. Then the lama breathed life into this structure, and so a new type of mammal appeared - takin. A few heads of takins graze in a small reserve near Thimphu.

If you're lucky, you can get a good look at them and photograph them through the bars.

There are about 30 dzongs in Bhutan that deserve attention. Most of them are of more historical value than architectural. Of those magnificent dzongs that can be visited during a short visit to Bhutan, we note, in addition to the Thimphu dzong, the Punakha and Paro dzongs - two picturesque and fertile valleys that are the heart of the Bhutanese statehood. Both valleys are about the same distance from the modern capital, and were themselves capitals in the past.


Punakha is located east of Thimphu, a three-hour leisurely drive. The road passes by the Simtokha dzong and through the Dochu La pass (3140 m), on which 108 white stupas were built in 2004, apart from which there is a stupa in which evil spirits are imprisoned, devouring travelers, but pacified by Lama Drukpa Kunley.

The dzong in Punahk, on the junction of the Mo Chu and Po Chu rivers, can be safely called the most beautiful in Bhutan, especially if you come here in the spring, when it is surrounded by blooming jacarandas, and the lilac color of their petals stands out sharply against the white background of its mighty walls. Punakha is the winter residence of the Zhabdrungs of Bhutan and Jo Khenpo. The dzong was built in 1638 by Ngawang Namgyal, who was predestined to build the dzong in this very place, because even Guru Rimpoche predicted that a fortress would be built here by a man named "Namgyal". Here Namgyal found his resting place. At one time, he brought from Tibet the "miraculous image" of Chenrezig (Buddha Avalokiteshvara), and this image, inaccessible to the eyes of mere mortals, is also kept in the Punakha dzong.

After crossing the bridge that separates Rinpungdzong from the city of Paro, you can go to a long area where Bhutanese indulge in their favorite sport - archery. It is amazing how human casualties are avoided in this case - there is no “safety zone”, the audience stands close to the lane along which the arrows fly. Archers are separated from the targets by 150 meters!

Near Paro is the dilapidated Drukgyel Dzong ("Dragon Victory Dzong"), built in honor of the victory over the Tibetans in 1649 and the oldest Buddhist temple in Bhutan - Kuichu Lhakhang (VII century). But the most important thing is that on the rocks near Paro perched the monastery of Taksang - "The Nest of the Tigress", the very one on which the great guru Rimpoche flew here. The ascent to the monastery along the mountain path takes two and a half hours; half of the way can be done on horseback. The road is wonderful, especially during the flowering of rhododendrons.


It is generally agreed that the day of the trip to the monastery can be considered the best day in Bhutan. The views of Taksang, which gradually open up from every turn, can please any photographer. It is a pity that at the entrance to the monastery itself the equipment is taken away. What can you do - other people's customs and shrines must be respected. In the end, you can just sit in an ancient cave temple, decorated with frescoes with images of Buddhas, bodhisattvas and numerous incarnations of Guru Rimpoche, who has mastered the art of teleportation to the full, not subject to higher airfare and fuel surcharges.

NIKOLAY BALANDINSKY. 2008

Translated automatically from Russian. View original
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