Like in Sylhet, my trip to Bhutan introduced me to a new way of traveling, one where I gave up the reins and instead witnessed a country through locals’ perspectives and at their pace, as a guest in their home. This time, I was traveling “solo” and accompanied by my MyBhutan guide, Yeshey, and driver, Namgay, as per Bhutan’s travel regulations (see my “Aside on Bhutan Tourism” below). By the end of it, I had fallen in love with this isolated and magical kingdom tucked into the Himalayas, where Buddhist legends and lore are intertwined with the country’s history, people eat red chili peppers with cheese, and traffic signs exclaim quite appropriately, “No hurry, no worry.”
Aside on Bhutan Tourism
With the exception of Bangladeshis, Indians and Maldivians, all foreign travelers can only visit Bhutan by booking through a government-approved tour operator (I went with MyBhutan, which I would highly recommend), and are required to pay a minimum daily fee of 250 USD a day (which does covers a personal guide and driver, 3-star hotels and homestays, and every meal). It is a hefty fee—one that I was only able to afford because I've lived at home and saved up over the last 2 years—but it’s a policy that helps maintain Bhutan’s pristine, unique travel experience by preventing tourist overcrowding, and in my opinion, is worth every cent. It does mean that you are accompanied at all times though, and an Israeli couple I ran into on the road described this as a kind of surveillance (not wrong—being with a guide/driver means that you can be called out for any littering as per Bhutan’s environmentally conscious rules). I was initially worried that I would dislike the lack of independent travel, but, ultimately, this guided experience ended up being my favorite part of the whole trip.
Why Bhutan: Bhutan as a Counterpoint
What brought me to Bhutan? Put simply, it seemed like the exact opposite of Dhaka. Bhutan has a tiny population of 800,000 compared to Dhaka’s—just one city’s—20 million, and serves as a stark counterpoint to the kind of capitalism and breathless development that is not only happening in Dhaka, but in metropolises and growth hubs all over the world. Bhutan is taking its time, and deliberating over how it grows and scales (even measuring its progress by "Gross National Happiness" over GDP), although you can still see plenty of construction of new houses and hotels everywhere to accommodate its steadily growing tourism scene.
Bhutan very possibly has the world’s freshest air, embodying an environmental consciousness that you truly don’t see anywhere else in world—they proudly boast about being the world’s only “carbon-negative” country. Bhutan has also firmly held onto and worked to preserve its unique culture and spirituality, evident in the handicrafts and traditional arts showcased and sold everywhere, and proactively sponsored by the government. As one example, every Bhutanese house must still be built and painted in the traditional way, which takes 1 year to build—mud walls and all—and another half a year to paint.
Furthermore, in politics, Bhutan’s leaders are relatively humble and down-to-earth. For example, the revered 4th king, who is credited with modernizing Bhutan and ushering in its current parliamentary system, often runs into locals while mountain biking around the capital of Thimphu (of course, always wearing his traditional gho), and lives in a humble, secluded cabin in his retirement. In fact, we even had a run-in with the 5th and current King ourselves; Namgay pointed out that we drove right past him on the road as we were departing Thimphu!
However, in the process of appreciating Bhutan’s slow and steady pace and its thoughtfulness around its development, I still learned about its shortcomings. As Yeshey told me, many well-educated youth in Bhutan are unable to find the white collar, office jobs that they are seeking within Bhutan. Rather, the best opportunities currently available to English-speaking, college-educated youth like Yeshey inside Bhutan are joining the civil service or working as a tour guide.
Given Bhutan’s still predominantly agricultural economy and its isolation, people in Bhutan don’t have the luxury of big dreams just yet. Still, I admired and even envied the simplicity and earnestness of their ambitions. While my friends in America are always restless and stressed about their next job change or “big move,” Yeshey and Namgay dream of building their own houses and settling down in the beautiful Phobjikha Valley, where we spent two idyllic days. It was impossible not to get some perspective from this contrast.
Road Tripping with Friends
Ultimately, the aspect of the trip I was most worried about—a 24/7 guide and driver—ended up making Bhutan one of my favorite trips ever. Over my week in Bhutan, I not only gave my lungs a reprieve from Dhaka pollution and witnessed beautiful landscapes, but I most importantly gained two friends, as Yeshey, Namgay and I roamed around the country like old friends or even siblings on a road trip. At some points, I was mistaken as a fellow Bhutanese walking alongside them, something I was highly amused and delighted by.
My favorite memories from the trip involved the small moments we spent together:
Enjoying traditional, home-made Bhutanese food and sampling rice wine (a much lighter and more palatable version of China’s baijiu) in our homestay around an old-school coal stove
Contributing to Bhutan’s environmental agenda by picking up trash around Phobjikha Valley together using a natural garbage can Yeshey made entirely from thistles
Jamming to both Bhutanese tunes and Adele with the windows down and wind rushing through our car as Namgay swerved expertly on curvy, partially paved mountain roads
Namgay surging ahead of Yeshey and me as we hiked up the challenging trail to the famous Tiger’s Nest monastery, perched in the mountains above Paro
Giving “paan” (betel nut)—called doma in Bhutan, and Namgay’s favorite snack—a second try, and actually managing to chew it for a personal record of 30 seconds
It was a real privilege to also get a glimpse into Yeshey’s and Namgay’s lives, as we often ran into their friends on the road (Bhutan has a tiny population, after all), Yeshey and Namgay pointed out their old haunts, hang-out spots and schools along the way, and, best of all, Namgay hosted us at his home during our last full day in Paro.
Yeshey and Namgay—I miss you bros, and thank you again for the most unforgettable adventure!
Experiencing the Slow and Steady Life
Being in Bhutan also forced me to pause and disconnect completely from the urban, hectic life I normally lead, something that was much needed after 2 years of slogging on the East Coast and 2 months of intense work and life in Dhaka.
While I was in Bhutan, we followed a modest and manageable 8:30am-6pm travel schedule, ending the day with the sunset. After 6pm, I would just settle into my hotel or homestay, as there weren’t many places to wander off to after dark (and certainly no bars or clubs), especially when we were in remote valleys or farms outside of Thimphu. At first, the peace and silence I experienced in Bhutan itself was deafening—having grown up in New York with fire sirens and coming from Dhaka with its incessant honking, my ears simply couldn’t believe the silence, and I still heard ghost honking in my ears.
However, as someone who has been working on consciously slowing down and taking life easier, I used these quiet hours to meditate, unwind and relax in a way that I have rarely been able to or frankly been good at. Furthermore, I was able to fully unplug from the Internet for a majority of the trip, as I didn’t have local data or functional Wi-Fi in most places. The quiet and lack of Internet made for the most therapeutic detox, one that I’d highly recommend to all other Type-A millennials who are overly wired or attached to their mobile phones.
Furthermore, Bhutan’s serenity allows for you to fully appreciate and feel the mysticism and spirituality of the place, where Buddhist lore and legends of powerful gods and animals are Bhutan’s history. It’s hard not to have chills or experience a moment of absolute peace and awe when you walk into the beautiful temples scattered all over Bhutan’s landscape, or to believe in some of Bhutan’s Buddhist tales (including the magic ability of phallus sculptures, which some women or couples carry up to the Fertility Temple—Chimi Lhakhang—to help with conception).
Cross-Cultural Connections
On the topic of finding random and surprising cross-cultural connections around the world, I also found these threads in Bhutan:
Many youth in Bhutan, including Yeshey, are fans and regular players of popular mobile games like PUBG, one of Asia’s biggest shooter games. In fact, Yeshey even downloaded Call of Duty Mobile and started playing it while we were traveling!
During my first day in town, I came across a break dancing competition in Thimphu Square, with some Naruto references thrown in ala an Akatsuki costume. It was a real throwback to my break-dancing days in college!
We met the guide who toured Mark Wiens—a popular travel v-logger with some of the most watched videos about Bhutanese cuisine—around Bhutan.
Pop-culture wise, both WWE Wrestling and Pepa the Pig are very popular in Bhutan.
Unfortunately, Spotify doesn't have the greatest hits of Bhutan's version of American Idol (called Druk Idol) available, so instead, here's a chill tune I also listened to on the roads of Bhutan: