Bhutan- Randomness!!

Gun wielding mad-man- On the way to Jaigaon border I got the scare of my life, when all of a sudden a guy dressed in police uniform ran in front of the still car & next thing I knew he was taking aim of my head. Before I could have said anything driver started driving, when asked I was told that he is a mad man & keep pulling stunts like this on every possible occasion on that traffic signal. I had a chuckle when the driver told me that, but even with the plastic made fake pistol that mad-man almost made me duck in order to dodge the bullet :)

Games- During the entire road trip 6 of us kept experimenting with some game or the other. 'UNO' was the game which took majority of our time & everyone got super competitive at it. There were three occasion where all the +4 cards were used one after the other, leading to a person picking up 16 cards & on one occasion there was a rally of seven +2 cards, leading to a person picking 14 cards. Sad thing was I was involved in both these records. And as far as competitiveness is concerned we crossed all boundaries, little cheating was not looked down upon but the heights was when 6 adults ganged up on a kid to ensure that he wasn't the first person out of the game. The kid was traveling in the same train during our return journey to Calcutta & by the end of the session he was fully trained. In his last game he was fully aware of the cards held by people sitting beside him, also he almost succeeded in using a 9 as a 6.
We also played 'Buzz', which is a number based game where players keeps saying numbers in numerical order, but in case of multiple of 5 or 7 one is supposed to say buzz. It really doesn't matter that the game is suppose to be for kids for them to learn multiplications better, we had a gala time playing this game. Must try game for all ages. It is even more fun when people revise their multiplication tables & miss then get out in the first round itself :)
Dumb-charade is one game which can't be avoided & to say it turned out to be decent fun would be an understatement.
But the most interesting game turned out to be "20 questions" with personalities like Robert Vadra, Arindam Chaudhari, Himesh Reshammiya, Kamaal Rashid Khan most of the rounds turned out to be fun. And some where made interesting without intention, as OBL was turned into a man of Pakistani origin, an honest mistake which everyone enjoyed.

Discussions with strangers- Swiss guest house, where we stayed in Bumthang, gave us adequate opportunity to interact with new people. It had a bar-cum-dining area-cum-community room, where people would sit till late hours. First night there we started chatting with a local guide, who belongs to one of the family in the race for monarchy in 1907, Jigme & his Austrian contact, who also run his travel company, Peter. We had long discussions about Bhutan, comparisons with India, Nepal, Monarchy, Democracy, changes happening in Bhutan (Since Peter has been traveling to Bhutan for about 15 odd years), Austria, trekking, etc. We also constantly were looking out for expert advice on places to visit & things to do & we were not disappointed. Right from shop owners to walkers on the street, to restaurant owners to strangers who were eating there, from drivers to co-travelers, everyone was more than forthcoming with suggestions. In some cases people inquired if we are tourists & then offered to talk to driver in order to make him take us to relevant places. In short, Bhutan consists of really sweet people who are happy in life & who loves to  help others. 

Progressive Monks & Reincarnated Lamas- There were quite a few instances of myth busting, but the most interesting one has to be our tryst with "Nawang", monk at Khurjey Monastery. We were walking up to to our guest house in Bumthang from the market, when I asked Nawang for directions. After discussing some Bollywood & a bit on Bhutan Nawang invited us to the monastery & we were more than happy to join him. After reaching there, he invited us to his room & we followed him happily there also. He introduced us to his room-mates giving us an opportunity to be on a first name basis with our first ever reincarnated Lama, a cute little guy named Jigme. Interesting bit was they were watching an English movie in their room when we entered, Jigme's favorite actor happens to be Hugh Jackman (I decided to ignore his first preference which was Tom Cruise). There were pictures of Nawang on the walls where he looked like a South Korean hero, with funky hairstyle. They were so nice as hosts, that we didn't mind overstaying our welcome. Having made Nawang sing and explain the meaning of the local song & Jigme answering questions about how he was identified as a reincarnation of one of the Buddha's, we decided to leave, with Nawang giving us company till the point from where he was sure we knew the way. I shot a video where Nawang sang a local song & translated the same for us.

We also met a group of Monks from India who were carrying iPad with them & were more than comfortable using it. One of them even agreed to pose with his device so that I could click a picture of him.

The monk who bought an iPad :)

Things we say- At times people do go through phases were they over-use certain words or phrases. So apparently I was using "Good Stuff Man" as a broken record & Paw was doing the same with "Boss", but this was nothing in comparison with what Brao was doing. Like a patient of "Dissociative identity disorder", he kept on referring to himself in third person as if he was talking about someone else. It was damn funny to hear him say "Brao iss pic me Funk-da-puttar lag raha hai" or "Brao is a stud", modesty personified some would have said .

Ema datshi, with red rice, dal & butter-milk

Ema Datshi- My savior for the entire trip of Bhutan, in terms of food was Ema Datshi (literally meaning Chili & Cheese). I don't think I would have consumed so much chili in such a short duration of time before in my life, but given the amazing taste it was pretty easy to break that record. Datshi became the default order. Others also started flirting with variety of Datshi, like Mushroom Datshi & Kewa Datshi (potato cheese). As Chatak (Jacobin Cuckoo) remains committed to rain water, I remained committed to Ema datshi & consumed crazy amount of Chillies. Its a must have for anyone who is going to Bhutan & wants to try local cuisine.

Most colorful puppy ever

Dogs- Bhutan is full of cute & beautiful dogs, after a point we lost count of the number of dogs that we would have seen on our way or at the places where we stayed. Best part of so many dogs being there is that whenever you plan to go for a walk they would accompany you. At times we went for a walk & some dog started walking with us & they continued along with us till our guest house. Drukpa's love their dogs, hence the relationship between humans & dogs in general is very strong. By the end of the trip we had so many pictures of dogs that we could have dedicated one entire album to them.At one point couple of dogs joined us from the Bumthang town to Swiss Guest House & didn't leave, thankfully the owner was more than keen to add to the already existing count of dogs.

Absolution of Sin- We would have visited umpteen number of monasteries & Dzongs while in Bhutan, but one of the most interesting experience was visiting Tamshing Lhakhang, which is a cave like monastery. In that monastery there was a jacket of about 25 kgs & it is believed that if one picks up that jacket & put it on his/her back & cover three rounds of the monastery, all his/her sins would be washed away. The idea of getting a clean slate was so damn interesting, that I decided to give it a shot. After you put it on your back its not a difficult thing to do & our driver-cum-guide told us that we also need to lift the huge stone kept there. After giving it my best possible efforts I could barely move it only by a few mm's. Brao & Paw followed later, having cleared our sins we decided to celebrate by beating up Jojo for no reason. Thanks to our clean slate, we could afford that luxury :)

Phallus- For the first time in our life, we encountered pictures of phallus put up on public display, that too in decent numbers. And the display was not just restricted to paintings put up outside houses, administrative buildings, shops, etc, they were everywhere. And just when you thought you have had enough, there were models made up of wood, there were t-shirts with the phallic symbol on them (and apparently people were buying it), all the souvenir shops would have different rendition of the same. It does have religious background to it, Lama Drukpa Kinley (also known as "Divine Madman") started using this symbol which is supposed to drive away bad eye & malicious gossip. Even though the symbol is traced back to Lama Drukpa Kinley in Bhutan, it is believed by a few locals that it has been there since ages ago.

Bhutanese Kids- There is something about kids in mountainous terrains, best part being they are both shy & friendly at the same time. And the mongoloid features enhance their cuteness manifolds. So at every possible instance we kept on interacting with families, clicking pictures of their kids, treating them with chocolates & Ice creams, etc. While accepting any kind of gift, Bhutanese kids would put both their hands in front of the perspon giving the gift & then thank the person with both hands folded, all of them were extremely well-mannered, a sign of the quality parenting skill existing in Bhutan. In the end we had considerable amount of pictures where beautiful happy kids, some of which are attached here.

A local guide posing with girls

Go & Kiri- I guess not many places are there where
 men wears dress, that too of shorter length compared to what women wear. Go, the traditional robe-like dress for Bhutanese men, is only knee length, whereas Kiri or the traditional skirt used by women is full length. Bhutanese women have a really nice way of carrying themselves & they carry the Kiri along with silk shirt really gracefully. Go/Kiri is displayed across all museums & all the locals are suppose to follow traditional manner of dressing when they are visiting any monastery or any place with religious relevance.

Royal Family

 
Love for the King & Queen- Every place that we visited had at least one picture of King & the Queen, which is a symbol of the love that exists between king & his people. People talk very fondly of their King & they have only good things to talk about him. King has married just once, that too to a commoner (his father, the previous king married 4 different women, they were all from regal family, and had 10 kids), king is educated & he also supports democracy.



 

The only place where you can put up stuff related

Excitement for Democracy- With 2nd election ever to happen in Bhutan around the corner, everyone was talking about the performance given by the last National Council. Some were supportive & mentioned that they need to be given one more chance as they were new & trying to come to terms with the entire setup, whereas others were not that liberal and felt that they neglected the people who elected them & hence should be replaced. Best part of the elections in Bhutan was that campaigning was highly restricted, there were boards were candidates would put up their manifestation & other stuff which is to be shared with public.

Bhutanese Cowboy- We couldn't have completed our trip of Bhutan without getting a pictures clicked with Bhutanese Cowboy. They wear the traditional robe, i.e. Go, but apart from that they would have a cowboy hat & a very unique set of beard & moustache. The moustache would consist of a thin line protruding on both sides with a gap in middle, a set of hair above the chin & one set just below the chin. Overall they look very different & are fun bunch to interact with.

Another Bhutanese Cowboy

Bhutanese Cowboy with Us

Potential royalty- Our interaction with Jigme, a guide who has been taking Austrian groups for their annual sightseeing for past 15 years on the same route with different stops & different places to visit. Needless to say neither Jigme, nor the Austrians were bored out of this annual rendezvous. Jigme's family was one of the family in contention for monarchy in 1907, he had a palace very close to Bumthang, where his aunt was still living. He wasn't very keen on visiting his palace or discuss about his past, guess he was still thinks about what could have been in case his family was selected as the royal family. With the selection of King Ugyen Wangchuck, his family lost power & kept on losing it. He also mentioned that since then royal family hasn't been very kind with their family & have neglected their needs. Serious things aside, he was a great company post he was 2-3 drinks down. Very funny & witty, he would not only tell us about Bhutan & its heritage, but also add a few colorful facts of his own making the entire discussion very entertaining. He asked us to make a few changes in our style of exploring Bhutan & the results were pretty good as we went to remote part of the town to interact more with villagers & even without a common language we connected well with the villagers.

Etho-Metho (Means rhododendron in Dzongkha)- Throughout our road trip we keep passing millions of Etho-metho trees & they were all beautiful. But even before I knew what it actually means, the name had impressed me. It is one of those words which are fun to say, like Mawlynnong, Nungambakkam, etc. And the sheer variety & quantum that exist there makes it an integral part of Bhutan experience. I clicked so many of them, that in the end at least 20% of my pictures were of Etho-Metho.

a window

Mythology- One thing which no one can avoid in Bhutan is the mythology surrounding Buddhism. Guru Rinpoche & his 8 forms, protectors of 4 directions, Drukpa Kinley, tale of 4 friends, lake of burning fire, phallus, etc are just a small part of things which you cannot avoid if you interact with locals. They are part of Bhutanese life & people love to talk about it & really believe in it strongly. Their are so many monasteries across Bhutan & all of them are full of monks & student who gets their basic education from there. As told to us my many, locals do look up to monk's & lama's.But the fact that it has a strong influence on their houses, hotels, restaurants, official buildings drives the point home nicely. A painting of 4 wise friends here, or a mask of one of the forms of Guru Rinpoche there, a dragon based design on pillar inside the building or Buddhist flag flying on top of houses, signifies the amount of faith the locals have on Buddhism.

Forms of Guru Rinpoche, used during festive dancing

Protectors of 4 directions

National Sport & Khuru- We saw people playing a unique game of darts, with big & heavy darts to be thrown at a small target kept far away, at quite a few places in Bhutan. The game is called Khuru in local parlance. At Swiss Guest House, we even saw one of the driver with Austrian group making a decent amount of money post a game of darts in about less than an hour.
Archery is the national game of Bhutan & is played in a different manner, with longer distances & different & difficult set of rules. Luckily on our last day we managed to watch a competition live & it was fascinating to say the least. First they would all pray, chanting loudly for a bit & then they started playing. Even after concentrating for a bit, we couldn't even see the arrows for some time, as they were shooting them really far. Only after a bit we started following what was happening in a very difficult form of archery. We were all pretty amazed to see a guy actually hitting the short target from the distance of 130 mts, which is way more than the Olympic standards.

Traffic sense- One of the real point of differentiation between India & Bhutan has to be the driving sense. One one side of the border there is so much of chaos, every vehicle is in a hurry, honking is the way of life, no one wants to give an inch to another vehicle, pedestrians are not to be allowed to cross the road, whereas on the other side there is no chaos, everyone is respectful of each other, no honking what so ever, you press the horn once & the vehicle in front will move to one side to let you go ahead, pedestrians are on top of the priority list as cars slow down & stop when they see someone trying to cross the road. Things are so systematic in Bhutan & their is a constant improvement in infrastructure. At one point of time there were about 10-15 vehicle stuck in a scheduled break in middle of a highway for more than an hour, striking bit none of the local people stuck there were worried or concerned. They came out of their cars & buses and took a walk with their kids, some decided to stay inside the car & chat, some went for a tea but none of them complained. A sizable chunk of our time was spent in Bhutan on the road  with Chimmi, our cab driver who was with us for the entire duration. Given the nice people we met on the roads, scenic natural beauty that is on offer & the driving sense of drukpa's, I would say it was worth it :)