BHUTAN

INTRODUCTION
I first heard about Bhutan only last November from a friend who
had been there and was fascinated by its beauty. It was the first time
I had heard of the word Bhutan and needless to say, I was clueless
of where it could be located. Later on, I began to do some research
on the country, which intrigued me even more, and in March 2008,
I arrived tin the country for a two-week stay.
Nestling in the heart of the Great Himalayas between India and
China, often called the “Crown Jewel of the Himalayas”, Bhutan or
“Druk Yul” in the Bhutanese language literally meaning” The Land of the
Thunder Dragon”, does not often make headlines - actually it is even
hard to find it on the map and has a size of 47,000 square kilometers,
similar to that of Switzerland. A country of only 650,000 people,
neighboring with India and China of three billion but still managing
to maintain its identity, traditions and culture, make it indeed unique.
It is the last independent country in the world adopting Buddhism as
the state religion. The inhabitants are fiercely concerned about their
independence and they have wisely safeguarded and preserved
their rich culture and traditions, its ancient way of life, in all its
aspects. Surprisingly, while most of the
world, and especially Asia, go through
various crises, in this small kingdom
the genuine smiles of the people are
flourishing. A unique aspect they have
is that progress is not purely defined
by economic achievements, as in most
countries, but is based on the level of cultural and environmental
preservation and development. They want prosperity but are not
prepared to sacrifice their tradition and culture at any price. When
the standard is production and consumption, Bhutan simply cannot
compete, so it came up with its own way to measure progress. It is
the place where Gross National Happiness -as their King says- is more
important than Gross National Product. People here seem to have
found the recipe for happiness. According to a study made by the
University of Leicester in 2007, on the world’s 178 happiest countries,
it is rated 8th (1st in Asia).
Bhutan is not a rich country. Its poverty could not be hidden
and of course is well apparent in several photographs. What is
not apparent is misery and that is
simply because it is non-existent. That
enigma, the solution to which may lay
to geographical solitude and religion,
is vividly depicted in the joyful faces of
its people. Preserving with great care, its
myths, principles and traditions, Bhutan
has set its own pace and is disinclined to keep up with the pace of
the world. The profound wisdom of its people has lead their steps as
it did for thousands of years, to experience and live their life in peace
and tranquility, thus living a deeply spiritual life. The last kingdom of
the Himalayas does not conform to the norms of most of the world,
which lives in affluent and advanced technological societies. Perhaps
the sayings « modern civilization is the source of our misery» or «our
civilization, which rose in the east but sets in the west» hold some
truth after all.
Those two weeks in Bhutan were like nothing I had imagined.
What I loved most was how flawless everything was. As you stroll
through a vivid forest, you find yourself in the heart of a village, with
houses made out of nothing but mud, stone and wood all gathered
from the area around, without even realizing the difference between
nature and civilization. The modern world seems very, very far away.
The powerful sense of tradition and culture that you can almost feel
in your skin, together with the eyes of these smiling magnificent
people looking straight to your heart, captures your soul in an
instant. The absence of roads gives distances a whole different
meaning and one should be satisfied if he can cover 100 kilometers
in one full day. When first confronting that, one becomes impatient
thinking of how slow this pace is, but after a while gets to ponder is
our everyday life in the modern world an example of a “normal” pace
and where are we rushing to?
Visiting the monasteries I had the opportunity to take a lot of
pictures of the young monks. I was greeted by some of the warmest
smiles imaginable. Possibly the greatest benefit of digital cameras
is that they enable us to show someone the picture we just took.
These monks rarely see themselves in a mirror and photos are prized
possessions. Seeing such pure and simple excitement from these
children was amazing At the end of each
day I was imagining that the following
one, could not possibly be better and
that for all I had seen so far up until that
moment, the journey had compensated
me beyond any expectation. I was wrong
however, since each following day kept
being more surprising with more fascinating things to learn and
discover.
The last day, while visiting The Tiger’s Nest Monastery (the symbol
of Bhutan); I thought to myself that I must have done something
very good in my life to enable me to travel somewhere so far from
my home and to such a magical place. I was standing at the top of
the world, closer to the clouds then ever, the clean air, the fantastic
view of the Himalayas with the prayer flags waving that made that
moment unique giving me a sense of joy, fulfilment and serenity. It
was then, that inside me the desire awakened to share all this joy
with as many people as possible, and through the photographs of
this book to convey even a tiny fraction of that smiling, unknown
world that deserves to be discovered. Thus the idea of this album
was born.
It may be difficult to capture the beauty of a place and even
harder to describe it, especially a magical land like Bhutan. I can only
say that out of all the places I have visited, none has sent me back so
changed as Bhutan. It is worth seeing. Not only for what you will feel
there but most importantly for what memories you’ll take with you
and treasure for the rest of your life. Home to a unique identity, is a
deeply spiritual land deriving from its religious and cultural heritage.
The people live life by the simplest and purest fashion adhering to
the importance of human values and a broader purpose of life. Not
only teaches us to honor the earth we live in, but most importantly
it offers us an alternative perspective to measure our well being
viewing material wealth as a means, not an end and therefore invites
us to reevaluate our present way of life, so that we may achieve inner
peace.
I am grateful and deeply indebted to the authors of the books I
used for my research. Their deep knowledge of the country helped
me understand better what I was seeing and granted me precious
input regarding the way of life, the religion and the culture of Bhutan.
In fact the completion of this book would have been impossible
without their contribution.
FEW WORDS ABOUT BHUTAN
Geography and deliberate political policy has closed Bhutan
off from the outside world. The country had no paved roads, no
electricity, no cars, no telephones, no post office services, and no
tourists. Trade depended on barter. In the 1970’s their first paved
road was opened and in 1983 they build an airport in Paro valley.
In the end of the millennium, in 1999, Bhutan granted its citizens
access to television. Internet and cell phones were introduced in
2003. It is the last country on the planet to do so. Druk Air is Bhutan’s
national airline and the only one that flies to the country. They have
only two airplanes and one destination Paro, being the smallest,
most unique airline in the world. The
flight to Bhutan is an experience, having
flown over Mt Everest the plane lands in
a narrow valley in the middle of rice fields
and farmhouses. The country has opened
its borders to foreign visitors in 1975
and in effort to preserve its culture and
environment and minimize any negative impact on their traditions;
it restricted the number to about 5,000 a year, imposing a $220 per
day fee. Still, since the country is voted as one of the world’s top
travel destinations, there were 20,000 tourists last year, nearly ten
times as many as in 1991.
The location of the country and its countryside scenery is unique.
It is a land of great diversity, with dense jungles, valleys of rice fields,
alpine highlands, and towering peaks of the Himalayas.
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