Sunday

Bhutan- The last Shangri-la








The king is revered here. The GNP takes a rear seat.
National happiness is of prime importance. India possibly can take a few lessons from its neighboring country.

This country is a delight for people - who love walking.
Paro - the beautiful city of colour and joy. This city’s numerous legends coaxed me to take on yet another flight of steps. Peace envelops regardless of the altitude sickness that hit me, 18000ft above sea level! There is an energy that gave me the oxygen burst to trek uphill at my own pace even puffing and panting. The purity of the mountains edges one closer to the top, above the valley. To Taktshang Monastery, also known as the Tigers Nest, from where the view felt sacred!


The clouds at times played spoilsport and hid the majestic view from the eyes. And on other days the clouds honoured me, by showing off the gigantic snow capped Himalayas, Mount Everest and Kanchenjunga which rose above beautiful Paro. We went to Paro to witness the colourful festival that started at dawn. Pitch dark, cold - brrr, priests in orange robes busily chanting. The sunrise in Paro, most spectacular - molten gold bursting in the sky. Lighting life. The sun was very welcome as the morning mountain cold had me shivering despite the many layers of clothing. By 9am the sun had risen high, and the heat had started pinching my skin! When you are high up in the mountains the sun is closer hence, and can get very hot! One by one I shed the layers on me; where did the cold disappear, I wondered a bit wistfully?!

At tea break, I lean against the car and look around this deep valley, forestation everywhere. I hear a growl. I froze. My first thoughts – will this beast kill this beauty!?! The driver came to my rescue and shushed the animal a distance away. This animal was a cross between a goat and a cow. Wearing socks! So I thought then! I think while he was grazing he was equally stunned to come across me, and I froze seeing him appear from nowhere so close to me! Later I was told this was the national animal for Bhutan- the takin, a gentle beast.

I came across an interesting folklore around this animal, once in the 15th century the Lama Drupka was visiting Bhutan, when his devotees gathered around him, urged him to show a miracle. He demanded that he first be served a whole cow and a goat for lunch. After eating he was satisfied, he took the goat’s head and stuck it onto the bones of the cow. And then he snapped his fingers and commanded the strange mix up beast to rise up and graze on the mountain side, thus was born the Takin.

Bhutan is a hidden treasure waiting to unfold to the world; Indians don’t need a passport to visit this country. A definite ‘must visit’ for those who are bit by the wander lust!

17 comments:

Bhutanese Blogger said...

Cool post. The mountain you see from Paro is Jomolhari (not Everest). Still the view is great.

Mee said...

Bhutanese blogger - thanks for the correction, am wiser and more learned now:)

ALLEX said...

A beautiful post indeed.Its a beautiful place. I too have visited this wonderful country when I was in school. It was like a dream and have plans to visit it again. Hope you have enjoyed the food there.... the place offers a nice lot to relish.

Mike said...

This definitely paints a lovely Shangri -La Mee, how lovely - a bit like Switzerland:)
Alps, everest or Himalayas - they all are breathtaking, literally speaking:)

melinda said...

Hehehe Mee will kill me if I ever tell the world how white she had become when she saw the Takin:) and the incidence that followed. Am sorry am not laughing:) just bubbling with mirth - ya knw Mee, I think abt the fun time we had in butan, wat was that place we went to in the evening? Only men n not a single woman ? Gawd - it was a bar with not a single woman thr! We got out immediately:)

Mike said...

Talking abt folklore here is one - the bhutanese bathe in stone baths it is a luxury now, enjoyed by the well to do families in Bhautan.
Its an eventwhr red hot stones are thrown into the bath and the water is heated depending on hw much the person takes the heat,here is whr the entire family of yesteryrs took turns for bathing, apparently it is abt the more u sweat thr the btr u feel.

Vivek said...

After catching up on all the hundred blogs I've missed out on since I've stopped geting the blog links via your official mails; and the non-existent potent one that you as it seems now tricked me to look up :)The Bhutan trip remains a sense-stopper--I'm so in awe of you its not funny--Will be making this quite secret-sacred trip very quitely and soon--Cheers

And offcourse I cant beleive you took those pics : )

Mee said...

Alexx- for a veggie like me food, is always a bummer! I was lucky to find a swiss bakery very close to whr we stayed, so had fresh bakes everyday from savoury to sweet;-)

Mel- did u say u were coming to India mid july?:) Well...if you care for your safety...:-)

Mike- thats wonderful, I had no idea!

Vivek- u've lost me thr dude, wat r u talking abt? And yes especially for you Bhutan is a must visit for sure:-)

Ajeya said...

bhutan is up there on my list of places to go within a year. so good to read about it here. :)

ALLEX said...

Hi Mee, try the native dishes over there like momo, chow-chow,churpi... all veggy stuff and am sure you will like that. Besides, the sauces that they give , are also yum:)

Mee said...

Hey Ajeya- welcome back, whr did you disappear:-), lemme know if you need any tips before you head out to Bhutan.

Allex, didnt :-(
am returning to apna desh tmrw

Ajeya said...

:) just been in a sleepy haze because of staying up late for the Euros and then spazzing

Mee said...

Ya, tell me abt it:) I sleep at 3 or thereafter n wake up in time for lunch:)

Venuraj Janakarajan said...

Wonderful travel posts... you seem to be having a ball :)

Mee said...

Hey Venu! Congrats on ccd, I am definitely gonna swing by for a cuppa soon:). Met the boys today much gossip happened:)

sheila said...

bhutan- trula the last hangrila la! thimpu, paro, wonderful monastries, the golf in the cast open spaces, their national dress is so cute, empty long roads, clean fresh air...time to seriously contemplate a break

Mee said...

Malay land has bitten you hard Sheila:) The -la effect carries on:)