Travel destinations don’t come much more seductive and alluring as Bhutan. Known to many as “The Forbidden Kingdom,” it’s the last Himalayan Buddhist kingdom to remain intact. Bordered by India to the south, China to the north, and home to many ancient artifacts moved to its temples from neighboring Tibet, the “Land of the Thunder Dragon” is ruled by the young and extremely popular Druk Gyalpo (Dragon King) Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck andDruk Gyaltsuen (Queen Consort) Jetsun Pema.
One of the most remote and unaltered environments on earth, the nation of around 770,000 is the only country to measure Gross National Happiness, a concept introduced in 1972 to protect spiritual values as a balance to the western measure of GDP. Considered a last frontier, it also has a reputation for being hard to gain access to – though that turns out to be largely a myth.
In fact, Damcho Rinzon from the Tourism Council of Bhutan is keen to point out that far from limiting VISAs or pricing out backpackers, Bhutan is aiming to increase tourism, and wants to make life easier for guests to come. In his office in the capital Thimphu, he explains “the US$200 and US$250 (in high season) per day fees are a minimum daily package designed to guarantee guests a quality place to stay, all meals, a licensed guide and all transport in the country.”
And in fact, it’s a great deal. Bhutan isn’t the kind of destination one can simply fly to and get around by themselves. By creating the system – US$65 of which goes to a sustainable tourism fund for education and healthcare – the country is trying to avoid the issues nearby Nepal has had of tourism running out of control and damaging the environment.
Aman resorts, specialists of creating luxury accommodation in distant and obscure places, had to create its most ambitious project of all to adjust to the terrain. With Amankora – “aman” means “peace,” “kora” means “circular pilgrimage” – it worked for years with the local government to create not one, but five lodges spread throughout the valleys, in order to make the highlights of the nation more accessible. Visitors don’t simply book a room. They book one of five journeys ranging from 7 to 12 nights, with some lodges built identical to the inch in order to minimize disorientation in new destinations.
And in Bhutan, it’s truly the journey, not the destination, that leaves memories that linger. The country’s main airport is at Paro, home to Drukair, which was founded in 1981 some seven years after Bhutan allowed its first foreign visitors. Passengers can fly in from Bangkok, Nepal, Singapore, Bangladesh or India, from where the flights pass the mighty Kangchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world. It has been reported that the skill needed to swerve between the peaks down to the runway in Paro are so treacherous, only a handful or pilots are qualified to land.
The descent passes dozens of traditional homes built from wattle and daub with wooden frames and whitewashed exteriors, part of the “Driglam namzha” – official regulations that date back centuries in order to codify and protect the dress code, architecture and behavior of the nation. While such rules may sound draconian, there is no doubt that it’s also protected the cultural assets of Bhutan – even the airport itself is constructed in the traditional way.
Once in Bhutan, guests can expect to see cultural gems that range from centuries old monasteries like Gangtey, to glacier valleys like Phobjikha, where the graceful black-necked cranes migrate from the Tibetan plateau. In Punakha, the dazzling 1637-built “Palace of Bliss” straddles the Mo Chhu and Pho Chhu (mother and father) rivers, where locals practice archery and trade goods from local farms in the nearby market.
Thimphu, dominated by the royal Dechencholing Palace, is home to country’s contemporary art scene, led by Asha Kama and his VAST Bhutan gallery space. And then there is historic Paro, an ancient trading (and defense) post with Tibet, that hosts the National Museum of Bhutan, one the country’s oldest temple (the 7th Century Kyichu Lhakang) and the spectacular “Tiger’s Nest,” a cliffside temple complex which has become the icon of Bhutan.
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