Bhutan: Photos Of A Mystical and Misunderstood Country

The Kingdom of Bhutan, also known as the Land of the Thunder Dragon, is a small, mountainous South Asian country surrounded on three sides by India, and bordered China to the north, that spreads into the easternmost stretch of the Himalayas.

Bhutan is generally seen as a culturally protected and isolationist nation. It has perhaps the best natural conservation program in the world and — having replaced Gross National Product with Gross National Happiness as their national indicator of success — is also often referred to as “The Last Shangri-La”.

Widespread — but undeserved — reputations for difficult-to-obtain visas and prohibitively expensive travel costs, coupled with vast natural wealth, well-preserved religious and cultural institutions, and the prioritization of peoples’ happiness over the accumulation of wealth, have made it both a sought-after gem among travelers and a country cloaked in mystery and misconceptions.

Travel in Bhutan

Although Bhutan is very high on a lot of travelers’ wish lists, the number of people who visit the country is actually quite low. The main reasons are Bhutan’s reputations for difficult-to-obtain visas for and high travel prices.

Both of these reputations are grossly overstated and the Tourism Council has been working hard to change these misperceptions.

Here is how travel in Bhutan really works.

The Real Cost of Travel in Bhutan

It’s true: Bhutan is not a budget travel destination.

But it’s also not as crazy expensive as a lot of people think it is.

There are a lot of misconceptions about the tourism tariff and other government policies. Many people think you have to pay several hundred dollars per day just for the privilege of being in the country, but they’re wrong.

Here’s how it works. All tourists (with the exception of those from a handful of countries) must:

• Pay a sustainable tourism tariff of $65 USD per day
• Stay in a government approved hotel rated three-stars or higher
• Employ a licensed local guide

The price of tourism packages, which are only sold as all-inclusive deals, and which also include meals and transportation, are as low as $200 USD per day per person — and even a bit less when booked in large groups. Of course, more expensive and luxurious options are also available.

$200 per day per person is certainly not cheap (and that’s the low season price, in high season prices start at $250), especially for budget travelers that are used to pinching pennies in India, Nepal, and Thailand. However, a tour in Bhutan is not significantly more expensive than a comparable all-inclusive tour most nearby countries.

The only difference is that in Bhutan you don’t have any other option.

So, most people’s perception of Bhutan as an overly-expensive out-of-reach destination is based more on misunderstandings of the country’s unusually strict tourism policies than the actual relative cost.

Driving in Bhutan

Overland travel in Bhutan is slow. The country’s main highway is a narrow two-lane mountain road that’s regularly blocked by mudslides during the rainy season. Places where it’s safe to pass the car in front of you are few and far between.

The government is currently working to widen the road, but until they’re finished it’s recommended that you emulate the near-boundless patience of the Bhutanese, and expect to move only as fast as the slowest person on the road.

Getting a Visa to Bhutan

Like the cost of travel in Bhutan, the ease of navigating Bhutan’s visa process is widely misunderstood.

Many people think that it’s difficult to get a visa to Bhutan because of a widespread rumor that the government limits the number of visas issued each year.

The rumor is true…kind of.

The Tourism Council of Bhutan website states, “There is no limit on the number of tourists admitted into the country each year.” Despite that, I was told by people in the tourism industry during my trip that the government does have the legal ability to limit tourist visas in any given year after a certain number have been issued.

Those same people told me, though,  that the government is spending a lot of money on education, social programs, and infrastructure development right now, and it’s highly unlikely that they would cut off one of their best revenue sources.

So, if you were ever worried about being rejected for a visa to Bhutan, don’t. The chance that any tourists are going to be turned away is so slim it’s not worth worrying about.

Applying a few months in advance of your trip to ensure ample processing time is recommended.

Bhutanese Food

The food in Bhutan is very good. Although the country actually doesn’t allow the slaughter of animals because of the strong Buddhist convictions there, imported meat is common and present in most meals. (Eating vegetarian is also very easy there.)

An endemic species of very large, mild red peppers is a part of nearly every meal. They’re not very spicy and add a pleasant flavor to just about anything.

Butter tea is also served everywhere. It’s pretty gross. From what I could tell it was a cup of melted butter that had been flavored with a tea bag.

Butter tea is definitely worth trying because you have try that kind of stuff when you travel, but I found it to be rich beyond the boundaries of reason and, as a person with a low tolerance for lactose, the affects on my gastrointestinal workings reinforced my belief that no good can ever result from drinking a mug of melted butter — especially before a bumpy 5-hour drive through the mountains.

Lactards beware. Cheese is a part of a lot of dishes and mugs of melted butter are ubiquitous. There are definitely enough options that you can eat safely, but you’ll have to keep your guard up.

Bhutan is widely reputed to be the happiest country on Earth. This is due at least in part to the country’s use of its homegrown Gross National Happiness indicator, which is used as its barometer of the country’s well-being (in contrast to the Gross Domestic Product measurement used by most). GNH is measured using the Alkire-Foster method.

Having traveled to Bhutan from Thailand,  a country where people are generally boisterous, outgoing, and hospitable in the extreme, I expected the Bhutanese to be similar.

But they couldn’t have been more different.

Locals rarely struck up conversations with me for idle pleasure. And when I did converse with them their demeanor was straightforward and unenthusiastic. Although the Bhutanese seemed quite stoic, they were were not shy. Once engaged in discussion any random stranger would have no problem continuing the conversation indefinitely to the point where I’d often wonder if they didn’t have something else they needed to be doing.

I find this character hard to describe. It’s similar to that of many people I knew in Canada who worked alone in the bush a for long periods of time. They appeared serious, but were actually quite light hearted. The somber expression of the above monk is the same expression you will receive from many Bhutanese during a pleasant discussion, but behind it you find a good-natured and gentle soul.

I do not think of Bhutanese as happy in my Western conception of the idea. I think they’d be better described as content, which makes sense given the deep roots of Buddhism in the country and the religion’s focus on the acceptance of the world around you.

My experience with the Bhutanese made me question whether contentment may be a more pleasurable emotion than happiness.

I now think it very well may be.

I can’t overstate how amazing Bhutanese are at archery. We watched this local archery competition for a couple of hours one afternoon. The fellow in the middle was aiming at a small target on the ground that was about the size of a kitchen cupboard door over 100 meters away and was surrounded by another group of archers. He was using a simple wooden bow and the arrow was about less than one meter long and little wider than a pencil.

In the game, if you hit the target at all, your team gets a point.

The archers would all stand around and in front of the target, dancing around to distract the archer aiming at the target and move out of the way only at the last moment.

As hard as I tried, I wan’t able to spot an arrow in flight. I’d only see them after they’d pierced the target or the ground. Meanwhile these fellows played chicken with them for fun. I have no idea how the were able to see them coming.

The pictured archer had been limping around all day. He’d been hit in the ankle (very hard by the looks of his limp) before we arrived, but was completely undeterred. He was still the one to stand most directly in front of the target and the last to move out of the way — or simply dodge the arrow by lifting a leg or twisting his body slightly to allow it to pass.

It was a unnerving to watch, but also a testament to the unbelievable skill and honing of the senses that people are able to obtain with years of practice and refinement.

I guess those fellows would probably watch me with similar horror while dropping off a 30-foot cliff on a snowboard that to me feels totally safe, but to the uninitiated would look madly suicidal.

Bhutan is one of the most conservationist countries in the world with 42% of its natural areas federally protected, and with many additional areas that have been allotted for use at the discretion of local governments who have also opted for preservation. There are few countries in the world so naturally pristine and — beyond the scope of official policy — generally respectful of the environment.

Also, sitting in the foothills of the Himalayas, it’s visually stunning.

As a photographer I was fortunate to visit at the tail end of the rainy season when the constant mist and low, thick clouds added a dramatic element to landscapes.

The Takin is Bhutan’s national animal. They think of it as a cross between a goat and a cow.

The Bhutanese are generally not fond of enclosing animals for the pleasure of humans. However, they found that so many people received the odd description of the takin’s appearance with disbelief, they felt it necessary to create a place where visitors could see the takin for themselves.

Too say that they’re funny looking is an understatement.

There’s one Takin reserve in the capital, Thimpu. It’s nothing like a zoo. Following the Bhutanese respect for nature, the reserve is sprawling and only contains a small number of animals, which allows them to move and graze quite freely.

I feel that the above image more than any of my other Bhutan photos captures the strongly spiritual, whimsical, and carefree outlook of the Bhutanese.

They seem to dance softly to the rhythm of the world around them with no ambition other than maintaining harmony with themselves, their surroundings, and each blissful moment.

Do you have any questions about travel in Bhutan?

Want an introduction to my guide, who I highly recommend?

If so, feel free to drop me a line!