Put Bhutan on your 2024 bucket list. Photo / Priyangshu SV; Unsplash
As we approach the end of the year, it’s time to start planning what we want to achieve in 2024. Julian Ryall believes Bhutan should be top of your travel to-do list.
My destination is a smear of white topped with gold that stands out against the sheer mountainside. Known to the local people as Taktsang, The Tiger’s Lair is a spectacularly positioned monastery that looks out over Bhutan’s lush Paro valley and is the nation’s most sacred landmark.
It is also quite a long way above my present elevation at the start of the trail.
My guide catches me glancing towards a tethered horse and raises a quizzical eyebrow. I raise mine in return. He shakes his head, grins and assures me that I really do not need to hire a four-legged friend for this hike and that we will be at our destination in a couple of hours.
I’m still not sure. He has been economical with the truth on distances and walking times previously and, in contrast to me, he has the natural gait and rhythm that just eat up the Bhutanese miles. I take another look at the route ahead of us as it fades in and out of the forest and reappears on shoulders of the mountainside and, finally, take him at his word. So off we set.
Sandwiched between China and India, the Kingdom of Bhutan is a place of jagged, 7000-metre-plus Himalayan peaks that are topped with snow year-round, isolated highland villages where little appears to have changed in centuries and valleys that start out steep-sided but gradually soften and smooth into communities of rice farmers.
In a nation of less than 780,000 people, the capital, Thimpu, is easy to navigate on foot and virtually everyone wears the traditional clothing of “gho” for men and “kera” for women, a robe-like item that wraps around the body and is tied at the waist. The locals seem to simply tuck everything they need into the front of the robe and joke that it gives them the largest pockets in the world.
Bhutanese refer to their homeland as Druk Yul, or Land of the Thunder Dragon, and are proud to be utterly distinct from their neighbours in their language, cuisine, culture, arts, architecture and beliefs. And they are very keen to share their unique way of life with anyone who is willing to make the trek here.
Hiking is one of the many reasons why people visit Bhutan, with the crowning glory being the 403km Trans Bhutan Trail, linking Haa in the far west of the country with Trashigang in the east, which reopened in 2018 and takes in four “dzongs”, or traditional fortresses, 21 temples, five suspension bridges and 12 mountain passes.
With the hike to The Tiger’s Lair, I’m setting my sights considerably lower. In truth, the dusty path is clearly marked and well maintained, gently switchbacking through dense forest cover and crossing streams where a prayer wheel within a white-painted chorten is constantly revolving and sounding its bell.
Some sections are steep and the altitude – the monastery is at 2950m above sea level – makes getting enough air into my lungs something of a challenge at times, but my guide sets an easy pace with plenty of breaks. Almost exactly on the two hours that he predicted, the track comes around the final corner and the monastery is clinging to the far side of the defile before me.
According to legend, the site was blessed by the Indian tantric master Guru Rinpoche who arrived on a flying tigress in the 8th century and defeated a malign spirit that inhabited a cave in the rockface. Rinpoche meditated on the ledge and decreed it would be one of his “baeyul”, or hidden lands that future Buddhist masters would have to discover.
The monastery has since evolved in a somewhat haphazard way, with a series of whitewashed buildings at odd angles and different heights, connected by steep stairways, passageways and wooden ladders. The rock ledge upon which the entire structure stands serves as the floor in some places; elsewhere, the wooden floorboards have been worn smooth by the feet of generations of monks.
The complex houses a series of connected rooms dedicated to countless Buddhist deities, with larger-than-life statues and religious images on the walls from floor to ceiling. Monks in deep red robes sit in alcoves and chant to themselves. Thin smoke from butter lamps coils up. The views from the narrow windows are spectacular.
The return hike is easier, but I still feel my muscles need a local remedy, so I take advantage of the traditional hot stone bath at the conveniently close Tiger’s Nest Resort. In a log cabin within the grounds of the hotel, a long wooden bath is filled with cold water. Outside, large stones have been sitting in a fire until they are white-hot and are dropped through a hatch in the wall into the far end of the bath, which is separated from the bather by a wooden partition.
The water is quickly steaming and the attendant throws some therapeutic herbs onto the surface and leaves me to soak. The water is shockingly hot to start with, but the body soon adapts and I sink in so just my head is above the surface. Every so often, a voice from outside inquires if I need another stone and I always agree.
After 30 minutes, my skin is pink and steaming and my muscles have been rejuvenated.
Paro is Bhutan’s second city, with its small centre clustering around a square and a small grid of streets lined by shops and homes with intricate wooden facades, and the paintings of the four mythical beasts that protect residents.
The community is dominated, however, by Rinpung Dzong, known locally as the Fortress of the Heap of Jewels. Slab-sided and imposing, it was built in the 17th century, it is the centre of local government and also a monastery. A series of flagstoned inner courtyards are dominated by the central tower, with prayer rooms leading off the main square.
Slightly further up the hill behind the fortress is the Taa Dzong Museum, a round tower that in the past served as a lookout point over the valley, but has more recently been converted into a museum that houses some of Bhutan’s historic artefacts. These range from prehistoric axe heads and arrows to works of religious art, traditional clothing, weapons, jewellery and everyday household items from the past. One section is set aside for the royal family, whom the people genuinely admire and respect.
A little over an hour to the east by road is Thimpu, which stands on the banks of the Wang Chhu River and must be one of the most sedate and user-friendly capitals in the world. Remarkably, there are no traffic lights anywhere in Bhutan as it was decided they were too impersonal, so the one or two busiest intersections in Thimpu are manned by uniformed police officers who direct cars with crisp hand signals.
Virtually everything of importance in the city is within walking distance and most of the low-rise homes and businesses remain true to Bhutan’s appealing design principles, with wooden carvings and protective deities on the walls. Even the eaves of the most insignificant building – a bus stop, a food vendor’s street stall – are carved and decorated in rich reds, blues and golds.
The most prominent building in the city is the Tashichhoe Dzong, or Fortress of the Glorious Religion, which dates back to 1216. High walls with turrets at each corner enclose the spacious courtyard and central tower. A steady flow of monks come and go into the main prayer hall, joining their colleagues in chanting and running strings of beads through their fingers.
Before I depart this magical kingdom, I sense I need to prepare myself to return to the real world. The Soksoom Centre for Wellbeing and Happiness uses age-old holistic Bhutanese treatments and natural remedies to calm the mind and relax the body. The centre utilises “sowa rigpa” therapies, including compression and aromatherapy treatments, massages, yoga and oil baths.
Try the “numgi jukpa” massage, to reduce fatigue and improve the functions of the key organs, as well as reducing stress. The techniques may be ancient but the impact is immediate and the effects linger.
For more things to do in Bhutan, see bhutan.travel. To plan your Tiger’s Nest visit, go to tigersnestresort.com
