Gross National Happiness

We said farewell to Tsewang and our six fellow trekkers on Saturday, and we spent the rest of the day watching random American sitcom reruns on Indian TV channels. (We get why they’re still airing Friends, but why anyone thinks that Yes, Dear and Just Shoot Me are shows worthy of television immortality is a mystery we’ll just have to chalk up to cultural differences.) By the next day, Dustin was feeling a lot better, and by the day after that, he felt strong enough to tackle the steep, vertical climb up to the stunning monastery called Tiger’s Nest (a day hike we’d missed out on when our tour group did it a few days earlier). The hike ended up being a fantastic introduction to the Bhutan that had been taunting us outside the windows of our hotel room, with everything from beautiful mountain scenery to fascinating Buddhist culture. Check out our Tiger’s Nest album and watch the video we posted below to see more.

The incredible Tiger’s Nest

In the midst of all this, we had been working with GeoEx to figure out how we were going to fill the next two weeks in Bhutan now that we’d missed the start of the 10-day trek to Chomolhari Base Camp. We’ll spare you all of the details, but after numerous emails and international phone calls (including one late-night call with the president of GeoEx himself!), they managed to pull off a minor miracle and create a private trek for the two of us to base camp at no extra charge. This may not sound all that impressive, but when you factor in the entourage that would accompany us on our trek — a guide, a camp manager, two cooks, a herdsman, and six horses and mules to carry the food and gear for all seven of us — and the fact that GeoEx made all of this happen in about 24 hours despite being on the other side of the globe, well, we were just blown away by the service we received. We have more details on the trek to share, but before we get to that, we thought it might be helpful if we provided some more background on Bhutan, a country we really didn’t know much about before we arrived and which we really loved by the time we left.

Bhutan is made up almost entirely of mountains. As Tsewang described it, the topo map of Bhutan looks like a crinkled-up piece of paper — there is virtually no flat land anywhere, just mountain after mountain and the narrow valleys that lie in between them. Unlike many of its neighbors, Bhutan has never been occupied or colonized by a foreign power (despite repeated attempts by Tibet — who knew the Tibetans were once war-mongering imperialists??). Also unlike its nearest neighbors (Nepal and India), Bhutan is very sparsely populated — in fact, only 7 million people live in the entire country — and 72% of the country is still covered in forest. That said, Bhutan is still very much a developing country struggling with many of the challenges its neighbors are grappling with. Although we initially didn’t see any trash or pollution there, we later found out that there had been an extensive clean-up campaign in Paro and the capital city of Thimphu due to the SAARC summit that was taking place the same time we were there. Once we got out of the cities and onto the mountain trails, we were sad to see trash lining the trail, although not nearly as bad as we’d seen in Nepal. We also saw quite a few folks living pretty basic, subsistence lives in the rural countryside — again, not quite the poverty we’ve seen elsewhere on this trip, but definitely a reminder that Bhutan still has a ways to go in terms of development.

Memorial prayer flags (white) and the ubiquitous multi-colored prayer flagsBuddhism is part of almost every aspect of Bhutan — prayer flags flap in the wind on the highest, most remote mountain ridges, former military fortresses have been converted into monasteries and temples, and everything is numbered according to the auspicious numbers of Buddhism (108 being one of the most common). But lest you think Bhutan’s Buddhists take themselves too seriously, you need look no further than the giant phalluses painted on the sides homes and buildings all over the country. They are bawdy tributes to one of Bhutan’s most (in)famous Buddhist celebrities, the “Divine Madman” who unleashed his “magic thunderbolt of wisdom” (yes, it is what you think it is) to strangle a demoness many years ago.

There is no caste system in Bhutan, and education is an important priority for all children. (We found children playing at recess a primary school at 13,000 feet, for example, many miles from the nearest road.) English is taught in all schools starting in the first grade, and if Tsewang’s perfect English is any indicator, the Bhutanese seem to have a better handle on English grammar and vocabulary than many Americans do. The other thing we really liked about Bhutan’s priorities is their Gross National Happiness (GNH) indicator. I had heard about this before arriving in Bhutan and thought it might just be a clever tourism marketing gimmick, but it is no joke. The Bhutanese have come up with an elaborate system of metrics for checking on the happiness of their fellow citizens. Not to state the obvious, but this means that Bhutan actually cares about happiness, not just economic prosperity, which I think is a lesson the western world could learn a thing or two from. We talked with Tsewang about this quite a bit, and I have to say that I really respect the priority given to and thoughtfulness behind this campaign. The major pillars that the GNH seeks to measure are: Conservation of the Environment (there’s a big anti-littering campaign going on right now, for example); Equitable Development (focusing on education throughout the country); Preservation of Culture (including improving the welfare of monks and nuns); Good Governance (eliminating corruption and encouraging civil society development); and Community Vitality (making sure the Bhutanese feel connected to their fellow citizens). There is an elaborate and scientific system for measuring each of these, and a big focus on improving the numbers that come in low. Pretty cool stuff.

Oh, the last thing you should know about Bhutan is that they love their bows and arrows. In fact, archery is the national sport, and on any given day of the week you’ll pass at least one archery competition going on. Dustin and I even gave it a try in a heated husband and wife competition. Since Dustin was getting over being sick and everything, I decided to let him win. Don’t tell him, though.

Comments

[Greg Abbas]

I'm glad you're feeling better Dustin! Anca & I agree that the Tiger's Nest looks super-cool. We miss you.

[Dustin Frazier]

We miss you guys, too! Well, I do, anyway... Laura hasn't had the pleasure of making your acquaintance yet. By the way, we just spent three days cruising on Lake Nasser in Egypt on a boat called the Prince Abbas. :)