Roadtrip around Bhutan (part 1) - Stumbling across a Tsechu in Samdrup Jongkhar!

At 7:30am I was woken up by a lieutenant from the Royal Bhutan Army banging on my door and yelling for me to get moving. 

“Natasha! You’d better not still be asleep! Wake up! We have to leave right now!” 

Sonam had kindly offered to give me a lift down from Dewathang (where the SJI launch had been held) to the main town of Samdrup Jongkhar. Unfortunately, I'd slept through my alarm. I looked at my unpacked luggage sprawled across the room. My head was throbbing . My throat was parched. The night before we'd celebrated the end of the SJI launch by dancing around a campfire and drinking multiple glasses of ara (Bhutanese rice wine aged in a monastery for 3 years, 3 months and 3 weeks). . It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. In hindsight…. Not so much. 

I pulled together my belongings, threw my stuff in my bag and dragged myself to the car. The hour long trip back down to Samdrup Jongkhar over unpaved roads, while Sonam blasted earsplitting Hindi pop music, did nothing to ease my throbbing headache. 

I checked into a hotel in the main town of Samdrup Jongkhar which cost a whopping $3 a night. I was so excited to have a mattress (after 5 days of sleeping on A cold floor) that I threw my bags down on the CONCRETE floor and jumped on the hard mouldy mattress in excitement. I later opened up my brand new Macbook to find a handsome crack staring back at me. Throwing my bag on the floor had seemed like such a good idea at the time. Again  in hindsight… not so much. 

Water. I needed water. I wandered outside of my hotel to find all the stores  closed. Then, hungover and severely sleep deprived, I literally stumbled into the Samdrup Jongkhar Tsechu. Tsechus are an annual religious festival held over 3 days in each dzongkhag (district) and involve elaborate costumes and thrilling performances. They are attended by practically every member of the community and everyone dresses in their brightest and most elegant kira or gho. 

I think it’s amazing that, apart from small donations made to the monks,  Tsechu’s are not a  commercial venture. The performances are for community bonding and religious celebration purposes .  This is particularly true in isolated areas such as Samdrup Jongkhar where camera wielding tourists are nowhere to be found. They are performed by locals for locals. Apart from myself, there were no other foreigners in sight. 


The second surprise of the day happened as I was walking home from the Tsechu.  During the SJI launch, a young girl, named Ngawang (or “Tiny” as she called herself) had given me a scarf as a gift and asked for my address in Sydney so that she could write to me. The scarf was beautifully woven with blue, orange, purple and green threats.  That day, as I had walked home from the Tsechu I had been thinking how incredibly nice it had been for her to give me the scarf, how I felt like I hadn’t shown enough gratitude and how I desperately wished I could thank her one more time. Low and behold, thirty seconds later I saw Tiny on her way to the Tsechu! She was ecstatic to see that I was wearing the scarf and I thanked her repeatedly.
 Definitely one of those 'Bhutan moments'  that make me think there is definitely something special going on in the land of the thunder dragon!

Living on the edge: My trip through the border towns

Written on 16th December 


After twenty hours of sweaty, crowded and bumpy bus rides I have finally arrived in Samdrup Jongkhar for the launch of the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative. Rather than taking the conventional route through Eastern Bhutan, I travelled through India so that I could attend a wedding  in the border town of Phuentsholing. As the wedding of the only daughter in the family I knew it would be a spectacular event and no expenses would be spared

The house in Jaigon 

A beautiful property had been rented out for the occasion and the balmy Indian breeze was a welcome change from the bitter chill of Thimphu’s frosty mornings. The traditional Nepali rituals were mesmerizing – the tika, washing of the feet, staining of the bride’s forehead and the readings. After the wedding I spent the evening relaxing with Sushil’s family.

The bride and groom

Time flew by as we decorated each other with henna ink. I panicked when I realized that I still needed to get my Indian visa stamped before heading over the Indian border at 5am the following morning on the bus to Samdrup Jongkhar. If I failed to get the stamp I wouldn’t be able to enter India! I grabbed Sushil and we raced to the immigration office.

No lights. No people. It was closed. I couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry. Visions of attending the launch in SJ and my tour through Bhutan started to fade. Sushil attempted to negotiate with the armed guards at the gate. Although he didn’t show it at the time, Sushil later told me that he had desperately begged the guards to call someone from immigration to stamp my passport.


Eventually a disgruntled civil servant came down to meet us. The story we had formulated to explain my after hours visit was that I’d just arrived from Thimphu and needed the stamp for the following morning when the office would be closed. I didn’t blame the official for being particularly suspicious of a disheveled looking girl with tika on her forehead and freshly inked henna covered hands, who claimed to be Australian yet appeared to look Nepali. To my relief he agreed to stamp my passport and I set off to Samdrup Jongkhar very early the next day!

I had been warned that the 12-hour trip from Phuentsholing to Samdrup Jongkhar was risky and not for the faint hearted. To begin with, the bus is always filled beyond capacity and the seats are barely big enough to fit two small children, let alone two fully-grown adults. Luckily, I was seated next to a tiny seventeen-year old girl, yet even we struggled to comfortably fit side by side. As we got further into the trip, the seats seemed to only get smaller and smaller. By the time we reached our first rest stop half of my body was off the seat and my legs were sticking out into the aisle of the bus.

I felt like a ragdoll being flung around the bus and then violently slammed back down on the hard plastic seats as the bus moved over every bump and dip of the unpaved roads. Needless to say, sleeping was impossible. Some sections of road were so poor that the bus had to travel at less than 20 km/hr. Any speed beyond this would have damaged the wheels and suspension beyond repair. Breathing, talking and seeing became increasingly difficult as my eyes, throat and lungs became coated with dust from the road.

It's snowing! Wait nooo that's just dust 

Travelling through the Indian state of Assam was a confronting experience. Assam is a conflict ridden area and was previously a hotbed for militant training grounds. In 2001 a bus passing through the area was attacked by militants, resulting in the death of 20 Bhutanese people. Consequently, all Bhutanese buses passing through the area are required to travel in a military escorted convoy and gun wielding guards line the road. Despite all of this there were some sections of the ride that I really appreciated.  As you would expect after a tortuous 12 hour bus ride, I had a great chat with the girl I was next to and the beauty of the Indian sun setting over the tea plantations in Assam was not completely overshadowed by the discomfort of the trip . But my enjoyment was short lived when another passenger informed me that the owner of the tea plantation I was admiring had been kidnapped just days earlier!  It was definitely an adventure but not something I’d be volunteering to do again anytime in the near future!


Anyhow at the moment I've safely arrived in the border town of Samdrup Jongkar and VERY excited about the launch of the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative! (www.sji.bt) 

Welcome to the 'Land of the Thunder Dragon

Relaxing in the business class lounge!

From steamy Bangkok to the crisp cool air of the Himalayas ... right now I'm making myself at home in my new apartment in Thimphu, Bhutan! I was lucky enough to get upgraded to business class on my flight from Bangkok to Paro after I was originally checked into the wrong flight. I thoroughly enjoyed taking in the scenery from my comfy leather business class chair as the plane weaved in and out of the mountains of Paro.

Welcome to Bhutan!

The drive from the airport to Thimpu takes about 40 minutes but I completely lost track of time as I was caught up in absorbing everything around me. Unlike most countries, where the drive from the airport to your destination reveals everything that the tourist brochures don’t, Bhutan has yet to disappoint. Beauty is everywhere. Everything from the rickety trucks that traverse the dangerous roads, to the petrol stations, to the gates at immigration are adorned with colourful and elaborate traditional Bhutanese designs.

I was met at my apartment by Phuntsho Wangmo, who is the Head of Operations at The Bhutan Observer. She is a remarkable woman who’s passionate about the future of Bhutan and the Bhutanese media. Not only is Madame Phuntsho the Head of Operations at The Bhutan Observer, she’s also involved in a pilot project creating a society completely based on the principles of Gross National Happiness (GNH).   

Rabten Apartments - my new home!

Madame Phuntsho explained that the project would be trialed in a village in Eastern Bhutan. The project aims to bring jobs back to the village as there is currently a crisis of graduates moving away from rural areas after they finish college. It also would focus on revolutionizing education in alignment with the principles of GNH and the spiritual fulfillment of the people.  Meanwhile, the intention is for the village to become self sufficient with all food being grown organically. 

Before you dismiss the project as being completely unrealistic, be aware that Phuntsho herself is quick to acknowledge the difficult reality of implementing the program and its likelihood of failure. While her goals may seem naive and idealistic, she recognizes the harsh reality of the situation but is committed to doing her best to make it succeed. If the project DOES successful it will be fantastic for the country so I sincerely hope that the project paves the way for similar ventures in the future!

Kuzuzangpola!

This blog will follow my adventures as I travel from my hometown of Sydney (a bustling cosmopolitan city considered to be one of the world’s economic powerhouses)  to the Kingdom of Bhutan (a tiny mountainous country nestled in the Himalayas, with fewer than a million people and where ‘Gross National Happiness’ is measured in place of gross domestic product).

“Why?” you might ask, would I leave my comfortable life in Sydney to travel to a country that hardly anyone seems to have ever heard of? Many of my friends asked me the same question and rumours spread rapidly regarding the true reason for my departure. The more outrageous of these included that I had received a job tutoring the children of the royal family while another friend congratulated me for my arranged marriage in China. The newsletter at my work announced that I would be travelling to an ‘Aladdinesque’ country in the Middle East - and I can’t even begin to count how many times I was asked which country Bhutan is in.

The real story is far less glamorous  - but just as exciting! For the next 3 months I will be working as an intern at The Bhutan Observer, one of the country’s six national newspapers. The internship was organised and supported by the media department at Macquarie University and will be counted as one subject towards my final degree.

It is an exciting and crucial time in the development of the Bhutanese media. In 2006 Bhutan began the peaceful transition from a monarchical rule to a parliamentary democracy. The media, which had previously been completely under government control, was now free. The call was put out for the establishment of an independent newspaper and The Bhutan Observer  responded with a noble vision to act as the “independent voice” of the Bhutanese people. Since then the independent media has grown slowly and steadily and been instrumental in developing democratic debate.

But, with growth inevitably comes challenge, and at this crucial point in time the Bhutanese media industry is being tested on a range of issues including ownership, financial sustainability, journalistic ethics and quality of content. It is during this crucial period of development that important decisions will be made about privacy, freedom of the press, censorship and political influence. The results of these decisions will form the backbone of the Bhutanese media for many years to come.

The difficulty of dealing with these problems is exacerbated in Bhutan where there is no tradition of free media and where the population lacks a culture of interacting with media. So while it is essential that the media maintain a strong independent voice to ensure political transparency, the importance of the media is continually being overlooked by the public and by politicians. While The Bhutan Observer has largely maintained its original vision it is struggling against the inevitable pressures of commercialisation.

I will use this blog to record my experiences living in Bhutan and working at the Bhutan Observer.