Some Thoughts

Our overall experience in Bhutan was great adventure. Bhutan is steeped in Buddhist culture and is a land of humble people who show great reverence for their visitors and for their king. The land is at times quite beautiful lying in the lower Himalayas and, because of our mountain trekking adventure on the Trans Bhutan Trail, we were rewarded with awe inspiring views. Daily, we wrote about things we saw along the way but we didn’t always express the many details that we experienced

• An Arranged Point-to-Point trip – we have never traveled like this and although it may have been necessary, there were many details that needed ironing out. The trail meanders through the mountains and does not have the infrastructure to support such a walk so a car to transport us to accommodations was necessary and those places were often far from the trail. We spent way too much time riding in a car.

• A Guide – Traveling with a guide was required here and it was not something we were comfortable with. Although he was helpful and informative at times, often he seemed disconnected and he never seemed to “get us”. Could have been better.

• The Camp Experience – We had three nights of camping that didn’t require anything of us. We simply showed up after walking and tents were set up and food was prepared. We basically had a team of people creating a place to spend the night and serving us. It wasn’t “Glamping” but it was very nice. But it wasn’t something we were completely comfortable with. It’s just not us. We’re glad and thankful for having the experience though

• The Trans Bhutan Trail – We walked 11 hard days and we achieved elevations exceeding two miles high. The path was sometimes marked well and sometimes not. For a trail that had been worked on to open to visitors not long ago, it’s quite overgrown in areas. And it was surprising how much trash we saw along the way.

• Weather – In our time there the weather was fantastic. Very cool nights but very temperate during the day. We had zero rain. That’s crazy!

• Food – We were somewhat prepared for eating spicy food but we had read that there would be a lot of meat. We actually were fed many vegetables prepared in a variety of ways, and some were quite delicious. The “Datsi” dishes which Bhutan is known for (meat, mushrooms or potatoes with cheese) were not at all what we expected. They weren’t really very cheesy. Chilies are drying on rooftops everywhere and are plentiful in many dishes. One puzzling thing was the way chicken was served. Many times it was served cut up into chunks with the bones, as if someone had just cut it up with a circular saw. The one other thing besides the mountains of rice served is the mass quantities of food they serve just for two people. We can’t eat that much. It’s such a waste.

• Animals – Cows, dogs, and horses roam free through the streets. It’s crazy! And we actually saw monkeys swinging through the trees and sitting by the side of the road. Cool!

• Vegetation– It was amazing to see the variety of wildflowers at this time of year. It was also interesting to see the Asian version of things that we have growing back home. Marijuana growing wild was funny.

• Doma – It’s this stuff made from some nuts and herb that a lot of people are chewing all the time. Their teeth are always red and apparently it can get you a little bit buzzed.

• No Grocery Stores – There’s really no such thing as a grocery store. Markets and small hole-in-the-wall stores and, of course, their own harvest supply their needs

• No Seat Belts – We drove all over and sometimes on dangerous roads but the car we were in had the seat belts tucked away. Scary.

• Washing Clothes – We were lucky to have the resources at a number of our accommodations that we could wash clothes and have enough clean clothes to make it through the entire trip, especially with three nights of camping. We actually traveled home in clean clothes. Fortunate.

• Gross National Happiness – This is the catchphrase that Bhutan promotes over any Gross Domestic Product. Happiness is relative but from what we observed, we’re not sure that as a whole that this is a happy country. There’s still many impoverished areas (and that’s relative as well). And we heard that many younger generation people are seeking their lives outside of the country. We feel the internet has opened their eyes to the outside world and the “grass is greener” ideal has peaked their interest.

This was quite the adventure and it was very challenging on many fronts. The trail itself was very tough as far as the elevation but the surfaces we had to traverse were also very tough sometimes. We definitely have a tremendous sense of accomplishment. The logistics that we entrusted to a tour company (Bhutan Inbound, nice people to work with) were ok but could have been a bit better. But overall, we really enjoyed the trek and are glad to have had the experience.