Bumthang Festival

Festival Location: Bumthang, Bhutan

Festival Type(s): Religious Events, Indigenous Fest

Bumthang Festival Media:

Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon - Bumthang Festival

By: © Andy Binns 2009

We had flown over eight of the ten highest peaks in the world. The plane banked steeply and dropped through the clouds, skimming the rice paddies and landed at Paro, the only airport in Bhutan. We soon found that the magnificent Terminal Building with over-hanging eaves, elaborately painted walls and carved windows is normal architecture in the country. Another striking feature - everyone wears national dress, so immigration and customs formalities had added interest.

We were met by our guide - Choki -and driven to a lovely hotel - little bungalows laid out on a hillside with the dining area separate. The warm welcome, which we received, beautifully spoken English and amazing paintings on the walls confirmed our initial impression that we had arrived somewhere rather special.

The following morning we (Donald and myself, Choki, pony-man, six horses, cook and assistant) began a five-day trek across the mountains to Thimphu, the capital. As we climbed, the thickly forested hillsides of deciduous and coniferous trees gave way to blue pine, and then we were above the tree line with dwarf bamboo, scraggy rhododendron and wonderful alpine flowers amongst the grass. It was cold at night, camping at over 12,000 feet (minus 5-7C) but we had thick sleeping bags, and one morning woke to cloudless blue skies and the tents and ground covered with a hoar frost - magic!). At 14,000 feet, I was in bottom gear, as the oxygen level had dropped to 60%, but the pauses were a good excuse to admire the snow-capped mountains! We passed no villages, only an occasional yak herder or little Buddhist monk on his way to a remote monastery. Our "crew" knew each other, and worked very happily and harmoniously. The tents were packed after we left in the morning, but the ponies, which knew their way, over-took us about lunchtime, and the camp was set up before we had arrived. Apart from our personal tent and loo tent, there was a cooking tent and dining tent, which the crew slept in. Breakfast was in the open, but it was dark and cold by the time we ate our evening meal at 5.45pm. Each morning we were woken with "bed tea", then bowls of hot water appeared outside the tent, and breakfast was ready by the time we emerged. The final evening we camped in the grounds of a monastery, high up above the Thimphu valley. We did wonder what the reaction would be at Ampleforth, if someone rolled up with camping gear and six ponies and proceeded to camp on the front lawn! The two temples attached to this monastery were the first of many, which we visited. The elaborate hangings, painted walls, statues of Buddha butter-lamps and other ritual artefacts made a powerful impression on us both.

Thimphu, the capital, has three parallel streets, no traffic lights and you can walk round it in an hour or so - but we found an Internet café and were able to let the family know we had survived the trek!

We then drove to Central Bhutan. The road cork-screwed up and down over three mountain passes at 11,000 feet. At each col, or where the wind could catch them, the road was festooned with colourful prayer flags. At no time did the car achieve top gear, nor exceed 30kmh! It took over ten hours to cover less than 200 kilometres. The following day we attended one of the big annual festivals, held in the grounds of a monastery. We could well have stepped back in time to medieval Europe. Villagers had walked long distances in their best clothes (national costume of course) to picnic, gossip and enjoy the stalls and sideshows (archery and darts), which were part of the entertainment. Masked dancers enacted myths and in one long dance the Lord of Life sat on Judgement Day weighing up the sins and good deeds of men and sending them to Heaven or Hell. One of the nicest aspects of the day was the way in which the locals just accepted our presence - no one tried to beg from us, sell us souvenirs, or otherwise hassle us.

The following day we walked round the valley - the most holy place in Bhutan, and visited monasteries, temples and the magnificent Dzong, a fortress built high in a commanding position above the valley. This housed both the administration for the region, and a monastery.

We moved to another valley, where the endangered black-necked cranes over-winter from Tibet. Unfortunately, they were late arriving this year, so we missed them, but it gave us another fascinating insight into the culture of the country. Rather than risk upsetting the cranes, the locals have decided to forego electricity and its associated pylons and wires. We stayed in the guesthouse of the monastery, with candles, a very feeble solar-powered light, smoky wood-burning stove and incredibly hard beds! We visited the monastery, which is under-going massive renovation and will be quite magnificent. Woodcarving and painting skills are alive and well! This valley is quite high, so potatoes and buckwheat are grown. We surprised a wild boar when walking through the woods, and saw several interesting birds. Again, due to the tremendous variations in altitude, the birds varied enormously as we travelled around, as did the flora.

Next stop was Punakha, the former capital, and being at a much lower altitude, some monks move there for the winter from Thimphu. The Dzong, built at the confluence of two rivers is quite magnificent, and we could not believe the amazing carvings, paintings and scale of the buildings inside the fortress. Definitely one of the highlights of our trip.

As we travelled around, mountains, monasteries and monks dominated the country. In the higher valleys, buckwheat and potatoes are grown, in the lower, rice and bananas. Because the population density is so low, there is sufficient land for everyone and we saw no evidence of mal-nutrition or poverty. On the contrary, the children in their school uniforms (national dress) and polished shoes were far smarter than most British youngsters. The King insists that Gross National Happiness is more important then GNP and is determined to preserve their culture and religion. Interestingly though, English language is taught from an early age in schools, and all the signs are in English, so communication was easy.

On our final afternoon, we hiked up to the Tiger's Nest Monastery, clinging to the cliff, a couple of thousand feet above the valley floor. A fire destroyed the building four years' ago, but rebuilding is almost complete. The new temples, golden roofs gleaming in the sunlight are testimony to the strength of commitment to their religion in this fervently Buddhist land. We felt that indeed, we had visited Shangri-la. It is difficult to express the combination of physical beauty, lack of consumerism, charm of the local people and relaxed way of life which we found so appealing. It was with great regret we boarded the plane back to Kathmandu. The views of the Himalayas were breath taking. As we passed Everest, the pilot dipped the aircraft's wing to salute this ice-clad giant.

Andy Binns owns and runs Golden Hill Travel who specialise in small group and tailor made travel packages to some of the world's most remote and exotic places. You can read more of Andy's great travel tales there too.

by Andy Binns

Bumthang Festival Photos: