Deki Wangmo awarded by the Prince

 

When I visited Deki Wangmo in Thimphu she was so busy that she could barely spent a few minutes with me explaining her tyre repair business. I saw a strong and motivated woman running a small, but growing business with confidence and pride. Recently, Deki became the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2011awarded by Prince Charles's Youth Business International. She will travel to London for the award ceremony.

Congratulations, Deki.

More HERE

Unique to Bhutan: the tourists

I was a chilip, a foreigner, in Bhutan for 9 weeks. Apart from a limited number of aid workers, volunteers and consultants, chilips in Bhutan are mostly tourists over 45, coming for 1-3 weeks from the US, Europe or Japan with an upper-middle class background. Another distinctive group of tourists are Indians who are called simply Indians, not chilips, and they are exempted from the $200 a day tourist fee and they usually stay for a shorter period of time. I heard from waiters and tourist guides that most Indians want better value for their money than other nationalities.

Tourists and locals at Paro Tsechu festival

Bhutan welcomed around 40,000 tourists last year (for a population of 700,000) which is not a lot as the country follows the rule of 'low volume, high value' tourism when charging visitors the minimum daily fee. This however includes everything from accommodation to transport, from food to the tourist guide. In this way, Bhutan has decided not to follow the example of other Asian countries which have become favorite destinations for backpackers and young people wanting to chill out - such as Israelis visiting Nepal right after their compulsory military service. This strict policy of course filters out tourists and most chilips of younger age whom I met were not tourists, but temporary workers or volunteers, and I didn't see any foreign children during my stay.


It is not uncommon among chilips to wear local traditional clothes, the gho or the kira, especially kira for women as this outfit doesn't differ so much from Western clothing. The gho for men is a different story and you don't see too many foreigners wearing them. It is hard to put on and for the first time you feel a bit uncomfortable as you are basically wearing a skirt that could easily make your favorite underwear go public when sitting untrained. However, after some time you get used to it and it actually feels great. I really liked wearing it.


Even if disguised in local dress, it is easy to spot the tourists in the streets of Thimphu. Most of them have grey hair and glasses walking slowly in pairs or small groups in trekking boots when admiring their environment. They almost always carry big cameras with them and men tend to have gigantic camera lens that may be interpreted by some as the Western version of the phallus cult of Bhutan. They are rarely seen without their local tourist guide who shows them what to see, where to eat, and what to buy. Occasionally, you can see 'abandoned' tourists with no guide wandering around and they look like excited children who have just run away from home to have some adventure in the neighborhood with no parental supervision.


Should you want to visit Bhutan, hurry up. I heard rumors of the government going to increase the daily fee to $250 soon.

Chilips watching Bhutan's strange animal, the takin

The takin, Bhutan's national animal, is watching strange Chilips

Big brother is watching, too.

At Paro Tsechu

At Punakha Dzong

Guide and his guided at Chimi Lhakhang

and a Thai lady at the King's birthday celebration in Thimphu

Leaving behind a footprint

My unforgettable stay in Bhutan has come to an end after nine amazing weeks of volunteering at the Loden Foundation and discovering new faces, stories and dreams. It is time to get back to my life, family and friends in Europe. However, I have become a forever friend of Bhutan and its beautiful lands, minds and hearts.

I aim to keep in touch with people I met at the Loden Foundation : Ashe Kunzang Choden, Dasho Mehgraj Gurung, Aum Dago Beda, Dr Karma Phuntsho, Dawa Dem, Gerard and Anne Tardy, Dorji Tashi and Rinzin Dema; many of their beneficiaries, young entrepreneurs and kids in need; and numerous locals and chilips (foreigners) as well.

Going home from Bhutan, most visitors fly out from Paro airport. I also stayed here for a day before my departure. I walked around, visited the National Museum and had my last hot stone bath.

Driven by human desire to leave something permanent behind, I hid Bhutan's 9th geocache on the left side of the river, not far from Jangtsa Dumtseg Lhakhang, an ancient temple. If you want to find it, here are the GPS coordinates: N 27° 26.128, E 089° 24.795. Do not forget to leave a note in the logbook, put the box back where it was, and leave another small gift for others to come. I will surely come back one day to check...

During my nine weeks in the kingdom I didn't have time to write about everything I was doing. Among other things, I didn't cover my visit and treatment at the traditional medicine center; my horse ride with a member of the National Council; my visit to a rehab center and the great social work a Welsh lama does in Thimphu; I didn't write about my conversation with monks who left he monastery to start a new life; the world's smallest political opposition; or my visit to Chimi Lhakhang for a phallos blessing.

Given all the unpublished stories and pictures, I will keep writing this blog for some more time to benefit all my readers in numerous countries from the US to Europe, from Russia to China, from India to Australia and from Afghanistan to Thailand. Later, this blog may become a permanent site on Bhutan and I also plan to write down my stories in more details in a book with several unpublished photos. Stay tuned.


In the meantime, please feel free to contact me at valcsicsak.zoltan@gmail.com in case you have questions, comments or anything to discuss.

Tashi Delek !

Unique to Bhutan - marijuana and money

Once I heard that Bhutan is the only country where pigs fly. Yes, because of marijuana which is freely growing everywhere and usually given to pigs as an appetizer in case they don't want to eat enough. And human consumption? Very limited, as smoking this weed is not part of local tradition, but rather a modern discovery, especially by youth, such as taking certain prescription drugs to get high or drinking too much alcohol. That is why people like Lama Shenpen Zangpo at Deer Park has more and more to do when it comes to helping drug addicts.

Walking to Khoma village

Bhutan is also unique in a sense that this is the only country I know of where a foreign currency is so widely and legally accepted. The Bhutanese Ngultrum is linked to the Indian Rupee which is accepted up to 200 banknotes or so. For one US dollar you get around 45 Nu/Re.

What can you buy for one dollar? About 4 cups of tea or an Ema or Kewa Datshi meal or a few copies of newspapers. This would also take you from your favorite bar to your hotel in Thimphu by taxi.

Talking about money: kids like Kinga Lhamo whose family can't afford school expenses, need only 6000 Nu ($135) per academic year to go to school. I happen to sponsor her and if you can also afford to help, you are welcome to support other children in need. Just let me know or contact the Loden Foundation directly.

Kinga Lhamo and her unemployed mother. His father passed away last year.

Other unique things in Bhutan: traditional dress, languages, the Penis, and personal names.