Blonde went to Bhutan with a small group (6) of women on a cultural tour. Fortunately, our guide had friends in a village near where we stayed one night and they had invited us to come to their home for tea. You can hardly look at someone in Bhutan without getting handed a cup of tea so that wasn't unusual but we were thrilled to have the chance to go into a Bhutan private … [Read more...]
The Bhutanese people and animals
Just as you can tell a lot about a person in terms of how they treat people they may view as being "inferior" to them, whether a waitress, a member of the U.S. Congress or the grocery check-out clerk, you can also tell a great deal about people by how they treat animals. In Bhutan people do not kill animals (unless they have to for sustenance, but that … [Read more...]
Bhutan phallus decor…… who knew?
On Blonde's recent trip to Bhutan she noticed many interesting aspects of their Buddhist culture. Fantastical legends abound, are well depicted in paintings and statues and have been passed down through many centuries. That was all interesting but not surprising given Blonde's exposure to other countries with large Buddhist populations. But then one thing, well, er, stuck out, … [Read more...]
The Pros and Cons of Visiting Bhutan
Blonde visited Bhutan because the idea of it fascinated her; what did “Gross National Happiness” really mean in practice. How was life different in a profoundly Buddhist country? What would it be like to experience a culture still relatively untouched by Western modernization? And how cool would she look in a picture showing that she’d made it the whole way to the Tiger’s … [Read more...]
The Second King of Bhutan and his Dzong
One day, on a group tour of Bhutan, Blonde was the victim of a gastrointestinal system rebellion and was told that she couldn't go with the group that day. She added this to the list of reasons why she may never again go on a group tour. (And as a friend of hers correctly pointed out they let the cows poop in the road so why was Blonde being put in a lower class than a … [Read more...]