(exotic music) - [Narrator] Bhutan is
like no other country I've ever visited. (chime tinkling) As a wanderer for G Adventures, I got the chance to
travel around the country to explore monasteries,
fortresses, temples, the food, traditions, even the nightlife, and with that develop a deeper
understanding of the culture. In combination with a proper
four-day tracking adventure in the Himalayas, along the Druk Path, Bhutan simply blew me away. So let me show you why. (gentle music) - [Phub] Now, Bhutan is
not really well-known to all the people around the world, because it's a small country located between the two giant countries. We have China in the north and then we have India in the south, and the population of Bhutan
is only around 700,000. (uplifting music) - [Narrator] Because of its location in the Eastern Himalayas, it is quite a challenge to get there. Bhutan has only one international airport, which is located in Paro, and only served by the
two national carriers, Bhutan Airlines and Drukair. Therefore, I first had
to fly to Delhi in India, with a seven-hour layover before I could catch
the early morning flight with Drukair, via Nepal, to Paro Airport, which is considered one of
the most dangerous airports in the world, where
only 15 certified pilots are allowed to land, due to its location in a deep valley at an
elevation of 2,200 meters. At the same time, this location makes up for an impressive approach. (uplifting music) - And we have arrived, and this was by far the most majestic approach I've ever had. And look at this terminal building. (engines roaring) Bhutan, here we go. (gentle music) - [Narrator] But most people
who consider visiting Bhutan don't even get to this point because they are simply
put off by the visa fee without looking into the details of it. In order to reduce environmental impact of tourists on Bhutan's unique and virtually unspoiled
landscape and culture, the country decided to
focus on the concept of high value, low impact tourism, which results in a $250
daily fee in high season. But this fee includes your
accommodation in a hotel, all meals, a guide, entrance fees, and all transport within the country. On top of that, 35% of the money goes to fund free healthcare, free education, poverty relief, and infrastructure. This way, you are directly
supporting the local people. In order to ensure responsibile travel, visiting Bhutan is only
possible within a tour. In the case of G Adventures, who works with local partners, this means that the visa
fee is already included in the tour price, and
the whole visa application and organization is taken care of for you. (gentle music) (exotic flute music) - Good morning from the
mountains of Bhutan, after a beautiful arrival yesterday, meeting the group, it is today, our first full day here
in the area of Paro, and we're now up on almost 4,000 meters on the Chelela Pass. Look at these mountains. And this is the right time
to actually introduce you to our chief experience officer, Phub. - Hello, everyone. (speaking in foreign language) - So he will be our guide on this tour, and he will provide us with a
lot of background information during that trip and today, we're actually right next to
the valley where he's from, that's the Haa Valley, and
this is why we call him Haaba. (both laughing) And we're hiking next to the valley because we do a little
one-hour trek, right? - One hour hike towards the Kila Goemba, which is a nunnery. It's a monastery for the nuns
and there are about 130 nuns-- - Oh, wow.
- Still in that monastery. And the hike is more or
less about one hour hike. - Little acclimatization
hike for the trek, which is about to start tomorrow, so it's the same, let's do this. (upbeat music) Oh, and by the way, there's another person on this trek you might
remember, it's Larry. We've done Kilimanjaro together. Whoo!
- Whoo, wow! - [Larry] After we climbed Kilimanjaro, I suggested to him, the
next time he was going on an excursion, to let me know. Steve contacted me, and
said he was going to Bhutan, and I said, "I'm in." Hi Steve. (upbeat music) - Whoo, after one and a half
hours of hiking, we made it. Here is the nunnery. It's actually hugging the rock over there and all the houses here are
right next to the cliff. Such a stunning location. (upbeat music) - [Narrator] Kila Goempa was established as a meditation site in the ninth century and is now reputedly the
oldest nunnery in Bhutan. The nuns pursue higher
Buddhist college studies in a series of nunnery buildings that are pressed dramatically
against the cliffs. (exotic flute music) (gentle music) (tripod squeaking) (gear rustling) - So it begins. You can already hear it in the back. These are the horses and the mules which will take our whole camping gear. They're getting packed up, and then we're starting
onto the Druk Path trek which will take about four days. We'll cover a distance
of about 60 kilometers, Go up to an altitude of 4,300 meters, it's the highest altitude. All right, let's do this. (upbeat music) (footsteps crunching) So let me tell you a little
bit about the trek today. We will be covering about 14 kilometers and we start on 2,300 meters and we'll go up to 3,800 meters. This means we will cover
1,500 meters in altitude, which is quite something for one day. So we're off to a tough start, but it's beautiful, no? We're hiking through the forest and later on, we'll get out of the forest, and I hope to get some cool views. We will visit a little
fortress on the way, and this fortress is actually
overlooking the Paro Valley, so I'm really excited for that. (uplifting music) - Bhutan, being a mountainous country, almost about 72% of our land is green. When it comes to the trees,
it is more important for us. We have no cutting of green trees, in case if a forest gets
destroyed by a fire, but we still replant
trees to make it green. - The sun is out. Looks like we made it to the Jele Dzong, this is this fortress up
there, on 3,400 meters. (uplifting music) It is lunch time, and now the picnic spot is being set up and we're
gonna eat over there. (speaking in foreign language) Looks good. (footsteps crunching) The time has come where
we leave the forest and we can actually see around us all those glorious mountains. We're actually hiking towards
the really big mountains of the Himalayas, oh,
this is just beautiful. The sun came out, and the
panoramic views all around us, this is what I came for. It's amazing. (uplifting music) - The campsite that you see
in here is called Tshokam. And the meaning of Tshokam is a dry lake. It used to be a lake here, so they believe that the lake from here has moved, I mean, the protector of lake had decided to move from here. And this is one called Tshokam, it means dry lake, and if
you look straight behind, just below the snow-capped mountains, there are a few, the green tents can see. That's called Simkotra. That is where we are going
to have the second night, and the next day, we will
be walking to the right side of these mountains, all
the way behind that, you see a small top with the snow, behind that will be our camp, third camp. (uplifting music) - So here we are. That's my tent. That's the mountain. That's the dining tent,
that's Larry over there, going for the tea. He deserved it. (chuckling) (uplifting music) (wind blowing) (gentle music) (zipper zipping) (tent flap rustling) Good morning, it is day number two on the Druk Path trek. We're now leaving the camp. We're leaving Tshokam and we're going up to Simkotra Lake today. (uplifting music) So today's stretch takes us into those snow-capped mountains. We're going up to Simkotra Lake. At first, we go down for
two hours to Naritang. We cross a river, and then
we go two hours up again to Janye Tsho, which is also a lake, and then from there, it
is one and a half hours to our campsite at Simkotra. Altogether, about 11 kilometers, so almost the same like yesterday, but we don't have as much
of a climb as yesterday. (uplifting music) The trail conditions today,
it was raining all night, more sliding down the hill
than we are hiking down. All right, one and a half hours done, we're down at the river. That was quite something, huh? - That was quite the mud fest, really. (both laughing) (gentle music) (footsteps crunching) (water rushing) - Two hours later, we
are up here at the lake, and this is our lunch spot. Picturesque. (utensils clinking)
(speaking in foreign language) (inspiring music) We're almost at camp. This is our camp from
last night over there, and we went all the way over here, came over that ridge, and
now, last part down here, heading to Simkotra Lake, and actually, that is our camp over there. Now that we arrived at our campsite at Simkotra Lake, it's time to
show you around a little bit. So first of all, we have
here the personal tent, this is where all the
participants are sleeping. Then we have a toilet tent
being set up over there, our mess tent, this is where
we have breakfast and dinner, and then over there,
this is the kitchen tent. But let me first show
you our personal tents. These are two-person
tents, and I got a luxury to stay alone in one. Let's have a look inside. So when you arrive, you already
have your mattress in there, a little blanket, and even a pillow. These are all duffel bags. This is where all of our stuff is which goes onto the horses, and there's my personal bag. This is the bag that I carried around. So let's see where the magic is happening. This is the kitchen tent. This is where all of
our meals get prepared. This is, who is sitting there over there on his throne in the back? (laughing) Just getting warm in there, eh? - Yeah.
- All right. So here we have the hot water
is being prepared over there. Today we are having--
- Popcorn. - We're having popcorn. Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, okay. - This is our tea.
- And here we have the tea. - It's a ginger tea.
- No, this milk tea. - Milk tea?
(speaking in foreign language) Nice. (uplifting music) (gentle music) (gentle music)
(people chattering) Good morning. It is day number three on the Druk Path, and we are greeted with sunshine and a view which is just incredible. Look at that. Down here is our campsite. Over there, the Himalayas. We're camping right next to the lake, and this is where we also have breakfast, see that red table over there? This is our breakfast spot. So far the group, yeah, is doing so-so. Unfortunately, Larry
had to leave the group because he had too much pain, too much altitude sickness syndromes which prevented him from going further, so he went back, he went, actually, to where we will be arriving, to Thimphu, and then we have two or three
more people in the group who are really struggling but try to fight their way through. For myself, I did all
right the last two days, and right now, I can
also feel a little bit of syndromes of high altitude sickness. I have a headache and a funny stomach, but I think because I know
that already from Kilimanjaro, I can fight my way through that and it's all about today and the weather looks just incredible. (uplifting music) (snow crunching) Our little breakfast hike rewards us with magnificent views to
the surrounding mountains, including Mt. Jomolhari over there, which is, with 7,300 meters, Bhutan's second highest mountain. Today is the day we are actually going through the highest part of
our trek, it's over there. Labana. (uplifting music) We've officially made
it to the highest point of the hike--
- Whoo! - 4,200 meters.
(hands smacking) - Yes!
- Done. - Done! (uplifting music) - The mountains and trees
that we have in the country, we not only look at them
as mountain or tree, we also respect the
mountains that we have, because we believe that every mountain has its own protectors. (uplifting music) - We're almost done. Down there is Thimphu, and you can actually already
see also our campsite where we sleep for the night. And then tomorrow, we head
into the capital of Bhutan. The last part of the trek on
that day was quite challenging, as my altitude sickness
got worse and worse by the end of the day. So I finished day three on the Druk Path by passing out in my tent while
a blizzard ripped the camp. (wind howling)
(gentle music) (soft music) Still affected by the altitude sickness, we headed down, where I regained energy the more we got to lower altitude until we finally reached the trailhead. - After waking up in the snow, we now finally made it
down to the trailhead. I'm looking forward to a
nice hotel room and a shower. (gentle music) After four days of trekking, it's really nice to be in a hotel again. This will be our home for
our time here in Thimphu. It's eight o'clock in
the capital of Bhutan, and we are out on the hunt
for beer and good times on Good Friday.
- Rock and roll. Good Friday and Easter. - So let's see what we can find. All right, we found a spot. It's obviously at Go Crazy, The Zone, food, pub, cafe, karaoke, and fun. - Cheers.
- Cheers. (heavy guitar music) (speaking in foreign language) Mojo, Mojo, "Smoke on the Water," Bhutan. (glasses clinking) ♪ We all came out to ♪ (gentle flute music) (birds chirping) - What makes Bhutan unique, it's the strong culture
that has been carried on from generation to generation, and it's through people practice the same culture and tradition. - Today we're exploring
the sites of Thimphu, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the life and culture of Bhutan, and we're starting off with the Chorten, which is a big stupa and one of the most prominent
religious structures here in the capital of Bhutan. - [Narrator] This memorial
stupa was built in 1974 to honor the third king of Bhutan, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck,
and is located right in the heart of the capital. - What is also interesting to see is that everything works clockwise, so, for example, the prayer wheels are turned clockwise, and people
are also walking clockwise around the stupa here. (exotic flute music) Next up is the world's
largest seated Buddha, which is overlooking Thimphu, and a great place to
see the city from above. - The main religion in Bhutan is Buddhism. What we practice is called Mahayana. The Mahayana is not just
considered as Buddhism, or a religion, every people in Bhutan take it as a philosophy
of their everyday life. So we believe that whatever you do in your present life will be the rhythm of your next life, which is the future. So that is why Mahayana
that is being practiced all over the country in Bhutan is not just about oneself,
it is all about thinking as a general for everyone, not just human, but also for the animals. So it is really a big thing that we practice in our country. (people chanting in foreign language) - Now at the archery ground to see how the national sport
is being played here. - The national sport that we have in Bhutan is known as archery, and it is one of the
most interesting sport once you get to know it, because they are not just play, they drink, they play at the same time, it's a symbol for every man in Bhutan that once you play archery, you are considered, it's kind
of like a symbol of a manhood. - Next up is the arts and
crafts school here in Thimphu. (gentle music) - [Narrator] The arts and crafts of Bhutan that represent the exclusive
spirit and identity of the Himalayan kingdom is defined as the art of (speaking
in foreign language), which means the 13 arts
and crafts of Bhutan. The Institute of Zorig Chusum in Thimphu is the premiere institution
of traditional arts and crafts, set up by
the government of Bhutan with the sole objective of preserving the rich culture and tradition of Bhutan and training students in
all traditional art forms. (gentle music) (birds chirping) - We drove a little bit outside of Thimphu to the Motithang Takin Preserve. This area was once a
mini-zoo and got converted into a preserve for the
national animal, the takin. - Between the animals
and people in Bhutan, there's a very strong connection. Because of that strong connection, and the belief that we
practice in our daily life, we respect every animals
because we believe that the only difference
between the human and animal is that they cannot talk well as we can. So we not just take them as animal, but we also believe that
they can be the reincarnation of your families and that
is why we have no killings at all in the country. So whatever meat that
we get in the country is all imported from India,
from the border at south. (gentle music) - [Narrator] After all the sight seeing, we headed downtown on our own, where we learned that
Bhutan is the only country in the world that doesn't
have a single traffic light in its capital, and we got to check out a very hip cafe before going
for a typical Bhutanese dinner. - Tonight is the night where we are trying typical Bhutanese food, not buffet style, which you usually get
when you're traveling on a tour through Bhutan. This is the pork paa,
this is basically pork, dried pork curry. Then we have the chili cheese, that is the yak curry,
this is potato and cheese, fried rice, vegetarian. We have momos with cheese,
momos with potatoes. - That is sag datshi.
- Then spinach cheese. Then we have the puta,
which is buckwheat noodles, and we have the (speaking
in foreign language), and this altogether was
about, yeah, 25 bucks for five people we couldn't even finish. - Never ate half.
- We probably ate half of the whole banquet.
- Yeah. (gentle music)
(utensils clinking) (gentle music) - On the next morning, we left Thimphu on a windy road in the
direction of Punakha, which is the former
capital of the country. Our first stop was the Dochula Pass, where 108 memorial chortens or stupas have been built under the patronage of the eldest queen mother on an altitude of 3,100 meters, which makes up for an impressive setting in front of the snow-covered Himalayas. (gentle music) - We make our way to the fertility temple, which is over there. We drove from Thimphu
to the Punakha District. This is what we will
be exploring for today. (gentle music) - [Narrator] Phallus paintings in Bhutan are esoteric symbols who are believed to protect
and drive away the evil eye. They have their origins in
the Chimi Lhakhang Monastery. This monastery was built in
honor of Lama Drukpa Kunley, who lived in the 15 to 16th century and who was popularly
known as the divine madman for his unorthodox ways of teaching, which amounted to being
bizarre and shocking. (gentle music) - We are now in the
former capital, Punakha, and we're about to
visit the second largest and second oldest dzong,
the Punakha Dzong. (birds chirping)
(gentle music) - Now the fortresses
that you see in Bhutan is not just one fortress,
we have one fortress in every district, in
all the 20 districts, we have 20 fortresses. Now, these fortresses, which is known as the dzong in our national language, are the main heritage of the country, because the dzongs were all
built during the 17th centuries to preserve and protect the
people from the invaders we had in the past. And it's still being used and preserved very well, but now most of the dzongs are
divided into two sections. So the first half of the dzong will always be the administration, and the second half is used by the monks. (gentle music) - So we are back in Paro. And now we do some sightseeing here, and we're starting, of
course, with the Paro Dzong. - [Narrator] The Paro
Dzong has its foundations in the 15th century. In 1646, the dzong was reconsecrated and established as the administrative and monastic center of the western region, and it became known as Rinpung Dzong. (gentle music) - Next up is the Kyichu
Lhakhang, which is one of the oldest temples of Bhutan. - [Narrator] The Jowo Temple of Kyichu is one of the oldest temples in Bhutan, originally built in the 7th century by the Tibetan emperor Songtsen Gampo. It is considered to be one of the 108 border taming temples he built. In the 8th century, the temple was visited by Padmasambhava and it
is believed he concealed many spiritual treasures here. (gentle music) (chimes tinkling) (exotic music) - We saved the best for last. Today we are hiking up
to the Taktsang Lhakhang, which is better known as
Tiger's Nest Monastery, one of the most popular
sites in all of Bhutan. Up there we go. (gentle music) So the whole trek up and
back is about 11 kilometers, and you go up to an elevation
of more than 3,000 meters and have an elevation
gain of about 900 meters, so it's quite a tough day hike, actually. And in between, so halfway up, you have a little tea house
where you can make a stop and can enjoy the view and
charge up your batteries before the final ascent
up to the Tiger's Nest. So we made it halfway up to the tea house. Mm. Where you already have a really great view to the Tiger's Nest. How's that for a view, Larry?
- Oh, that is magnificent. Gorgeous, it's what I came for. (uplifting music) - We made it to the spot. Now, it's only 750 steps
down and then we head over into the monastery. - [Narrator] The Paro
Taktsang complex hangs on a precarious cliff at 3,120 meters and was first built in 1692 around the Taktsang Senge Samdup Cave where guru Padmasambhava
is said to have meditated for three years, three months,
three weeks, three days, and three hours in the 8th century. Padmasambhava is credited
with introducing Buddhism to Bhutan and is the tutelary
deity of the country. Today, Paro Taktsang is the best known of the 13 taktsang or tiger lair caves in which he meditated. We couldn't have picked a better spot to finish this trip
through the fascinating Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon. (exotic music) - Bhutan is an amazing
country, unbelievable. The temples, the fortresses, the Himalayas in the
background, snow-covered, and the people, in particular, beautiful, beautiful people, very kind, very helpful, gorgeous, gorgeous country. (uplifting music) - Where are we now? - We're in Mojo Park in
Thimphu, Bhutan listening to-- - Local--
- Interesting classics. - No, we're listening to local punk. - Local punk. (laughing) - This is what local punk is like.
