INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN
INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN
The Guest are ‘Truly’
Gods in Bhutan
by Kerry Tolson
The sun’s soft glow burns off the
morning mist and reveals a stand of
fluttering vertical white flags, offering
prayers for the dead. Golden haystacks
dot the rice terraces, and a carpet of
glossy red chilies glints from a distant
rooftop. An awakening house murmurs:
the handle of a bucket clinking, a
butter churner gurgling, red rice being
placed in the alter-room, the jangling
whir of a prayer-wheel. These are the
preparations for the day ahead, and I’m
eager to join in.
Spending the night in a rural family
homestay was a high priority for Mal
and me on our trip to Bhutan. Visiting
this remote Himalayan kingdom
requires most travellers to stay in
government-approved hotels. But with
seventy percent of the population living
in rural communities, we were eager
to immerse ourselves in an authentic
local experience. The Bhutanese are
renowned for their hospitality—on a
tour you’ll soon forget how to open a
door for yourself, pour milk into your tea
or carry your own bag. This hospitality
extends beyond the boundaries of the
tour, though. When wandering through
a rural village, children will shyly follow,
and men and women greet you with
kuzu zangpo la (hello) and an invitation
to sip butter-tea (su ja). The response,
kadrin chhe la (thank you) rolls off
the tongue so many times a day that
I sometimes mistakenly used it as a
greeting.
The tranquility of a rural Bhutanese village. Photo: Sudeep Singh.
“Waking to scenery that will forever remain etched in our
memories, Mal and I join the family on their morning chores.
Milking. By hand. I believe I was a jillaroo in a past life, and I am
an old hand with cattle”
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www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel
Bone-rattled and dusty from our long
drive on Bhutan’s perilous national
highway, the Lateral Road (currently
in the midst of reconstruction – all at
once!) we arrived at the small remote
village of Tangsibji. The homestay
is in a double storey farmhouse
adorned with elaborately painted
windows and large carved phalluses
dangling from the rafters. Inside it’s
rustic and comfortable, and our host
family consists of the Strongest Man
of Bhutan, Phuntsho Wangdi, his wife
Sherab Dem and their three sons.
Each year, the quest to find Bhutan’s
Strongest Man (Nyagoe) begins with
twenty robust men, who are whittled
down to five after months of training
and testing. The final five compete
against each other at the King’s
Birthday Celebrations. In addition to
displaying feats of immense strength,
they must fight – on all fours like a ‘bull’
– until a winner is crowned.
Phuntsho’s strength is evident, but
it is his gentle teasing humour that
radiates brightly. Although he and
Sherab speak almost no English, our
conversations, peppered with hand
signals and smiles, continuously flow.
We exchange khatas (ceremonial
scarfs) and Australian macadamia nuts,
and the kitchen fills with tantalising
aromas. The other villagers visit as a
feast is prepared. Mal plunges into a
bowl of bright red chillies, slicing and
de-seeding as Phuntsho guides him in
making the national dish, Ema Daste
(chili cheese). This is eaten at every
meal in Bhutan. I join Sherab, crushing
garlic and dicing rid ge-gourd and
fiddlehead ferns, to be cooked with
cheese to make Nakay Tshoem.
When Sherab’s sister arrives, I’m taken
upstairs and tucked into a kira – a
beautiful long skirt, tied so tightly at
the waist I can barely breathe – and a
silk blouse, wonju. Mal is handsomely
decked out in a gho, although he feels
a little exposed and wears his thermal
longs so he doesn’t ‘surprise’ anyone.
More guests arrive and the singing and
dancing begins. There is much giggling
and clapping as we are encouraged
to join in. When Mal and I break into a
small Salsa set and try to give a little
lesson, the giggles turn to raucous
laughter.
Our tastebuds savour the spicy cuisine,
intensified by sips of warm homemade
ara (rice wine). We sit cross-legged in
a circle on wide polished floorboards
that would be highly sought after
back home. It’s a filling meal, and this
www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel
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