Paradise Found

Question: Isolated for centuries from the rest of the world, what country welcomed its first international tourists in 1974?

Answer: Bhutan

Bhutan was almost completely cut off from the rest the world for centuries. It all changed on October 3, 1974, when the tiny Buddhist Kingdom nestled in the Himalayas welcomed its first foreign visitors—eight Americans, five Spaniards, and one Argentinian. But did anything change, really? With no airport, travelers had to endure a long and arduous overland trek just to get there. As a result, there wasn’t so much a steady stream of incoming tourists in those early years as a weak trickle—and that was just the way Bhutan wanted it.

Tourism wouldn’t begin to flourish in Bhutan until the opening of Paro International Airport in 1983. Arriving by air eliminated the challenging overland journey for travelers to reach the isolated Himalayan Kingdom—although the challenging part now belonged to the pilots. Set in a narrow, deep valley between 18,000-foot-high mountain peaks, Paro International Airport is considered one of the most challenging airports to land in the world. The topography of the area forces pilots to rely only on their eyes during approaches—no radar or instruments can be used. Then they must execute a dramatic, last-minute turn to make a hard landing on the slender runway. That’s why, even today, only a handful of pilots worldwide are allowed to land at Paro.

The land that time forgot ... or did it?

It somehow feels right to have to endure even a small measure of discomfort to visit such a special destination, don’t you think? And make no mistake, Bhutan is special. There’s a reason it’s often referred to as “the last Shangri-La.” As any classic film buff will tell you, “Shangri-La” comes from the 1937 film Lost Horizon—based on the 1933 novel of the same name by British author James Hilton. It’s the story of a group of Westerners who survive a plane crash in the Himalayas and then are taken to an enchanted valley hidden from the world where time stands still. Calling his fictional utopia Shangri-La, Hilton didn’t base it on any real location. But if he had, Bhutan sure ticks all the boxes.

When people think of "Shangri-La" these days, it still evokes some hidden paradise or a land untouched by time. A place where the air is pure and nature and wildlife fills pristine landscapes free of skyscrapers and city smog. A few places in the world lay claim to quiet corners of unspoiled beauty, but that’s everyday life in Bhutan. They just don’t brag about it. Instead, Bhutan chose to quietly preserve their culture with its deep roots in Buddhist teachings, to prioritize nature and the environment over modernity and material wealth, and to simply let the world rush ahead without them.

What makes Bhutan a modern-day Shangri-La?

Bhutan is the first country in the world to make protecting the environment a constitutional law. One strictly enforced law is to ensure that 60% of the nation remains under forest cover at all times. And for every tree that is cut down, 10 must be planted. They also forbid anyone from scaling sacred Gangkhar Puensum—the world’s highest unclimbed peak. This commitment to conservation has not only allowed flora and fauna to flourish but has turned Bhutan into the world’s only carbon-negative country.

Perhaps with a concern not to sully the tree-blanketed landscapes and pure mountain air, Bhutan also “quit smoking,” becoming the only place in the world where the production and sale of cigarettes is banned. Well ahead of its time, Bhutan also banned the use of plastic bags all the way back in 1999.

Here’s something else that’s quite unusual. GNP, or the Gross National Product, is a measurement of the economic success of just about every capitalist country in the world. But not in Bhutan. Rather than the accrual of dollars as the standard measurement of economic growth, Bhutan measures success by the collective happiness of its people. In the 1970s, the Himalayan kingdom established the “Gross National Happiness Index,” and the Bhutanese people are polled on things like their psychological well-being, living standards, and general satisfaction with their lives before any new laws or policies are put in place. Bhutan also guarantees free education and healthcare for all of its citizens.

Although striking the right balance between the nation’s economic growth, the spiritual wellbeing of its citizens, and preserving the natural environment hasn’t been easy, the cautious path to modernization has certainly paid off for Bhutan. Barely touched by modern civilization, it remains a land of virgin forests teeming with exotic wildlife and dotted with pastoral villages, ancient temples, clifftop monasteries, and fluttering prayer flags. Bhutan’s harmonious society, with Buddhist monks and nuns mingling with Bhutanese in national dress, adds to the enchantment. But did Bhutan miss out on anything by foregoing economic progress and material wealth and choosing a path based on a belief that happiness is derived from life’s simple pleasures?

Not everyone wants their MTV

You might say that Bhutan joined the modern world on June 2, 1999. That was when television and the Internet arrived in the tiny Himalayan kingdom of 800,000 people—making Bhutan the last country on Earth to legalize television and introduce the Internet to its citizens. To be clear, Bhutan didn't lack television because they were too poor or too remote. The country had newspapers and radio, and it was felt that foreign programming would undermine Bhutan’s rich cultural heritage. They simply didn’t want it.

So, how did it go? Almost overnight, every home in Bhutan went from no television to 46 cable channels in their living rooms. By 2002, just three years after television arrived, there was a visible uptick in crime and juvenile delinquency in Bhutan. Studies revealed that programs like professional wrestling appeared to be contributing to violence among children and were eventually banned from Bhutanese airwaves (Don’t be alarmed by that—any other nation would envy having Bhutan’s crime rate and it remains one of the safest countries in the world to visit). But there was a far more troubling aspect to TV and the Internet—the Bhutanese were suddenly exposed to the world of advertising. Hour after hour, they were being shown glamorous lifestyles that looked nothing like their own, and being marketed consumer goods they didn’t know they wanted and now must have—you know, just like the rest of us.

But it wasn’t all bad news. Ironically, because Bhutan came to the Internet age so late, it was able to skip an entire generation of infrastructure issues (replacing copper wiring or phasing out analog systems) that continue to bog down many developed nations. By leapfrogging five decades of technological innovation in a single generation, Bhutan’s digital infrastructure is one of most advanced anywhere—which explains why you can spot a monk with a smartphone or a yak herder watching YouTube.

Bhutan isn’t perfect, nor does it even aspire to perfection. But it has found a way to stay true to itself while still welcoming the world with open arms. Perhaps that’s the true meaning of Shangri-La.

A few more fascinating facts about Bhutan, the last Shangri-La

·         No jacket required, but ...—Bhutan has a mandatory national dress code, which must be worn by men and women on formal occasions, when visiting the government or schools, and during festivals. Men wear a knee-length robe tied at the waist called a gho, and women wear an ankle-length dress called a kira, which is worn with a jacket called a toego.

·         No wonder it takes so long to change—Thimphu, Bhutan’s capital, is the only capital in the world without a single traffic light. Instead, white-gloved policemen stand at major intersections and direct traffic. A light was installed once, but it was met with such opposition it was taken down within 24 hours.

·         Thunder Road—The Bhutanese refer to their country as Druk Yul, which means Land of the Thunder Dragon. The origin of the name is from the fierce storms that come in from the Himalayas— and a 17th-century belief that thunder is the roar of dragons. In 1969, Bhutan adopted the Druk thunder dragon symbol for their national flag.

·         Or is he just glad to see you?—An unconventional Buddhist teacher, the Divine Mad Man, introduced the giant, colorful phalluses seen throughout Bhutan. Said to ward off evil, these “holy phalluses” are found on the facades of many homes and buildings.

·         Worth takin’ pictures of—Bhutan’s national animal is a rather odd-looking creature called a takin, which appears to be a combination of goat, cow, antelope, and wildebeest—which actually makes sense since Bhutanese mythology believes the beast was created by a saint using the remains of a goat and a cow.

·         Now wonder they’re so good—Archers in Bhutan shoot at targets that are 145 meters (475 feet) away, compared to Olympic archery’s 70 meters (229 feet). The sport gained popularity in the 1920s during the rule of Bhutan’s second king, and was declared the national sport in 1971, after Bhutan joined the United Nations.

·         Don’t be a jailbird—Black-necked cranes, who leave the Tibetan plateau each year and fly south to winter in Bhutan, are considered sacred by the Bhutanese. Each year since records began, the cranes arrive on the same day and fly three times in a clockwise direction around Gantey Gompa, the ancient hilltop monastery above the cranes’ marsh—the same ritual performed by Buddhist pilgrims on arriving at a sacred place. Killing one of these sacred birds carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

·         Third time’s a charm—Traditional Bhutanese etiquette dictates that you should refuse offers of food twice by saying the words “meshu meshu” and covering your mouth with your hands. You can accept after the host’s third insistence (or when your drooling becomes uncontrollable).

·         It gets chilly in the Himalayas—Bhutan’s national dish is a fiery concoction called ema datshi, or chili cheese stew. A butter tea called suja is often served on social occasions along with snacks such as roasted rice, or zaw.

Discover the closest place to Shangri-La during our new Bhutan: Hidden Kingdom of the Himalayas adventure.