When Pharell Williams wrote the song “Happy”, he must have just been returning from a trip to Bhutan.  This country takes the term happiness to a whole new level.   Since 1971, the country has rejected GDP as the only way to measure progress.  In its place, it has a much better approach called the Gross National Happiness (GNH) that is measured by the spirtual, physical, social, and environmental health of the people in Bhutan.

And these people truly are examples of a healthy GNH!  Everywhere you go you meet people who are genuinely happy and extremely calm and helpful. There is no real crime or poverty to speak of in this country.  Every home is well taken care of and full of artistic touches. Today we went on a mountain bike ride in the country side and every where we went the children and adults came running out of their homes with big smiles on their faces to come and greet us and wish us Hello!

Buddhism is practiced by 80% of the people here and it is truly a way of life.  Almost every home has a shrine in it that is used for spiritual purposes. The sharing of this non-violent, non-materialistic faith communes the people in a special way that is not seen in most cultures.  Astrology plays a major role in all Bhutanese affairs.   Days are deemed to be “auspicious” or “inauspicious” and they follow them closely.  We were lucky enough to get the opportunity to meet with a Bhutanese astrologer.  He was an elderly gentleman with ancient scrolls in front of him that he consulted.  Since Buddhists also believe in reincarnation,  Brad and I both found out about our past lives.  (Turns out I was a God and Brad just a Demi-God!)  We also found out our best and worse days for making major life decisions and best colors.  Most interestingly, we found out some of our personality traits and ways to improve upon our nature.  The good news is that we were told that we are good together as a couple and will be together for a long time!  Not sure what we would have done if we would have found out otherwise.

No description of Bhutan would be complete without talking about the importance of phallic symbols in their culture.  Brad said he would prefer I discuss this topic so here goes!  Phallic paintings, statues, and symbols are everywhere in Bhutan.  Homes are routinely painted with phalluses and carved wooden phalluses hang on the eves of new homes at the four corners. (Bring new meaning to the term being well hung!) The Bhutanese believe that these symbols bring good luck and drive away evil spirits.  All I know is that it brought lots of entertainment to our group and I am certain that it has something to do with why the Bhutanese are so happy!  Enough said on this topic but here are a few pictures so you can get the idea.

This is our last night in Bhutan and I am sorry to leave.  The scenery is breathtaking, the people are caring and gentle, the food is delicious, and the spiritual nature of the land is intrinsic.  Right now, the only way to get in to Bhutan is through a travel agent or tour and each person must spend $250 a person per night.  There are two large hotels going up soon; a Four Seasons and a Meridian, and things are changing in Bhutan that could make this place a lot more crowded with tourists.  My advise to all of you is if you are thinking of coming to Bhutan, come within the next five years before it gets crowded and touristy!  Without a doubt, it is one of the most authentic, magical places we have ever visited!

A couple of Bhutanese proverbs before I sign off:

“If you search for happiness, you will not find it.  If happiness searches for you, it will always find you.”

“Life is like footprints in the snow.  Every step will show.”

P.S.  We are no longer in the land of social media so if anyone would like to share this on Facebook for us, feel free!  Thanks!

“Our king has served longer than Queen Elizabeth of England,” said Sarah, our guide for the time we spent in Bangkok, — “Sixty-eight years.”  The King of Thailand is Rama 9 — number nine in the longest running monarchy in the world.  You probably know of Rama 4.  He is the one who brought Anna to Siam from England to teach his children, inspiring the book Anna and the King of Siam which led to the musical, The King and I. More on that from Lisa below.

The forward-thinking nature of these monarchs meant that Siam was never subjuct to colonization by France or England.  It remained free.  The word Thai means free, which inspired Rama 5 to change the name of the country to Thailand — land of the free — in 1939.

Bangkok, on the Chao Phraya river, is home to 12 million residents. It has a canal system that runs throughout the city, leading some to call it the Venice of Southeast Asia.  Despite this fact, there are over 8 million cars and countless motorcycles in Bangkok with too few roads to hold them.  So getting around can be time consuming. Many residents have long commutes from the suburbs to work each day.

Nevertheless, we ventured out by riverboat, van, and tuk tuk to see the sights of this beautiful metropolis. Since 95% of Thais are Buddhist, there are many temples to see. And, the deep-seated monarchy meant many palaces to view as well. From the 150-foot reclining Buddha plated in gold to the former residences of Kings Rama 4 and 5, we went on a whirlwind tour to take them all in during our short 48-hour stay.

   
 The Reclining Buddha is 150 feet long by 30 feet tall. It is made of stucco and plated in 24-karat gold.

  Wat Pho Temple grounds.

   
    
 Temples on the Grand Palace grounds

  Siem Reap Cambodia used to be part of Siam, so the King had a replica of Angkor Wat built as a reminder.

  King Rama 4 went to school in England. Note the British architecture combined with the Thai roofline.

  The Grand Palace grounds seen from the Chao Phraya river at night.

But, as usual when visiting a new land, it is the people and the culture that provide the most interesting and educational experiences for Lisa and me. The Thai people are friendly, respectful, and proud of their country.  Over 99% of Thais are employed, but, wages today remain low (Sarah says about $10 per day), so all must work to sustain themselves.  It is customary for extended families to live under one roof, and it isn’t unusual for three or four generations to live together.  The kids never move out and often you’re destined to live with your mother-in-law the rest of your life!  When the girls marry, they generally go live with the husband’s family.  So, Lisa and I would still end up empty-nesters in Thailand.  

There are three seasons in Thailand — the rainy season, summer, and winter.  But, Bangkok is on the southern end of the country.  So, Sarah tells us their three season are hot, hotter, and hottest.  We visited between hotter and hottest.  Whew!

The Thai language has 46 letters with 24 vowels.  The nuance in pronunciation is so subtle that our American ears were unable to discern the difference in many of the words.  For example, Sarah says her nickname is Jim.  I said, “Jim?”  She said, “No, Jim.”  “You see,” she said, “There are five ways to say Jim — Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim, and Jim.”  Now, I have to say, they all sounded the same to me.  The conversation from there got very funny as I kept saying, “Jim” and she’d say, “No, Jim.”  I finally got it right once and quit right there as I couldn’t tell why the last time was right and the others weren’t.

Speaking of Jim, there is a famous American named Jim Thompson who had quite an impact on Thailand.  He was an Army officer, some say a CIA agent, an architect and a, yes, a fashion designer.  Jim Thompson seemingly single-handedly revived the silk industry in Thailand. He provided the silk costumes used in the filming of The King and I.  We visited his home, called reverently, by the locals, the Jim Thompson house (what else?).  Mr. Thompson took several small 100-year-old homes from the countryside and relocated them to Bangkok, then assembled them together into one large home.  It is fascinating in that it retains the traditional Thai archetecture, and contains Jim’s collection of artifacts that qualify the place as a museum.

Lisa, of course, supported the Thai economy by picking up several of Mr. Thompson’s wares.  I’ll report that she looks quite good in those silk shirts.

Finally,  given the perfect growing climate, flowers are plentiful in Thailand.  The Thai people bring home fresh flowers daily.  Sarah took us to the flower market, which is several blocks long.  Flower vendors sold flowers of every type.  We found vendors that sell beautiful orchids.  So, I offered to get some for Lisa since I know she loves orchids.  We found a large bunch that comprised about 50 stems of orchids and paid the princely sum for them of 50 baht. Uh, that translates to $1.40.  Sarah told me that when a boy in Thailand gives a girl orchids she turns up her nose.  Too cheap.  Well, I tried.

Our visit to Thailand was far too short.  It was only meant as a staging area to kick off our visit to the Himalayas.  I am certain we will return to spend more time seeing the country some day. We’re now off with our new companions — seven other couples — to see Bhutan.  More on that visit soon.

SHALL WE DANCE? by Lisa

I have always been fascinated with the country of Thailand and the story of Anna and the King. I think it all started when I was eight years old and got the chance to play one of the King’s children in summer stock theater at the Wagon Wheel playhouse in Winona Lake, IN in their production of the King and I.  I read every book I could about Anna and the King when I was growing up, learned all of the music on the piano, and saw countless productions of the musical.  In fact, we just saw the play on Broadway in September.  Naturally, I wanted to know all about this king and the “facts” surrounding the show.  I imagined there would be “King and I” tours and all kinds of memorabilia surrounding the book and movies.  Boy, was I wrong!  The government has banned all versions of the “King and I” including any books, plays, or movies about the subject.   A  public viewing of the play is seen as a treasonous offense and can include jail time.  Although Hollywood tried to appease the government by changing parts of the script, they still didn’t feel that they paid the proper respect to the monarchy and King Rama 4.  

Hollywood filmed The King and I and the 90’s movie Anna and the King in nearby Indonesia because the government refused to let them film in Thailand.  Our guide also burst my bubble by letting us know that the famous “Shall We Dance” scene would never have happened between the King and a commoner.  He would have never danced with Anna  much less let her look him in the eyes or even stand at his level during the time of his reign.  We did get to see the grounds where Anna lived and taught the King’s children and found out it was because of her that the King’s son went on to Oxford in England to study and further advance the Thai people in their efforts to educate and modernize the country.  History and Hollywood once again don’t always agree with one another but I like the “Rogers and Hammerstein” version better than reality so I’ll go back to “Whistling My Happy Tune” and believing in “Something Wonderful” . . . etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

 Our Tuk Tuk adventure.

   
    
 The flower market, including Lisa’s orchids.
   
     

  Our evening puppet show required three puppeteers per puppet in an amazingly choreographed dance.  After the show the puppets hammed it up with us.

  Our sad goodbye to Sarah as she saw us off at the Bangkok airport.

Source: The Mighty Himalayas

We spent 24 hours in Santiago on the last leg of our South American Journey.  It really isn’t fair to assess a place when you only have 24 hours to take it all in; we felt a little bit like Chevy Chase as Chuck Griswold in the Vacation movies staring at each sight for a few seconds and going on to the next.   As those of you who travel a lot know that by the end of a trip, you can hit tourist burn-out where you just can’t appreciate or retain any more facts about another church or historic building.  I feel like we need to go back to Santiago to really experience the different neighborhoods we saw but here are our brief impressions of the city.

Santiago is a friendly, modern,  and extremely clean city.  The workers clean the city twice a day and you will not see a piece of trash or litter on the ground anywhere.  We took a walk around our hotel and saw very quaint homes and condominium complexes that were extremely well cared for.  Santiago also has a very American feel to it.  On our walk we passed at least four Starbucks and every single American food chain that you can name.  According to our guide, Chileans feel that Applebee’s or Ruby Tuesday is an example of Fine American Dining and is a place that they would take their wife for an anniversary dinner or special occasion.  (I quickly let Brad know that he couldn’t get away with that for our anniversary back here in the States!)

The highlight of our visit to Santiago was dining one last time at lunch with our group at Aqui esta Coco.  It is considered the best seafood restaurant in Santiago and it did not disappoint.  We were served a wide variety of seafood and fish dishes followed by a cake named Grandmother’s 1000 Layer Dulce de Leche cake.  Yum!  The lunch started out with each of us being served a Pisco Sour;  a Chilean drink made with a Pisco liquor, lime, and egg whites.  It went down a little too easy for some of us!  We were also served three different types of wine that never seemed to be empty in our glasses!  (You might also be getting a hint of why our memory of some of the details of Santiago sites are a little hazy!)

Seafood Extravaganza at Aqui Esta Coco

Our last meal with the group

After our three hour lunch, we hit the city for a tour visiting the Plaza de Armas, the Presidential Palace, and the Bohemian Section of the city.  We ended our tour with a trip up San Cristobal Hill to see the Shrine of the Virgin Mary and views of the city.

Palacio de la Moneda: the Presidential Palace

Pedestrian Mall

It’s an election year. Can you tell?

Men playing chess in Plaza de Armas

The Former National Congress Building

The Shrine of the Virgin Mary

City View of Santiago