WEBVTT - 9 Surprising Tips for Visiting Bhutan 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:06.519 You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope 0:00:06.640 --> 0:00:08.039 and iHeartRadio. 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:13.720 Guess what, Mango? What's that? Will? All right? I know 0:00:13.760 --> 0:00:16.320 we've got this long list of all the places we 0:00:16.360 --> 0:00:18.320 want to go, but one of the places I've always 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:20.520 wanted to go but I've heard can get pretty pricey 0:00:20.560 --> 0:00:23.440 actually is Bhutan. Now, I know this is on your 0:00:23.440 --> 0:00:25.240 list as well, and we've always wanted to do an 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:28.800 episode here. But anyone who knows anything about Bhutan knows 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:32.560 that the Himalayan kingdom is known for being gorgeous and pristine, 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:35.800 but it also has a reputation for being pretty expensive. 0:00:36.080 --> 0:00:38.800 And that's because, with only a handful of exceptions, foreign 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:41.159 tours who visit the country are required to pay a 0:00:41.200 --> 0:00:43.840 fixed amount for every single day that they spend there. 0:00:44.120 --> 0:00:46.640 It's typically the equivalent of about two hundred and fifty 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:50.680 dollars a day, or what they call the sustainable development fee. 0:00:51.200 --> 0:00:53.760 But once you get past the initial sticker shock, it 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:56.520 actually works out to be a pretty good deal. You know. 0:00:56.720 --> 0:00:59.600 I obviously study abroad into Pollitoba, and like I knew 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:01.720 it was a expensive and especially as a student, it 0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:04.160 felt like just exorbitant, But I had no idea. It 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:05.880 could actually be a good deal. Yeah. 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:09.160 Yeah, the price not only covers meals and accommodations, it 0:01:09.200 --> 0:01:11.880 also provides you with a state appointed tour guide as 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:14.280 well as a car and a driver to help get around. 0:01:14.280 --> 0:01:16.200 So that price down when you think about its. 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:18.920 Feel incredible, especially like, you know, considering it's a pretty 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:21.480 small country, getting a car to drive around is pretty amazing. 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:24.000 Yeah. The whole of Bhutan is less than half the 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:26.360 size of the state of Indiana, And as you know, 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:29.280 I always like to measure things in Indiana's you know, 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:31.560 whether I'm eating a meal and it's like one one 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:35.120 millionth of an Indiana or whatever it may be. Anyway, 0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:37.960 but you're right, the fee structure helps prevent the country 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:40.959 from being overrun by tourists. So, for instance, there's this 0:01:41.000 --> 0:01:44.640 whole subculture of budget travelers who backpack all over Asia 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:47.200 on the cheap, and there's this unofficial route that they 0:01:47.240 --> 0:01:49.960 tend to follow called the Banana Pancake Trail. Have you 0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:50.400 heard of this? 0:01:51.000 --> 0:01:53.560 I have had banana pancakes in that reason, but but 0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:54.880 I didn't realize there was a trail. 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:57.680 It's yeah, a little bit well, I mean it's sort 0:01:57.680 --> 0:01:59.920 of along those lines. There's a lot of street vendors 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:03.360 and guesthouses that cater this crowd and serve banana pancakes 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:06.960 for breakfast, which seems like a fantastic idea. And the 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:10.880 Pancake Trail runs through Nepal and into China, but rather tellingly, 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:14.000 it avoids Bhutan, and that's because the high fixed price 0:02:14.040 --> 0:02:17.239 for visitors tends to price out the bargain backpackers there. 0:02:17.840 --> 0:02:21.440 I loved idea this like Hansolin Gretel, like like banana 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:24.359 trail that's just waiting for you. Uh. But I assume 0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:26.240 all of this is by design, right, They're trying to 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:27.000 keep people out. 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:29.920 It definitely is. And for the longest time, Bhutan was 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:33.000 completely closed off to foreign visitors because the government worried 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:36.320 that foreign influence would erode the unique culture and sort 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:39.200 of rekavoc on the environment there. And while the country 0:02:39.200 --> 0:02:42.120 did eventually open its borders in the nineteen seventies, it 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:45.600 remained extremely selective about the kinds of tourists that it welcomes. 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:49.440 The Bhutanese government calls this policy quote high value, low 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:53.240 impact tourism, and it's a big reason why Bhutan's air, water, 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:57.160 and landscapes remain untouched, even with hundreds of thousands of 0:02:57.200 --> 0:03:01.000 tourists passing through every single year. Day's episode, we thought 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:03.639 we'd sneak into this pristine country and tore you through 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:06.000 some of Bhutan's most fun facts. So put on your 0:03:06.040 --> 0:03:30.480 hiking shoes, it's time to dive in. Hey, their podcast listeners, 0:03:30.480 --> 0:03:32.720 welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson and as 0:03:32.760 --> 0:03:34.920 always I'm joined by my good friend Mangesh hot Ticket 0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:37.560 and on the other side of the soundproof glass wearing 0:03:37.560 --> 0:03:42.200 a hat with a scrawny looking dragon, I think on wheels, 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:45.480 that's our friend and producer Dylan Fagan. Now, at first 0:03:45.520 --> 0:03:47.640 I thought Dylan had lost the plot a bit wearing 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:50.520 such a random hat, But then I realized that's not 0:03:50.680 --> 0:03:53.600 just any odd looking dragon. That's the same one that's 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:56.680 on the front and center of the Butan Knese flag. 0:03:56.680 --> 0:03:57.840 Now did you catch that Mango? 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:01.680 I could actually tell by those four round jewels clutched 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:03.600 in the dragon's feet. They kind of look like he's 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:06.280 on wheels and he can't keep his balance. But I 0:04:06.480 --> 0:04:10.000 do love it. It is pretty distinctive and adorable. 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:13.520 He's got such good taste at Dylan, So Bhutan's national 0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:16.720 symbol is a thunder dragon or druk, and it's a 0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:19.919 big deal. In Bhutanese mythology. The druk is associated with 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:22.920 these fierce storms that often roll in from the Himalayas, 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:25.359 and according to legend, the sound of the thunder is 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:27.120 actually the dragon roaring. 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:29.520 It's also the country's namesake, right, Like, I feel like 0:04:29.640 --> 0:04:32.520 I've read that Bhutan literally means thunder dragon. 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:35.120 You know, that's actually what I thought too, But the 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:38.159 truth is that nobody really knows what Bhutan means. The 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:40.680 best guess is that it's an adaptation of a Sanskrit 0:04:40.720 --> 0:04:44.560 phrase meaning the end or edge of Tibet. But it's 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:47.320 kind of beside the point because the Bhutanese themselves don't 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:50.719 use that name anyway. They call their country Druk Yule. 0:04:51.000 --> 0:04:53.840 Now that's a name that translates to land of the 0:04:53.880 --> 0:04:56.960 thunder Dragon, which is much cooler than the edge of Tibet, 0:04:57.000 --> 0:04:57.520 don't you think? 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:00.520 Yeah, totally. It's definitely cooler for your country known by 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:05.000 this awesome mythical creature than like being some other country's 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:05.800 boundary line. 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:09.120 I think I think that's safe to say. Alrightego, So 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:11.680 we're headed to Baton, where do you want to start today? 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:14.240 Well, one of the most interesting things to me about 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:17.839 Bhutan is that everyone is encouraged to think about death 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:22.200 there at least three times a day, including anyone who's 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:22.920 there on vacation. 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:25.240 Really, I mean that feels a little more of it, 0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:28.160 especially if you're on vacation. But Bhutan's considered one of 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:30.640 the happiest places on Earth, right I remember us covering 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:32.919 them in an episode. It's been quite some time, but 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:33.719 do you remember. 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:35.880 That, right? Yeah, we did the Happiest Place on Earth 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:38.200 episode forever ago, and people can go back and listen 0:05:38.240 --> 0:05:40.880 to it. But Bhutan's definitely made a lot of news 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:44.039 over the last few decades for developing something called the 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:48.520 GNH or Gross National Happiness Index, And the way it 0:05:48.640 --> 0:05:51.159 works is that a government commission goes out every five 0:05:51.240 --> 0:05:53.599 years or so and knocks on the doors to conduct 0:05:53.640 --> 0:05:56.280 a big survey, and they actually ask one hundred and 0:05:56.279 --> 0:05:58.919 fifty different questions that are designed to gauge whether a 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:02.080 person is happy or not, and then the government studies 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:05.680 the results and factors them into various aspects of public policy. 0:06:05.839 --> 0:06:10.479 It's pretty cool and unique. Actually, less than eight hundred 0:06:10.520 --> 0:06:13.200 thousand people live in Bhutan, But according to the most 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:17.120 recent report from twenty twenty two, a staggering ninety three 0:06:17.200 --> 0:06:21.000 point six percent of them define themselves as either narrowly, 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:23.520 extensively or deeply happy. 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:26.120 Isn't that amazing? Wow? That is amazing. And yet these 0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:28.080 are the people encouraging me to think about dying while 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:28.760 I'm on vacation. 0:06:29.920 --> 0:06:33.120 Yeah. So, one thing the gnah's report doesn't tell you 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:35.919 is that part of the secret to this national happiness 0:06:36.040 --> 0:06:38.479 is purposely thinking about death each and every day, so 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:41.760 once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and actually 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:45.320 once at night. And that's because the Bhutanese attitude towards 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:48.240 death is pretty different. Like in the West, we try 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:50.719 to avoid thinking about it as much as possible, because 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:53.920 you know, we're scared of it. But in Bhutan, they 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:56.440 recognize that shying away from the reality to death can 0:06:56.760 --> 0:06:59.760 often be more painful than facing it head on. And 0:07:00.279 --> 0:07:03.080 because of this cultural mindset that they have, you can 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:06.080 actually spot reminders of death just about everywhere you go, 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:09.440 so some of them are hard to miss, like these 0:07:09.480 --> 0:07:14.360 gorgeous artistic depictions of you know, wrathful deities, or things 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:17.360 like piles of skulls that turn up in Buddhist iconography. 0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:22.000 But they are also subtle reminders, including lovely memorials called sasas. 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:25.840 And they look like these small cylindrical cones, and they're 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:28.760 painted white or red or gold, and they're actually molded 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:31.280 from clay mixed with the ashes of a loved one. 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:33.560 And you see rows of them all over the country, 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:36.520 lined up on prayer walls, or like nestled in public 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:39.600 parks and squares, and even on cliff sides way up 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:40.240 in the mountains. 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:42.440 And that's all super interesting, But I'm curious, how does 0:07:42.480 --> 0:07:44.640 any of this actually make people happier? 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:47.680 So maybe if we tie into Western science, it might 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:49.680 make a little more sense. There was a study at 0:07:49.720 --> 0:07:51.480 the University of Kentucky, and this was back in two 0:07:51.520 --> 0:07:54.800 thousand and seven, but the psychologists there split a few 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:58.040 dozen students into two groups. Now, one group was instructed 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:00.840 to think about a painful visit to the dentist, and 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:03.119 the other was asked to contemplate their own death. 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:06.120 So it's kind of a horrible time for everybody involved, 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:06.680 it seems. 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:09.640 Yeah, I know. But here's the thing. So the death 0:08:09.680 --> 0:08:14.160 thinkers later reported feeling happier and more fulfilled compared to 0:08:14.200 --> 0:08:17.720 the dental group. And here's what's fascinating. When asked to 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:20.840 complete a series of stem words, the death group was 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:23.600 far more likely to construct these positive words. So you 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:27.440 get a prompt like a jo and then a blank, 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:30.680 and they'd write things like joy, while the other group 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:34.160 would form words like job. And this led researchers to 0:08:34.200 --> 0:08:38.120 conclude that quote, death is a psychologically threatening fact, but 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:41.880 when people contemplate it, the automatic coping system begins to 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:43.160 search for happy thoughts. 0:08:43.600 --> 0:08:46.000 Oh that's super interesting. So maybe the botanies are actually 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:46.760 onto something here. 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:49.400 Yeah, I mean, the idea really goes back to the 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:53.200 foundation of all these Buddhist teachings, which is that everything 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:56.480 changes and nothing is permanent. So the thinking is that 0:08:56.640 --> 0:08:59.560 the more we make peace with our own impermanence, the 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:02.480 more like we are to appreciate everything in the present. 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:05.880 Just to be clear here, your first travel tip for 0:09:06.000 --> 0:09:09.079 visiting Bhutan is to think about death three times a day. 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:10.120 Do I have that right? 0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:12.959 At least three times a day. You can do more 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:15.360 than that if you know more. Okay, just know you 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:19.800 should probably pace yourself. Will what are you gonna talk 0:09:19.800 --> 0:09:20.240 about next? 0:09:20.559 --> 0:09:23.319 All right, we've talked about death now, Mango let's talk 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:26.600 about stamps. So we're off to just a crazy start here. Now. 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:29.480 One of the things that's really fascinating is that Bhutan 0:09:29.600 --> 0:09:32.160 has some of the most beautiful stamps in the world. 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:35.440 It has this interesting story behind it, actually, which I 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:38.960 learned from a magazine called Works that Work. Anyway, the 0:09:38.960 --> 0:09:42.400 story goes, button really didn't have a postal service before 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:45.880 the nineteen sixties, but in nineteen sixty two it launches 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:48.000 this tiny little post office and a town on the 0:09:48.000 --> 0:09:50.920 border with India. Now the country also opens up its 0:09:51.000 --> 0:09:54.720 first paved road and kickstarts other types of infrastructure changes 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:57.120 there and really starts to open itself up to the 0:09:57.160 --> 0:09:59.720 world a little bit more. Right, So at this time 0:09:59.800 --> 0:10:02.280 it's it started to be less of a hermit kingdom. Yeah, 0:10:02.320 --> 0:10:04.400 that's exactly right. And it was around this time it 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:07.800 applies to the World Bank to fund these modernization programs 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:10.640 and to build more things like hospitals, to also build 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:14.360 an airport, and the country gets rejected. There. Now, one 0:10:14.400 --> 0:10:16.200 of the people who's advising on the loan is this 0:10:16.240 --> 0:10:20.120 American entrepreneur and friend of the royal family named Bert Todd, 0:10:20.520 --> 0:10:23.040 and he comes up with this alternate scheme like why 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:25.520 don't we start selling stamps to make a few million 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:28.439 dollars and then start putting that into the economy. 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:31.600 But that feels hard, right, Like Bhutan doesn't have a 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:34.720 postal system, people aren't sending mail within the country, so 0:10:34.840 --> 0:10:35.640 like why stamps. 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:39.520 Well, he wants to make a collector's market around the world. 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:42.520 And to be fair, the Bhutanese themselves are skeptical that 0:10:42.559 --> 0:10:45.400 this will work, but they have another reason for okaying 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:48.720 the project. As this tiny nation that sits between India 0:10:48.720 --> 0:10:51.360 and China, two countries that kind of have a history 0:10:51.360 --> 0:10:54.960 of annexing neighbor states, Bhutan has a little anxiety about 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:57.839 maintaining its independence and stamps are kind of a way 0:10:57.880 --> 0:11:01.120 to raise their international profile. So his works that work 0:11:01.160 --> 0:11:04.959 puts it quote, even if stamps failed to generate substantial funding, 0:11:05.320 --> 0:11:07.839 they could help to build awareness of the country, raising 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:10.880 at least political capital. And so Todd sets up this 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:13.520 Bhutan Stamp Agency and he does this from the Bahamas 0:11:13.559 --> 0:11:16.960 because he wanted to really focus on selling the stamps internationally. 0:11:17.440 --> 0:11:20.120 And the stamps that come out are incredible. Now, some 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:23.120 serious stamp collectors look down on these Bhutanese stamps for 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:26.120 being a little too gimmicky, but Bhutan ends up creating 0:11:26.160 --> 0:11:29.360 the first metal stamp, the first three D stamp, the 0:11:29.400 --> 0:11:32.640 first scented stamp, ended up making a stamp called the 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:34.840 Talking Stamp that you could play on a record play. 0:11:34.880 --> 0:11:37.920 I mean, they got really creative here and had Bhutanese 0:11:38.040 --> 0:11:41.280 voices and folk songs along with these, and so decades 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:44.280 later a stamp that works on a CD Rahm came out. 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:48.160 But anyway, today the stamps are commissioned by the Bhutanese themselves, 0:11:48.200 --> 0:11:51.200 and they are really gorgeous and also they're still very 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:54.520 unusual there of course, beautiful stamps of animals and the 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:58.760 first textured sort of brushstroke painted stamp. But also you'll 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:01.520 never guess what the best selling stamp right now is. 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:04.400 Like a stamp of Lebron James or like a like 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:05.480 a Korean boy band. 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:09.200 You nailed it, Mango, It's Lebron And now it's actually 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:12.120 a series of stamps with fallises on it. Now apparently 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:15.560 fallises are a common motif and Boutanese art and as 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:19.160 a way of warding off evil spirits, and they're considered 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:21.719 funny and naughty around the world. So the series from 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:25.520 twenty thirteen sells a ton abroad. I'm just gonna show 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:27.920 you a few pictures here, but you can imagine, like 0:12:28.200 --> 0:12:30.040 you can know the people all around the world just 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:32.079 being like, that's funny that that's what they put on 0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:33.880 their stamps. I'm gonna buy some, right. 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:36.040 You are not joking. These are amazing. 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:39.360 No, this is for real. And actually, one detail that's 0:12:39.400 --> 0:12:42.680 really cute from the article is that there's basically one 0:12:42.800 --> 0:12:46.040 person who's responsible for all the art and design of 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:48.600 the stamps, and his favorite thing to do is go 0:12:48.640 --> 0:12:50.960 to the post office and watch tourists gawk at the 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:53.760 stamps and watch which ones they're most drawn to, and 0:12:53.800 --> 0:12:55.920 then he comes up with a few new ideas, which 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:57.319 is I don't know, I just think it's kind of 0:12:57.320 --> 0:12:58.240 sweet and wonderful. 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:01.599 Oh I love the So for my next fact, I 0:13:01.679 --> 0:13:04.320 want to talk about mountaineering and Bhutan and did you 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:06.960 know it's actually against the law to climb a mountain there? 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:07.679 I did not. 0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:11.440 Apparently the peaks are considered sacred ground because they're home 0:13:11.480 --> 0:13:13.760 to gods and spirits, so they don't want a bunch 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:16.319 of mountaineers trapesing through and wrecking the. 0:13:16.240 --> 0:13:18.000 Place, which makes sense, you know, when you consider the 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:20.920 amount of trash that's left on mountain trails these days, 0:13:20.960 --> 0:13:23.960 and I know places like Mount Kilmanjaro Mount Everest have 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:27.200 had serious issues with litter, especially in recent years with 0:13:27.280 --> 0:13:30.000 so many people visiting there, and it's just really sad 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:30.880 to see this happening. 0:13:31.000 --> 0:13:34.000 Yeah, people sometimes refer to Everest as the world's highest 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:36.920 garbage dump because of all the canisters and tents and 0:13:37.000 --> 0:13:39.760 food containers that people abandoned on the way, which is horrible, 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:43.200 and of course Bhutan is trying to avoid this. So 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:46.000 people used to be able to climb mountains in Bhutan. 0:13:46.320 --> 0:13:49.199 In fact, despite the objections of local religious groups, you 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:52.360 could previously climb any mountain that you wanted. But in 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:56.000 nineteen ninety four the government finally bowed to pressure within 0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:58.960 the country and banned the climbing of all mountains higher 0:13:59.000 --> 0:14:02.839 than nineteen thousand, eight hundred feet, and then in two 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:05.240 thousand and three it settled the matter for good by 0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:09.600 by banning mountaineering altogether. So while plenty of climbers have 0:14:09.640 --> 0:14:12.760 actually conquered Bhutan's peaks in the past, it's unlikely that 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:16.480 anyone will do it again, at least legally. But that said, 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:18.959 there is one mountain left in the country that's believed 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:22.640 to have never been successfully scaled by humans. It's called 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:27.080 gun Car Puensum and at twenty four thousand, eight hundred 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:29.160 and thirty six feet, it is the highest mountain in 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:33.640 Bhutan and the fortieth highest mountain worldwide. But most impressively, 0:14:33.840 --> 0:14:36.520 it's also thought to be the world's highest unclimbed mountain, 0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:40.200 and because of Bhutan's ban, it probably always will be. 0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:43.680 I actually wouldn't have guessed that there even would be 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:46.280 a mountain that hadn't been climbed at some point in 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:47.720 the world. So I really love that. 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:48.120 I was. 0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:50.240 I kind of hope that's where all the abominable snowmen. 0:14:50.280 --> 0:14:52.800 And yet you have their annual conferences. I'm guessing that's 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:53.400 where they gather. 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:56.840 Yeah, definitely a gathering place for them. 0:14:57.520 --> 0:15:00.640 All right. Well, Bhutan might straddle the line between old 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:03.120 and new in most ways, but when it comes to fashion, 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:06.600 the country is firmly planted in the past. And that's 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:10.000 because there's actually a mandatory national dress code that's meant 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:13.680 to help preserve its cultural heritage. Basically, if you work 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:17.560 in the public sector, it's compulsory to wear traditional Bhutanese 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:20.840 clothing every single day, and for everyone else, the outfits 0:15:20.840 --> 0:15:24.840 are only required on certain occasions, like visiting a government office, 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:28.240 attending a formal event, or participating in a religious ceremony. 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:30.080 Yeah, and I actually saw that this applies to the 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:32.880 tourist industry as well. So when you meet that guide 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:34.800 that you were talking about in the capitol, they definitely 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:36.600 won't be wearing blue jeans, that's. 0:15:36.520 --> 0:15:38.440 Right, But I can tell you what they will be 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:42.200 wearing instead. So for Bhutanese men, the traditional attire is 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:45.720 called the go, which is kind of a woven kneelengk 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:48.320 robe that's wrapped around your body and secured by this 0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:51.080 thick tight belt. It's a little tough to picture, but 0:15:51.120 --> 0:15:53.760 when you cinch the material like that, it forms this 0:15:53.920 --> 0:15:57.400 pouch right over the stomach. So it forms the sideways 0:15:57.560 --> 0:16:00.720 Napoleon style pocket where guys can keep their wallllets or 0:16:00.960 --> 0:16:03.400 small children or whatever else they've got with them. 0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:06.160 So it's kind of like a kangaroo robe for the men. 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:07.560 But what about ladies. 0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:10.720 Well, so women wear something called the kira, which is 0:16:10.760 --> 0:16:13.600 basically an ankle link dress paired with a long sleeved 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:16.640 blouse and a short silk jacket. It looks elegant, and 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:19.080 it's said to be super comfy and best of all, 0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:20.920 it also has a deep pouch in the front that 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:22.000 can serve as a pocket. 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:25.880 They love their pockets, equal opportunity pockets. I love it. Okay, So, 0:16:26.200 --> 0:16:28.720 since I decided to talk about what the first don't 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:32.160 do while visiting Bhutan, don't climb a mountain, I also 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:34.960 wanted to follow it up with another which is, don't 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:36.920 ask somebody when their birthday is. 0:16:37.600 --> 0:16:40.280 Don't ask somebody. So is it considered offensive there or what? 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:42.920 No, It's kind of like a waste of time because 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:45.560 most these people don't celebrate their birthdays. 0:16:45.920 --> 0:16:47.920 Oh wow, so you're telling me that in the Kingdom 0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:51.120 of Happiness, where everyone thinks about dying all the time, 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:53.160 there is no such thing as a happy birthday. 0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:55.360 I mean, every day is not happy, I guess. But 0:16:56.040 --> 0:16:59.000 they do have birthdays, it's just not something that is 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:03.080 typically celebrated. So supposely most residents over forty can't tell 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:05.520 you their true date of birth because it was never 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:09.720 considered especially important in this culture. But for a long time, 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:12.280 the majority of parents simply didn't keep track of it. 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:13.840 So even the parents didn't know. 0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:15.640 Wow, I mean, but there has to be some way 0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:17.600 to keep track of how old everybody is, right, what 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:20.720 does it say on their birth certificates or ID cards 0:17:20.800 --> 0:17:21.439 or whatever they have? 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:25.840 Yeah, so the birth year is noted on these birth 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:28.840 certificates and citizenship cards, but for the month and day, 0:17:29.160 --> 0:17:32.399 most people are just assigned the default date of January first. 0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:35.439 Wow. So on New Year's Day, everyone in Bhutan is 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:36.639 considered a year older. 0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:39.000 Yeah, pretty much, But it probably won't be that way 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:41.680 for much longer, because you know, in recent years, younger 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:44.240 generations have started keeping better track of their birth dates 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:46.520 and holding celebrations just like we do around the rest 0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:46.960 of the world. 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:50.679 But this is all a pretty big cultural shift, so 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:53.000 I'm curious, how is that going over with the older 0:17:53.080 --> 0:17:53.560 set there? 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:57.920 Yeah, I mean this like modernization and world coming into 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:01.160 Bhutan has been a little worrisome with this values there, 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:04.080 but the initial concern has actually softened over time and 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:08.280 today this wonderful blend of Western birthday culture and traditional 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:12.880 Bhutanese customs. So after cutting the cake and opening your presence, 0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:14.919 you might head down to the local temple and make 0:18:14.960 --> 0:18:17.840 an offering for your birthday so you can still celebrate 0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:21.040 your own life without losing sight of the bigger spiritual picture. 0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:23.439 I think that's one of the most interesting things as 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:25.399 we study the country more because you can see that 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:27.960 kind of balancing act going on all over the country. 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:30.280 They're trying to keep pace with the modern world to 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:33.480 some degree, but also really committed to preserving that traditional 0:18:33.560 --> 0:18:34.240 way of life. 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:36.880 Yeah, like you mentioned with the clothes and other things. 0:18:36.960 --> 0:18:40.239 But that's also what makes it so special. You know, 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:43.280 you mentioned earlier that there were no paved roads until 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:45.520 the postal system came in. There are also no cars 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:49.320 until the nineteen sixties, and even today, more than sixty 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:53.000 years later, there's actually only one major intersection in the 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:55.920 capital city and it doesn't even have a traffic light. 0:18:56.359 --> 0:18:59.000 There's just a single policeman who stands there all day 0:18:59.040 --> 0:18:59.920 directing traffic. 0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:03.080 So a world capital with no traffic lights. 0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:04.440 Yeah, that's pretty incredible. 0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:07.040 So I actually found a few other surprising cases where 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:10.240 Bhutan was either way ahead or way behind the rest 0:19:10.280 --> 0:19:12.800 of the world. So, for instance, Bhutan was the first 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:16.080 country to pass a nationwide ban on plastic shopping bags. 0:19:16.080 --> 0:19:18.480 It did this back in nineteen ninety nine, But that 0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:20.639