Thou shalt not

While I adored Bhutan, it was sometimes sort of Singapore-ish in the way it kept its pristineness by forbidding, well, just about everything. No modern buildings, no non-traditional dress in government offices, no smoking, no killing animals (all meat is imported from India), no fishing (same with the fish), no washing your car in the river (our guide informed us of this one after we saw people doing it). And even the labels on water bottles could be fairly officious:


"As this water has higher spiritual significance than an ordinary mineral water, we request everyone to treat this product with respect."

I have no idea what not treating one's mineral water with respect looks like, so don't ask me.

Still, the attitude seems to work. You get gorgeous, untouched mountainscapes that look like this:


In the distance you can see Jomolhari, Bhutan's highest peak (the one that's all snow-capped-like). This was a view from the Drukgyal Dzong, outside of Paro--not originally meant to be on our itinerary, but James protested finishing our day of sightseeing so early, so that gained us one more glorious stop. Definitely worth it and one of my favorite spots.

Here we are with Yeshe in front of the old fort, which was built in 1649 and caught fire from a butter lamp in 1951. It was featured on a National Geographic cover in the early twentieth century.


Note the argyle sweater. Argyle is HUGE in Bhutan. No clue why--actually, it is more popular on knee socks (which all men wear with their robes). Don't even get me started on how much I love a culture that appreciates some good knee socks... Bhutan has that in common with circa 1995 Los Angeles, as portrayed in Clueless.