Bhutan007

All the buildings of the downtown were constructed in the 1980s. They were all painted on the exterior. The stores all had uniform blue signs in English. The remarkable similarity of these buildings and their contrast with older structures on streets and alleys just behind the main street, with no such signs and exterior decorations, gave downtown Paro the feeling of a shell stage set for movies.

Photo essay: Journey to enigmatic Bhutan

Share/Save/Bookmark

 

Bhutan002

The terminal buildings, built in 1983, vaguely resembled Swiss chalets. They were different in the trefoil cut out (horzing) at the top of their windows which is the trademark of Bhutanese architecture (but said to be of Persian influence). The buildings’ wooden exteriors were decorated with designs and patterns, each with a special significance in the ancient land’s iconography.

Photo essay: Journey to enigmatic Bhutan

Share/Save/Bookmark

 

Bhutan001

Bhutan, the land of “the people from the highland,” which is the Indian Sanskrit name for this Himalayan nation, calls itself Druk Yuel, or “Kingdom of the Peaceful Thunder Dragon”. We went through some exciting turbulence as we descended into a narrow, windy valley surrounded by green hills. The scenery painted an imagined Shangri-la. In the pristine air of late fall the yellowed leaves of weeping willow trees danced against a blue sky which was covered in some corners by fluffy white clouds.

Photo essay: Journey to enigmatic Bhutan

Share/Save/Bookmark

 

Bhutan003

On one side of the tarmac a huge billboard made clear who virtually created this country. This was the portrait of all five successive members of the ruling hereditary monarchy.

Photo essay: Journey to enigmatic Bhutan

Share/Save/Bookmark