Bhutan is full of surprises. Here are ten facts that delight our travellers.
Ten things you might not know
- Thimphu is one of very few capitals without traffic lights; police direct traffic by hand at the main junction
- Archery is the national sport, played with great enthusiasm, singing and good-natured teasing
- The constitution requires that at least 60% of the country stays forested
- Bhutan is carbon negative, absorbing more COâ‚‚ than it produces
- Television and the internet only arrived in 1999
- Chillies are eaten as a vegetable, not a spice
- The national animal, the takin, looks like a cross between a goat and a cow
- Mountaineering above 6,000 m is banned, so Gangkhar Puensum remains unclimbed
- Dzongs house both government offices and monastic communities
- National dress is worn daily in offices, schools and dzongs
See them for yourself
Watch an archery match, eat ema datshi with a farming family, and spot a takin in Thimphu — many of these surprises can be part of your journey.
Header photo: Glacierfanclub, CC BY-SA 4.0
