By Deanna Mueller-Crispin
All photos by the author

Four weeks back in Portland, and I’m still wearing two little yarn bracelets from Cambodia.  One is yellow, tied on my wrist by a 73-yr.-old Buddhist nun “guarding” a Buddhist shrine in a temple in Angkor.  The other is red and from a young Buddhist monk who hitchhiked with us up Kulen Mountain outside of Siem Reap.  He wanted to see the large reclining Buddha statue carved into a sandstone boulder on top of the mountain.  Both bracelets were accompanied by blessings.

To me, these bracelets represent the friendliness and compassion of the Cambodian people.  They also indicate the role religion plays in both Cambodia and Bhutan where Buddhism is the official religion.

My husband and I spent three weeks in Bhutan plus two in Cambodia in April and May. 

In Bhutan, the “Land of the Thunder Dragon,” we were with a group of 10 people on a birding/cultural tour.  Flying into Bhutan’s only airport in Paro, we got our first taste of Bhutanese culture.  The air terminal sported the traditional Bhutan building style, with beautifully carved and brightly painted wooden decorations under the eaves and around all windows.  Bhutan requires all buildings to follow this style, from farm houses to gas stations – not to mention the beautiful “dzongs” (fortresses cum monasteries) built mostly in the 17th Century.  Most Bhutanese also wore the “national dress;” for men (even airline mechanics!), a type of belted tunic hanging down to the knees; for women, a long skirt and waist-length jacket. 

Bhutan is about the size of Switzerland with only one main road across the country, much of it barely wide enough to allow two cars to pass.  It hugs the folded Himalayan foothills and leads past entire hillsides covered with blooming rhododendron trees.

The birding was great; we saw over 200 species with the “prize bird” being the Rufous-Necked Hornbill.  We birded from Bhutan’s semi-tropical south (2000’) where the Hornbills ate tropical fruit, up to 13,000’ where Himalayan Griffons soared above us.  We also saw many mammals, from Yaks in alpine areas, Barking Deer, Assam Macaques (a type of monkey) fishing from rocks in the rivers - to the Malayan Giant Squirrel (46” long including fluffy tail).  We watched one watching us (in our van), rocking up and down, bending its knees – then jumping off to “fly” down to a lower branch, gliding on the extended flesh between its front & hind legs.  Whee!

Archery is Bhutan’s national sport, and driving through the mountains we ran onto several archery contests organized spontaneously by local archery teams.  The amazing thing is that their target is about 7” in diameter (painted on a kind of stele about 2 feet high) – and located some 450 feet away.

We had a wonderful “cultural” evening in Thimphu, the capital, organized specially for our small group.  A dance group presented a variety of traditional dances, including masked “whirling” dances with wild athletic jumps, usually seen only in Bhutanese festivals.  Meanwhile, a number of Bhutanese professionals (all in national dress) had arrived to chat with us.  These included the national Minister of Home Affairs who answered our questions about Bhutan’s economy, education, population policy, and national defense.  Another guest was the leader of the national opposition party; speculation was that he would be the next Prime Minister. Upon learning we were from Portland, he noted Oregon’s environmental reputation, and knew about the Trail Blazers!   Most of these folks have been educated in England and/or the US; we found them extremely personable, bright and well-informed about the rest of the world.  We were confident that they would continue to pursue “Gross National Happiness” instituted by the king and used to measure the country’s well-being.

We stayed in some charming guest houses, but the Hotel Dewachen in Gangtey overlooking the sweeping glacial Phobyika Valley, a sanctuary for the rare Black-Necked Crane, was outstanding.  Individual wood stoves in the rooms, all stoked up and ready to keep you warm during the cool nights.


Since Cambodia is “in the neighborhood” of Bhutan, we hopped over for two weeks.  What a physical contrast!  Mostly flat instead of mountainous, HOT and humid.  Phnom Penh introduced us to three main aspects of the culture:  treasures of Khmer art in the marvelous National Museum; reverence for the king in the Royal Palace; and the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge in the moving Tuol Sleng “Genocide Museum.”  Proceeding north-eastward in Cambodia, we experienced endangered Irrawady River Dolphins in the Mekong from a long-tailed boat at sunset.  Then finally to Siem Reap for a week exploring the seemingly endless Khmer temples (7th to 13th centuries).  The delightful Angkor Village Resort (fabulous breakfast!) was our base.

Angkor Wat, surrounded by its huge “moat” is only the best-known of the temples.  Angkor Thom is next door with its 40-some towers, each with four huge faces of the compassionate Bodhisattva Lokesvara carved in stone.  (A Bodhisattva is a human who could have become a Buddha, but decided instead to stay on earth and help others achieve enlightenment.)  Four of these same faces also grace each of the five gateways, tall enough to allow elephants to enter, to the Angkor Thom complex.  The faces are also said to be portraits of King Jayavarman VII who built Angkor Thom in the 12th century. 

In Siem Reap we had a private guide and driver for several days. We also had a couple of days on our own to explore the attractive Angkor Museum, as well as to revisit, via tuk-tuk, our favorite temples.  One of mine was 10th century “Banteay Srei,” or citadel of the women, several miles away from the “Angkor complex” temples.  It is made of pink sandstone, is well-preserved and covered with almost miraculously intricate carvings, including hundreds of bas reliefs of “apsaras” (heavenly dancers).

Most unforgettable moment of the whole trip?  At the top of the Chelila Pass (in Bhutan, elev. ~13,000’) gazing, alone, through the tangle of wind-whipped white prayer flags on their vertical poles, over the Haa Valley to the white-capped Himalayas beyond.

Our trips were organized by Folkway Travel, Happy Valley, OR.(503-658-6600)
Photos by Wilfried Mueller-Crispin

2011

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