Visiting the World's Most Forgotten Country (Bhutan)

Today I'm exploring one of the lesser known countries in the world, the small Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. This is country 83 for me and we are going to dive straight into their unique culture, way of life and let's just say we have a pretty interesting experience. It actually tastes good. The Paro International Airport is also known for being one of the most dangerous airports in the entire world and the pilot let me sit in the cockpit for landing. It was so exhilarating and we were off to a really good start so let's get into the video. And our adventures begin in a city called Chimfu because apparently we arrived at the perfect time because there's a local festival happening and we're just going to dive straight into that adventure. So it's a very peaceful morning as you can see but uh it's about to get fun. Introducing my host and guide for the next week. I'm Sonam. I'm a culture and trekking guide. So we have a very experienced guide that I am very lucky to have so he might not be so lucky to have me. We'll see. Yeah I'm very pleased to have you. There's a festival happening today and we're going to go to it and we're wearing the traditional outfit. What is it Okay so we landed in Bhutan. We woke up. There's a festival happening and we're getting into the traditional outfit. We're diving straight into the culture. What a perfect start to this trip. And joining me on this wild adventure is Tule who are also getting dressed in the traditional outfit. I've never started so excited for a trip. This is awesome. I wonder if people look at me and wonder if I'm Bhutanese. Like I could be a local. The local lads are like I ain't seen that girl around these parts. Feels like we're going to the local formal like we're just about to graduate. So the outfit is almost complete but we don't have the white cuffs on our sleeves and we don't have the long socks and we're not actually allowed to enter the festival until we have a complete outfit. So that's why we're here at the local store. There's my there's my sleeves. Wow this day just started and it's such a rush. We're already in Bhutan. I actually can't believe we're in Bhutan. It's been on my bucket list for so long and now to complete the outfit we have the white cuffs. We just need to put the socks on. Oh should I just go over my socks? That's like serial killer. Watch this. Dude don't give away. No no no no no. Blur that. All right. We are ready to party. Let's go. When we go to the festival ground you are not allowed to wear your cap and formally we have to wear the white scarf. That one will do when you reach. Not allowed to wear my cap. Guys I'm in my living hell right now. I have to take the hat off. It's stuck on my head. Imagine if we roll in there and it's a straight up rave like techno beats like that would be hilarious. Hardest part of Jordan's day. All right we spent the last couple hours watching the traditional dancing. That was the best introduction into Bhutan. We landed yesterday on a crazy flight and then straight into the tradition the culture and it's only day one. We've still got six more days. Drove a few hours to a remote village where we would stay the night in a local's home. This is tradition when you meet new people I guess because it's happened for the third time this trip so far. But it's such a great way to sort of break the ice as we go to our new accommodation. Okay so we have a Bhutanese pizza. It's called Minge. Taste test. Is it good? I can't even describe what it tastes like. As Claire said we're eating Bhutanese pizza which is Minge. Focus focus focus. Not gonna focus but who cares. Okay oh I didn't realize it was gonna be warm. I like how it's warm. That makes me love it a lot more. Wow it's on like a rice base. There's egg rice. Amazing. Minge. We're getting the local experience. Okay so tonight we're staying in Amahom homestay. Basically that means that we could have a local experience. We have these beautiful ladies cooking us dinner and we're staying in their beautiful home. And these are the best travel experiences. Like resorts and fancy hotels are nice and you will see that later in this video because we are going to one. Five star. But nothing's gonna trump the guest house homestay experience. Every single place around the world you should stay in a guest house or a homestay. Always a good time. So this is our soup. What's the verdict? Very good. Very flavorful. Perfect. They added butter, szechuan pepper, salt and a little bit of milk as well. Great rice, chicken, fish. And with dinner served I was exhausted and ready for my first sleep in this beautiful country. Okay to finish off our homestay with the locals here in Bhutan we are going to milk a cow. That's right people. I'm about to milk a cow and maybe even drink some direct from the sauce. And the morning of our second day did not disappoint as the locals asked us to help out with the morning chores. It's called foreplay. Claire. Okay ready? Do more of your thumb and your like this? Oh okay. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not a professional. I'm not a professional. It's quite hard. You're gonna have more experience. I think this will kind of hurt you. Can I go for a drink? Yes. Like this? Delicious. What a wild night in Bhutan. Okay officially milked a Bhutanese cow. So now we shall continue with the day. Goodbye. Thank you for everything. It was amazing. Goodbye. No you're coming with us. We're leaving him here. I would stay. What is the name of this place? We are going to visit Phumakha Zong. Which one is second oldest second largest which is built back in the 17th century by the founder of Bhutan. Wow. 1637. And it's beautiful. Yes. It's really beautiful. It's one of the most popular tourist attractions in Bhutan. So there is a lot of people here. Blessing ceremony is going inside. That's why you can see lots of local people. Oh okay. Getting the blessings. So there's a whole ceremony happening today. Dang. That's cool. We came at the right time. Our guide just told us that when you take your shoes off the general rule is no photos no videos. So as long as I got my shoes on you'll know. You'll know about it. So the temple split up into three courtyards. The first one we just walked by was where they were doing an active blessing right now. So it's pretty cool to see it all packed. The second courtyard here is clearly like empty because everyone's in the first one. But this culture is so different to anything I know. So learning more about Buddhism in general is pretty sweet. And yeah. So now we're going to enter this temple behind me. But there is a shoes off cameras off policy. So I will see you on the other side. Oh I wish I could film inside because it was so visually impacting. One of the coolest religious buildings I've ever been into. I think I'll hopefully show some photos I found on the internet if there are any. I'm sure there are. But yeah. It was just we learned the whole genealogy and evolution of Buddha and its reincarnation and all of that. So very interesting. And if you do come to Bhutan you have to visit this temple because wow. It was something special. That was crazy. So the tree behind me right now is a holy tree because when Buddha became enlightened in India it was under a specific tree. And they actually have a little bit of this tree here that grew into this. So basically the original tree that was enlightened that Buddha became enlightened under is technically a part of this tree that is still living today. So very interesting and super cool. And it came all the way from India. So Sonam just told me that here in Bhutan your age is not the same as it would be in the Western calendar. Sonam's born in December which means by the time he gets to January he's technically two years old because when you're born you're instantly one and then it goes by the year. So if you're born December 31st and then by January 1 you're two years old. So technically he's 35 in Bhutan's world but in Australia's world you're 33. Oh 34. Okay wow. You can be three days old and be two years old in the Buddhist world. Yes. Wow. So now that we've done our spiritual experience at the temple we're actually gonna switch it up because we've come down to Sok Soka which is virally known on the internet for the place with a lot of phallic symbols. As you can see behind me they have penises everywhere. This is because the town sees the phallic symbol as a sign of fertility and longevity. So visited by divine madman. What? Visited by divine madman and the name is given by divine madman as Sok Soka. Oh okay. That guy came here and he sort of started this movement. I've never been so excited over something so immature but uh yeah. You're the oldest but you act not the oldest. Oh I may be the oldest in age but I am the youngest in spirit or maturity. Oldest. I'm the oldest in the team. We don't know your age because you're Bhutanese. You could be five years different. I consider myself as a reincarnation of divine madman. Oh so you you oh so you have a really a personal connection to this town. Yeah. So you have to walk through this rice field to get down to the penis town. So apparently the town name of Sok Soka kind of translates to penetration which makes sense knowing the context of where we are and what we're about to do. Like a machine gun. Like a what? Like a machine gun? Yes. It started to rain but that is only fitting as we walk into the phallic town. I'm gonna say so many puns over the next hour. This truly was one of the most bizarre cultural experiences I think I've had in recent times. Honestly that plane looks like a pretty good ride. Pick that up. Don't lose that. Look at this one. It's got a face. Whoa these are tiny. They're not that small. They're so cute. It's not that small. What are you talking about? That's pretty normal size. Whatever you say. Guys why is being in here making me insecure? In here with the stone. I'm the only one who's promoting stone phallus. Nobody has it. No one only this shop? Yes. And it's handmade? Handmade yes. Wow. The stone is called green. Oh my word it's heavy. Yeah. This is actually a pretty cool gift. I like it. Nobody has it. Nobody has this gift. If you want to buy a unique phallus this is Garib's shop. He'll ship worldwide to you so his best penis sale was a $20,000 like stone carving so that's pretty wild. It just goes to show you that all cultures are different and that is one of the main reasons why I love to travel. Over my 10 years of travel this is one of the most bizarre cities or towns I've ever been to but I'm loving it. I'm absolutely loving it. It's so intriguing to hear about this type of culture. They really tried to make this one as graphic as possible. I mean let's get some balls. So this is 8,000 NUKTAM and it is a handmade phallus from wood. Super good details and honestly perfect little red rocket right here. I don't think I've ever seen so many phallic symbols in my entire life. There's even a rumor that some couples travel here if they're struggling with fertility in the hopes that they will be blessed by their experience. I am ashamed to admit that we spent way too long in this small little countryside town but there was too many jokes to be had. That was fun. Alright enough of that silliness on with the adventures. And we decided to end our first few days in Bhutan with a hike through a magical forest. We're vlogging and we're going, what's the name? Long to hike. Long to hike. It's not the ideal weather but let's go. And because Bhutan is one of the only carbon negative countries, the air felt so fresh, the colors felt so green and I loved every moment of it. We're about a one hour in and the crew's loving it. Well I'm loving it anyway. Now I can tick off doing a hike through the jungle where there's tigers. Is there tigers here Saurav? Sometimes yes. Oh I just made that up. Wow okay. What would we do if we saw a tiger? Just be quiet, hide behind the trees. Just send Jordan out? Yes. Wow so if we saw a tiger they're gonna send me as tiger meat as the sacrifice even though I barely have any meat on me but nice to know they love me. We've made it into like this enchanted forest and it looks beautiful but the hike is almost over. It was basically three hours of visual vibes but I loved it. And remember to subscribe because our Bhutan adventures are only just beginning. Thank you for watching and I'll see you in the next one.