Bhutan - Lindsay Brown [201]
The other way to liven up lunch is to forego the packed lunch and eat in a local roadside restaurant. As long as you stick to cooked food that is served hot, it should be safe to eat.
The food in hotels is often the best in town, but if you want to sample local restaurants, your guide can arrange it so that the tour operator pays for your restaurant meals. For more information Click here.
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FESTIVAL DATES
The following are the festival dates according to the Bhutanese calendar and the estimated corresponding months in the Western calendar. Dates for subsequent years can vary by two weeks or more, especially if they are adjusted to conform to auspicious dates. Before you schedule a trip around a specific festival, check with a tour operator or the Department of Tourism (DOT; www.tourism.gov.bt) for the correct dates for the year in which you plan to travel.
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GAY & LESBIAN TRAVELLERS
Like most Asians, the Bhutanese believe that what one does in private is strictly a personal matter, and they would prefer not to discuss such issues. Public displays of affection are not appreciated and everyone, regardless of orientation, should exercise discretion. Officially, male homosexuality is illegal.
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HOLIDAYS
Public holidays follow both the Gregorian and lunar calendars and are announced by the Royal Civil Service Commission (www.rcsc.com.bt). Bhutan’s national day is 17 December, the date of the establishment of the monarchy in 1907. Other important holidays are the king’s birthday on 11 November and Coronation Day on 2 June. The birth of third king is commemorated on 2 May following the Gregorian calendar, while the anniversary of his death is also a holiday but it follows the lunar calendar and changes from year to year.
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INSURANCE
A travel insurance policy to cover theft, loss and medical problems is always highly recommended. Most policies will cover costs if you are forced to cancel your trip because of flight cancellation, illness, injury or the death of a close relative. If you have such a problem, travel insurance can help protect you from major losses due to Bhutan’s prepayment conditions and hefty cancellation charges.
Some policies specifically exclude ‘dangerous activities’, and these can include motorcycling and even trekking. Read your policy carefully to be sure it covers ambulance rides or an emergency helicopter airlift out of a remote region, or an emergency flight home. If you have to stretch out you may need two seats. Many travel insurance policies include repatriation and evacuation through the worldwide network of International SOS Assistance.
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BHUTANESE CALENDAR
The Bhutanese calendar is based on the Tibetan calendar, which evolved from the Chinese. In the 17th century the Bhutanese scholar Pema Karpo developed a new way of computing the days of the week. This caused a divergence between the Tibetan and Bhutanese calendars, and dates do not agree between the two systems.
In the Bhutanese system, months have 30 days, with the full moon on the 15th. The eighth, 15th and 30th days of the month are auspicious. The fourth is also auspicious: Buddha first preached his religious principles on the fourth day of the sixth month.
Years are named according to the Tibetan system of five elements and 12 animals, producing a 60-year cycle. For example, the year 1998 is Earth-Tiger year, and 1974, the year of King Jigme Singye Wangchuck’s coronation, is the Wood-Tiger year.
The calendar operates according to a very flexible system that allows bad days to be avoided. Astrologers sometimes add a day if it’s going to be an auspicious one or lose a day if it’s not. They can even change months. In some years, for example, there may be no October because it has been deemed an inauspicious month, or there may be two Augusts