Bhutan: The Land of Happiness

Our next stop, Bhutan, goes down in my books as one of my favorite places I have ever visited. We stayed in the absolute best Aman Resort in Paro, Bhutan: ultimate serenity and peace surrounded by lush, green mountains.

Unification and Government

Before Bhutan was one nation, the land was split up into a bunch of little states. A Tibetan Buddhist monk and military strategist (um can you say oxymoron?!) came over to Bhutan and built the first monastery and solidified the power in order to unite the land and population into one country. Up till today, the religious and political systems remain very central to the leadership of the nation; the head of religion and state, work together to rule to country. While this system does seem very intertwined, in reality, there is quite a separation. For example, once one becomes a monk, they lose their voting privilege for their whole life.

The Land of Happiness

Bhutan is dedicated to being the happiest nation in the world, preaching the slogan of being “The Land of Happiness.” They are most famous for their measurement of Gross Domestic Happiness, instead of the Gross Domestic Product, the economic based index the rest of the world obsesses over. Personally, I definitely felt the happiness as soon as I landed. How could one not be elated with lush mountain after mountain framing your window, delicious food and peace and quiet??

During our trip, we visited both Paro and Thimphu and were able to visit beautiful must-sees in both spots…

Tiger's Test, Paro, Bhutan

#1 must-see location: Tiger’s Nest, Paro, Bhutan — follow the windblown prayer flags for a beautiful five hour hike back and forth from the base to visit this majestic Buddhist temple hidden in the mountains.

Buddha Point, Thimphu, Bhutan

#2 must-see location: Buddha Point, Thimphu, Bhutan- journey to the capital city of Thimphu to visit not only one of the largest sitting Buddhas in the world, but also catch breathtaking views of the valley below.

Fun Fact: Thimphu is one of few capital cities to not have street lights or traffic lines!

Hanging prayer flags on the side of the road.

#3 must-see location: Hang Prayer Flags on the hill side — nothing more Bhutanese than prayer flags! Hang your own, or even make your own, as I did, making sure to make a wish as you tie the ends to the trees. This is a super memorable way to leave your little mark on Bhutan.

Before I arrived, I assumed that Bhutan would be very similar to Nepal, but while both have naturally breathtaking mountainous views and welcoming cultures, I enjoyed the serenity of Paro over the bustling streets of Kathmandu. I would definitely make the trek back to Bhutan for another peaceful getaway!

Nepal: KathmanDUs and DONTs

Nepal was definitely one of the places I was most looking forward to going to in order to hopefully hike the base of Mt. Everest. I was seriously and I repeat SERIOUSLY underestimating the height, complexity, and expertise necessary for such an excursion. Of course, I didn’t end up doing so and my family decided to opt for a helicopter ride around the tallest mountain in the world and more of the Himalayas. It was so beautiful and such a surreal experience to be so high up. Although it was difficult to see the entirety of Mount Everest during the helicopter ride, we were luckily able to catch sight of the glorious peak three times on flights to and from Nepal.

Beautiful view from our stopping place in the Nepalese Himalayas.

In addition to beautiful mountainous scenery, Nepal also is home to an amazing Buddhist and Hindu culture.

80% of Nepalese are Hindi, 10% Buddhist, 3.5% a combination between the two (exclusive to the Nepalese), and less than 1% Christian and Muslim.

Stupa at the Monkey Temple.

We visited the Monkey Temple which holds a beautiful stupa providing views of all of Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal. The Buddhist temple also was home to families of monkeys, hence the name of the temple, who roamed the grounds freely.

Monkeys inhabiting the temple grounds. PHOTO CREDS TO ARI NAZEM.

We also visited one of the main city squares called Baktapur, meaning City of Communications and Deputies, which was constructed throughout the 12th–18th centuries. A Hindi city, Baktapur, is home to babas. Babas are Hindus who release everything in their lives, collect money and bread everyday, are deemed the living representation of the goddess Shiva, and pray all the time for the betterment of living things. They are able to go back into society at any point and do and eat whatever they want.

Religion is a huge part of Nepalese culture with over 365 festivals. Citizens are apart of more than 103 ethnic groups that speak more than 93 languages.

While the nature, temples, and culture are very rich, the state of the nation doesn’t seem so prosperous. There were no traffic lines on the streets, but a lot of trash. With the heavy traffic, we were able to see the tin roofs and rickety buildings. However, this is expected since the civil war actually just ended in 2008. Current day, they are trying to strengthen their bonds with India since the 1950 India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship. This treaty allows free movement of people and goods between the two nations and also facilitates a tight relationship and provides collaboration promises on matters of defense and foreign affairs.

Prayer flags and view of Kathmandu.

Overall, I really loved my time in Nepal. From the Himalayas to the Hindu temples, Nepal is a beautiful country…I would definitely recommend it for people who love the natural lifestyle and roughing it!

So to conclude…

DUs:

1- see the Himalayas and Mount Everest – helicopter or flight on a clear day

2- visit the Monkey Temple

DONTs:

1- drink un-bottled water, or eat sketchy foods

2- forget to stay safe!

Azerbaijan: Definitely going Bak(u)

Next and one of the best stops: Baku, Azerbaijan. I was sooo impressed by this city. Coming in, I did not have high hopes or expectations for Azerbaijan or the city of Baku, but, boy was I pleasantly surprised! It was a little Paris to me. Baku is a perfect example of what having natural resources like oil can do for a country. Housing huge beautiful old French style buildings with Middle Eastern touches, well kept museums, and an adorable old town, Baku definitely gave off a civilized, modern city vibe.

Stabilization Due to Oil

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, Azerbaijan had its first oil boom. Throughout the years, not only the government, but also citizens, companies, and visitors have enjoyed the fruits of this vital discovery. Even though the country has one of the most corrupt royal families and governments, the society and economy seem to still function without civil discontent. Unlike a lot of other countries in the Middle East who have oil, Azerbaijan retains stability due to financial institutions and economic reforms that help them keep the country rich. For example, they created the State Oil Fund in which they deposit money when the economy is doing well and take out money when the economy is not doing so well. This allows them to save up enough money and not fail during international economic crises like in 2008.

This image is of one of the old Carvanserai in the super cute and well kept old town in the middle of Baku, Azerbaijan.

From Art to Architecture to Agriculture

50% of Azerbaijan is actually comprised of agricultural lands. The nation’s capital, Baku, however, is home to some of the most beautiful architecture, both old and new. Just from the balcony of our hotel, we were able to see the world renown Flame Towers along with an array of French style buildings with a Middle Eastern twist.

In addition, we also visited the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center which was designed by Zaha Hadid, a world famous contemporary architect who creates works of art all over the globe. Inside the Cultural Center were numerous exhibitions housing the best of the best of Azerbaijani culture, history and art.

This is an image of the insane building. On display were sculptures of different national flags on bonbon candies.

 We also visited many beautiful modern art galleries in the city. I feel like they portray a civilian point of view of the state of the nation that you can’t get from anywhere else.

(Artwork found in the Yay Gallery in Baku Old Town.)

History

Bordered by Russia in the north, Iran in the south on the other side of the Caspian sea, and Armenia in the west, Azerbaijan has experienced a long history of border and colonial conflicts. Nowadays, most conflicts are stable and the country is generally at peace with most neighbors, with the exception of Armenia.

The Azerbaijan- Armenia conflict dates back to pre-Soviet times. The two countries last had relations for a period of three years between 1918 and 1921 during which both nations had brief independence from Russia as the Democratic Republic of Armenia and the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan. After this, both nations were taken over again by the Soviet Union and relations were destroyed. Since then, the two nations have gone through two wars and have had no relations since 1921. Recently, the conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region has increase tensions and there are often clashes at the border.

 Overall, I love love loved my time in Baku. I would most definitely come back someday! While I fell in love with the city streets, the highlight of my stay has to be the bread that we found in a little household-run resturant in the Old Town. There is honestly nothing better than warm, homemade bread, honey, butter, tea and family all crowded into a tiny little booth on a hot summer day. (Well actually, if there was air conditioning, the experience would be 10x better…)These are the memories that will last forever.

Armenia: Top 10 Facts

1. Armenia has a rich and rather depressing history of 2780 years including being ruled by the Ottomans, Persians, and Soviet Union.

2. Current day Armenia is only 1/10 of the geographic territory they once controlled.

3. It is famous for its massive diaspora with a population of only 3 million in the country itself and 7 million Armenians living around the world.

Eternal flame at the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan.

4. The Armenian Genocide took place in 1915 in modern day Turkey or what was considered Western Armenia. The Turkish killed around 1.5 million innocent Armenians in order to carry out their ideals of “pan-Turkey” (Turkey for Turkey only) and ethnic cleansing.

5. The genocide was carried out in three stages: The first stage targeted young boys aged 18-45. They were called to join the army for World War I; 60,000 able bodied men were not given any weapons, were separated from the other soldiers going to war and then were killed in the deserts by Turks and Kurds. The second stage was against Armenian intellectuals and rich people educated in Europe (bankers, doctors, professors, etc.) who actually did a lot for the improvements of Turkey (ex. Created schools for women, grew the economy, etc.) — 600 of them were collected one night on April 24, 1915 and all killed. The last stage was against the peaceful population. This was the cruelest because it included old people, women, and children. The remainder of the population was asked to move temporarily to deserts “due to the war”, but little did they know, they would never return.

6. Con men were hired to carry out the killings in order to be more cruel, evil and not show mercy towards women and children.

7. Turkey has not only refused to apologize, but also has still not acknowledged the fact that the genocide ever happened. Till this day, they still claim that the deaths were due to usual and inevitable casualties during World War I.

Panoramic view of the capital, Yerevan, from the top of The Cafesjian Center for the Arts.

8. Armenia houses the third largest American embassy in the world.

9. Yerevan used to be called the “Pink Capital” because most of the buildings are constructed of the country’s natural stones.

10. The majority of the population’s last names end in “–ian” (ex. Kim Kardashian) ☺

Lebanon: From Bombed to Beautiful

Fourth stop, Beirut, Lebanon! The area where we were staying in was a very modern and luxurious area filled with street after street of interior design stores, art galleries, high-end fashion shops, and chic cafes. This dynamic represented that the people living in those areas must be rich enough to be catered to by such high-end shops and boutiques. Some of the stores can’t even be found in San Francisco! I was really impressed by how chic and clean the streets and people walking them were.

View of Beirut from rooftop of Le Gray hotel

The tourism and commercial success seems to be increasing due to the amount of construction, representing the country and Beirut’s efforts towards modernization. While the city was becoming more and more industrially modern with new skyscrapers and Parisian chic shops, the driving seemed to stay in a very erratic state with speeding, no lines, and one too many close encounters.

One night after dinner we decided to explore the other neighborhoods in Beirut. I noticed that in the Muslim areas, hijab was left to the choice of people, which I thought was very modern and open-minded. We also saw a very large Armenian area in the city, a little preview to our next destination!

Lebanon — a very old country created in 5000 BC — was invaded by many great powers throughout history. This was very evident in the massive collection of Roman, Ottoman, and French remaining artifacts and influences. Before the 15-year civil war, Lebanon was regarded as “The Paris of the Middle East,” but after being heavily bombed, the city has been on an uphill road towards reestablishing that title. After the civil war, Lebanon improved its tactics in housing these different cultures in a way to limit conflicts. For example, the different positions in government are allocated to a specific religious and cultural group in order to restrict interferences and disruptions of that kind in the political system. Obviously, it would be great if there was no civil war, but maybe if that hadn’t happened, the country would not have reached the equilibrium they are at now. Unfortunately, sometimes the only way to peace is through violence…

Israel: A Diverse Nation

The first thing I noticed about Israel is its diversity. A nation of immigrants, Israel is home to people from all over the world. Even through the country seems to be split into two religious and ethnic groups, 80% Jewish and 20% Arab, the nation is actually very multi-faceted, drawing peoples from all over the world. Each religious population however, is governed according to the religious laws of their own persuasion. For example, Jews by Talmud, Muslims by Sharia and so on. So if a Muslim and Jew want to get married they must go elsewhere (i.e. Cyprus) to get legally do so.

Old City of Jerusalem

We visited the Old City of Jerusalem, which is holy to all three Abrahamic religions, further demonstrating the fundamental, important, and omnipresent diversity of the nation. This historic city houses the Western Wall, the Temple Mount, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It is very important to Jews because of the Western Wall, since it was originally built to hold the Second Temple. The wall was captured and returned to Jewish access in 1967 by Israel after a 19-year gap under control of the Jordanians. The Temple Mount is where Jew’s believe the third and final temple shall be built.

Secondly, Christians find the city very important and holy because it is thought to be the place of Jesus’ crucifixion along with the symbolic grave of Jesus, and the Calgary rock all inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Christian area is really run by the Greek Othodox even though there are four sections, the most elaborate and fancy section, the Greek Orthodox itself, Catholic, Ethiopian, and Armenian. The holiest sight of the Protestant and Lutheran churches is not here.

Thirdly, this city is holy to the Muslim Arabs because it is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque where it is believed that Muhammad was transported from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to this mosque during the Night Journey. It is so cool that all these historical and religious significant sights are all together in such a small space, but unfortunately that close proximity is the reason for conflict over such a powerful and spiritual land. This conflict arises from the fact that all religions want a piece of the Old City and want the right to pray and hold their own religious and historical sights holy.

Bethlehem

We were visiting during the ground invasion of Gaza, which raises the larger question of occupation. Some people view it as necessary to the long-term security of the country and others view it as a detriment. I felt like I left with more questions than answers, yet I do feel that, of course, the loss of civilian life is a very unfortunate consequence to this heated conflict.

Even though Israel is technically in the Middle East, its cuisine is still very much a Mediterranean cuisine like other countries that surround this calm and fabulous sea. Lots of items like olives and cucumbers were frequent occurrences in our food. The food was super tasty!

Overall, I really loved the modern architecture of the cities, the beautiful Jerusalem limestone, the kind people, and being able to visit and explore a nation where so many diverse people and my friends especially call their homeland.

Jerusalem

France: Cannes not get enough

This summer I was so lucky to make it back to one of my most favorite countries in the world: France. This time my family and I stayed in St. Tropez and Cannes on the Cote d’Azur in the South of France for our friend’s birthday. I was especially happy to make it back to the South of France because it was the first place I ever traveled. I used to come every summer since I was 9 months old. It was so special to relive the wonderful memories which I originally experienced when I was a little girl. There is something about the pure blue water, clear sky, chic people and good food that welcome me over and over again. Oh, I will never have enough…