Wonderland

In my mind, there can be no cooler country than one issuing postal stamps which are vinyl records that can actually be played! The stamps were issued already in 1973, but 40 years later I am  myself going to Bhutan for one year contract as a UN volunteer. Yay!


(Photo: http://creativeroots.org/2009/08/1973-record-stamps-of-bhutan/)

Listen to the Bhutan record stamp short sound clips, a) brief description of Bhutan: http://mp3archives.wfmu.org/archive/FL/bhut1.mp3 and b) Bhutanese music: http://mp3archives.wfmu.org/archive/FL/bhut2.mp3

Besides phonographic stamps, there are other peculiarities in Bhutan - which is your favourite?
  • tourists can only enter the country after paying tour operators 200-250 USD per day (all inclusive), backpacking is not allowed 
  • television broadcasting was begun in 1999 
  • no traffic lights in the whole country 
  • first Western schools founded in the 1960s, first university in 2003 
  • reputedly only 8 pilots are able/allowed to land on the airport because the surrounding Himalaya mountains make the conditions very "challenging"
  • national sport is archery 
  • all Bhutanese have to wear a national dress in public places during sunlight
  • state religion is Mahayana Buddhism: there are 6000 Buddhist monks in a country of 700 000 people
  • the aim is to become a wholly organic country (The Guardian, 11 Feb 2013) 
  • and perhaps the most famous Bhutanese invention: the Gross National Happiness, national ideology on what matters and should be measured in development and human well-being 
I hope to be able to write about all of these topics during the next year. Stay tuned!

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