Page 13 - Bhutan Destination Guide - Alluring Asia

SAFETY & CRIME ETIQUETTE Common sense is all that is The Bhutanese are very polite people. Handshaking is customary for necessary: be discreet with money, both men and women upon introduction and smiling is definitely a and keep valuables, including national tradition. There are a few taboos - The use of the left hand to PAGE 3-7 passport and airline tickets, out of give and receive as well as crooking your finger to call someone are Population | Time | Visas sight and in a safe place (larger considered impolite. Improper dressing is probably the most History | Religion hotels have safes). Minimize the significant and visible faux pas committed by visitors. Modesty money you carry with you, or carry applies to men as well as women, but women should be especially PAGE 8 Language it in a money-belt next to your body careful to cover the upper arms and legs and avoid tight or revealing (inside clothing) and have change clothing. PAGE 9 handy for minor purchases to avoid Climate displaying the entire bank. When entering homes, shoes are usually left at the door. The same PAGE 10 applies to temples and monasteries, especially if the shoes are leather The Land HEALTH ones. Watch what others do. Children can become veritable pests in their desire to pose for photography, but it's polite to seek permission PAGE 11 No immunizations are required to The People | What to Pack | enter Bhutan, but many are before photographing an adult: by smile and gesture, if not verbally. recommended, including up-to- PAGE 12 Don't sit or stand on statues, chortens, chaityas, prayer walls or any date tetanus and typhoid Currency | Credit Cards vaguely religious object. Buddhism maters here and pervades every Changing Money | Tipping vaccinations, a polio update and a Insurance gamma gobulin injection or aspect of daily life. When visiting a temple always walk clockwise around Buddhist stupas, chortens or mani walls. Always remove your Hepatitis A vaccine. Before PAGE 13 shoes before entering a Buddhist or Hindu temple or sanctuary. Etiquette | Safety & theft traveling you need to consult with There are many rules, but they are constantly repeated, so you won't your health physician. PAGE 14 make any mistakes. If you do, the Bhutanese will forgive you if they Communications | Media see you are trying to be reverent. Gastrointestinal illness is a common PAGE 15 result of Bhutan's abysmal As in most of Asia, time is a malleable concept and promptness is a Shopping | Customs sanitation and strikes nearly Bartering everyone sooner of later. The local relative thing. If it does not happen today it may happen tomorrow. This charmingly, relaxed approach can be infuriating if you are PAGE 16 version of Delhi Belly is simply a waiting for something urgent. Food & Drinks typical tourist's ailment. PAGE 17-21 Avoid untreated water (including Confrontation and aggression are avoided at all costs, and people will Culture & The Arts | Religion go to great lengths to save face and not push an issue or person to the ice cubes), raw vegetables and wall. Polite persistence may calmly make it clear you're not unpeeled fruit. Water needs to be filtered, then boiled to get the bugs interested in the object they're shoving in your face. out. To purify water, add five or six PHOTOGRAPHS drops of Lugol's Solution (an iodine It is polite to ask permission before solution) per litre/quart of water, taking photographs, Some people may take offense. and let stand 20 minutes before drinking. Avoid food that has been left standing out and unboiled milk.