Unicycling adventure in the Bhutanese Himalayas

RE: Unicycling adventure in the Bhutanese Himalayas

> > This is the first time that unicycles have ever been to
> > Bhutan,

Not to burst anyone’s bubble, but how do you know this? The person who told
it to you probably never saw one before, but unicycles have been around for
a long time. I have to assume unicycles have been there before, at least in
the form of entertainment, in circuses or whatever. Unless Bhutan doesn’t
import entertainment.

Walter Nilsson, a professional performer in the 1930s and 40s had pictures
taken of himself riding his unicycle in strange places all over the world,
such as on the Egyptian pyramids, the Great Wall, etc. Odds are he never
went to Bhutan, but others may have.

Don’t get me wrong. I have no doubt that you and Nathan were the first
people ever to bring unicycles to Bhutan and do what you did with them. My
guess would be that anyone previous was most likely a performer.

In 1990 when Greg Milstein and I performed at the Riga Circus in Riga,
Latvia, we were told we were the first Americans to ever perform there
officially, as Americans. Since their building had recently celebrated its
100th birthday, we thought this was really cool. And relatively believable,
because the Soviet circus system was good enough to not need to import
performers.

But I remember finding out a few years later about some other performers who
went there in the 80s and were told the same thing… it makes for great
press! Greg and I got our pictures in the Soviet Youth newspaper (it was
part of an international youth circus festival), holding up a big American
flag!
http://www.unicycling.com/cgi-bin/genin.pl?=pictext/cccp.txt,8

Stay on top,
John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
jfoss@unicycling.com

“Vehicularly-Injured Sperm-Count seat: better known by it’s abbreviated
name, Viscount.” David Stone, on saddle preference

RE: Unicycling adventure in the Bhutanese Himalayas

Hi,

Your right, we can never be sure that this was the first time unicycles have been to Bhutan.

However, I think that the odds are that it was. Bhutan is highly restricted for tourism. It
was 100% closed to tourists until the 1970’s, and less than 100,000 visitors have been there
since. Last year only 4000 visitors came to the country.

Of these, you could never come as an entertainer- by law you need to hire a guide and independent
travel is prohibited. The cost is also U.S.$200/person/day. In a country where wages are usually
$2 to $6 per day, being a street performer and expecting contributions would be a pretty bad
business decision.

-Kris.

— John Foss <john_foss@asinet.com> wrote:[color=darkred]
> > > This is the first time that unicycles have ever been to
> > > Bhutan,
>
> Not to burst anyone’s bubble, but how do you know this? The person who told
> it to you probably never saw one before, but unicycles have been around for
> a long time. I have to assume unicycles have been there before, at least in
> the form of entertainment, in circuses or whatever. Unless Bhutan doesn’t
> import entertainment.
>
> Walter Nilsson, a professional performer in the 1930s and 40s had pictures
> taken of himself riding his unicycle in strange places all over the world,
> such as on the Egyptian pyramids, the Great Wall, etc. Odds are he never
> went to Bhutan, but others may have.
>
> Don’t get me wrong. I have no doubt that you and Nathan were the first
> people ever to bring unicycles to Bhutan and do what you did with them. My
> guess would be that anyone previous was most likely a performer.
>
> In 1990 when Greg Milstein and I performed at the Riga Circus in Riga,
> Latvia, we were told we were the first Americans to ever perform there
> officially, as Americans. Since their building had recently celebrated its
> 100th birthday, we thought this was really cool. And relatively believable,
> because the Soviet circus system was good enough to not need to import
> performers.
>
> But I remember finding out a few years later about some other performers who
> went there in the 80s and were told the same thing… it makes for great
> press! Greg and I got our pictures in the Soviet Youth newspaper (it was
> part of an international youth circus festival), holding up a big American
> flag!
> http://www.unicycling.com/cgi-bin/genin.pl?=pictext/cccp.txt,8
>
> Stay on top,
> John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
> jfoss@unicycling.com
> www.unicycling.com
>
>
> “Vehicularly-Injured Sperm-Count seat: better known by it’s abbreviated
> name, Viscount.” David Stone, on saddle preference
> ___________________________________________________________________________
> rec.sport.unicycling mailing list - www.unicycling.org/mailman/listinfo/rsu[/color]


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Re: Unicycling adventure in the Bhutanese Himalayas

— Paul Selwood <paul@vimes.u-net.com> wrote:
> Kris Holm <danger_uni@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > This is the first time that unicycles have ever been to
> > Bhutan, and we were actually asked several times whether what we were
> > doing was what “everyone” did back home!
>
> I presume you said “Yes” just to mess with their world-view?

Of course!

-Kris.


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2 minutes on google, and here is the first referance (besides the Hoover/Holm/Black/White trip) I could find to Unicycling in Bhutan:

http://www.infinex.com/~yoowho/Nov6Nepal.html

I havn’t qualified this yet- time for lunch!

Christopher

RE: Unicycling adventure in the Bhutanese Himalayas

> However, I think that the odds are that it was. Bhutan is
> highly restricted for tourism. It
> was 100% closed to tourists until the 1970’s, and less than
> 100,000 visitors have been there
> since. Last year only 4000 visitors came to the country.

I suppose one would have to go into Bhutan’s history as a country to learn
more. How long has it been the political entity that it is? What about
before and during the world wars? Etc. I read about some of this on the
Internet, but there was nothing there with the detail to talk about what
kinds of outside influences came into the country previous to it’s 1947
recognition by India as a soverign nation.

> Of these, you could never come as an entertainer- by law you
> need to hire a guide and independent travel is prohibited.

I think the same was true when Greg and I were in the Soviet Union. But we
weren’t tourists (and had no guide while in Moscow, and went where our
friend took us). I was suggesting something along the lines of circus
performers, who might be part of a whole show doing a stop in Bhutan. But
depending on cultural or religious rules, they might not do this at all.
Certainly a street performer would be pretty lost trying to make money
there… :slight_smile:

It may be hard to prove one way or the other. But the fact remains, you two
are almost surely the first and only tourists, in modern times, to bring in
and ride unicycles. and I have no doubt that you were the first to ride them
in the exotic, rugged, and remote places you did.

JF

CWOB: Nepal

Cool- just close, but cool. That was actualy from a Bhutanese refugee camp in Jahpa, Nepal, where a group called Clowns Without Borders played for kids in a harder situation than I can imagine.

Christopher

RE: Unicycling adventure in the Bhutanese Himalayas

— John Foss <john_foss@asinet.com> wrote:
> > However, I think that the odds are that it was. Bhutan is
> > highly restricted for tourism. It
> > was 100% closed to tourists until the 1970’s, and less than
> > 100,000 visitors have been there
> > since. Last year only 4000 visitors came to the country.
>
> I suppose one would have to go into Bhutan’s history as a country to learn
> more. How long has it been the political entity that it is? What about
> before and during the world wars? Etc.

Bhutan hasn’t been colonized since about 700AD, but up until around the 1500’s is wasn’t really a
“real” country. Rather, it was a collection of feudal Kings in various isolated valleys. Around
this time a couple of strong rulers united the country and established stronger trade routes to
various regions. Politically it became an “official” country early in the 20th century, with the
establishment of a Monarchy. The current king is 3rd on the throne, since then.

-Kris.

I read about some of this on the
> Internet, but there was nothing there with the detail to talk about what
> kinds of outside influences came into the country previous to it’s 1947
> recognition by India as a soverign nation.
>
> > Of these, you could never come as an entertainer- by law you
> > need to hire a guide and independent travel is prohibited.
>
> I think the same was true when Greg and I were in the Soviet Union. But we
> weren’t tourists (and had no guide while in Moscow, and went where our
> friend took us). I was suggesting something along the lines of circus
> performers, who might be part of a whole show doing a stop in Bhutan. But
> depending on cultural or religious rules, they might not do this at all.
> Certainly a street performer would be pretty lost trying to make money
> there… :slight_smile:
>
> It may be hard to prove one way or the other. But the fact remains, you two
> are almost surely the first and only tourists, in modern times, to bring in
> and ride unicycles. and I have no doubt that you were the first to ride them
> in the exotic, rugged, and remote places you did.
>
> JF
> ___________________________________________________________________________
> rec.sport.unicycling mailing list - www.unicycling.org/mailman/listinfo/rsu


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Re: Unicycling adventure in the Bhutanese Himalayas

Yes, but nice work anyway. Very interesting article.

Speaking of hard situations, thank your lucky stars that you aren’t a
Bhutanese gravel maker.

—Nathan

“rhysling” <rhysling.4re5b@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in message
news:rhysling.4re5b@timelimit.unicyclist.com
>
> Cool- just close, but cool. That was actualy from a Bhutanese refugee
> camp in Jahpa, Nepal, where a group called Clowns Without Borders played
> for kids in a harder situation than I can imagine.
>
> Christopher

[http://www.infinex.com/~yoowho/Nov6Nepal.html ]