Adventure Sports

Everywhere in the world any mention of the Himalayas conjures up pictures of weary, pickaxe-wielding men in thick jackets and oxygen masks braving ice and snow on a mountain slope. Not so in Bhutan. Here mountain peaks are respected as the abode of deities and so remain the highest unclimbed mountains in the world. Mountaineering is allowed only on lesser peaks of below 20,000 feet altitude. In contrast to Himalayan neighbors like Nepal, Sikkim and northern India, Bhutan does not have a mountaineering culture. Ice and rock climbers, though, will find plenty of cliff faces to be cheerful about Vertical – Bhutan Climbing Club (VBCC),

 a friendly Thimphu-based group of climbers willingly entertains all climbers, be they locals or tourists. The two owners of Bhutan Vedic Tours are both founding and active members of VBCC. Another relatively new but steadily growing sport in Bhutan is rafting. Recent surveys have shown that a number of white water rivers in Bhutan hold immense promise of world-class rafting/kayaking. Over the last 10 years, Bhutanese and expatriate paddlers have been exploring more than a dozen rivers that have a range of runs, from class II to class V rapids. Bhutanese rivers also make for great fishing/angling even though the sport is a seasonal affair controlled by licensing and conservationist rules. The trout is the most dominant species of fish in Bhutan; a few rivers have mahseer. Given the topography of the country, it comes as no surprise that mountain biking is gaining popularity as well. Few travel companies like Bhutan Vedic Tours organize biking excursions of varying distance and gradient to suit all levels of bikers: beginners, amateurs or experts. Any one of the country’s narrow mountain roads can be an easy downhill glide or an agonizingly arduous uphill odyssey.