BHUTAN ...
" The Land of  The Thunder Dragon"

"...scarcely touched by modern times."                                                          

Bhutan has been described in many ways: the Last Shangri-La (Paradise), the Mountain Fortress of the Gods, So Close to Heaven, Between the Sky and Earth… We, its people, call it Druk Yul (the land of the thunder dragon) and we call ourselves the Drukpas (the dragon people). Jammed squarely between India at its south and the China at the north, Bhutan is a small Himalayan kingdom that most people have not even heard about.

It is a country of mountains and monasteries where days begin and end with prayer, men work and walk about in kilt-like knee-length robes, buildings are designed to look similar, socio-economic development is measured in terms of Gross National Happiness (GNH) absolute monarchs voluntarily devolve power to the people, cigarettes and plastic bags are officially banned, and red hot chili peppers are staple food.

Bhutan is just such a place, unforgettable. It is a landlocked country that came out of centuries of self-imposed isolation only in the 1960’s, when it built its first motor roads and schools, and joined the global community of nations. You could say Bhutan stepped straight out of the Middle Ages and found itself bang in the middle of the 20th century. Dubbed the world’s best kept travel secret, this quiet and unassuming country opened up to television and the internet just at the turn of the century and saw its first cellular phones even later. Bhutan has been playing ‘catch-up’ these past 50 years, albeit without losing hold of its own unique cultural identity. Visitors say what makes Bhutan especially interesting and attractive is that it is home to one of the most intact indigenous cultures in the world.

Bhutanese are strongly protective of their culture. Bhutan is one of few countries in its part of the world to have never been colonized. The country is not materially rich but is often seen as the last stronghold of Mahayana Buddhism and eastern Himalayan biodiversity, both of which appear to be dwindling in the rest of the Himalayas. Bhutan’s wealth is spiritual, cultural and ecological. Perhaps it is for such reasons that National Geographic Adventure magazine has named Bhutan one of the 25 most exotic travel destinations in the world.