Bhutan - Land of the Thunder Dragon

First, let's get the myths out of the way:

- There *is* crime.
- There *is* poverty.
- There *is* unhappiness.
- There *is* vice. 


Now, what *is* true:

- It *is* a land seeped in mysticism.
- It *is* a place of spiritual people. 
- It *is* a juxtaposition of the traditional and the modern.
- It *is* culturally authentic and raw in its beauty.  

Monks watching the tshechu (religious festival) at Thimpu Dzong (temple-fortress)

Young girl in Paro town

"Om mani padme hum" - a Buddhist chant in Sanskrit language - painted on the side of a cliff

Wrist strings at Punakha Dzong (fortress-temple)

Sun rays on a Himalayan village

The Taktshang Goemba (Tiger's Nest Monastery) - Bhutan's most famous landmark, built at the side of a precipitous cliff 3000m above sea level

Somewhere up in the Himalaya mountains

For our "ten-year long service award", YL and I gave ourselves a holiday without the kids and up in the mountains; in the Himalayas, no less.  The last time we had an adults-only holiday was more than five years ago when we hid up in yet another mountain range - the Andes - in Peru.  I'm more of a mountain person while YL is more of an ocean person.  But since the tenth-year anniversary is not a good time to argue with the wife, the mountains it is then.  Actually let me rephrase that - it is *never* a good time to argue with the wife.  End of story. 

We had our sights set on Bhutan almost ten years ago but given its "low volume, high quality" tourism policy, we were not able to afford the USD 200 per day tariffs as we were still monkeys earning peanuts at that time.  (We are still monkeys, but we get fatter peanuts now).  Today, Bhutan's rates have climbed to USD 250 per day but there is no quota on tourist numbers.  This number scares everyone but it includes everything - accommodation, meals, transportation, a personal guide and driver, entrance fees, etc, not to mention a chance to experience something that you will not find in any country in the world: a culturally well-preserved Himalayan Buddhist kingdom with practices untainted by modern conveniences and globalisation.  For how much longer, I don't know.  So go before it disappears.  

Bhutan is blessed with extremely far-sighted and wise kings.  When she opened up to tourism in the 1960's (only 50 years ago!) the third king - popularly known as Father of Modern Bhutan - implemented a policy of sustainable tourism where tourist money will not erode their cultural and spiritual heritage.  His son, the fourth king, continued many developmental projects to elevate the his people's lives, including devising the much discussed Gross National Happiness index in lieu of the Gross Domestic Product index.  He also abolished the monarchy in favour of democracy and a constitutional monarchy, and abdicated in favour of his son in 2006 to the protests of his people who wanted the king to remain in absolute power.  The fifth king, a handsome young man in his early 30's and educated in Oxford, seems to set to continue the good work of his forefathers.