Bhutan

A year ago I knew very little about Bhutan and hadn’t considered visiting. My wife said I would like it – it was my kind of place to visit and photograph. The more I found out about it, the more excited I got. I took the plunge and paid for a 2-week trip around western and central Bhutan to take place in late Feb/early March of 2015. Bhutan exceeded my expectations. I was amazed and delighted. I came home with some 8,000 photos which I have stillI not finished editing. I’ve included a few here.

The countryside, the scenery, the environment of this little Himalayan kingdom, from the views as you make the difficult descent into Paro airport all the way west to the snowbound Haa Valley and east as far as Bumthang were spectacular.

Bhutan has an architectural style all its own. The farm houses look like palaces. The dzongs, which are the large fortified building complexes housing the government offices and the central religious temple for a district, are imposing and beautiful. Everywhere there are handpainted and hand carved decorations and the colors are warm and bright.

But for me, Bhutan is about the people. I met many people of all ages in Bhutan. They are exceptional and wonderful on the whole. I attributed this to their Buddhist roots and their unspoiled way of life, encouraged and supported by a constructive and caring government from the enlightened King on down and by the organization of Buddhist monks and nuns who really are there to serve the country’s population of 700,000 souls. It is the first country I have ever been to where the people and the government are on the same side and the population overall is aligned in its purpose and principles. I could go on and on….

The highlight of a tour of Bhutan is the climb up and visit to the Paro Taktsang Monastery known as the Tiger’s Nest. This video shows the setting. The tiny dot in the top left of the last frame of the video is the monastery. The view is from the parking lot at the bottom of the climb.

Time lapse video of clouds rising past the Tiger’s Nest Monastery.