For
centuries the highest mountains in the world have hidden a tiny jewel, the
Buddhist Kingdom of Bhutan. Come, explore with us this mystical country. You
will find it one of the last pristine places on earth - a place of unspoiled
natural beauty and heartwarming hospitality.
If
Shangri-La exists then Bhutan, the Kingdom of the Clouds,
is its true spirit. Here Himalayan people and Buddhist traditions
have a mystical world. A secretive mountain kingdom, the size of Switzerland and
with a total population of just 700,000, stretched between China,
Tibet (China), India (with the State of Bengal, Assam,
Arunachal Pradesh and the principality of Sikkim). A place
where
tourism was only permitted about forty years ago, where TVs were introduced only
in 1999 and still as of today there is one (only) channel showing a mixture of
local and Bollywood movies (but then you will found out the houses with
satellite dishes), where the sell of tobacco is illegal, where plastic bags are
outlawed, where democracy was introduced as recently as 2008, where the Gross
National Product (GNP) – most of the world countries consider to measure the
market value of all the products and services produced in one year - has become
the Gross National Happiness (a measure
that consider the level of happiness of the country's people).
Bhutan
is not a land of contradictions, is a land of harmony and spiritual uniqueness.
It a land of harmony and intense emotions. Nowhere on earth there is a country
like it, the last remaining Himalayan kingdom. Druk Yul, the Land of
the Thunder Dragon, how it is called by its own people. The 'Paradise of
the South', 'The Land of
hidden
treasure', or even 'The southern valley of medicinal herbs', how it
is called by the Tibetans. A country that until recently was almost completely
unknown to the outside world. As today, foreign influences and tourism in
Bhutan are regulated by the Government to preserve the national Bhutanese
identity, traditional culture and the environment. It has been possessively
guarded against intruders, and in the history (against all the odds) it has
succeeded in its Independence, so retaining its ancient culture untouched.
The
2008
was a year of turning point, also for Bhutan. From there, things are
continuously changing. A young king was crowned, Jigme Khesar Namgyal
Wangchuck, for the first time in one hundred year, with an election ushered
in a new concept of democracy for Bhutan. The king is often referred to
as the 'People's King' and before his accession to the throne has studied
at Yangchenphug High School, Bhutan, and abroad, in the United States and in
Oxford (England), where he graduated in International Relations. In 2011 he
married Jetsun Pema and their wedding has been described has the largest media
event in the history of Bhutan.
