Bhutan - Land of the Thunder Dragon

The Himalayan country of Bhutan is unique and special in so many ways but is perhaps best known for creating the concept of "Gross National Happiness" (GNH), a term coined by K4 - The Fourth King of Bhutan, his Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck.

Bhutanese people place great importance and emphasis on their cultural and spiritual preservation, and also on environmental conservation. When we visited in March-April of 2018, it was the only country in the world that absorbed more carbon than it emitted.

We feel very blessed to have been able to visit the magical region and learn so much about what makes Bhutan so special. There are less than 1 million residents and relatively few tourists are permitted to enter the country on a yearly basis, so even in high season there was a calm and relaxed feeling wherever we went. We found the local people are highly intelligent, welcoming and warm, and funny too!

We traveled the land with an excellent guide, Palden, and our friendly driver - Rinjen (below)

The numerous temples, monasteries and fortress-like dzongs that we visited were some of the most amazing we have ever seen in all our travels. Some fortresses and temples are perched upon high mountains and cliffs, and it baffles the mind as to how they were constructed hundreds of years ago.

Being the Himalayas, the countryside is filled with towering mountain peaks, steep cliff sides, rushing rivers, and verdant valleys.

The famous cliff side Tigers Nest temple takes about 3 hours to hike to, up a steep but easily negotiated trail.

Here are some other photos from the journey