Bhutan
East of Nepal and sandwiched between India and Tibet lies the ancient kingdom of Bhutan. It is a small Himalayan country -- it has only 700 thousand people and 1/3 the land area of Nepal -- but is surprisingly well developed. Three characteristics stand out: It is profoundly Buddhist; it has extraordinary mountains, including, among others, the highest unclimbed mountain on the planet, Gangkar Puensum; and it has very gentle and friendly people, as friendly as can be found anywhere.
I was privileged to visit Bhutan in October, 2012, as one of two leaders on a Sierra Club trek to the base of Gangkar Puensum. Having done treks previously in Nepal and India, I initially expected to see villages and tea houses, to meet villagers, to encounter other trekkers. But Bhutan is not like India or Nepal. There were scattered groups of stone huts occupied by friendly, nomadic yak herders (and lots of yaks), but nothing that could truly be called a village. Certainly no roads, no shops, electric lines, or tea houses. And no other trekkers. For the 10 days that we spent on the trail, we met not one other western visitor.
The Gangkar Puensum trek is not extreme hiking but neither is it appropriate for everyone. Five days of mostly uphill walking on a muddy, rocky and occasionally steep trail led from a starting elevation around 9000 ft to base camp at almost 16 thousand feet, and on a subsequent layover day, to about 17,500 feet. I expected the scenery to be spectacular, and so it certainly was. Equally delightful was the opportunity to interact and share cups of butter tea with yak herders, many of whom were in the process of relocating to lower elevations in anticipation of winter.
IBhutan photographs: The Land and The People
/bhutan-the-land.html
/bhutan-the-people.html
East of Nepal and sandwiched between India and Tibet lies the ancient kingdom of Bhutan. It is a small Himalayan country -- it has only 700 thousand people and 1/3 the land area of Nepal -- but is surprisingly well developed. Three characteristics stand out: It is profoundly Buddhist; it has extraordinary mountains, including, among others, the highest unclimbed mountain on the planet, Gangkar Puensum; and it has very gentle and friendly people, as friendly as can be found anywhere.
I was privileged to visit Bhutan in October, 2012, as one of two leaders on a Sierra Club trek to the base of Gangkar Puensum. Having done treks previously in Nepal and India, I initially expected to see villages and tea houses, to meet villagers, to encounter other trekkers. But Bhutan is not like India or Nepal. There were scattered groups of stone huts occupied by friendly, nomadic yak herders (and lots of yaks), but nothing that could truly be called a village. Certainly no roads, no shops, electric lines, or tea houses. And no other trekkers. For the 10 days that we spent on the trail, we met not one other western visitor.
The Gangkar Puensum trek is not extreme hiking but neither is it appropriate for everyone. Five days of mostly uphill walking on a muddy, rocky and occasionally steep trail led from a starting elevation around 9000 ft to base camp at almost 16 thousand feet, and on a subsequent layover day, to about 17,500 feet. I expected the scenery to be spectacular, and so it certainly was. Equally delightful was the opportunity to interact and share cups of butter tea with yak herders, many of whom were in the process of relocating to lower elevations in anticipation of winter.
IBhutan photographs: The Land and The People
/bhutan-the-land.html
/bhutan-the-people.html
