The Idiot, who went to his first Buddhist monastery in Japan in 1967 and is making his fifth visit to the Himalaya Mountains since 1980 (the last was to Tibet in 2010), is spending eleven exhilarating days hiking throughout Bhutan, the Buddhist kingdom squeezed between China and India.
Although tourists must contribute $100 a day to a sustainable development fund to visit the country (it’s charged when you get your visa) and are required to hire a guide to see it, there’s no denying that Bhutan, its 700,000 people and a government that promotes gross national happiness to influence its development policies merit a peripatetic visit.
Just look!
The Idiot exploring the fortress in Punakha with Tenzin Dolma Gyeltshen, a 23-year-old guide who he bets will be Minister of Tourism by the time she’s thirty.
Starting a hike across a swaying bridge to a temple in Punakha.
Visiting the gigantic Buddjha Dordenma Statue in Thimphu.
Attending a morning gong session with American Fran Bak in Thimphu.
Visiting a primary school in the capital Thimphu.
Children walking to school in Bumthang.
Climbing to the Cheri Monastery north of Thimphu.
The Cheri Monastery north of Thimphu.
A monastery near Thimphu.
Stupa-fied in Trongsa.
Stupa-fied in Thimphu.
Buddhist sights are omnipresent throughout Bhutan.
A monk in Trongsa chops wood and carries water.
Monks’ robes drying at a rural monastery.
A monk tends a prayer wheel near Thimphu.
A young monk in Trongsa.
Afternoon weather in Bumthang.
A waterfall in central Bhutan.
A typical warning sign in Bhutan.
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