Bhutan In-depth We offer meaningful hand-crafted travel adventures and cultural journeys in the last Himalayan kingdom and beyond. See our Signature Journeys Culture Curators We are your friends and guides through the rich mountain culture of Bhutan, each of our journeys led by insightful, indigenous local guides with deep ties of kinship across the kingdom. Start a conversation © Copyright © Copyright | PLAN YOUR BHUTAN TRIP Browse our small group adventures for 2023 & beyond | TRAVEL STORIES Some fun reads to whet your appetite | RECCOMMENDED READS What we're talking about Featured In the New York Times Read the NY Times article of the journey Recalculating Happiness in a Himalayan Kingdom by Seth Mydans See our journey designed to share the secrets of Bhutan's National Happiness policy at Heart of Happiness: Journey to Discover Bhutan's Gross National Happiness . We had the pleasure of arranging travel, research and interviews in Bhutan for NY Times Correspondent Seth Mydans & Times videographer Mariko Takayasu. Following the trip, Mariko produced a video with Christopher Flavelle of the New York Times called Measuring Happiness that appeared on the Times' website. The Raven Crown Royal Emblem of Bhutanese Kings — a two-part talk at the Asian Art Museum by Bhutan Himalaya's Travel Coordinator Karma Dorji PART-I : 13:59 PART-II : 9:00 See all posts See all stories In-depth cultural exploration of Bhutan Celebrate the annual return of Bhutan’s endangered Black-necked Cranes The pristine high trek to Treasure Lake See all journeys Bhutan’s Wild Wild East: A fascinating temple whose walls preserve a painful history of migration Hatching in the Himalaya: How the brown trout, a native of the British Isles, found a home in Bhutan’s lakes and rivers Traveling to learn about Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness policy The people and the landscape of Bhutan’s Mountain Goddess: a Photo Essay The King’s Speech Top 10 reasons why you should visit Bhutan in 2020 Search Travel Bhutan Abundance: A summer journey DEPARTURES Blessings of Bhutan Bhutan's Jomolhari Trek Heart of Happiness Trek to Treasure Lake On the Wings of Prayer Punakha's Pageant of Warriors Bhutan in the Time of Rhododendrons SEE ALL JOURNEYS Stories Hidden Lands of Happiness SPOTLIGHT Wild Wild East: How an ancient matriarch led her people to Bhutan Our top 10 reasons why you should visit Bhutan in 2023 How the brown trout came to Bhutan's lakes and rivers The top 10 mask dances to see in Bhutan Pomp & circumstance at Bhutan's warriors festival A journey to learn about Gross National Happiness SEE ALL STORIES Us The Bhutan Himalaya Difference ABOUT US Who we are The Bhutan Himalaya Difference What our travelers say Our Team Meet our latest hires CONTACT US

Ancient Kathmandu and hidden Trisuli with optional Chitwan National Park In-depth cultural exploration of Bhutan A luxe spiritual sojourn in Bhutan Discover a primal springtime festival and journey overland from central to west Bhutan Trekking Bhutan's majestic Mount Gangkhar Puensum with acclimatization hikes on the Trans Bhutan Trail Explore Bhutan when wild rhododendrons bloom Bhutan in the Time of Rhododendrons Discover Bhutan’s vibrant Warriors Pageant Celebrate the annual return of Bhutan’s endangered Black-necked Cranes Bhutan Abundance The pristine high trek to Treasure Lake Trekking Bhutan’s Jomolhari Basin Travel Choose one of our comprehensive scheduled signature journeys below, featuring the best experiences from our decades running tours and expeditions in Bhutan, or mix and match to create your own*. Our signature journeys *Additional fees for groups smaller than four travelers UNESCO Heritage Durbar Square, historic Pashupatinath, awe-inspiring Boudhanath stupa, ancient Patan, and a tranquil river lodge overlooking the Trisuli, with optional excursion or overnights at Chitwan National Park ACTIVE ● CULTURE Ancient Kathmandu and hidden Trisuli with optional Chitwan National Park Active cultural adventure in 'the Last Himalayan Kingdom' PRIVATE ● CULTURE In-depth cultural exploration of Bhutan A peaceful sanctuary to rejuvenate body & mind, based on Bhutan's ancient wellness traditions WELLNESS ● SPIRITUAL A luxe spiritual sojourn in Bhutan An active adventure exploring the spiritual heart of Bhutan with the ancient Ura festival ACTIVE ● CULTURE Discover a primal springtime festival and journey overland from central to west Bhutan Discover Bhutan's lightly traveled classic Himalayan trek ACTIVE ● HIGH HIMALAYAN TREK Trekking Bhutan's majestic Mount Gangkhar Puensum with acclimatization hikes on the Trans Bhutan Trail Travel during Bhutan’s stunning rhododendron flowering season & visit Bhutan Foundation Projects making positive impacts in the country ACTIVE ● CULTURE Explore Bhutan when wild rhododendrons bloom Discover Bhutan's cultural centers during the stunning rhododendron season ACTIVE ● CULTURE Bhutan in the Time of Rhododendrons Travel to Bhutan's first annual mask dance celebration; welcome the magnificent Himalayan springtime ACTIVE ● CULTURE Discover Bhutan’s vibrant Warriors Pageant On the Wings of Prayer: The annual return of Bhutan's rare Black-necked Cranes ACTIVE ● CULTURE Celebrate the annual return of Bhutan’s endangered Black-necked Cranes Discovering the superlative charms of Bhutan's countryside during the kingdom's lush, green season ACTIVE ● CULTURE ● VOLUNTEER Bhutan Abundance Western Bhutan’s Himalayan ridge-line trail to a sacred alpine lake HIGH ALTITUDE TREK ● CULTURE The pristine high trek to Treasure Lake Hiking where Bhutan’s Snow Leopards & Blue Sheep Roam ACTIVE ● CULTURE Trekking Bhutan’s Jomolhari Basin Search Travel Bhutan Abundance: a summer journey JOURNEYS Blessings of Bhutan Bhutan’s Jomolhari Trek Heart of Happiness Trek to Treasure Lake On the Wings of Prayer Punakha’s Pageant of Warriors Bhutan in the Time of Rhododendrons SEE ALL JOURNEYS Stories Hidden Lands of Happiness SPOTLIGHT Wild Wild East: How an ancient matriarch led her people to Bhutan Our top 10 reasons why you should visit Bhutan in 2023 How the brown trout came to Bhutan's lakes and rivers The top 10 mask dances to see in Bhutan Pomp & circumstance at Bhutan's warriors festival A journey to learn about Gross National Happiness SEE ALL STORIES Us The Bhutan Himalaya Difference ABOUT US Who we are The Bhutan Himalaya Difference What Our Travelers Say Our Team Meet our latest hires CONTACT US

A luxe spiritual sojourn in Bhutan Ancient Kathmandu and hidden Trisuli with optional Chitwan National Park Bhutan Abundance Bhutan in the Time of Rhododendrons Blessings of Bhutan Celebrate the annual return of Bhutan’s endangered Black-necked Cranes Discover Bhutan’s vibrant Warriors Pageant Discover a primal springtime festival and journey overland from central to west Bhutan Explore Bhutan when wild rhododendrons bloom In-depth cultural exploration of Bhutan The Heart of Happiness The pristine high trek to Treasure Lake Travel Choose one of our comprehensive scheduled signature journeys below, featuring the best experiences from our decades running tours and expeditions in Bhutan, or mix and match to create your own*. Our signature journeys *Additional fees for groups smaller than four travelers A peaceful sanctuary to rejuvenate body & mind, based on Bhutan's ancient wellness traditions WELLNESS ● SPIRITUAL A luxe spiritual sojourn in Bhutan UNESCO Heritage Durbar Square, historic Pashupatinath, awe-inspiring Boudhanath stupa, ancient Patan, and a tranquil river lodge overlooking the Trisuli, with optional excursion or overnights at Chitwan National Park ACTIVE ● CULTURE Ancient Kathmandu and hidden Trisuli with optional Chitwan National Park Discovering the superlative charms of Bhutan's countryside during the kingdom's lush, green season ACTIVE ● CULTURE ● VOLUNTEER Bhutan Abundance Discover Bhutan's cultural centers during the stunning rhododendron season ACTIVE ● CULTURE Bhutan in the Time of Rhododendrons Explore the spiritual heart of Bhutan, its scenic trails, temples & vibrant Buddhist culture ACTIVE ● CULTURE Blessings of Bhutan On the Wings of Prayer: The annual return of Bhutan's rare Black-necked Cranes ACTIVE ● CULTURE Celebrate the annual return of Bhutan’s endangered Black-necked Cranes Travel to Bhutan's first annual mask dance celebration; welcome the magnificent Himalayan springtime ACTIVE ● CULTURE Discover Bhutan’s vibrant Warriors Pageant An active adventure exploring the spiritual heart of Bhutan with the ancient Ura festival ACTIVE ● CULTURE Discover a primal springtime festival and journey overland from central to west Bhutan Travel during Bhutan’s stunning rhododendron flowering season & visit Bhutan Foundation Projects making positive impacts in the country ACTIVE ● CULTURE Explore Bhutan when wild rhododendrons bloom Active cultural adventure in 'the Last Himalayan Kingdom' PRIVATE ● CULTURE In-depth cultural exploration of Bhutan Travel to Bhutan’s spiritual & cultural interiors to learn about a government in the service of human happiness ACTIVE ● CULTURE The Heart of Happiness Western Bhutan’s Himalayan ridge-line trail to a sacred alpine lake HIGH ALTITUDE TREK ● CULTURE The pristine high trek to Treasure Lake LOAD MORE TRIPS Search Travel Bhutan Abundance: A summer journey DEPARTURES Blessings of Bhutan Bhutan's Jomolhari Trek Heart of Happiness Trek to Treasure Lake On the Wings of Prayer Punakha's Pageant of Warriors Bhutan in the Time of Rhododendrons SEE ALL JOURNEYS Stories Hidden Lands of Happiness SPOTLIGHT Wild Wild East: How an ancient matriarch led her people to Bhutan Our top 10 reasons why you should visit Bhutan in 2023 How the brown trout came to Bhutan's lakes and rivers The top 10 mask dances to see in Bhutan Pomp & circumstance at Bhutan's warriors festival A journey to learn about Gross National Happiness SEE ALL STORIES Us The Bhutan Himalaya Difference ABOUT US Who we are The Bhutan Himalaya Difference What our travelers say Our Team Meet our latest hires CONTACT US

Losar is a time for fun, family, and feasting in Bhutan. Unlike the West, where people may stay up all night to party, the start of the lunar year in Bhutan is a mostly daytime affair. People wake early in the morning to bathe and put on fresh new clothes they’ve put away during the past year in carefully locked boxes, trunks, and closets for just such a special occasion. The first meal of the day is usually thuep, thick rice congee with spicy mala seasoning flavored by bone marrow, soft cubes of cottage cheese, and tender, well-cooked chunks of meat, usually pork or beef. It’s a dense umami concoction that’s at once savory, tingly, and filling, a great way to start this celebratory day. In some families, the day also begins with thrue, a purifying bath or shower to rinse off the negative karma of the previous year, followed by thuen or moenlam, a short prayer or dedication to welcome a prosperous new year. Daytime festivities include da-tsey or archery, the national sport, played mostly by men, and khuru or throwing darts that are enjoyed by monks (there being no injunctions against games of marksmanship in the Buddhist clergy) as well as by lay people. If, in other parts of the world, New Year parties are a time to go out, in Bhutan, the holiday is more akin to an American Thanksgiving. It’s a time when families gather and stay home to eat delicious and endless quantities of food throughout the day. Lunch usually arrives with a great deal of fanfare, featuring the season's best cereals, depending on the elevation—rice, wheat, roasted barley, dough, or buckwheat. Yak, beef, pork or chicken, and sometimes fish are served in prosperous homes. In the more religiously observant homes, a gathering of monks will usually perform ceremonies for barchey lamdoey, “which may loosely be translated as “prayers for the purification of diseases, obstacles, and misfortunes.” In such homes, the esteemed monks are invited to take frequent breaks during the day to join the family in the feasting. Renewed by such delicious food and drink, the monks will often be seen to resume their chanting, the blowing of ceremonial horns and reed pipes, and the beating of their drums and cymbals with renewed vigor and energy. Afternoon tea, with Indian-style sweet milk tea as well as salty Himalayan butter tea or suja—which is more like a broth—arrives with khabzoey, or crispy, mildly sweet deep-fried dough cakes. Dinner is usually preceded by ara, home-brewed traditional rice wine, or singchang, fermented barley beer. By this time everyone will have grown considerably rosier in the cheeks and louder and much more convivial in their mannerisms, and a good old game of playing cards, or sho (a Himalayan game similar to mahjong played with dice) may well ensue. Even the monks, if they're still around and well-known to the family, may join the general rounds of speculation over the most strategic placements of the (sho) pieces in the game! More food is served at dinner—red rice, bright red chilies, and a variety of spicy stews including the national chili-cheese dish ema datsi, and long strips of shakam or dried beef, yak or pork—until everyone is stuffed. Copious amounts of drinking follows. The mostly home-brewed alcohol, imbibed by one and all finally brings the festivities to a close with the flushed red-cheeked faces of everyone giving evidence to their glistening hopes for a happy and healthy year! In the Lunar Calendar of the Himalayas, which largely corresponds with the Chinese one with some differences, 2024 is the Year of the Wood Dragon. According to traditional astrology, the foundational characteristics of the Wood Dragon Year are prosperity, daring, energy, and opportunity. Some people believe that Losar celebrations predated Buddhism in the Himalayas. The traditional practice of burning incense and juniper as a New Year's offering to the spirits and protective deities is believed to be an artifact of the animistic Bon practices that existed before the arrival of Buddhism. In Tibet, the celebrations are sometimes called Boed Gyalpoi Losar, which means “the Tibetan New Year of the King.” This is a reference to the belief that Losar was first celebrated following the coronation of Tibet's first king. In another story, Losar was first celebrated after a woman named Boed Ma (Tibetan Mother) invented the Himalayan lunar calendar. In some parts of the Himalayas, it was also believed to have been celebrated as an autumn festival at the time of "the flowering of the apricot trees." May the the dynamic dragon bring a happy and prosperous 2024 to everyone! As we say in the Himalayas at the start of each promising new year, Tashi Delek! May good fortune shine on all your endeavors! Like this article? Get similar features & travel information sent straight to your inbox with the Bhutan Himalaya Newsletter

Posted 08/14/2021 KARMA DORJI, Bhutan Himalaya Expeditions In a breathtakingly rapid response to the Covid 19 pandemic, the kingdom's health services covered nearly the entire eligible adult population with the first two doses of the vaccine, drawing widespread international media attention and earning its young health minister an executive chair at the World Health Assembly. Here’s the inside scoop of how that happened. The chief Buddhist abbot of Bhutan, His Holiness Je Khenpo, blessing Covid-19 vaccines in the kingdom’s eastern Lhuentse province. Photo: Ministry of Health, Royal Government of Bhutan By July 2021, 90 percent of Bhutan's eligible population was vaccinated with only 21 reported deaths from the pandemic. Faith in the young king’s leadership, the government's belief in science, and the support of the revered Buddhist clergy all played critical roles in the success of Bhutan’s Covid-19 vaccination drive. In a little over 16 days the kingdom’s first nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign launched March 27, 2021, covered an astounding 475,651 people, which may not sound like much until you consider that the number is more than an estimated 93 percent of everyone eligible to receive the vaccine in the country (figure last updated April 12, 2021). To boost coverage, the nation’s beloved young king, His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, vowed to take the vaccine only after it was offered to every eligible Bhutanese citizen, spurring citizens to get their shot as quickly as possible. The landlocked Himalayan nation of approximately 800,000 people first acquired the early shipments of the UK-and-Sweden-based AstraZeneca vaccine, produced in India under the name Covishield, in January. But they were put on ice, literally, because February was deemed an inauspicious ‘Black Month’ according to the astrological calculations of the kingdom’s revered Buddhist clergy, the Dratshang Lhentshog. Bhutanese people routinely consult such astrological charts, released annually by the national religious body, for matters personal and official. Those recommendations can range from favorable dates to convene the National Assembly to opening times for government building projects, wedding and engagement planning, setting travel dates, and choosing the proper days to raise religious prayer flags to boost one’s karma and spiritual merit. Once those favorable dates are set, matters usually proceed at a fast clip, buoyed by the religious blessings and seemingly propitious celestial alignments. Monks and medical professionals gather for a ceremony to consecrate Covid-19 vaccines surrounded by portraits of Bhutan’s kings past and present. Photo: Ministry of Health, Royal Government of Bhutan. Bhutan first received the Covishield vaccines from the Indian government through a vaccine-diplomacy program called Vaccine Maitri (Vaccine Friendship). In the run-up to the nationwide vaccination program, the young king—who was the rallying face of Bhutan’s fight against the pandemic—made acquiring COVID 19 vaccines a top national priority. Other members of the well-loved royal family; religious figures such as His Holiness the Je Khenpo, the kingdom’s chief Buddhist abbot; Bhutan’s democratically-elected prime minister; the health minister; prominent citizens; and young social media influencers all threw their collective weight behind the vaccination program. Such endorsements assuaged fears, quelled rumors, fake news and conspiracy theories seeping in through the internet. The Prime Minister, a practicing medical surgeon, and the Health Minister, a brilliant young graduate of the Yale School of Public Health, immediately took to national television. They outlined the vaccination program, the process, timing and locations of the vaccination rollout, what to expect before and after the first shot. The government flew shipments of the vaccine to remote valleys across the kingdom’s challenging mountainous terrain on domestic flights and emergency service helicopters. Above: Covid-19 vaccines are loaded on an emergency recue helicopter to be flown over the country’s remote mountainous terrain, in preparation for the nationwide campaign to inoculate everyone over 18 years old. Photo: Ministry of Health, Royal Government of Bhutan On March 24, as the final consignment of COVID-19 vaccines arrived in the far-flung eastern Lhuentse province, completing distribution to all 20 districts of the country, the chief abbot, Je Khenpo, arrived with his entourage of monks and religious elders. They performed televised purification and consecration rites over the vaccines, setting devout Buddhist minds at rest about the efficacy of the vaccines. On the morning of March 27, vaccinations opened across the country with the first jabs given, where possible, to 30-year-old women born under auspicious astrological signs in the Monkey Year, prescribed by the Buddhist clergy. In Thimphu, the nation’s capital, vaccinations began at the religiously predetermined stroke of half-past nine in the morning, western time, chosen from the state astrological charts. Ninda Dema, a 30-year-old intellectual property rights inspector for the government, had the right star alignments to receive the first jab. A nurse, another 30-year-old woman, born in the same year and under similarly opportune conditions, vaccinated her, kickstarting the kingdom’s ambitious campaign to provide the vaccine to all ages recommended to receive the vaccine under international guidelines. Ninda Dema—the 30-year-old chosen in accordance with the Bhutanese state clergy’s astrological recommendations to receive the first jab of the vaccine—dedicates her Medicine Buddha prayer for universal healing under a smiling portrait of Bhutan’s young king, surrounded by dignitaries. Photo: Ministry of Health, Royal Government of Bhutan As the symbolic 30-year-old chosen to receive the first Covid-19 vaccine shot in the country, Ninda prepared herself a day earlier by praying at two famous Buddhist temples in the capital. Her mother, who lives in the neighboring province of Paro, visited and prayed at eight temples on Ninda’s behalf. Shortly before 9:30 am on March 27, the young woman sat on a chair, surrounded by government ministers and dignitaries (including the Indian Ambassador to Bhutan), and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath, composed herself, and recited the Medicine Buddha mantra as she received her shot. Tayatha Om Bekandze Bekandze Maha Bekandze Randza Samu Gate Soha. “May all sentient beings who are unwell be liberated from sickness and pain,” she prayed, “and may all forms of illness and suffering disappear, never to return again.” By contrast, an article in the New York Times on April 5, 2021, quoted the leader of a US-based nondenominational Christian ministry who said, “The vaccine is not the savior.” He told the Times that he had received a divine message that God was the ultimate healer and deliverer. According to data from the Pew Research Center used in that Times article, 45 percent of White Evangelical Christians said they would not get vaccinated against COVID-19. Bhutan’s example should—but likely won’t—be held up in the US as proof that faith and science can coexist for the greater good. Isn’t that, after all, the highest purpose of both Science and Religion? 101-year-old Phurba Deki, receiving her Covid-19 Vaccine in Bhutan's southcentral region of Dagana. To learn more about the future of Bhutan's pandemic response, watch "Prepping for the Next Pandemic," an interview with the Bhutanese Health Minister at the Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Author of Dreaming of Prayer Flags: Stories & Images from Bhutan, Karma Singye Dorji is a writer and former journalist who has led and curated cultural treks and journeys to Bhutan since 1999. SHARE THIS ARTICLE:

Hint: They're not the ones listed by Lonely Planet when they voted Bhutan their #1 travel destination for the coming year. When one of the world’s largest guidebook publishers named Bhutan their top travel choice for 2020, it caused a stir among the more experienced Bhutan travel guides (we've been leading our journeys in Bhutan since 1999). On closer reading of the announcement, however, we saw the reasons they gave were the familiar ones we've heard before: the beautiful landscape, the balance of old and new, the fact that Bhutan is carbon-negative. So here, in no particular order, is our own insider's list of why we think it's always a good time to visit Bhutan, whether in 2020 or beyond. 1. An opportunity to discover unique foods and flavors Magical matsutake or mystical cordyceps anyone? The highly prized mushroom which grows in Bhutan during a tiny window of the year and the near-miraculous (so it is said) health-bestowing high-altitude plant that’s harvested only after it fuses with the remnants of a caterpillar are merely two of the more exotic items you can try on a Bhutanese menu! The first is usually eaten in traditional stews while cordyceps is consumed dried and whole or imbibed after being steeped in teas and alcoholic brews. Bhutanese food wasn't notable for a long time after the kingdom first opened its doors to visitors, mainly because we tried to mimic what we thought was "continental" cuisine borrowed from India, but today a convergence of local organic produce and the revival of interest in the diverse food traditions of the kingdom is fueling a culinary renaissance that is catching fire. In fact, the late well-known host of the wildly popular travel and food show Parts Unknown, Anthony Bourdain, visited Bhutan for just that reason (and filmed an episode in the kingdom that later aired after his sad demise). Based on “the primary ‘nine grains’ of Bhutan,” Bhutanese food includes many unique flavors and ingredients such as wild foraged bitter cane (with reportedly blood-purifying properties) as well as a range of fermented and preserved foods believed to have powerful “good-for-the-gut” (no pun intended) properties. 2. The people are nice. Like, really nice... The good people of Bhutan are kind and honest to a fault. You may not realize how exhausting it is to live in societies where everything is a transaction until you arrive in Bhutan. Once you relax and begin trusting your local Bhutanese hosts (which is not difficult; in fact we guarantee it), it allows the natural good humor of the people, their decency, and their honesty to rise to the fore. Here, you can appreciate just how truly amazing it is to have people approach you without motives other than to share an experience of genuine human curiosity or serendipity. With one of the lowest crime rates in the world, honesty is, in fact, a national attribute. Lost ATM cards in the kingdom are commonly found carefully taped to the walls next to ATM machines with helpful handwritten notes and reminders to their owners. 3.No advertisement billboards, Starbucks or McDonald's There are no giant billboards pushing the consumer lifestyle here. The only large signs you will see are the ones announcing important public health messages and those celebrating the cutest first family in the world: the handsome thirty-something king; the winsome, and even younger, queen; and their adorable, dimple-cheeked, three-year-old son, the Gyalsay (Crown Prince), who has already won hearts and minds across the kingdom and beyond. Not here the ubiquitous Starbucks, the omnipresent Golden Arches or the scarlet Pizza Huts you will see in other neighboring countries, and it will probably remain so, by royal decree. 4. Local inns and lodges with traditional character In the same way that we—speaking as Bhutanese people—believe this world offers the perfect balance of suffering and joy optimal for the motivation to seek enlightenment, Bhutan offers the right balance of adventure and comfort for rejuvenating the spirit. Each local lodge, inn or hotel, while not necessarily updated to the latest modern standards, offers its own unique blend of traditional culture and convenience. Worried about central heating? Check out the kingdom’s spin on an iron wood stove, or bukhari, which lends rustic charm to any hotel interior while giving you the benefits of warming your feet. Even though a small handful of hotels in the country are now being built with outside investment, most accommodations in the country are still local affairs, which means there’s none of the sameness here of international chains that often flatten your travel experiences no matter where you are in the world. Thus, the rugged Himalayan landscape offers ample opportunities for staying active outdoors while the cozy accommodations offer the likelihood you'll strike up a friendship with the Bhutanese owners of the establishment. 5. Here you can truly get away from it all! In Bhutan, you probably have the best chance anywhere of truly getting away from it all! Remote valleys with a pristine environment (and great weather in the spring and the fall) means that you can go deep into the country if you choose. Once you leave the hustle and bustle of the capital and the three or four major towns, the true heart of Bhutan begins to reveal itself. You can still find many places in Bhutan where there are no landlines, no television sets or radios, or even newspapers. But if you truly seek escape from the world, you’ll have to take the ultimate plunge: unplug your cellphone. Because the local network coverage is excellent, you’ll likely pick up a connection in most places in the country, even the more remote valleys. 6. Bhutan invites you to explore the deeper meaning of our lives From taking a longer and more cosmic view of things to a deeper inquiry into the true nature of existence and, ultimately, to seeking the path toward peace, an encounter with the Bhutanese culture encourages us to ask the bigger questions of life that we may not have time for in busier societies with more materialistically-defined ideas about success and happiness. 7. Bhutan offers an opportunity for personal transformation This is not a tall claim. For those who find it at the right time in their lives, Bhutan can be a catalyst for personal transformation. The 17th century Japanese Haiku poet Basho believed that travel can be a process of spiritual rebirth. He wrote that when you visit sacred sites and explore sacred landscapes, you enter a liminal space of the heart and the mind, where your old habitual self dies, and you enter an in-between state in which a new awareness arises. He believed that, in this elevated form of travel, we undertake such journeys seeking to be reborn in a higher state of consciousness by encountering all the sublime influences in the places that we experience. The multitude of spiritually significant landmarks in Bhutan makes it a place where you’re likely to have just such an awakening. 8. Here you can take an inner and an outer journey Like the best places to visit in the world, you can take both an inner and an outer journey in Bhutan. There's the physical journey through the history, the temples, the monasteries, the ancient landscape, the valleys and gorges, the rushing waterfalls, the aquamarine rivers roaring down from the snow-capped peaks. Then there's the inner journey in which the visitor can travel in their own hearts and their minds over some of the paths that the Bhutanese people follow in their own learning and study, their beliefs, their spiritual practices and their way of life. In this way you can travel simultaneously on two planes and connect with the hearts and minds of the people to get an understanding of where their culture comes from, their version of reality and their perspective on the nature of existence. Along the way you're invited to immerse yourself in a way of seeing the world differently, which is one of the greatest gifts of travel. 9. You can bring home the practical lessons for your own life The stated national goal of Bhutan is perfecting a formula for happiness. Ask for a meeting with a high lama whose job it is to daily contemplate the ways of finding mental peace or talk to a government official whose responsibilities include protecting the four main pillars of Gross National Happiness: cultural preservation, environmental well-being, equitable socioeconomic development and good governance. Bhutanese people are wonderful at sharing their stories and their perspectives which means that, if you're willing to listen, you will likely find more than a few practical gems you can bring home to enhance your own life. 10. We are all connected The ultimate lesson of Bhutanese culture is that we are all warmed by the same spiritual fire, that we are all, each of us, Buddhas in the rough. To break down the delusions that separate us and to understand the interconnected nature of all things are the true goals of Buddhism. When an entire country believes that we have all been each other’s mothers in our previous lives, it makes that country much more open to visitors. As Bhutanese people we are also universalists at heart. By sharing our perspectives, which are grounded in the Dharma (the teachings of the Buddha), Bhutanese people are not expressing their belief that there is some higher quality to our culture that makes us better than others. Instead, we are sharing our belief that a close examination of our own minds can vastly improve the quality of our lives spiritually and practically no matter where we come from. And that, ultimately, is what makes Bhutan a truly worthy destination whether in 2020 or beyond. KARMA SINGYE DORJI Travel Programs Coordinator Bhutan Himalaya Expeditions Karma has been leading close and intimate journeys to Bhutan since 1999. He is the author of Dreaming of Prayer Flags: Stories and Images from Bhutan. A print version of this post appears in the year-end issue of Tashi Delek, the inflight magazine of Drukair, Royal Bhutan Airlines, the national airline of Bhutan.