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Bhutan Tourism
BHUTAN,
the land of the Thunder Dragon, this mountain Kingdom is still perhaps the world's
most exclusive tourist destination. Thanks to the Royal Government's far sighted
policy of selective and regulated tourism, the numbers of tourists have remained
low and the cultural values and traditional life-style of Bhutan have been protected.
An unspoiled country with majestic mountains imbued with a certain mystique;
a unique cultural heritage preserved intact and with a continuity of many centuries;
an architectural style like no other; a land of full of 'warm hearted and friendly
people'.
Situated in the heart of the Great Himalayas, the world's mightiest range; Bhutan
is flanked on the north and north west by Tibet, the plains of north-east India
to the south and south-west and the hills of India's north eastern state of
Arunachal Pradesh to the east. The kingdom is spread over an area of 18000 sq.
miles, with varied climatic conditions; ranging - as the terrain climbs; in
horizontal bands - from the hotel and humid Southern foothills, to the temperate
inner Himalaya and, finally, to the nearly 7700 m high snow caps of the High
Himalaya that defines Bhutan's northern frontier.
Bhutan has a population of about 1 million and its state religion is the Drukpa
sect of Kagyupa, a school of Mahayana or Varjrayana/Tantric Buddhism; making
it the last surviving Buddhist Kingdom. In the eleven centuries since it was
introduced, Buddhism has shaped the national's history and plays a vital role.
In western Bhutan; Paro, Thimphu (the capital) and Punakha (the old capital),
; in Central Bhutan; Tongsa (ancestral seat of Bhutan's ruling dynasty) and
the bucolic beauty of the high valleys of Bhumthang are most visited by tourists.
In the recent years, Bhutan has become a paradise for trekkers and mountaineers.
Trekking through the hills of the country sighting rate botanical plants and
herbs and encountering a multitude of colourful birds and rare animals; the
takin, blue sheep, burket, musk deer and, in the lonely reaches of the High
Himalaya, the elusive snow leopard. Perhaps, for all we know, even the apocryphal
yeti!
THIMPHU,
the capital of Bhutan since 1960, lies at an elevation of over 7600 feet in
a fertile valley transversed by the Thimphu Chhu River. Tashichhodzong, the
main secretariat building, houses all the Ministries, the National Assembly
Hall, the office of the King and the Throne Room. It is also the summer residence
of the monk body and the religious chief, the Je Khempo.
In the National Assembly Hall, the two storey high statue of Lord Buddha, wall
paintings depicting the twelve stages of Buddhahood and columns of Kanju and
Tenju (Buddhist scriptures) exemplify the superiority of religion over politics.
The yearly Thimphu Festival is held in the courtyard directly in front of the
National Assembly Hall. Houses in the Uchi, the tall citadel type temple in
the middle of two courtyards, is one of the two largest thankas (religious scrolls).
It is displayed to the public once in 25 years. Prominently standing out in
Thimphu is the stupa styled monument dedicated to the late King, His Majesty
Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, who is the father of modern Bhutan. The paintings and
statues inside the stupa provide a very rare insight into Buddhist philosophy.
Five miles away from Thimphu stands the Simtokha Dzong on a lofty ridge and
it still enjoys the strategic importance today that it did in 1627 when it was
first built by Shabdrung Nawang Namgyal.
Bhutan Tour Packages
» Western
& Eastern Bhutan
» Western
& Central Bhutan
» Western
Bhutan
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Bhutan City Travel
Guides
» Paro
Valley
» Punakha
» Wangdiphodrang
» Tongsa
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- - -› About
Himalayas - - -› People
& Tribes of Himalayas
People & Tribes of Himalayas
The
population, settlement, and economic patterns within the Himalayas have been
greatly influenced by the variations in topography and climate, which impose
harsh living conditions and tend to restrict movement and communication. People
living in remote, isolated valleys have generally preserved their cultural identities.
However, improvements in transportation and communication, particularly satellite
television programs from Europe and the United States, are bringing access from
the outside world to remote valleys. These outside influences are affecting
traditional social and cultural structure.
Nearly 40 million people inhabit the Himalayas. Generally, Hindus of Indian
heritage are dominant in the Sub-Himalayas and the Middle Himalayan valleys
from eastern Kashmir to Nepal. To the north Tibetan Buddhists inhabit the Great
Himalayas from Ladakh to northeast India.
In central Nepal, in an area between about 1830 and 2440 m (between about 6000
and 8000 ft), the Indian and Tibetan cultures have intermingled, producing a
combination of Indian and Tibetan traits. The eastern Himalayas in India and
nearby areas of eastern Bhutan are inhabited by animistic people whose culture
is similar to those living in northern Myanmar and Yunnan province in China.
People of western Kashmir are Muslims and have a culture similar to the inhabitants
of Afghanistan and Iran.
The economy of the Himalayas as a whole is poor with low per capita income.
Much of the Himalayas area is characterized by a very low economic growth rate
combined with a high rate of population growth, which contributes to stagnation
in the already low level of per capita gross national product. Most of the population
is dependent on agriculture, primarily subsistence agriculture; modern industries
are lacking.
Mineral resources are limited. The Himalayas has major hydroelectric potential,
but the development of hydroelectric resources requires outside capital investment.
The skilled labor needed to organize and manage development of natural resources
is also limited due to low literacy rates. Most of the Himalayan communities
face malnutrition, a shortage of safe drinking water, and poor health services
and education systems.
Agricultural land is concentrated in the Tarai plain and in the valleys of the
Middle Himalayas. Patches of agricultural land have also been carved out in
the mountainous forested areas. Rice is the principal crop in eastern Tarai
and the well-watered valleys. Corn is also an important rain-fed crop on the
hillsides.
Other cereal crops are wheat, millet, barley, and buckwheat. Sugarcane, tea,
oilseeds, and potatoes are other major crops. Food production in the Himalayas
has not kept up with the population growth.
The
major industries include processing food grains, making vegetable oil, refining
sugar, and brewing beer. Fruit processing is also important. A wide variety
of fruits are grown in each of the major zones of the Himalayas, and making
fruit juices is a major industry in Nepal, Bhutan, and in the Indian Himalayas.
Since 1950 tourism has emerged as a major growth industry in the Himalayas.
Nearly 1 million visitors come to the Himalayas each year for mountain trekking,
wildlife viewing, and pilgrimages to major Hindu and Buddhist sacred places.
The number of foreign visitors has increased in recent years, as organized treks
to the icy summits of the Great Himalayas have become popular. While tourism
is important to the local economy, it has had an adverse impact on regions where
tourist numbers exceed the capacity of recreational areas.
Historically, all transport in the Himalayas has been by porters and pack animals.
Porters and pack animals are still important, but the construction of major
roads and the development of air routes have changed the traditional transportation
pattern.
Major urban centers such as Kathmandu, Simla, and Srinagar, as well as important
tourist destinations, are served by airlines. Railways link Simla and Darjiling,
but in most of the Himalayas there are no railroads. The bulk of goods from
the Himalayas, as well as goods destined for places within the Himalayas, generally
come to Indian railheads, located in the Tarai, by road. The pack animals and
porters transport goods from road heads to the interior and back.
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