The Snowman Trek in Bhutan is the world’s most difficult mountain trek. An American school teacher shares her experience from this extraordinary trek.
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Category: Travelogue
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Archery in Bhutan
A trio of dogs loll on their sides in the morning sun, oblivious to the arrows whooshing invisibly above them at 200 mph. When the shafts appear with a telltale thwack in the foot-wide oblong targets, the dozy beasts don’t even bother looking over. The hundred or so spectators in the bleachers here at the […]
On a cold March night nearly two years ago, not long after we had learned that the baby I was carrying had all his chromosomes in a sequence that spelled health and wholeness, I was lying in bed next to my husband marveling at this unlikely turn of fortune when I remembered Chimi Lhakhang. Chimi […]
Penises painted on houses or suspended from rooftops in Bhutan are larger than humans.
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Bhutan at the Rubin
What’s remarkable about this crystal-clear photograph of Drukyul Dzong, which is currently on display at the Rubin Museum in New York City, is that it was taken 105 years ago with a camera that is the size of an old TV set. And that the plate-glass negative on which the image was captured made it […]
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Climbing Chomolhari in 1970
“What’s your problem?’ Dorjee Lhatoo shouted in Tibetan, “We’ll all die if we carry on pushing towards the summit,” Lieutenant Chachu replied. The two men were a hundred feet below the summit of Mount Jhomolhari (Chomolhari – 24,000 ft) making their final assault to the summit.
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Chomolhari Trek – Tests and Triumphs
I won’t lie. I’m a pretty huge fan of beds, pillows, warm water, and flushing toilets. But do we really need all that. Well…. plenty of people go without it, and trekking was a good reminder of what we really need. But for now I’m happy to be back writing with a laptop in the […]
Zhiwa Ling is a fully Bhutanese owned luxury hotel in Paro. As a goodwill gesture from Zhiwa Ling, the professionals of the tourism industry (in Bhutan) were invited to spend the Saturday night (11 July) at their beautiful 45-room property in the upper reaches of the lush Paro valley. Such gestures are much appreciated. Thank […]
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Global Clown Biker in Bhutan
After covering more than 59,275 km on his bicycle around the world, Alvaro Neil is all smiles and looks strong. Yesterday, the 41-year-old Spaniard adventurer was in Thimphu on the road toward fulfilling a dream he calls “Miles of Smiles Around the World.”
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Tarayana
It was my maiden visit to the Land of Thunder Dragon, Bhutan, and the day before heading to live in a remote village. Immersion exposure to rural poverty had by then become an indispensable feature of my official itinerary everywhere.