‘Facts About Bhutan’ authored by Lily Wangchhuk is a comprehensive book which unveils all there is know about Bhutan. A maiden venture by a Bhutanese, it reveals amazing facets about the country and provides a holistic picture of the many delightful and incredible aspects of this little known Kingdom. It will help both foreign visitors and Bhutanese discover the country’s history, society, tradition, culture, people, governance, judiciary, clergy, foreign relations, economy, environment, health, education, and tourism among many other topics.
Readers will also gain a good understanding of the glorious journey the Kingdom has traversed under the monarchs over the last 100 years. Policies of the government, information about all 20 districts of Bhutan and other places of interest are vividly explained in the book and would serve as a ready reference. To help visitors, it contains exhaustive information about visiting Bhutan supported by charts, maps and illustrations on recreation activities, monthly temperature, driving time between places and contact details of travel companies. Common phrases for conversational Dzongkha supported by illustrations will help travelers strike a bond of friendship immediately with the locals. Encyclopedic in scope, the book’s 400 pages of texts are embellished with over 700 astonishing photographs, 40 maps, 9 graphs, 8 information tables, 23 mini statistics, 23 special spotlight pages all meticulously well-researched and compiled in one. Useful websites related to Bhutan are listed to help readers gather additional information.
Dedicated to 100 years of Bhutan’s glorious journey under monarchy, the book has been published under the auspices of the National Steering Committee for Coronation and Centenary Celebrations.
The book is special and significant for the reason that it is about Bhutan, for Bhutan by a Bhutanese. Her Majesty Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, the Queen Mother of Bhutan has penned the foreword of the book. In the foreword Her Majesty credits the author Lily Wangchhuk for introducing the fabric of Bhutan in all its beauty and uniqueness through her well-researched facts and compilation of beautiful pictures.
Her Majesty launched the book at an impressive function held at Taj Tashi, Thimphu on 21 October 2008 which was attended by the who’s who of Bhutan. A short movie was screened describing the book followed by a short talk by the author who said that the book was a tribute to the great monarchs of the Kingdom. The author also spoke about her journey of writing the book. As a means to provide the authentic information, the author said that she undertook the project of collecting authentic facts over five years. She also referred to the challenges faced due to the transition which took place over the last one year which prompted her to updater her research with the current policy and accurate facts.
A must buy book it is a well compiled book which is more than a travel guide, it aims to serve as an ideal reference material for readers of all genres ranging from students to diplomats from foreign tourists to native Bhutanese. The author is also planning more books on Bhutan and hopes that more Bhutanese authors will follow her footsteps to write about our Kingdom.
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Facts about Bhutan: The land of the Thunder Dragon by Lily Wangchhuk; 386 pages; cost Nu 1250 / US$ 30
2 replies on “Facts About Bhutan”
Dear Gelay,
You have not removed my article from Kuensel. As requested earlier, I will be most grateful if you can please remove this article. As author, I hope you will understand my reservation with this article.
Looking forward to your cooperation.
Lily
@Lily – I have changed the book review by Kuensel, to the one supplied by you.