By CHAITANYA KALBAG of Reuter THIMPHU, Bhutan. —”Do not give pens, sweets or medicine to villagers,” warns a Bhutanese government guidebook for tourists and mountaineers. For a country described in official brochures as “perhaps the last of the Shangrilas,” Bhutan is not in a hurry to modernize its tourist image. Called “Druk Yul” (Land of…
By CHAITANYA KALBAG of Reuters through NZPA Thimphu, Bhutan On many mountainsides in the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, Buddhist prayer wheels powered by streams tumbling through birch and pine trees spin in endless movement. The wheels turn on present-day gear shafts that speak of modern Bhutan, moving slowly towards development and yet rooted…
Thimphu, Bhutan (Reuter) — “Do not give pens, sweets or medicine to villagers,” warns a Bhutanese government guidebook for tourists. The writer has ventured to the secretive Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, where less than 2,000 visitors are permitted to visit each year, to report on the country, its people and its young bachelor king. For…