The Kingdom of
Bhutan has adopted a cautious approach to
tourism to avoid any negative impact on the country’s culture and environment. All tourists, group or individual, must travel on a pre-planned all inclusive guided tour through a registered tour operator in Bhutan or their counterparts abroad. The basic rate is fixed by the government.
There are still plenty of takers wanting to explore the
breathtaking mountains and valleys of this astonishing country. The tourism industry in Bhutan is founded on the principle of
sustainability, meaning it must
be environmentally friendly, socially and culturally acceptable and economically viable. The number of tourists is also kept to a manageable level by the limited infrastructure.
The Bhutanese name for Bhutan,
Druk Yul, means
’Land of the Thunder Dragon’. Much of Bhutanese history is lost in legends but the first major event was the arrival of Guru Rinpoche, believed to have brought Mahayana Buddhism from Tibet in the eighth century. Bhutan, the
world’s last Mahayana Buddhist kingdom, became a coherent political entity around the 17th century and has never been conquered or ruled by another foreign power.
Bhutan is a peaceful country with strong traditional values based on religion, respect for the royal family and care for the environment.
GeographyBhutan is located in the eastern Himalayas, bordered to the north by China and to the south, east and west by India. The altitude varies from 180m (590ft) in the narrow lowland region to over 7,300m (23,950ft) in the Himalayan plateau in the north, and there are three distinct climatic regions. The foothills are tropical and home to deer, tigers, leopards and the rare golden langur monkey as well as much tropical vegetation, including many species of wild orchids. The Inner Himalaya region is temperate; wildlife includes bear, boar and sambar, and the area is rich in deciduous forests. The High Himalaya region is very thinly populated, but the steep mountain slopes are the home of many species of animals, including snow leopards and blue sheep.
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