gallery - bhutan landscape
Small prayer flags are called "horse-wheels". The Himalayas behind are over 20,000 ft.
Tall narrow flags with many prayers printed are "Prayer Flags". They fly everywhere.
Bhutan has a young King and Queen, who are beloved. This ancient palace was birthplace of a former King.
Travel photographer Andrea Johnson, with 22,028 ft. Jitchu Drake in distance.
Fertilizer spread around on farming terraces at 9,000 ft
Monks walking outside the walls of their fortress monastery.
By law, 60% of Bhutan will remain National Parks and forests. The remaining land is mostly family owned small organic style farms.
Only 5 miles from Tibet, the Jolmolhari trekking trail is an ancient smuggling route between Tibet and Bhutan.
From our base-camp at 13,500ft, Jolmolhari at 24,000ft is in the distance.
Some families enter their sons in a Buddhist Monastery at age 4, then it will be 9 years of training to become a monk for life.
This is a string of 18 ponies used to pack all the supplies for a 10 day trek: tents, supplies, and fresh food.
Prayer flags by the hundreds, maybe thousands, at this mountain pass...the highest motorable road at 13,000 ft.
Punakha is called "the Palace of great happiness or bliss".
The most popular Buddhist temple in Bhutan. Each day, hundreds of visitors hike 3 miles of rocky trails from 8,000 ft to 10,000 ft to see this wonder.