Business Times Weekend features Bhutan

This weekend, Singapore’s Business Times runs a write up on Bhutan and the spectacular scenery that awaits visitors when they visit this “Tantric Buddhist kingdom of unspoiled natural beauty and fascinating culture wedged in the Himalayas between Tibet and India”.

Extract

“

In an effort to retain its unique cultural identity, the kingdom, with a native population of about 600,000 distributed unevenly over a mountainous area of 47,000 sq km, took a strict isolationist approach to its existence. As recently as 1992, the annual government quota for visitors was just 3,000, although by the end of last year, that figure had swelled to a relatively large 22,000.

In recent years, Bhutan has adopted a (by its standards) radically different route to economic growth, hoping to take a tightly controlled and more gradual path to development. In addition to opening its borders to more visitors – limited to those willing to pay a few hundred dollars a day for the privilege – the country became a constitutional monarchy and held its first elections earlier this year. The much-revered king also abdicated in favour of his Western-educated son, whose coronation will take place this September.

Its many colourful religious festivals and centuries-old temples and monasteries remain the principal draw for visitors, but the great outdoors also beckons in Bhutan. First-time visitors will perhaps head initially for the cultural sights around Paro Valley, where the only airport is located. The number one attraction is the nearby Taksang, or Tiger’s Nest Monastery, impossibly perched on a vertical rock face about 800 metres above the valley floor.
…. “

Read more of the article at the online version,
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/whatsin/story/0,4574,286555,00.html?
or
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/storyprintfriendly/0,4582,286555,00.html?