Bhutan:the land of gentle people

Young monks at play

From Connecticut, I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

I have so many thanks to give and treasure every moment of this life, the good and sometimes not so good... In this last post on Bhutan, I tried to capture images of the simple happiness derived from love and nature.

This journey through Bhutan ends with portraits of its gentle and playful children.

In Bhutan, the GNP is not measured in financial terms but as the Gross National Happiness.

This concept was introduced by the King and has taken the Western world by storm, governments, economists and scholars have invited the young handsome King to speak about the 4 pillars of Gross National Happiness: Environment - Culture - Spirituality - Society.

Bhutan is determined to keep its independence by preserving its culture and its ecology.

Children in school uniform, these young kids walk up to 2 hours each way to go to school they are so engaging and joyful 

Girls dressed up for the religious festival

Little monks getting a break from their studies

Student preparing for his high school examination. From the youngest age, young boys and girls learn english. The brightest student are sent by the king to Colombia (where the king studied), Harvard, Cornell, Yale, UCLA, Stamford, Georgetown, Oxford and Cambridge, Mc Gill, depending on their field of study. No student sent abroad has failed and all graduated in the 10% of their class.

These children wake up before sunrise to walk to school, study for 6 hours, go home for a simple supper, study some more or help their parents with farming duties. The greatest gift is a pencil, they look happy, playful, and love learning.

The people, nature, colors of Bhutan will forever stay with me.

Until next time...there is that one challenging trek (reputed for being the most difficult trek in the world...) along the Himalayas...