The Rotary Club of Denver Stapleton

Our world traveler and hiking expert Ed Cole yesterday showed us a slide presentation of his recent trip to Bhutan.

Bhutan is a small mountainous country on the southern slopes of the eastern Himalayas, bordered on three sides by India and by China to the north. Bhutan is a primarily Buddhist country, called “Druk” by its residents.There is just one airport in the country – in order to land at the airport, the pilot has to fly a curving flight path thru valleys in order to reach the airport.

Ed and Kay were with a group of nine tourists, visiting Bhutan during a three-day festival where the residents wore colorful costumes and performed many ritual type dances. The highest point in Bhutan is Gangkhar Puensum at 24,840 ft, which is also the highest unclimbed mountain in the world. The highest point Ed and Kay hiked was 13,000 feet.

One striking featuer as Ed and Kay traveled the country were the prayer flags. It is believed by many Bhutanese Buddhists that the ideal number of prayer flags for deceased people is 108, preferably made from freshly cut trees.

The farms are very small plots. Oxen or very small tillers work best on the small plots. Farm houses in Bhutan are built with three levels. The bottom level housed the animals. The second level is where the family lived. The third level was for storing the crops. There was usually a small temple inside each house.

One Response to “Ed Cole – Travels in Bhutan”