Airport Paro in Bhutan from Druk Air

Bhutan, the hidden Himalaya paradise


In this set I post my favorites photos from three visits in Bhutan 1996, 1998 and 2000. On all my trips in Bhutan I value again the kindness of the beautiful people, their honest smiling, the cooperativeness, and the nice educated kids who have much fun when I captured them without asking me for money like in other countries people do it every time. The mentality isn't spoilt from this bad side ef…  (read more)

Residential area on the way to Thimphu

01 Jan 2008 607
On the way back to the Paro valley and to Thimphu we passed a small village were we could rest for a while. I forgot its name but not the warm hospitality from the villagers and the invitation to visit their rebuilt monastery. The drawing of the phallus on house walls is a sign for the power and protection against bad influences. In Bhutan the phallus is an integral part of ceremonies observed by communities, commonly used to ward off evil spirits and counter evil.

Chorten on the way down to the Paro valley

Pupils of the Genekha Primary School

01 Jan 2008 1 805
A group photo in honor of the principal, teachers and all the pupils of the Genekha Primary School.

Our horses have a rest

01 Jan 2008 1 595
Once I was ask by a Bhutanese friend, what I would like to be my next life on the steps to the Nirwana. I never was asked such a question before so I had to think a long time what creature would be nice. Never an human being again as they are wrong thinking, making wars, conflicts, cheating each other being corrupted, killing the other for nothing ect. ect. My answer then was easy: An eagle? An elephant, a tiger? Then I said that an horse in Bhutan would be nice because the Bhutanese people keep the animals so nice.

Mithe our friend and guide assistance

01 Jan 2008 445
In honor of our faithful friend who took care of us all the trekking way. Mithe passed away in 1997 caused by a disco brawl. We keep our friend in best memory.

Bhutanese herds woman selling cheese

01 Jan 2008 1 488
Oh well maybe for cooking an spicy hot Bhutanese chilly curry. Later in Bhutans district Bhumtang people made an yak cheese in top quality.

Bhutanese farm house

01 Jan 2008 915
Bhutanese architecture is a remarkable adaptation of Tibetan architecture to different ecological conditions. As in Tibet, the walls of fortresses slope inwards and are whitewashed, with the windows becoming larger in the upper storeys. However, in Bhutan, the need to cope with heavy precipitation and the availability of wood have given its architecture a flavour all its own. Wood is widely used. The assembling of windows and doors is so complicated that the work is done at ground level, the finished elements being fitted into the upper walls later. Windows are characterized by trilobed crossbars at the top and by complicated lintels that carry symbolic meaning in all of their parts. Lintels and windows are painted with floral or geometric designs. The roofs of houses are pitched above a flat floor. They are mortised and covered with shingle held in place with heavy stones. These pitched roofs are completely original in style and help give an impression of lightness to the whole building.

Way up to the DagaLa (pass 3200 m)

We reach the DagaLa (pass 3200 m)

25 Jan 2010 1 719
Its a custom to walk on the left side of the cairn and set a stone onto the top.

A stone hut without a roof

01 Jan 2008 1 586
Most cottages at the Labatana plateau are used for bivouaks only, the herdsmen don't stay there permanently. The roofs mostly are blown away by the strong storm which sweeps over the plateau every day.

Pack back in the tent and raise our sleeping bags

01 Jan 2008 1 676
During the night time it was a heavy storm blowing over the plateau and suddenly was blow away our tent. Our crew immediately improvised an other roof over our heads that we hadn't to stay outside in the Blizzard storm. From one moment to the other it was calm and next morning the landscape was covered with a thin layer of snow like iced sugar.

A thin snow layer covered the hills

Reaching the end of the plateau

A steep climb up to the Labatana lakes

26 Jan 2010 638
There is a steep way up to climb on fixed ropes to reach the first lakes of many others.

Fantastic panorama view over the plateau

Phima our tour guide

01 Jan 2008 384
We never forget his high value help to make us possible this nonrecurring and grandiose trekking tour.

Prepare the way for the horses

01 Jan 2008 437
Before the horse keeper leaded his horses crossing the snow field we stepped deep stairs into the harsh snow. One wrong step of the horse it slides down the valley hundreds of meters, nearly no chance to survive.

Preparing the steps for our horses ...

01 Jan 2008 538
... to cross the snow field. It looks easy but took more than one hour to work on it.

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