//Part 8 of 8 //
I’ve always longed to visit this remote kingdom, the Land of Happiness.The opportunity came to fulfill my dream : the Druk Path Trek. Before the inauguration of the asphalt road, this trail was the only route connecting the valley of Paro to the valley of Thimphu through high mountains passes including the Phume La (4210m).
After being off the radar for 5 days, after a lot of “ups and downs “ through breathtaking landscapes, lakes, mountains and valleys, we made it back to civilization as scheduled, in time for the last day of one of the biggest festivals in the country: the Thimphu Tsechu Festival.
This religious festival is held in the capital city for 3 days . Dressed in their best outfits, thousands of people gathered in the courtyard of the famous Tashichho Dzong; by attending it, they are believed to gain merits.
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We weren’t the only foreigners, we could distinguish a few other tourists equally enthralled by the colourful celebrations. It was a rainy day, however that didn’t affect the performers ( monks and commoners).
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Mask dances like the Guru Tshengye (8 manifestations of Guru Rinpoche), Shaw Shachi ( Dance of the Stags), and many more are usually performed.
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That festival was a great finale to an exciting journey in this mountainous kingdom…
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Confessions of a Lady Sindbad 
This reminds me of what an amazing place Bhutan is. I remember walking in the mountains with Alexandra and our guide, passing strings of fluttering flags. On one part of our journey a dog guided us.
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I’m glad my text brought you back to your own visit to Bhutan.
Paro’s airport, sandwiched between those mountains, is one of the 10 most dangerous airports in the world. Landing and taking off was quite an experience…and the super pilots can only be Bhutanese 👨🏻✈️
When you mentioned the fluttering flags, you reminded me of those we saw before we reached Tiger’s Nest Monastery
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