From April 12th to 26th, we traveled through the land of happy people with the guide Angduc Tsering from Ladakh: Bhutan. We experienced the country and its people up close and even met the royal couple during the temple festival in Paro, to whom we brought our greetings from Germany and Ladakh. Under the expert guidance of our Bhutanese guide Tenden, we visited monasteries, dzongs, schools, private houses and temples and also climbed several vertical meters on foot to the Tiger’s Nest.

Tendyen turned out to be a walking encyclopedia, no question about the history, culture or religion of Bhutan went unanswered. He fulfilled all our wishes with patience, kindness and understanding: finding beautiful stamps, tasting buttered tea and yak cheese, consulting with local doctors Rent a hiking stick, eat Momo food with locals, see a private house from the inside, talk to a lama just before his three-year silence retreat, visit a market and have tea breaks, pee pauses and photo stops.

The because of many road works sometimes only mud and gravel existing communication routes mastered our bus driver Tashi with circumspection and a lot of skill. He cleared up what had got mixed up in the bus after a day of driving with 1700 hairpin bends and 6,000 altitude meters completed and provided us with cushions to cushions and enough bottled water, so that the thin air did not make us unnecessarily.

The heart of our small tour group was without any doubt our German tour guide Angduc Tsering. He looked after us caring, attentive and unobtrusive. Everything he did was filled with warmth and humor. When translating into German, he introduced us to Buddhism not only through explanations but also through his deeds, effortlessly switching between English, German, Ladakhi, Mandarin, Hindi, and Tibetan, always knowing what would be good for us. On long journeys, he reminded us to drink, got us fruit on the markets, and divided it properly for everyone, explained food and drink, customs and manners, provided us with prayer flags for hanging on passports and prayer shawls in the temples were blessed.

Under his guidance, we all felt always respected, well taken care of and sheltered. Deeply touched and full of impressions, we returned from the land of happy people to Germany. This journey is a gem and it will last for a long time. I greet you cordially.

– Dr. Cornelia Löhmer