Josh Liberman, world traveler, renowned travel photographer, and spiritual tour leader for our Spirit of Bhutan trip, guests this week on Halle’s blog.

young schoolgirl, Tang Valley, Bhutan.

How much fun could you possibly have on a trip to a place without electricity? Vegas…Paris…Times Square? Can you imagine visiting these places if the electricity went out? Boring? Maybe. Disappointing? Without a doubt. So why would anyone recommend you go anywhere that didn’t include that mainstay of modernity, even on pilgrimage travel? Even to a place with a name like Tiger’s Nest? Well…suppose you were to go so far afield that those “following the herd” refused to follow? You might discover a place so rich in culture and beauty that kings are humbled. Quest travel to a place where peace resides.

Take a walk across Phobjikha Valley, home of the Thunder Dragon in the heart of majestic Bhutan, and you will know how small we humans dare to be. This expansive valley of grasses and marshlands remains today, relatively untouched by human hands. This is a great place to visit on pilgrimage travel. Bhutan famously measures not GDP, but GNH, Gross National Happiness, from Tiger’s Nest to Thimpu. Thanks to “Preservation of Natural Resources,” one of the Four Pillars of Bhutanese GNH, the king of Bhutan has proclaimed Phobjikha Valley exempt from infrastructural development such as sewage, electrical delivery, and water mains. You see, the Phobjikha Valley is the winter nesting and breed ground to the Black-necked Crane, flying like the Thunder Dragon on migration from Southern China. Without this integral key of natural development, the Black Crane would have little chance for survival, as they perform their own, life-saving version of pilgrimage travel. As a result of this preservation, the valley remains a beautiful gem of Bhutanese culture. It may not have electricity, but it does have a Tiger’s Nest. So on your next quest travel to foreign climes, forget modern conveniences and kick back in a country that has barely changed in over a thousand years.

Please join Spirit Quest Tours and Joshua Liberman, your host, for our Spirit of Bhutan Tour, where you’ll enjoy the land where the mighty Thunder Dragon still roars.