Day 5

Tuesday 2 Oct 218

Today was a rest day, a 2-hour walk to 2 lakes above camp which gave us a feel for the life of the yak herders who drive their animals across pastures high up on the valley sides.

Several other trekking groups arrived at camp making this a busy site. We were all able to have hot showers in an improvised tent and water bag system. A scary moment at dinner when one of the Bhutanese camping team had an epileptic fit leaving everyone a little somber.

The 4th king of Bhutan came to the throne in 1972 at the age of 16 and 2 years later coined the slightly witty phrase Gross National Happiness. But this was not new as in 1729 Bhutan’s legal code declared that “if the Government cannot create happiness for its people, there is no purpose for the Government to exist”. To this day the essence of GNH rest on four pillars: good governance, sustainable socioeconomic development, cultural preservation and environmental conservation. This means that major government policy proposals have to go through a GNH screening tool and in 2008 there was some enthusiasm for Bhutan to join the World Trade organisation but unfortunately it failed the GNH test! One benefit of this is that Bhutan did not open its economy to the likes of McDonalds and Domino’s Pizzas!

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