Everywhere: Articles: Bhutan, Buddhist Kindom

Girl, Bhutan by Doug Bruns

Out in the country and visiting a village, walking around and meeting people, this little girl just kept watching me. I visited with her parents and walked onto their porch and she let me take her picture.

Nestled in the Himalayas, Bhutan enjoys a precarious existence. To the south is India, and north is China, Nepal is west--all great forces and agents for change in the region. Yet, Bhutan has held firm, retained its culture and protected its environment. But change is coming. Satellite TV and the internet, western visitors and laborers from neighbors are now part and parcel of life in the last Buddhist kingdom.