The kingdom of Bhutan is the most impenetrable country on earth. Already hidden behind mists, jungles and the Himalayan mountains, the last of the Shangri-las has deliberately isolated itself for centuries. Its once-closed neighbours, Nepal and Tibet, are common tourist destinations, writes Geoffrey Lean in the Observer Magazine on 18 November 1984. ‘But Bhutan remains a place that is, literally, out of this world: it apparently defies the maxims that guide the rest of the globe.’
It may be the second poorest country on earth, after Kampuchea [now Cambodia], according to the World Bank, yet it has no poverty, no unemployment and virtually no crime. As for work, 97% are subsistence farmers, most of whom use an ancient system of barter for their transactions. For leisure, archery is the national pastime; the evenings resound to the twang of bowstrings. Folk dances are a main form of entertainment.
