Happiness is not necessarily a place as the marketing slogan would have you believe. But we all instinctively know that of course. Bhutan has it's problems like every other country on the planet. Living costs are rising fast, young people are leaving en masse, and there is little doubt that the government mishandled the introduction of the new SDF (which by the way is still not transparent) post-Covid. But it is absolutely a place of pristine natural beauty, as well as deep-seated and well-preserved Vajrayana traditions. While comparitively expensive (especially for longer, expeditionary treks), it does just simply work better than most of it's scruffier (although no less compelling) neighbours like Nepal; a kind of Switzerland of the Himalayas if you like (you can even buy home-made Swiss cheese in Bumthang)!
