What remains after a journey to this enchanted kingdom in the Himalayas? It is this smile of the people there, which is apparently contagious. You take it home with you. Just like this relaxed serenity, this expression of contentment. What remains of Bhutan is the feeling of happiness. I have never brought anything better from a journey. It all started with a visual flight to Paro at about 2400 meters altitude: many kilometers of mountains and valleys, to be seen through the windows left and right. As if one flies into Fantasyland, always curving around new mountain ranges while flying low. How often did I think how good it is that the pilot knows his way around here and does this all the time!

I have experienced Bhutan as a land of beguiling beauty, somehow graceful from the first moment on, original, anything but overrun. And it’s sparkling clean, almost plastic-free. Even the customs officers on arrival wear traditional costumes instead of uniforms. There used to be a traffic light in the city of Thimphu – it caused too much stress. Now there are none in all of Bhutan.

And finally, it is possible to travel to this wonderful country, which has happiness for every citizen as a state goal in the constitution, at the highest level: Six Senses has just opened three lodges there, which can be perfectly combined to form a high-contrast round trip. Two more will follow. Each is of high quality and yet deliberately kept simple and reduced.

The main roles are played by temples, waving prayer flags, hidden monasteries, adventurous suspension bridges, these mountains and forests. I have long wondered which of the three is my favorite lodge. The answer: all of them. I just can’t decide. Because everything is always different. That is why I would always want to make a round trip and experience all three of them. Would I like to go there again? Yes, absolutely. And gladly already soon!

Photo: © Berglez.reisen