Product Description
Bhutan is the last intact Himalayan kingdom. Roughly the size of Switzerland but with a population of about 700,000 people, Bhutan may be diminutive, yet it is home to one of the most astonishingly diverse natural and cultural ecologies on earth. It is often called "the last Shangri-la" and with good reason. The pristine environment and incomparably kindhearted people make this a truly extraordinary place.
The book, Bhutan, is a visual odyssey across the kingdom. Teams from M.I.T. and Friendly Planet took over 40,000 photographs on four extensive expeditions across the country. They flew by helicopter, rode mountain ponies, trekked with packhorses and yaks, and journeyed by caravan on farflung roads and foot trails across the Bhutanese Himalaya. Local students, like Choki Lhamo (a 14-year-old girl from Trongsa who aspires to become a doctor) and Gyelsey Loday (the son of the head lama in the village of Phongmey), joined these ambitious trips and helped with the photography in order to share a corner of their world. The stunning imagery in the book loosely follows these journeys. Portraits of people are lifesized (or bigger). Panoramas convey some of the staggering sweep of the mountains and the awesome ancient architecture.
Bhutan begins appropriately with something very special. Renowned artist and author, David Macaulay, created an atlas of the country expressly for this book. Masterfully drawn, the map is surrounded by sketches of some of Bhutan's most salient features: massive dzongs, Himalayan peaks, stupas and other impressions decorate the map, almost as if they were pages torn from the journal of a travelling artist.
Brilliantly photographed, Bhutan conveys some of the specialness of that unique country. But the book is also socially meaningful, and a powerful reminder that we live in a big world. There are places and people whose beauty and grace are endlessly worth cherishing.
From the Publisher
Bhutan: A Visual Odyssey Across the Last Himalayan Kingdom, is a smaller companion volume to the world's largest published book (which carries the same name but is much, much larger). For those who don't have room on their shelf for an enormous 5x7 foot book, this "small" book nevertheless opens to over 1x2 feet, providing an eyeful of gorgeous vistas and scenes.
by John Wehrheim
by Bradley Mayhew
by ITMB Publishing
by Jamie Zeppa
