An audience with the ‘dragon king’ of Bhutan, from 1984
A meeting with the youngest ruler of the world’s most impenetrable country resulted in some very modern observations
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.
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