News: The End of the Last Shangri-La?

Back in 2000, I had the privilege to spend two weeks in Bhutan. We had several school feeding project in remote areas. Kids would cross mountains at the beginning of the term, and only go back to their homes three months later. The schools had no funds for the kids' meals, and that was where we came in.

Over the past 20 years I have lived, or visited about 150 countries. From Antarctica to Kiribati, from East Timor to Andorra. Bhutan is the country that I would pick as the one place which left the longest lasting imprint in my mind. The people, their smiles and forthcomingness. The landscape and isolation. The culture. The "world's last Shangri-La", I thought.

This last Shangri-La seems to be no longer sheltered from the typical 21st century world problems, it seems:

A bomb exploded in Bhutan on Monday, the latest in a string of blasts blamed on ethnic Nepali exiles and designed to disrupt the Himalayan kingdom's first-ever parliamentary poll next month, police said. The United Revolutionary Front of Bhutan (URFB), a newly formed armed group fighting for the rights of ethnic Nepalis exiled in 1991, claimed responsibility for the blast, warning of more attacks unless the March 24 elections were cancelled. (Full)

Source: The Other World News