The Blessings of Bhutan

by Russ Carpenter, Blyth Carpenter

"Russ and Blyth Carpenter have been partners in adventure for forty years. They got to know each other when they were college students, during a backpacking trip to Asia. Both of them completed their degrees at Stanford and went on to Harvard for their graduate education. During the next phase of their lives, Russ worked as a business attorney and management consultant, and Blyth taught Asian history. They continued to visit remote areas of the world - as scuba divers, hikers, and earnest students of non-Western cultures." The authors now live in a log house in a Douglas Fir forest next to Oregon's McKenzie River. In addition to publishing books on natural history, they are active in many forms of public service. Their connection with Bhutan began with a trek and cultural tour in 1996 and quickly expanded into public service projects ranging from assisting a desktop publishing company and serving as the Internet publishers for the Centre for Bhutan Studies, to promoting silk and wool textiles and managing the construction and installation of two-way radio transceivers for one hundred remote Himalayan villages."

Genres: Buddhism, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a charming book of vignettes about Bhutanese culture, religion and customs; the authors have spent quite a lot of time in Bhutan, traveling and volunteering and clearly understand their subject as well as approach it with a sense of humor. Chapters run 5-10 pages and cover such subjects as "What do Monks Do?", "Tantra Demystified" and "Gross National What?". I read this before our trip but got so much more out of it upon a re-read after our return.

[Jeannette · Rating 4 out of 5]

These short essays were MUCH more engaging and insightful than I expected them to be. The book was excellent preparation for travel in Bhutan.

[Janet]

Thought provoking - I want to visit Bhutan