SONAM AND I EVENTUALLY made it out. In spite of several more close callsor perhaps because of themthe chance to find Gangkar Punsum's hidden pass had been a dream expedition for me.
Bhutan is what Nepal must have been like before the rapaciousness of capitalism, what eastern Tibet must have been like before the rapaciousness of communism. With no hyperbole, the kingdom of Bhutan is the most beautiful country in the world.
Back in Thimphu, Sonam told me he would not go into the mountains again. He wanted to open a cybercafé or a pizza joint.