Bhutan Rice fields Early Morning

Contrasting with the previous entry of the Himalayan landscape without any visible sign of humans, I also love the Bhutanese traditional rice terracing found all over the mountainous countryside, like this image from the far East of Bhutan in the region of Mongar.

Bhutan is a land of small holding subsistence farming, and the vast majority of the land is still under thick native forest, in fact the forest cover is increasing yearly and it’s basically forbidden to clear new land for farming. The Bhutanese landscape is very mountainous, the valleys are steep and with only a few exceptions, narrow, so every bit of flat space is utilised carefully for cropping. When the land is not flat, they make it flat with terracing. Very clever use of space and it makes for beautiful scenery.

If you would like to come with me to Bhutan I run a fabulous small group (just 10 people) photo tour there every year, you can see all the details on my Bhutan Photo tour page.

#Bhutan #Mongar