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Is This Shangri-La? Why Not.
Shangri-La…the perfect realm, shrouded in profound mysticism… visions of sacred monasteries, fluttering prayer-flags, maroon-clad monks in meditative chants… up among lofty snow-clad peaks deep in the Himalaya.
To a Bhutanese, the notion has been a source of much pride, disappointment, realisation and, perhaps, serious thought. While I have neither heard the subject discussed in Bhutan, nor "Shangri-La" mentioned, except by an occasional tourist, I have been bombarded by it elsewhere. "Wow, you're from Shangri-La?" "How is it in Shangri-La?" "Is it really Shangri-La?" The more academic ones want to compare Bhutan to James Hilton's Lost Horizon.