Bhutan’s Royal Highland Festival is a mix of music, dance and sport - but it’s the altitude that takes your breath away
- Held in Bhutan’s highest village, Laya, the annual festival brings together villagers from across the country in friendly rivalry
- Attended by the Bhutanese king, it is a colourful occasion with dancing, wrestling, horse-racing – and a most-beautiful-yak competition
Bhutan’s Royal Highland Festival is an exclusive celebration of music, culture, dance and rivalry between clans from across the nation.
But it’s not the price of a ticket or rules to keep out the hoi polloi that make the two-day event difficult to attend – it’s the journey to get there.
The annual festival takes place on an alpine meadow above the village of Laya, which, at 3,820 metres (12,533ft) above sea level, is the highest settlement in Bhutan.
Just 10km (6.2 miles) from the Chinese border, in the most northerly reaches of Gasa district, Laya is accessible only on foot or by helicopter.
When setting out, reassured by the guide that the hike would be a mere 12km, the helicopter option seemed like a ridiculous idea. After completing about a third of the journey, it is not sounding so silly.
The challenge is not so much the walking, which is along a well-marked path that follows a fast-flowing river, crosses wooden bridges and passes white-painted chorten (stupas) containing prayer bells that are kept turning by mountain streams. The biggest hindrance is the altitude.
