Bhutan recently opened its borders, and one of the primary highlights has been the comeback of the 16th century Trans Bhutan Trail (TBT), which has for the longest time served as a pilgrimage route for Buddhists from the east travelling to the most sacred sites in the western region. The trail has been thrown open to travellers once again after 60 years.

As per the reports, the 403-km-long Trans Bhutan Trail is now open to domestic, regional, as well as international travellers.

100 percent of the profits from the journeys go back into the Trail’s long-term maintenance and development, and into supporting the local communities which live along it. The project is also responsible for engaging communities and stimulating enterprise and employment by means of homestays, community campsites, grocery purchases for campsites, and guiding programmes.

As for this trail, it’s an ancient pilgrimage and communications route connecting Haa, in the far west of Bhutan, with Trashigang in the east. If records are to go by, the trail was used by pilgrims, messengers, armies, and traders until the 1960s, and to throw it open for the travellers has been nothing short of an uphill task.

The Trail is also an ode to Bhutan’s ancestors and a gift to her future generations. It offers a new and intimate way of accessing the world’s best-preserved traditional culture, whether on foot or by bike, along with immersing in legends handed down over many generations.