What could prove to be golden geese for the valley
If you visit Trashiyangtse towards the end of 2008, expect an enormous signboard welcoming you to the dzongkhag.As you move on, several more boards will inform you about trails and places you are approaching. On reaching the town, a beautiful park will greet you, along with a host of other natural attractions.
This is at least what a proposal says that hopes to transform the beautiful and serene valley of Trashiyangtse into the ultimate eco tourism destination in the country.
A proposal, submitted in January by the dzongkhag to the Department of Tourism and the United Nations Development Programme, suggests strategic activities to promote eco-tourism through the participation of rural communities to improve their livelihood.
The proposed project proposes developing basic tourist facilities, including walking trails and public toilets, plantation along river banks, park landscaping and information brochures, among others.
Village community leaders will be involved in the documentation of historical and sacred Buddhist sites and rural communities should benefit through the sale of traditional handicrafts, food and lodging and from porter and pony charges.
According to dzongda Dr Ugyen Tshewang, the place did attract tourists earlier but not up to its full potential. “Trashiyangtse has greater opportunity for eco-tourism,” he said. “It’s endowed with a lot of natural beauty and biological diversity.”
