“AFAR Ambassador Ryan Cordwell reflects on an unforgettable trip with the USTOA”
As part of AFAR’s partnership with the USTOA, whose members provide unparalleled access to global travelers, I recently embarked on the Luxury Gold Magnificent Nepal & Bhutan tour. It was incontestably one of the most personally enriching journeys of my life, and an experience that anyone would find rewarding. I say this easily, having seen countless corners of the map. I recently had the privilege of experiencing in meticulous extravagance, Kathmandu and the Mountain Kingdom of Bhutan, led by my tour’s traveling concierge and Bhutanese community cornerstone, Dorji. He maintained a relentlessness in going the extra distance, from nonpareil dining at local restaurants and home-grown chili dishes, to our small group escapades into the countryside. The cultural insights I garnered on this adventure were only outweighed by the opportunity to view such a storied part of the world so uniquely and in a capacity one would otherwise not find.
I’d like to share ten of the most historically noteworthy and photographically inspiring sights of this near-two-week visit, from Nepal to the Eastern Himalayas, in hopes of encouraging you to share in and explore these extraordinary places.
“I really can’t say as to whether my ability to tolerate the pepper at each meal was a case of my desire to fit in, or the simple fact it’d been prepared so inherently and successfully within every plate. Greater than this vegetable, there lies a larger symbiosis of Bhutan’s chili and those who grow it. The exchange between the two is a direct reflection of a people excited of their culture, and a culture grown by those who tend to it.”
“I had spent days enjoying its place on the city horizon, before trekking its steps to realize the most stunning view of this structure was from its peak, overlooking virtually every point in Kathmandu.”
