Ben and Janine Cundiff and Joe and Judy Barker have been extraordinarily kind to Namgay and me and have made so many things possible. We are eternally grateful. Perhaps with the passage of time, they will be able to forgive us the 38 inches of snow and the long, dark night at 3,750 meters on Thrumsingla Pass; the accommodations from Hell in Samdrup Jonkhar; and the military escort that kept a loaded gun pointed at their heads all the way to Guwahati. Good times.

Thanks to Carol and Rob Stein, who, in 1989, showed me the little speck on the map that is Bhutan and pointed me in the general direction. I also have deep and abiding gratitude to Marie Brown and Bhutan Travel. Until I came along, she had a perfect record of clients returning from their vacations.

Thank you to my agent, the rare and wonderful Laurie Abkemeier. Thank you to my editor Patty Gift; as well as Sally Mason, Laura Koch, and Amy Gingery at Hay House. Special thanks to Anne Barthel, for fact checking things that aren’t fact-checkable.

To all of my Bhutanese friends and teachers, including Louise Dorji, Ambassador Lhatu Wangchuk (the first Bhutanese I met), Aum Dago Beda, Dawa Lhamo, Geydun Pelzang, Ugyen Zam, and Ashi Khendum, thank you for your inspiration and help. Thank you to Dasho Karma Ura and all of the researchers at the Centre for Bhutan Studies, especially for information about Chendebji, Trongsa. And special thanks to my guru, Thinley Dorji.

Also thanks to BJ Robbins, Jane Cavolina, Richard Loller, and wonderful Sherry Loller, who knew all along what was right. Thanks and love to Sarah Forbes and Roger Redpath, who are always in our hearts. The washing machine still works.

Last, thank you to Namgay, who is even more remarkable than I describe.