Sangay Khandu

Sangay is from Katong, a small village in Lower Kheng, Zhemgang — a place he describes as simple but full of meaning. Family gatherings, helping around the house, time spent outdoors: these were the textures of daily life, shaped by parents who emphasized respect, hard work, and staying grounded. It is an upbringing that continues to inform how he moves through the world. He went on to earn his Diploma in Tourism Management from the Royal Institute for Tourism and Hospitality in Motithang. He has visited Zhemgang extensively and speaks about it with the authority of someone who knows it beyond its reputation. The subtropical forests are dense with birdlife — hornbills among them — and the landscape shifts dramatically from western Bhutan: warmer, greener, more remote, with winding rivers and deep forest valleys threaded through with quiet villages. What stayed with him equally was the community — people living in close relationship with forest conservation and sustainable farming, where low-impact travel is not a policy but a way of life. Punakha holds a different kind of pull for him — the balance of rivers, terraced rice fields, and a slower rhythm of life that feels both grounding and welcoming. He plays khuru, Bhutan's traditional dart sport, and completed the Bumdra Trek, ...