
However, modern development and the building of roads to access the remote regions has led to the disappearance of numerous old routes, leaving only a few intact as they eons ago. Bhutan had been closed to the outside world (with a very few exceptions), until the first paying tourist group visited this hidden paradise in 1974. Adventure travelers make up for only 10 to 15% of the total number of tourist arrivals a year (17000+ in 2006). Therefore travelling in Bhutan is truly a once in a lifetime experience. Bhutan boasts a forest cover of approx 70% and provides an enormously rich flora and fauna.