Bhutan Trekking

Bhutan opened its doors to Western tourists in the 1970s and this is the first time that outsiders will be allowed to travel across the country.

Starting Oct. 27, the team will embark on a a 42-day trek via foot and mountain bike across the mountainous nation that many have compared to the mythical Shangri-La. "Expedition Bhutan" hopes to understand the culture and geography of a country whose king states as his goal to boost the nation's "gross national happiness" rather than its gross domestic product.

The trek's leader Terri Schneider, a coach, expedition racer and triathlete from Santa Cruz, Calif., says the journey has many goals.

"The main objective is to experience the country in a physical way, but a bigger motive is to tap into their culture, really getting a sense of what they are doing politically, and look into the concept of gross national happiness," Schneider told Discovery News. "Is it real? Are they some of the happiest people? We want to dive in and examine this and see up close what is going on."

The four-person team will be followed by a documentary film crew to record its findings, as well as a group of sponsors who will trek alongside the racers for the first 10 days.

Bhutan opened its doors to Western tourists in the 1970s. This is the first time that outsiders will be allowed to travel all the way from the western border to the eastern border across 300 miles of unforgiving Himalayan landscape.