Bhutan prepares for its first parliamentary polls

Masked dancers whirl in the courtyard of the Bhutanese fortress, in an annual religious festival as locals in colorful traditional dress and foreign tourists absorb the sights and sounds. Bhutan is advertised as the "Last Shangri-La", the mystical paradise of James Hilton's book The Lost Horizon. It has a culture similar to that of Tibet but has been spared the heavy hand of China and also western influence.