Just got back from a trip to somewhere exotic, a country not many people have visited yet. It is Bhutan, a still very isolated paradise of natural beauty, where GDP (gross domestic production) is measured more in the terms of GNH (gross national happiness). What is GNH??? Quoted from the Prime Minister of Bhutan: "We know that true abiding happiness cannot exist while others suffer, and comes only from serving others, living harmony with nature and realizing our innate wisdom and the true and brilliant nature of our own minds."
Anyway, let's go back to soap. I found 2 kinds of handmade soaps in Bhutan, the one made with Yak Milk, and the other made with mustard seed oil.
Apparently Yak milk is hard to come by, even for the Bhutanese. Yak can only survive on high altitude mountain top. And Yak is the animal of major protein and nutrient source for people living above 10,000 feet elevation. No wonder this bar of soap costed me $15 USD!!! Who in the world would waste their food source for survival to make soap?! Only people crazy enough like me would! Oh trust me, I did try to look for canned Yak milk to carry back home, LOL. Now mustard seed oil might be exotic to us and hard to find, but I guess it's a none issue in Bhutan cuz that soap only costed me $3.60 USD. I can't wait to try both soaps!
See this skinny Yak we encountered on the mountain, he's all shaved ready for the Spring and Summer to come, and we were at 11,200 feet above sea level.
Sounds like you had an amazing trip! How neat that you found such exotic soaps. It's so fun to try soaps from other soapmakers.
ReplyDeleteYAK soap? Sounds like great fun. At that price you'll have to save it for Holiday use only like special Christmas showers...
ReplyDeleteBoth soaps look incredible! The Yak Milk Lavender soap looks especially intriguing!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your soaps! I agree with Jenny that it's always fun to try soaps by fellow soapmakers.
ReplyDeleteYou should be able to find mustard seed oil at an Asian or Indian grocery stall.
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