The highlanders of Merak and Sakteng are excited and have started buying electric appliances to experiment with electricity. It is one of the remotest gewogs in Bhutan that recently got electricity one year ahead of the deadlines set by the government.
A total of Nu 35 million financed by Asian Development Bank was used to electrify this remote place. The consumption of firewood is expected to decrease. An inaugural ceremony for the electricity was held last week.
Merak and Sakteng gewogs under Trashigang is a new tourist destination which was closed for the past 30 years for foreigners. The trekking route into Merak and Sakteng is a new route opened last year. Until then only a handful of scientists, researchers and tourists have been granted permission to enter this area.
Merak and Sakteng was closed to protect the unique cultural heritage of the Brokpa (highlanders) people and in part to give the mythical Yeti some peace, whose tales of wandering in the valley is very popular among the locals. The highlanders of the Merak and Sakten regions of eastern Bhutan are semi-nomadic yak herders who speak a unique dialect and wear clothing unique to this isolated region of Bhutan.
Merak and Sakteng is near the border of Arunachal Pradesh.