WANGDUE, Bhutan -- This might be any country fair: families picnicking on the grass, kids playing tag, an intense B-I-N-G-O match in a tented fairway booth. Except these kids are playing Pin the Tail on the Elephant, without a donkey in sight. The educational exhibits focus on safe sex; "Wrap that rascal; don't be a statistic" directs a poster depicting a penis in sunglasses. And in a simple wood-and-brick fortress at the end of the lawn, cymbals and drums hammer a discordant pace for intricate dances dedicated to the Buddhist traditions of this remote Himalayan land.

Clang. Clang. Clang. Clang clang clang clang clang.

A dancer in an elaborate steer mask twirls into the temple courtyard, tossing his head, twisting, stepping high to ripple the layered scarves of his skirted costume. Security guards motion the crowd aside, making way for cymbal players and drummers and the red-masked atsara, clowns who hand out condoms and pester festivalgoers for money. Crimson-cloaked monks watch from a wooden gallery festooned with yellow and red banners.

Thousands of devotees from villages throughout this corner of the Himalayas crowd the courtyard; others cluster on wooden steps leading to gaily-painted balconies edging the white-washed bricks of the dzong, or temple-fortress. A vast thangka - a painting depicting the life of Buddha - hangs against a three-story wall.

The crowd is dressed in its traditional best: men in tall socks and knee-length belted robes (called gho) in plaid or a dark solid; women in long, straight plaid skirts, or kira, and belted brocade jackets. For burgeoning adults, it's also an opportunity to meet a potential mate.

Like most festivals, this is as much social outting as religious rite: part pageant, part education, part heritage-retention program. For the handful of tourists like us, it's also a step into an extraordinary universe where traditions hold fast and the government measures success in a matrix of economy, literacy, democracy, culture and ecology called GNH - Gross National Happiness.

Minnette Massey of Coral Gables, a University of Miami law professor, traveled here with a group from Elderhostel. "A friend wanted to go on vacation and suggested Capri. I said I've been there; find me something exotic." Bhutan fit the bill.

We came for the gentle strangeness of it all, and the purity of a society where commercialism is a distant afterthought. Like Californians Sheri and Marty Slattery, whom we met along the way, I had visited Tibet in the early 1990s and was surprised by the Chinese influence there. "It was upsetting," said Sheri. "So I wanted to see Buddhism working in people's everyday lives."

Said Beverly Whittaker, a fellow Elderhosteler from New Jersey: "I've decided there are two kinds of people in the world: Ones who are curious and ones who aren't. I firmly believe everything has a season. You can't let things pass by."

THE THUNDER DRAGON Bhutan is clearly for the curious. Though it measures about a quarter the land size of Florida and claims less than 1 million people, its very name means strength: Land of the Thunder Dragon. Arranging a trip here isn't simple or cheap, though it has gotten easier in recent years. About 13,600 tourists visited in 2005, up 47 percent from the previous year, reports the country's tourism department; most are 40-plus, in search of cultural experiences. Visitors must be accompanied by a guide and spend a minimum of $165 per person per day in expenses via an authorized tour company; deposits must be made by wire transfer rather than credit card.

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