Laya || Highland village of Laya in Gasa
Laya village is located in the Gasa district or Dzongkhag. The people of Laya have their own dialect, customs, and distinct dress. Women keep their hair long, unlike other parts of the country, and wear peculiar conical bamboo hats with a bamboo spike at the top. These hats are held on by a beaded band that reaches the back of the head. They dress in black woolen jackets and long woolen skirts with a few stripes. They also wear lots of silver jewelry on their backs, and some of these displays include an array of silver teaspoons.
The Layaps call their homeland 'BAYU' or 'bey-yul' (hidden land). Laya is one of the highest villages in the country, at 3700m. The peak of the daunting Tsenda Gang (7100m) towers over the village, which is spread out over a hillside near the Tibetan border. The cluster village is completely hidden by ridges, and there are around 140 households spread into small villages in the gewog (sub-district). Villagers grow turnips and mustard and produce one crop of wheat or barley a year before the region is snowed in for the winter. Their primary source of food and income is yaks. During the summer, most people move to the high pastures and live in black yak hair tents.
In the evening at your campsite, the village women are easily encouraged to stage an evening 'cultural show,' which consists of Bhutanese circle dancing accompanied by traditional Bhutanese and Layap songs. The existing infrastructure includes one Community School, a BHU (basic health unit), a Forest Guard Post, and two Wireless stations."
