For a few people, adventure of Bhutan is high in their agenda, and for others it’s the culture. Indeed, Bhutan has best of both worlds which can satiate the appetite of an avid traveler. But for me, everything was mind-boggling starting from adventure to culture, monastery to handicraft, cuisine to sightseeing.
Remained unknown to the rest of the world until the mid 20th century, Bhutan, the tiny land-locked Himalayan kingdom, is credited to successfully retain its ancient culture, arts and religious and political traditions despite having two great neighbours - India and China. Besides, the country is rich in natural environment, and to keep it intact, the government has adopted a controlled tourism and development policy. The Royal Government of Bhutan adheres strongly to policy of low impact/volume, high value tourism. But recently, as a long-term plan, the department of tourism has changed its slogan from ‘high value, low volume’ to ‘high value, low negative impact’.
I, in capacity as Reporter for Tashi Delek, the in-flight magazine of Druk Air from Bhutan, alongwith my colleague Pankaj, Marketing manager, started our five-day tour on December 12, 2005 from Delhi. Our company arranged tickets for us in Druk Air, the national carrier of Bhutan that connects the country with other countries. Around this time Bhutan is visited by few travelers due to severe cold.
Watching Everest without climbing!
After four hours delay, our plane–KB-205 took off from Delhi via Kathmandu at 1200 hrs. The delay was due to the bad weather in Kathmandu. It was a normal incident in winter season in this route. I was not worried about the delay, but worried about the possibility of not clearly watching Everest. But fortunately, after few minutes of our journey, the sky got rid of the cloud and fog. The sky is now clear. I could watch the mountain range for kilometers. Out of curiosity, I asked my friend Pankaj to give me the window seat. He could not say no to my interest. From then, it’s fabulous. The sight is something I can never forget. In between, the cabin crew announced, that we are approaching Mt. Everest. Suddenly, all passengers got ready with their cameras to click the snow-capped peak. For me it was an experience of life time. I could know that I can not express the scenic beauty of Everest in my limited vocabulary, so I clicked as many as possible in the hope that atleast these photos can express what my limited word power could not.
Normally, tourists visit other countries to watch the tourist destinations. But here, the journey itself provides a great pleasure to watch some of the highest mountain peaks in the word. It’s probably the closet one can see Mt. Everest without actually climbing it! It’s not the Everest only which fascinates one and all, in fact, K2, Mt. Kanchenjunga, Mt. Chhomolhari, Makalu peaks and the whole mountain range are worth to watch.
Small is beautiful. But it added one more adjective to this cliché – personal care. Yes, I am telling about Druk Air. Matching the scenic beauty, the airline, though small in size, serves drinks, refreshment and lunch. Their personalized service in flight will remind you the hospitality of Bhutanese.
After a journey of around two hours, we reached at Paro airport which is surrounded by high mountains, and is located deep in the valley. The landing was an experience in itself, as landing in such a small airways needs special efforts from the pilots. Passengers’ clapping, I guess, was in recognition to pilots’ effort and the exuberance of landing in the land of the Thunder Dragon.
Paro - The first and last place for a visitor
Being the only airport of the country, Paro is normally the first and last place for a visitor. There is a popular saying about Paro: If ever a place exists where nature and man consulted to create their dearest image, it must be the valley of Paro. The major attractions of Paro valley are the silvery Paro river, majestic Paro Dzong, imposing Ta Dzong (watch tower) and snow-capped mountain range. Here, on a clear day one can get the view of Mt Chhomolhari.
Paro valley is one of the most populated areas of the state. Because of its close proximity to the airport and as a major tourist attraction point, there are some good hotels on either sides of the Paro river. After an overnight stay at Holiday Home, we started our journey to Thimphu next morning.
Paro to Thimphu: watch the country in a nutshell
Distance 55 KM. Driving time two hours. The journey on the narrow and snaky road through the hills and valleys along the snaky Paro river is something different from our normal journey on the Highway. The awe-inspiring vales, mountain chain, dense forest, deep gorges, blind curves, verdant slopes, the distance snow-capped mountains and savannahs made our driving adventurous, yet enjoyable.
After one hour driving on our way to Thimphu, we reached at Chuzom which means the meeting of two rivers – Paro and Thimphu chhu. While the driver was reporting to the security personnel at the check gate, we watched for a few moments the beautiful scenery at Chuzom.
Besides its pristine beauty, one can see smiling people in their traditional dress in both sides of the road. The unified housing structure along the road sides with marvelous woodwork shows their workmanship. The scattered house on the valley along the river sides amidst natural setting are fist to the eyes.
Around 1.30 pm, we reached at Thimphu and checked in to Hotel Dragon Roots near the clock tower. After a sumptuous lunch, I visited Kuensel Corporation Ltd that publishes the country’s national newspaper - Kuensel.
Thimphu – welcome to one of the smallest Capitals
The view of the valley-based Thimphu city which lies at an altitude of about 7,600ft is wonderful. Its housing structures, roads, people with traditional costumes and fascinating tiny shops will take you back into the medieval age. Here, both the medieval charms and 21st century developments coexist beautifully. And, this uniqueness is its hallmark.
Being a small city with population around 50,000, most of the tourist attractions in the city are within walking distance. The central location of my hotel helped me visit most of the important places by walking. The roads were not jammed and the day temperature was pleasant to walk. The interesting fact about Bhutan is that there are no traffic lights! Pollution is not a problem at all. Of course, evening was chilled with flowing wind and the night temperature was something around minus three/four degree Celsius.
While in the Capital don’t miss to visit…
Situated in the centre of the city, the Textile Museum is the symbol of great textile culture. The museum houses Bhutan’s finest woven embroidery and appliqué textiles alongwith age-old production techniques like weaving, dying and spinning.
The National Library is another place one should not miss. Established in 1967, the library preserves ancient Bhutanese written and printed resources. Today, it preserves history of Bhutan in archaic texts.
Get the glimpses of Bhutanese art and craft at Arts & Craft School. It is here the techniques of traditional thagkha paintings are imparting to keep its age-old charms in textiles, painting and handicraft. Not far from the Arts & Craft School is the Folk Heritage Museum which provides insight into classical Bhutanese lifestyle displaying original artefacts. To make your visit a memorable one, do purchase small gift items from Druktrin Rural Handicrafts which has a wide range of collection.
Memorial Chorten, Trashichhodzong, Simtokha Dzong, Traditional Medicine College, Weekly Market and many more are places one traveler should not miss. These places show the culture, tradition, art &craft of the country.
Advantage being an Indian
From the dates of Padmasambhava in 8th century AD to present days, India has a very good relation with Bhutan. At cultural and religious level, both countries share some similarities. The Indo-Bhutan Treaty in 1949 further strengthened the relation between the two countries. On this historical background, Indians feel at home while visiting the Himalayan kingdom. Besides, an Indian does not need Passport to visit Bhutan. Voter Identity Card is enough in this regards. Other major advantages are language, currency and dishes. Most of the people can understand Hindi. Hindi movie, serial and song are of great hit among locale. Indian currency is widely in use, no need to convert it to Nu (Bhutanese currency). Everywhere one can find Indian dishes. Besides Indian cuisine, the mouth-watering Bhutanese dishes like Ema/Kewa Datshi and Shamu Datshi are connoisseur’s delight. Ema Datshi, the national dish, is a traditional delight of chilli & cheese/potato & cheese. Its flavour will satiate the appetite for local dishes. We got a standard Ema Datshi @ Nu 50 at our hotel. Shamu Datshi, another popular traditional delight, is made up of cheese & mushroom, and is widely available @ Nu 70.
But what made special to our staying at the hotel is the personal care of the staff. Chief cook Aslam and staff members Durga, Das and B. N. Sharma made every effort to satisfy our taste for food. Aslam and Das are being Indian; they know our taste and serve accordingly. And we never felt outside of our home country. The dish that is similar to Indian Khechidi prepared by Aslam was worth to remember.
Above all, the Bhutanese hospitality will make you feel comfort starting from your arrival to departure. In short I can say: The business tour ultimately turned into a pleasure tour for me.
Remained unknown to the rest of the world until the mid 20th century, Bhutan, the tiny land-locked Himalayan kingdom, is credited to successfully retain its ancient culture, arts and religious and political traditions despite having two great neighbours - India and China. Besides, the country is rich in natural environment, and to keep it intact, the government has adopted a controlled tourism and development policy. The Royal Government of Bhutan adheres strongly to policy of low impact/volume, high value tourism. But recently, as a long-term plan, the department of tourism has changed its slogan from ‘high value, low volume’ to ‘high value, low negative impact’.
I, in capacity as Reporter for Tashi Delek, the in-flight magazine of Druk Air from Bhutan, alongwith my colleague Pankaj, Marketing manager, started our five-day tour on December 12, 2005 from Delhi. Our company arranged tickets for us in Druk Air, the national carrier of Bhutan that connects the country with other countries. Around this time Bhutan is visited by few travelers due to severe cold.
Watching Everest without climbing!
After four hours delay, our plane–KB-205 took off from Delhi via Kathmandu at 1200 hrs. The delay was due to the bad weather in Kathmandu. It was a normal incident in winter season in this route. I was not worried about the delay, but worried about the possibility of not clearly watching Everest. But fortunately, after few minutes of our journey, the sky got rid of the cloud and fog. The sky is now clear. I could watch the mountain range for kilometers. Out of curiosity, I asked my friend Pankaj to give me the window seat. He could not say no to my interest. From then, it’s fabulous. The sight is something I can never forget. In between, the cabin crew announced, that we are approaching Mt. Everest. Suddenly, all passengers got ready with their cameras to click the snow-capped peak. For me it was an experience of life time. I could know that I can not express the scenic beauty of Everest in my limited vocabulary, so I clicked as many as possible in the hope that atleast these photos can express what my limited word power could not.
Normally, tourists visit other countries to watch the tourist destinations. But here, the journey itself provides a great pleasure to watch some of the highest mountain peaks in the word. It’s probably the closet one can see Mt. Everest without actually climbing it! It’s not the Everest only which fascinates one and all, in fact, K2, Mt. Kanchenjunga, Mt. Chhomolhari, Makalu peaks and the whole mountain range are worth to watch.
Small is beautiful. But it added one more adjective to this cliché – personal care. Yes, I am telling about Druk Air. Matching the scenic beauty, the airline, though small in size, serves drinks, refreshment and lunch. Their personalized service in flight will remind you the hospitality of Bhutanese.
After a journey of around two hours, we reached at Paro airport which is surrounded by high mountains, and is located deep in the valley. The landing was an experience in itself, as landing in such a small airways needs special efforts from the pilots. Passengers’ clapping, I guess, was in recognition to pilots’ effort and the exuberance of landing in the land of the Thunder Dragon.
Paro - The first and last place for a visitor
Being the only airport of the country, Paro is normally the first and last place for a visitor. There is a popular saying about Paro: If ever a place exists where nature and man consulted to create their dearest image, it must be the valley of Paro. The major attractions of Paro valley are the silvery Paro river, majestic Paro Dzong, imposing Ta Dzong (watch tower) and snow-capped mountain range. Here, on a clear day one can get the view of Mt Chhomolhari.
Paro valley is one of the most populated areas of the state. Because of its close proximity to the airport and as a major tourist attraction point, there are some good hotels on either sides of the Paro river. After an overnight stay at Holiday Home, we started our journey to Thimphu next morning.
Paro to Thimphu: watch the country in a nutshell
Distance 55 KM. Driving time two hours. The journey on the narrow and snaky road through the hills and valleys along the snaky Paro river is something different from our normal journey on the Highway. The awe-inspiring vales, mountain chain, dense forest, deep gorges, blind curves, verdant slopes, the distance snow-capped mountains and savannahs made our driving adventurous, yet enjoyable.
After one hour driving on our way to Thimphu, we reached at Chuzom which means the meeting of two rivers – Paro and Thimphu chhu. While the driver was reporting to the security personnel at the check gate, we watched for a few moments the beautiful scenery at Chuzom.
Besides its pristine beauty, one can see smiling people in their traditional dress in both sides of the road. The unified housing structure along the road sides with marvelous woodwork shows their workmanship. The scattered house on the valley along the river sides amidst natural setting are fist to the eyes.
Around 1.30 pm, we reached at Thimphu and checked in to Hotel Dragon Roots near the clock tower. After a sumptuous lunch, I visited Kuensel Corporation Ltd that publishes the country’s national newspaper - Kuensel.
Thimphu – welcome to one of the smallest Capitals
The view of the valley-based Thimphu city which lies at an altitude of about 7,600ft is wonderful. Its housing structures, roads, people with traditional costumes and fascinating tiny shops will take you back into the medieval age. Here, both the medieval charms and 21st century developments coexist beautifully. And, this uniqueness is its hallmark.
Being a small city with population around 50,000, most of the tourist attractions in the city are within walking distance. The central location of my hotel helped me visit most of the important places by walking. The roads were not jammed and the day temperature was pleasant to walk. The interesting fact about Bhutan is that there are no traffic lights! Pollution is not a problem at all. Of course, evening was chilled with flowing wind and the night temperature was something around minus three/four degree Celsius.
While in the Capital don’t miss to visit…
Situated in the centre of the city, the Textile Museum is the symbol of great textile culture. The museum houses Bhutan’s finest woven embroidery and appliqué textiles alongwith age-old production techniques like weaving, dying and spinning.
The National Library is another place one should not miss. Established in 1967, the library preserves ancient Bhutanese written and printed resources. Today, it preserves history of Bhutan in archaic texts.
Get the glimpses of Bhutanese art and craft at Arts & Craft School. It is here the techniques of traditional thagkha paintings are imparting to keep its age-old charms in textiles, painting and handicraft. Not far from the Arts & Craft School is the Folk Heritage Museum which provides insight into classical Bhutanese lifestyle displaying original artefacts. To make your visit a memorable one, do purchase small gift items from Druktrin Rural Handicrafts which has a wide range of collection.
Memorial Chorten, Trashichhodzong, Simtokha Dzong, Traditional Medicine College, Weekly Market and many more are places one traveler should not miss. These places show the culture, tradition, art &craft of the country.
Advantage being an Indian
From the dates of Padmasambhava in 8th century AD to present days, India has a very good relation with Bhutan. At cultural and religious level, both countries share some similarities. The Indo-Bhutan Treaty in 1949 further strengthened the relation between the two countries. On this historical background, Indians feel at home while visiting the Himalayan kingdom. Besides, an Indian does not need Passport to visit Bhutan. Voter Identity Card is enough in this regards. Other major advantages are language, currency and dishes. Most of the people can understand Hindi. Hindi movie, serial and song are of great hit among locale. Indian currency is widely in use, no need to convert it to Nu (Bhutanese currency). Everywhere one can find Indian dishes. Besides Indian cuisine, the mouth-watering Bhutanese dishes like Ema/Kewa Datshi and Shamu Datshi are connoisseur’s delight. Ema Datshi, the national dish, is a traditional delight of chilli & cheese/potato & cheese. Its flavour will satiate the appetite for local dishes. We got a standard Ema Datshi @ Nu 50 at our hotel. Shamu Datshi, another popular traditional delight, is made up of cheese & mushroom, and is widely available @ Nu 70.
But what made special to our staying at the hotel is the personal care of the staff. Chief cook Aslam and staff members Durga, Das and B. N. Sharma made every effort to satisfy our taste for food. Aslam and Das are being Indian; they know our taste and serve accordingly. And we never felt outside of our home country. The dish that is similar to Indian Khechidi prepared by Aslam was worth to remember.
Above all, the Bhutanese hospitality will make you feel comfort starting from your arrival to departure. In short I can say: The business tour ultimately turned into a pleasure tour for me.
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