Bhutan May 09 - Part 1

Everyone wants to go Bhutan

Bhutan Bhutan Bhutan... everyone is talking about going to Bhutan. The country is receiving more Singaporean tourists for the past year than it did in the past 5 years! It's all Tony's and Carina's fault for having their wedding party there and made this little Kingdom known to the whole Asia. (If you don't know who Tony or Carina is, go google about them :p..)

Why is it expensive to visit Bhutan?

To fly into Bhutan, you can only do so by Druk Air (Bhutanese Airline), which currently has 2 small jets that fly in from Bangkok, Kathmandu and a few cities in India. Not necessarily daily flights and limited seats make getting in and out of Bhutan difficult and expensive.

The government imposes a law that every tourist has to spend a minimum of USD200/ day while in Bhutan. This includes the govt tax of USD65, accommodation, transport and 3 meals which will be arranged by the travel agent you booked your tour with. So, depending on how kind your local tour operator is, you may or may not get the better hotel stay and food.

Where is Bhutan?

As you can see, the Kingdom is surrounded by Tibet on top, which is part of China and India on the other 3 sides. You can find many Tibetans and Indians in the country. Bhutan's younger generation actually goes to Indian Universities after their Secondary School education to obtain their degrees resulting in Hindi becoming a common language in Bhutan besides their local language, Dzongkha(pronounce as Zong-ka)

Bhutan is 2 hours behind Singapore, GMT +6.

Close up Map of Bhutan

If you have 5 days or less, you can just visit Paro, Thimphu (Capital), Punakha

If you have 7 to 10 days, you can visit Paro, Thimphu, Punakha, Wangdue, Throngsa and Bumthang. As you travel further east away from Paro, the place gets prettier, the people are friendlier and the weather is colder. (Altitude in Bhutan is from 4000 to 13000 ft)

Arrival at Paro International Airport,

the only airport in Bhutan as on Apr 09

Er... looks like a temple? scroll down to see how a real temple looks like

View from Airport to Paro City

Me with my Guide, Younten,

both wearing a "Gho", traditional costume for men.

"Kira" is for female.

The People

Bhutan has a population of 635,000. Being an entire Buddhist country, they don't kill cows, chickens, sheeps or Yaks. You can't find fresh meats here as all meats in the country is imported from India.

Bhutanese are friendly and happy to have pictures of them taken without asking for any tokens in return. My tip is to share with them by letting them view their picture on your digital cam's LCD screen and that is enough to make them very happy. Most locals are poor and a digital camera is not a common possession like in Singapore.

Dzong (pronounce as Zong), or a Buddhist Temple

Tourists are transported to different parts of Bhutan to visit many famous Dzong, like the Summer Palace Dzong in Paro, Tiger's Nest Dzong in Thimphu and Winter Palace Dzong in Punakha. A Dzong, besides a monastic temple, is also a government administrative Office for the area... you see, for the past 100 years, Bhutan has been a Monarchy Kingdom. 2 years ago, the King unselfishly turned it into the world's youngest democratic country. Now they have government bodies like what we have in Singapore... Ministry of this.. Ministry of that.. Ministry of everything. Before that, the King has ultimate power over every matter and His Holiness (equivalent to Dalai Lama in Tibet) is respected by the locals like their living God.