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Bhutan : The land of Thunder Dragons
Hello everyone !!
Today's blog post is about my trip to one of the most beautiful country I have visited
There is no particular season as such to visit Bhutan. One can visit at any time of the year, as Bhutan is blessed with all the four seasons through out the year. We decided to visit Bhutan in May because it's spring season. It was 3 of us. Me, my mom & my 5 year old daughter.
Reaching Bhutan is not at all difficult as it operates flights daily from India to Paro. Getting tickets during tourist season may get difficult as they don't have big commercial flights. Due to constant changes in weather conditions there are very limited direct flights that operate. We boarded our flight from Mumbai till Guwahati, further ahead it was a long road journey of almost 5-6 hours from Jalpaiguri Airport to Phuntsholing. It is situated on India - Bhutan border. We reached there around 9.00 p.m. at night, checked in our hotel and went off to sleep as it was a hectic day.
Next day we had to report to immigration office. You don't require a visa to travel in Bhutan but their rules and regulations are very strict when it comes to tourism. Post our formalities we left for Paro, the capital city of Bhutan. Phuntsholing as mentioned earlier is bordered with India on one side and Bhutan on another so climate was warm. As we started going higher in altitudes towards Paro the climate changed drastically from warm to chilled. Travelling within Bhutan is only by means of road and there is only 1 single route. There are no alternate by pass roads or highways so at times it gets boring but the nature outside is just beautiful.
Reached Paro at night around 9.00 p.m. Although it's a proper commercial city it doesn't have a night life like any other city in the world. The shops close by 9.00 p.m. at night. Next day was sightseeing in Paro which has museum,local markets to shop for souvenirs,cafes, shops,hotels, airport and palaces. Being situated in high altitudes the weather gets chilled after 4.00 p.m. in evening
Today we started our journey to Thimpu from Paro. Visited the biggest Buddha open air statue. This statue is built at highest point of the city so it can be located from anywhere. It was 12.00 p.m. sharp noon time and the weather was was very windy with light showers. Post our lunch we visited Bhutan's national animal Takin. Evening we visited to Thimpu's local market for shopping beautiful handicrafts and textiles. We bought only couple of fridge magnets and a wall hanging piece which according to Bhutan culture is a sign of good luck. Most of the shopping items are quiet familiar since it's imported from either India or China.
Second last day of our journey was to visit Punakha vis DO CHULA pass which is at 10,000 FT above sea level. It is also a war memorial. When we started from hotel the day was nice bright and sunny but as we reached the pass we could barely see each other in the thick fog. The site from this point is breath taking. Due to thick fog we could'nt see anything but if you are lucky enough and if the weather is clear you can see the mighty HIMALAYAS. Further we proceeded to Thimpu to visit Punakha Dzong which is also Bhutan's old capital city. In Bhutan Dzong means temple of Holy place. In Thimpu one can even try river rafting if the weather permits.
Last day of the mesmerizing tour came to an end with driving back to Phuntsholing and leaving nextday morning for home bound flight
Some interesting facts about Bhutan as observed by me
1. It is a very small country in terms of geographical landscapes, but it is one of the GREENEST country in ASIA.
2. People of this country are very sweet and very helpful. They respect their King very much.
3.For the people of Bhutan, religion is everything. You will find that their life revolves around Buddhism. Even in terms of academics religion is plays an important role. Although there are separate schools which preach religion for those who wants to become monks.
4. Their social life is very different from any other cosmopolitan city. They don't have huge malls or theaters where youngsters can hangout or go out to party. Even the movies are religion based. Interestingly they don't allow Bollywood to shoot in their country as it has lot of voilence. As Buddhism teaches Peace they do not want to entertain any kind of negative energy in their country.
5. Although they consume non-veg food but they believe in one thing which I found really wise. They believe that god has given all of us one life then why to kill others and be happy? How is that possible? So many prefer to be vegetarian.
Thank you for reading