Country Info
- Thimphu
- Capital
- Ngultrum (BTN)
- Currency
- 2,049,412
- Population
- BT
- Country Code
Bhutan Slideshow
Bhutan
Travel Blogs from Bhutan
Thimphu - shopping capital of the world
... odd fluffy cloud. In Paro we raced up to the end of the valley for a view of the snow-capped peak of Jmolhari - Bhutan's second highest mountain at over 7000m. It was wonderfully clear. Then we went to watch an archery match going on between some ...
Perfect Day
To continue from the last entry. the day in Jakar turned out to be one of my favourites of the trip. After lunch we went on a hike (Bhutanese are incapable of using the word walk!) Penny who had her pedometer reckoned we did around 13kms. After the first ...
Escape from Kathmandu
... by again on route to Tibet, and then we returned to spend an extra couple of days there before continuing on to Bhutan. But apparently, entering Kathmandu three times wasn't enough. The day for finally leaving Kathmandu for good arrived, ...
Heading back towards the only airport...
... was actually not to shoot the arrow furthest, but closest to the target. Apparently she won without knowing why... :) Day 8 Bhutan (Punakha - Thimpu - Paro): The majority of this day was spent in the car as we had 5 hours of road to ...
The Land Where Time Stands Still
... a promontory overlooking the Paro valley. The museum houses an extensive history of Buddhism and its beginnings in Bhutan, a vast collection of thangkas, an eclectic collection of Bhutanese postage stamps produced to celebrate various events, an ...
Walk in Guru's Glory!
The first day after our arrival, our guide Sangay thought a good warm-up for our upcoming Jhomolhari trek was to climb up to the Taktsang Monastery (also know as Tiger's Nest). Taktsang is perched about 900 metres above the valley floor with only ...
11 hours in the back of a Toyota
Sober tonight! left Thimphu at 7.45am this morning and drove to Bumthang where we arrived at 7pm. We stopped off in Wangdue Phodrang in the morning and then had a picnic lunch somewhere below Pele La pass. Cheese sandwiches, fried chicken, boiled ...
Gross National Happiness
... were we harassed by constant blowing of car horns. Everything is done in an aesthetically pleasing way here in Bhutan - there are lovely gardens and buildings everywhere (even the petrol stations are attractive). All of this is in ...
Celebrating the King's Birthday
Surprise!!! We're in Bhutan!!! We know we told you we weren't going to Bhutan, but Phub absolutely insisted that we came here to celebrate the King's birthday. We are able to stay in the border town of Phuentsholing overnight without paying the daily ...
The King and I parts 2 and 3
... As this was the third time I had visited such a temple during this holiday, there was a bit of a joke that I would be leaving Bhutan with the immaculate conception of the next Buddha! End of the day and our last full day in Bhutan. The king had other ...
Finally in Bhutan!!!!
... a 24 hour delay and a delay this morning - arrived at airport 6am, flight took off 12 noon!) I finally arrived in Bhutan. Landing at Paro was interesting just as I thought it would be.....was a definate rollercoaster ride the last 5- 10 last ...
Trekking in the Himalayas
... dancers and the women doing traditional folk dances, as well as meet up with friends. We had been to this festival last time in Bhutan so we were able to catch up with our old friend Pema Gyelpo, then the monk caretaker of the temple and now promoted to ...
Paro Festival
Monday, March 17, 2008 Paro Festival Dear Readers: Our flight departs Bangkok at 5am this morning, requiring an ungodly wake-up at 1:30am. I am standby because of an overbooking, and not only get on the plane, but am seated in the ...
Punakha Dzong and Chhimed Lhakhang
... Thimphu to Wangdue as we crossed a high pass. However, we did enjoy visiting our favourite Dzong (part fortress part monastery) in Bhutan at Punakha. It's located on an island in the middle of two rivers and has lovely views down the valley. There ...
Phuentsholing to Paro and Taktsang Monastery
... the first time. Very tasty and the rest of the dishes were equally hot, and eaten with red rice, unique (I think) to Bhutan. We eventually arrived after 7 hours driving in Paro just after dark. It was quite frustrating as we could see the buildings, ...
Journey back to Wangdue via Gangtey
As the weather had improved by this stage, the sky was clear and blue and we could finally enjoy the famous mountain views on our return journey back to Wangdue. The highest mountains are on the northern border with Tibet and even at this time of year ...
Bunthang Cultural Trek
Our second attempt at a trek in Bhutan was chosen not so much for the mountain views but rather the "culture" aspect. Sadly there wasn't as much culture as we had hoped and we traipsed through the forest for much of the time. It was also extremely muddy ...
Ear problems and hot stone bath
... weren't able to cure it, so we had to visit the main hospital in Thimphu enroute to Paro. The health service in Bhutan is completely free for everyone, including tourists, and extremeley efficient as Maggi was given priority treatment. Now she could hear ...
Jakar Festival
... the afternoon. We visited Kurjey Lhakhang where there is a body print of Guru Rimpoche in a cave, and a couple of other temples. If truth be said we were getting a bit "dzongked" by this stage, so 2 weeks proved to be the right length for our Bhutan ...
Kuzuzangpo La (Hello)
... menu. I manage to taste Dhal from the guide’s meal, a very nice lentil soup. Curiosities - Tourism policy of Bhutan - The tourism is limited to a manageable level for quality through a principle of high-net low-volume operation. The number ...
My Trek
... Grenze soll ueber 4000m hoch sein, also gut was zu klettern). Es gibt keinen offiziellen Grenzuebergang zwischen China und Bhutan (China erhebt Ansprueche auf Teile Bhutans, die indische Armee unterstuetzt Bhutan, hat die meisten Strassen gebaut und dort ...
Our 1st trek
... trade between the 2 countries. Everything is almost imported from India and India government provides working men for services in Bhutan. · Men are dressed with a gho, similar to Scottish skirts with high knee socks and nice business shoes. Women ...
Temples, Mountains and Hot Stones
... , in fact, worth the close scrutiny, painted with murals depicting scenes from the life of the much-loved 'Divine Madman', Bhutan's most colourful Buddhist saint, who took a very unorthodox approach to his religious duties and his vows... ...
Tango ...
... in the 15th century by the "Divine Madman" Drukpa Kunley. Today it is the residence of the 17th reincarnation (Trulku) of Bhutan 's fourth Desi, Gyalse Tenzin Rabgye. The recently restored monastery is well worth the one hour walk up the hill, which is ...
Elections / Gangtey to Trongsa
... drive we finally reach the Trongsa Dzong. It is the ancestral home of the present royal family, and the first two hereditary kings ruled Bhutan from here. We tour the site for an hour, and then drive up the hill to our lodgings. Our guest house tonight is ...
"If anyone would like a photo of the phallus..."
... Museum was quite large and had some really interesting stuff - thangka hangings from the last 4 centuries, Buddha icons, stamps (Bhutan is famous for its stamps), historical armoury, stuffed animals and animal heads, and historical household ...
Land of gross national happiness
... , then off on Druk Air to Bhutan with a stop in Calcutta on the way (that really looked steamy!)Because you have to visit Bhutan through a travel agent (I went through a Bhutanese one) you are never really on your own. I had a driver (Tshewang) and a ...
Jerry's 40th Birthday
... was no hiding the birthday cake and nice bottle of wine! We were told afterwards that birthdays are not really celebrated in Bhutan and that birthday cakes are not very Buddhist as you have to blow the candles out (butter lamps in temples are continually ...
Paro and Thimpu, Bhutan
... from Kolkata weaved, between peaks and through valleys to deposit us in the town of Paro, in the western part of Bhutan. Immediately afer landing (slightly relieved the scenic yet slightly disconcerting flight was over), we breathed in fresh, cool air ...
Deeper into Bhutan...
... imagination. It started to rain shortly thereafter, so we came back, ate dinner, and read books... Day 6 Bhutan (Trongsa - Punakha): We got up and had breakfast at 8am so that we could get a headstart on the day. ...