Motithang Hotel Thimphu

... Visas are not available upon arrival at any of the borders or the airport. Visas must be processed in advance of arrival, and clearance given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before tickets are issued to enter the country. All visa applications for tourists are processed through TAB, as are all visa extensions. This means that TAB is at all times aware of the number of tourists in Bhutan and ensures that the government royalty ...

... interest or client request and must be booked in
advance.
Tashi Gongphel Tours is a one of the renowned and sophisticated
venture that offers you with the very exciting trekking and luxurious
traveling services while traveling to this unique and very special
Kingdom, It is our sincere commitment to make your stay in Bhutan one
of the most unforgettable holidays of a lifetime.www.bhutanvisitors.com

... only because of the 5.30am wake up but also that we felt our time here was too brief. The 6 hour drive to the border town of Phuntesholing proved our belief about the rationality of Bhutanese truck drivers to be somewhat falacious, as this winding, perilously steep and land-slip prone glorified goat track of a road was the main trade route from India and trucks came hairing around the corners with little warning. There is nothing more sobering at 8am than to come around a corner to be ...

... working on a loom, crafting a wall hanging with extremely detailed designs. She does this seven hours a day, and it takes her four months to complete a piece. One piece I thought was particularly amusing, was a kind of basket that the Bhutanese farmers made as "lunch box". Its very colorful purple and pink, and essentially has one bowl that slips inside another bowl forming a rudimentary form of Tupperware. They would put ride and dried pork in it and take ...

... after my $3 a night places in India. The food, guide, driver and hotel are all included though I have to pay for drinks (not tea) as well as any souvenirs I get. The bed (at least last night!) was comfortable and warm with a heater. This was great as it gets pretty cold at night. The daytime is a pleasant crispness, and actually a little warm in the sunshine. I'm moving towards the central part of the country the day after tomorrow, but I don't think I ...

Early morning and we were down for breakfast by 7am. First off this morning was a short drive up the mountainside to visit a wildlife reserve dedicated to the rare Takin, a creature with religious significance in Bhutan and almost exclusively now in captivity dure to its dwindling numbers. It is said that the Takin was created by a saint, using the head of a goat and the body of a cow. The story is convincing when you see a Takin! After the ...

... searched for gate 1, only to circle the terminal twice before discovering there was - wait for it - A DOWNSTAIRS! This is where they sent you to catch a flight to all those places on earth you have once or twice thought: "Oh **** yeah, I'll never go to a hole like that!!" Places like Kabul, Afghanistan. Seriously - I took a photo of the boarding sign figuring that never in my lifetime would I ever see that again.... As it happened, we had ...

... works out the way you want it to !!! Rinchen Gang Village The day was finishing fast, but we had another hill climb to do, and that was to go through this old mud village. Apparently, it is the oldest one around, and as we were making our way around, an old local started following us. He actually looked as though he had been there since the beginning !!! Up the top, was another temple, and inside, I pointed out what each image meant, which was the past ...

... manufactured goods that are sneaked across the ill-protected Tibet-Bhutan border. The trek then brought us on what felt like a roller-coaster of a walk (up and down and up and down and up and down...for about 10 hours) through a dense forest of oak trees drenched with Spanish moss. As we continued to climb the forest morphed around us with dense trees growing more sparse and the void being filled with an explosion of color. Rhododendron grew like crazy in ...

... that day. We went to a monastery where an addition was built by the mother of the actual king in 1961. The monks asked us to leave because she was on her way for her annual visit. So we waited outside until she came supported by 2 people (not sure how old she is). As she walked by she said in English "come inside", but we left. Next we went to Thimpu. The capital of this small country. From above it looks like any city surrounded by mountains, but when you ...