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Bhutan Travel Blogs

In 1865, Britain and Bhutan signed the Treaty of Sinchulu, under which Bhutan would receive an annual subsidy in exchange for ceding some border land. Under British influence, a monarchy was set up in 1907; three years later, a treaty was signed whereby the British agreed not to interfere in Bhutanese internal affairs and Bhutan allowed Britain to direct its foreign affairs. This role was assumed by independent India after 1947. Two years later, a formal Indo-Bhutanese accord returned the areas of Bhutan annexed by the British, formalized the annual subsidies the country received, and defined India's responsibilities in defense and foreign relations. A refugee issue of some 100,000 Bhutanese in Nepal remains unresolved; 90% of the refugees are housed in seven United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) camps. To be updated

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By packman
September 25th 2007

My Himalayan Colorado Asia » Bhutan » Phobjika Valley

Wangdue Dzong

After breakfast this morning we left Punakha and headed to Wangdue Phodrang Dzongkhag in Wangdi. It is yet another temple but it is right on a cliff above the river…I can imagine if it was sunny how much more beautiful it would look. The location is of course due to an auspicious sign…four ravens were seen at the sight of where the dzong now is flying off in four different directions…north, south, east and west. We walked around the village of Wangdi, which is very picturesque with its wooden shops along one strip. I picked up some candy for the students [View Full Entry]

By packman
September 24th 2007

'Awe'spicious Asia » Bhutan » Punakha

Punakha Dzong

Day 4 I spent in Punakha. We started at the Punakha Dzong…again an incredible structure but even more impressive were the buddhas inside the temple. Unfortunately we cannot take pictures inside so you will have to trust me. Every little detail is there and it all means something. I don’t know how anyone can remember what it all means! Along the road we saw more workers trying to pave the road…in the photo album it shows the extremely primitive way they make their own pavement! And the construction is also very basic. Much of what they use is man-power and bamboo. [View Full Entry]

By packman
September 23rd 2007

Five Hundred Asia » Bhutan » Thimphu

Second Day of Festival

My third day in Thimphu began with an alarm at 5:15am. I needed to shower for the annual bath. Basically you need to shower early in the morning before attending the festival and then receiving a blessing from Buddha. And at six am I was to meet Tshultrim for an early morning brisk walk. Brisk actually turned out to be frigid and I was poorly dressed, despite having brought hat, gloves, scarf and fleece, which I left in the hotel. Oh well…it woke me up, that’s for sure. At breakfast, I ate by myself this time…which I don’t mind since it [View Full Entry]

By packman
September 22nd 2007

Brilliance Asia » Bhutan » Thimphu

Me and the jester

Day 2 began after breakfast by heading to Thimphu Tesche (the festival) at the Trashi Chhoe Dzong (mind you there is a 9-hole golf course in front). It is quite amazing to see Bhutan at this time. So many local people attend the festival and their traditional getups…gho (for men) and kira (for women). It’s incredible to see how colorful they all are. It is one of the main industries in Bhutan and that is textiles. And there seemed to be a zillion kids around (all of whom apparently were sick…maybe they weren’t but I’m not sure why so many of [View Full Entry]

By packman
September 21st 2007

‘Plane’ and Simple Asia » Bhutan » Paro

Mt. Everest

As I write I am on the Druk Air flight to Paro, Bhutan. We have a quick stop in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The flight is not all that long…2 hr 15 min to Dhaka and nearly two hours to Paro. I am beyond excited to start the next part of my journey. Last night I flew from Hong Kong to Bangkok so I could catch this early morning flight. I decided that instead of killing time a t the airport hotel in between my arrival and departure, that I would rather fill my time by heading into the center of Bangkok. I [View Full Entry]

By packman
September 21st 2007

Pooped Asia » Bhutan » Thimphu

Prayer Flags on way to Thimphu

From Paro we made our way out to Thimphu by mini-bus (not like the little yellow one on road trip). The roads are incredibly worn and bumpy, not to mention there being an excessive amount of cow poop, and much of the way they are constructing to widen the road. This is for next year when the country will introduce a new constitution which will move it to a parliamentary democracy in 2008. Anyway, we passed by a dzong (temple), the Tamchhog Lhakhang. I will leave you to look through my pictures that were also sent in the email for the [View Full Entry]

By mrandmrssimmonds
June 9th 2007

Day 342 - Sandals in the Bin Asia » Bhutan » Thimphu

Petrol Station come bar

An early drive back to Paro and we were soon on our way flying to Calcutta, or Kolkata as they now want to be called (a Bombay vs Mumbai thing designed to confuse the world). In England we visit our local curry house once a week or so and are big fans, so it was with much regret that our first visit to India just involved sitting on the plane rather than pigging out. But hours later we were back in Bangkok and after weeks and weeks of often disgusting Asian food, and illness-induced weight loss, we found ourselves as [View Full Entry]

By mrandmrssimmonds
June 8th 2007

Day 341 - Robin Hoods Asia » Bhutan » Punakha

Archery target

After a mostly inedible rural breakfast we visited another dzong - we’re basically up for anything when it comes to trying the native food of places we visit, but lately it has been defeating us. This dzong was similar to the others we’d already seen and we were kind of losing our interest in their uniqueness compared to buildings in other countries. The reason we came to look around this particular one was that the person who built it observed 4 ravens flying in 4 different directions, and this clearly auspicious moment was taken to be a good omen for building [View Full Entry]

By mrandmrssimmonds
June 7th 2007

Day 340 - Staying with royalty (nearly) Asia » Bhutan » Thimphu

The Farmhouse

Today we headed further towards central Bhutan, which first involves a climb up to the Dochu La pass at 3140m. Although we were on the national highway it’s not particularly wide and at one stage we clashed wing mirrors with an oncoming car containing what turned out to be a very angry man in the passenger seat. At the pass itself you can see a wonderful panoramic view of the Himalayas, or at least that’s what you see on a clear day; all we saw was cloud. So we contented ourselves with the 108 stupas that the eldest of the [View Full Entry]

By mrandmrssimmonds
June 6th 2007

Day 339 - The animal that befuddles taxonomists Asia » Bhutan » Thimphu

The Takin

The animal the Takin - heard of it? Didn’t think so! This is an animal that is said to have been made by a “Divine Madman” who after devouring a cow and goat used the bones of the said animals to create a new animal that came alive after he uttered a few words and it started to eat in the meadow. This is how the Bhutanese believe the Takin was created and so it is Bhutan’s national animal. And in the flesh it is just as weird but strangely mesmerizing, as it has such a gentle inquisitive personality, as [View Full Entry]

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