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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 jillybeansan
December 3rd 2006

Ready, Set, Gho to Bhutan! Asia » Bhutan » Paro

Mt. Everest Above the Clouds!

Okay, that title may not make sense now, but I promise it will soon! The highlight of our India/Bhutan tour was -- Bhutan! We wish we had planned to spend more time there and we've promised ourselves to get back there some day. We flew to Bhutan on Thanksgiving Day. Our flight was on DrukAir -- the Royal Airline of Bhutan -- and the ONLY airline allowed to fly in and out of the small Buddhist Kingdom of Bhutan where about 700,000 people live. Bhutan lies along the lofty ridges of the eastern Himalayas and on our flight we were blessed [View Full Entry]

By grantcorp
October 9th 2006

Ai, chhö bjachichi du! Asia » Bhutan » Trashiyangtse

Chillies out to dry, Trashigang dzong

Waking up in the annex I fall prey to the usual tug of war; and as usual the warm bed always seems to lose in favour of a cold water shower, I don't know quite how that works. Dorji comes by to pick me up to drive me over to the hotel for breakfast, the token toasts with jam and some tea. It is a lovely morning, sunshine and quite warm already. I have some time to walk around town while we wait for the dzong to open up. Some of the shops located at the main square have already opened [View Full Entry]

By solareyes
October 8th 2006

Blood Sucking Leeches Asia » Bhutan » Punakha

Mountain Jungle Trail

Fat Juicy Leeches. Filled with my blood. They fly, they jump, they suck. They come right off with a sharp knife or some salt, but then the bleeding begins. At first I thought my friend, Tshering Penjor, was being paranoid on the trail when he began scratching and acting agitated on the jungle trail to the hotsprings. Only to find out he had a fat leech attached to his buttcheeks for a few hours. And when he finally scraped it off with his machete, he bled for twelve hours! I also thought the local villagers were just teasing me when they [View Full Entry]

By grantcorp
October 8th 2006

Meeting the warrior kings Asia » Bhutan » Trashigang

Guru Lhakang Bliss

The night's sleep proved most effective, still I'm not doing too well. I wake up with a headache and a slight stomach pain, the voice is still out of order, the throat is soar and I keep sneezing a lot. Still, the climate here in Mongar is much warmer than in Bumthang and it doesn't hamper my mood. After a slow start we go out to take a look at the local dzong before moving on towards Trashigang. The Mongar dzong is a fairly new construction, built as late as in 1953. The original dzong was located in Shongar near Lingmethang [View Full Entry]

By grantcorp
October 7th 2006

Zaaaaii, pom charim... Asia » Bhutan » Mongar

Somewhere between Sengor and Namling

Six days into the trip and I can finally rejoice at the pleasure of having caught some kind of cold or mild influenza. Having finally managed to fall asleep in the early hours my body protests violently at the thought of having to get up and about already. At least the stomach is feeling mildly better, but I am not in the mood of taking any chances since we will spend most of the day on the narrow ledge that passes for a road between Jakar and Mongar town, so I skip the breakfast. At 200 kilometers today's stage is the [View Full Entry]

By grantcorp
October 6th 2006

Cheesus! Asia » Bhutan » Bumthang » Jakar

Looking down on Jakar

We're waking up to another glorious day, the sun shines brightly in a cloudfree blue sky, and the temperature is chilly enough to make the cold morning shower feel like a chore. For the first time of the trip we are allowed the luxury of staying in the same place two nights in a row, Tshering having scheduled visits to the remaining temples and sights here in Bumthang. Mr Dorji, proprietor of the Gongkhar guesthouse, offers up a toast and cornflakes breakfast, cycling the menu a bit to keep things interesting. This man really deserves recognition for his spotless operation, and [View Full Entry]

The shallow clear water of the river running through Jakar

By grantcorp
October 5th 2006

Into the cultural heartland Asia » Bhutan » Bumthang » Jakar

Early morning in Trongsa

My alarm goes off at seven in the morning. Drifting out from sleep my first conscious thought is that I don't want to get up. I think about the joys of a cold shower on the freezing floor tiles and find the concept quite easy to resist. Dorji is still snoring and I ask Tshering what the weather looks like. He pulls the curtain to the side and a gloomy grey light shoots into the room. Marvellous, it still looks like crap. After a bit of moaning I finally get up and take that shower, just as horrible as I had [View Full Entry]

A better breakfast than Tshering's, part I

The sun casts a few rays on the Trongsa dzong

By grantcorp
October 4th 2006

Bring on the dzongs! Asia » Bhutan » Trongsa

Early morning in the Punak Chhu valley

Waking up to yet another sunny day in the Punak Chhu valley. After a light breakfast I sneak outside for some quick morning views before departing for Wangdi. The hotel is situated in a residential neighbourhod of Lobesa with typical two-three story apartment blocks and smaller houses and sheds. The roads are littered with primary school students of varying ages walking to school in their blue and grey uniforms. I walk down the road with some 3rd grade students who are both curious and shy at the same time, and speak a lot better English than many grown ups in this [View Full Entry]

By grantcorp
October 3rd 2006

[x] sign here Asia » Bhutan » Lobesa

The mighty dzong of Wangdue Phodrang

After a first night in the country I wake up to a gloomy and cold Thimphu. Packs of dogs did their best to keep me awake during the night, but will have to try better if they wish to succeed. I didn't really go to bed last night, but collapsed on my bed with the lights still on and the TV force feeding me with the world news, the last I would hear for quite some time. Tshering is picking me up at 7.30 so everything has to be done in a hurry. Anyway, we both have a lousy track record [View Full Entry]

By grantcorp
October 2nd 2006

Finally underway! Asia » Bhutan » Paro

Finally underway!

At 3.30 in the morning I came to an abrupt halt just outside the hotel door. Standing there bag in hand just about to go down to the street and flag down a cab I noticed that it was raining. Well, correction is in order, it was pouring down in a noisy cascade of grey and black. Luckily there was a taxi parked a bit down the road and even though I ran to it like crazy I still managed to get completely soaked from head to toe. The rain continued to hammer the roof relentlessly as we got underway, southbound [View Full Entry]

In flight breakfast courtesy of Druk Air

And if you sit on the left, heaven is at your feet

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