BHUTAN, the land of the Thunder Dragon, this mountain Kingdom is still perhaps the world's most exclusive tourist destination. Thanks to the Royal Government's far sighted policy of selective and regulated tourism, the numbers of tourists have remained low and the cultural values and traditional life-style of Bhutan have been protected. An unspoiled country with majestic mountains imbued with a certain mystique; a unique cultural heritage preserved intact and with a continuity of many centuries; an architectural style like no other; a land of full of 'warm hearted and friendly people'.

Situated in the heart of the Great Himalayas, the world's mightiest range; Bhutan is flanked on the north and north west by Tibet, the plains of north-east India to the south and south-west and the hills of India's north eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh to the east. The kingdom is spread over an area of 18000 sq. miles, with varied climatic conditions; ranging - as the terrain climbs; in horizontal bands - from the hotel and humid Southern foothills, to the temperate inner Himalaya and, finally, to the nearly 7700 m high snow caps of the High Himalaya that defines Bhutan's northern frontier.

Bhutan has a population of about 1 million and its state religion is the Drukpa sect of Kagyupa, a school of Mahayana or Varjrayana/Tantric Buddhism; making it the last surviving Buddhist Kingdom. In the eleven centuries since it was introduced, Buddhism has shaped the national's history and plays a vital role.

In western Bhutan; Paro, Thimphu (the capital) and Punakha (the old capital), ; in Central Bhutan; Tongsa (ancestral seat of Bhutan's ruling dynasty) and the bucolic beauty of the high valleys of Bhumthang are most visited by tourists. In the recent years, Bhutan has become a paradise for trekkers and mountaineers. Trekking through the hills of the country sighting rate botanical plants and herbs and encountering a multitude of colourful birds and rare animals; the takin, blue sheep, burket, musk deer and, in the lonely reaches of the High Himalaya, the elusive snow leopard. Perhaps, for all we know, even the apocryphal yeti!

Thimpu the capital of Bhutan since 1960, lies at an elevation of over 7600 feet in a fertile valley transversed by the Thimphu Chhu River. Tashichhodzong, the main secretariat building, houses all the Ministries, the National Assembly Hall, the office of the King and the Throne Room. It is also the summer residence of the monk body and the religious chief, the Je Khempo.

In the National Assembly Hall, the two storey high statue of Lord Buddha, wall paintings depicting the twelve stages of Buddhahood and columns of Kanju and Tenju (Buddhist scriptures) exemplify the superiority of religion over politics.

The yearly Thimphu Festival is held in the courtyard directly in front of the National Assembly Hall. Houses in the Uchi, the tall citadel type temple in the middle of two courtyards, is one of the two largest thankas (religious scrolls). It is displayed to the public once in 25 years. Prominently standing out in Thimphu is the stupa styled monument dedicated to the late King, His Majesty Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, who is the father of modern Bhutan. The paintings and statues inside the stupa provide a very rare insight into Buddhist philosophy. Five miles away from Thimphu stands the Simtokha Dzong on a lofty ridge and it still enjoys the strategic importance today that it did in 1627 when it was first built by Shabdrung Nawang Namgyal.

Paro Valley In the fascinating kingdom of Bhutan, Paro is unique in beauty and in history. To the north, Mount Chomolhari (mountain of the Goddess), reigns in white glory and the glacier waters from its "five sisters" peaks plunge torrentially through deep gorges, finally converging to form the Paro Chu river that nourishes lush rice fields and apple and peach orchards of the Paro valley.

The 'Taktsang' monastery, literally meaning 'Tiger's Nest', built around the cave in which Guru Rimpoche - and later his follower Dubthok Singye - meditated; clings seemingly impossibly to a cliff of rock, all of 3000 ft above the valley floor. Across the river, on the knoll that rises from the river, stands the elegantly symmetrical Rimpung Dzong, commanding a view of the Paro valley stretched out below. Today it houses the Paro monastic body and the office of the Dzongda (District Commissioner) and Thrimpon (District Judge). The Thongdroel, the most sacred giant painted and appliqued scroll depicting the eight manifestations of Guru Padmasambhava with the two attendants, Khendu Yeshey Tsogyel and Mindha-Rawa, is displayed for a few hours on the concluding day of the Paro Festival.

Behind Rimpung Dzong, high on the hillside, is the majestic Ta-Dzong which played an active part in the defense of Rimpung Dzong invasions, has been the National Museum since 1967. Eighty km out of Paro is the burned out fortresses of victorious Bhutan, the Drukgyel Dzong. Kytichy Lhakhang, one of the kingdom's oldest and most sacred temples, and Dungtse Lhakhang are also centres of attraction.


Punakha Blessed with a temperate climate and drained by the Phochu-Mochu rivers, the fertile valley of Punakha, it served until 1955 as the capital of Bhutan and today, it is the winter seat of the Central Monk Body. In 1615, Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal built the fortress of Punakha at junction of the Phochu and Mochu rivers to serve as religious and administrative centres for Bhutan. Punakha Dzong houses many sacred temples including the Lhakhang, where the embalmed body of Shabdrung Ngawang lies in state. Damaged four times by fire in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and by earthquake in 1897, the Punakha Dzong has suffered the devastation brought by floods which sweep down valley as the snows melt in the great northern glaciers, while bridges which connect the Dzong with the fertile valley on either side were, until recent times, often completely destroyed. The Dzong has been completely restored and permanent bridges built on either side.

The road from Thimphu to Punkaha crosses the 10,218 ft high Dochu La Pass, site of one of Bhutan's most enchanting view.

Wangdiphodrang On the east-west traverse road beyond Thimphu lies the valley of Wangdiphodrang, junction of the Mo Chu and Tang Chu rivers. At the confluence of the rivers stand the Wangdiphodrang Dzong, for many centuries the seat of the one of Bhutan's most powerful Dzongpons. The higher reaches of the valley provide rich cattle pastures and a yak diary research station has been set up at Gogona. The district is also known for its fine bamboo work and for its slate and stone carvings.

Tongsa Midway between Ha in the far west and Tashigang in the far east stands the striking Tongsa Dzong, ancestral home of Bhutan's royal family. Both Ugyen Wangchuck, the Penlop of Tongsa who was elected the nation's first hereditary monarch, and his successor King Jigme Wahchuck, ruled the country from this ancient seat. All four Kings have held the post of Tongsa Penlop prior ro being officially crowned, including the present king who was appointed Penlop in 1972, shortly before his succession to the throne.

A massive many leveled structure which slopes down the contour of the hill on which it is set, the dzong was built by Ngawang Namgyal in 1648 and later enlarged and decorated . Because of its highly strategic position on the only connecting route between the eastern and western sectors of the central region, the Tongsa Penlop was able effectively to control the whole of the east for many centuries, even when civil war was ranging in the west. Among the Dzong's treasures is a magnificent collection of rhino sculptures.

Bhumthang, in the east of Tongsa, in the wide valley of Bhumthang, lies the Jakar Dzong. Legend says that when the lamas assembled to decide on a site for this dzong, a big white bird rose suddenly in the air and settled on a spur of the hill - and it was here that the "Castle of the White Bird" was built.

Tales of Padma Sambhava dominate the holy places of Bhumthang. The valley is home of the sacred Jampe Lkakhang and to the Kurje Monastery where the bodily marks of the Ruru remains to this days impressed on a solid rock face. Both temples are believed to have been built around the 8th century by Sindhu Raja after Padma Sambhava had cured this ailing ruler and converted him to the Buddhist faith.

Bhumthang is also home of the great Buddhist teacher Premalingpa, to whose descendants the present dynasty traces its ancestry. Pemalingpa wa a blacksmith who was led by mystic forces to discover spiritual treasures at the bottom of the burning lake. Not knowing how to spread the world contained in the treasures, he hid away until one night the Dakinis, or female heavenly spirits, revealed to him the power to Preach. Legend tells that as he spoke flowers dropped from the sky and vanished into rays of light. Tashigang, in the far east of Bhutan, on the banks of the Dangme Chu, lies Tashigang, the hub of the region's largest and most important district. Once the largest and most important district. Once the centre of a busy trade route with Tibet, Tashigang is today the junction of the east-west highway with the road which runs north from the foothill town of Samdrupjongkar. The Tashigang Dzong, from which the whole of the eastern region was governed from the late 17th century until at the beginning of this century, stands on a steep ridge above the Manas River. The Dzong was built in 1667 by Chogyal Minjur Tempa, Bhutan's third Deb.

Mongar to the southwest is Mongar, next to Tashigang the second largest settlement in the east. Mongar is the site of one of Bhutan's newest dzongs, built in 1930 following the traditional architectural pattern handed down through time; without plans on paper or the use of any nails.

Flight Schedule :
Delhi - Paro 1115/1500 hours - Monday and Thursday
Paro - Delhi 0730/1015 hours - Monday and Thursday
Calcutta - Paro 0945/1115 hours - Friday and Sunday
Paro - Calcutta 0730/0800 hours - Tuesday and Thursday
Kathmandu - Paro 1345/1500 hours - Monday and Thursday
Paro - Kathmandu 0730/0815 hours - Monday and Thursday


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