Bhutan through My Eyes

Television was first introduced only in 1996.

A country without a single traffic light!

There is only one airport in the whole country!

Airline – only the country’s national airline connect the country with the rest of the world, and that is only via – Delhi and Kolkata in India, Kathmandu in Nepal, Dhaka in Bangladesh and Bangkok in Thailand.

No railway track to be seen anywhere!

Sales of cigarettes and smoking are banned in the country!

‘Gross National Happiness’ is more important than Gross National Product!

Traditional national costumes – gho (or kho) for men and kira for ladies – are still commonly worn by the locals in their daily lives.

Yes, all these describe Bhutan, a small isolated-landlocked country bounded on the north-west and north by Tibet, China while the remaining part of the country, by India.

With an area of about 46,500sq km, it is about the same size as Switzerland. But it has only approximately one-tenth (about 680,000) of Switzerland’s population.

The country is known as Druk Yul to the locals. Druk Yul means Land of the Thunder Dragon. Druk means thunder dragon and it is the country’s national symbol. The people are called Drukpa, the leaders – Druk Gyalpo (Dragon Kings), the airline – Drukair, and druk appears on the national flag.

The country’s economy is based on agriculture, forestry, tourism and the sales of hydroelectric power to India.

Conscious of the negative effect tourism would bring about – environmental impact on the unique and unspoiled landscape and culture – the government is trying to curb on the no. of tourists by imposing high tariff. It has since gone up to USD$250 per day from USD$200.

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Bhutan through My Eyes is the continuation of my trip to Sikkim, India. After spending an interesting, fruitful, excitement-filled and sometimes rather eventful eight days, I could not wait to continue and cross over to Bhutan. Our first stop was Phuentsholing, the border town at the India / Bhutan boundary.