I saw the bright, golden gate of the city of Phuentsholing (pronounced Fur-ceiling) welcoming us. ‘Welcome to the Royal Kingdom of Bhutan’ read the board above. I think it read the same in the Bhutanese or the Dzongkha language. We did pass our car through this majestic gate and were on our way to the capital city, Thimpu. Wow, a road trip to some distant land! Well, Indian nationals do not need a visa for Bhutan, all they need is a passport or a voter card and a special permit obtained prior to the journey. The five-and-a-half hour’s journey up there offered breath-taking scenes and vibrant, glorious flowers prancing in the drizzling weather. There were spells of shower, occasionally, releasing the aroma of the fecund wet land. It could be said as if the Almighty had blessed this mountain kingdom by alighting here.

The atmosphere around blended us in its colors, it could do bathos. The journey was something inexplicable- going through the hilly stretches, windy roads and passes further up….it resembled a paradise on earth!

Our first destination was the capital city, Thimpu. The five-and-a-half hour’s journey up there seemed tiring but then the city was worth the exhaustion. It could be said as if the city had opened up its arms for its visitors. ‘Tashi Delek’ or Bon Voyage read another board as our car approached the city gates. Since the hotel where we intended to stay was located in the proper city and since it was a usual, busy Wednesday weekday, it took us another some half an hour before we actually made it to our accommodation- Hotel Singye. For people searching out for decent lodging and scrumptious food, this two-star hotel would fit the bill. The tariff’s reasonable and the rooms are actually quite capacious and clean. The hotel held a prime spot in the city, situated right in the heart near the streets of the Town Square which resembled the streets of New York when the evening would set in.

We quickly had some hot, crispy snacks to fill our bellies and then set out for a quick tour of the vicinities. We browsed through departmental stores, mini-shops, kiosks, markets and shopping arcades, all primly laid to sell the stock. What I learnt was that due to geographic location, the topography and the climate, Bhutan isn’t the place suitable for agriculture or any of the agro-based industry. The Bhutanese believe staunchly in their rich, ancient tradition which has been preserved well and handed down from generations and so it made it easy to guess the national occupation of the country- Tourism and handicraft. Each shop we browsed through offered galore of artifacts for us, having the same skeletal composition, though physically a lot different from each other. The handicrafts were exquisite in style, captivating enough that I could not afford to take my eyes off them. I did shop for a few collectibles, like mini Laughing Buddha and dragon carpets and also bargained. But I am not that expert at ‘rationing’, so I had to eventually give in and I didn’t mind for paying more.
Back then at the hotel, we did order a grand feast. The menu had mouth-watering dishes listed, belonging to both- Indian as well as Bhutanese cuisine and I was actually quite surprised to find South Indian delicacies like Dosas and Idlis. But as we were in Bhutan, we did give a try to their cuisine. It took the staff plenty of time to lay the table and serve the dishes (minus point), but then the food was worth the wait. The names sounded exotic and so did the dishes themselves. We tried the Thukpa, a noodle-bowl consisting of a lot of soup, noodles and veggies, Ema Datsi- their national dish and meticulously cooked Chicken Dashi (pronounced Da-chee). We munched unabashedly to our hearts content and with our bellies satisfied, we dozed off straight only to set out for sightseeing the next day.

We set out the next morning (as decided) and came across the city’s treasures which consisted of unraveling attractions, splendid and magnificent in every sense. From the quaint little Buddhist temples to the mighty Buddha point (situated at high altitude; chilling) every site offered magnanimity in true sense- depicting the Bhutanese tradition to the core. We came across ‘mane’ or ‘manelaka’ (they are round, shaped like a rattle) and according to their rituals, moved them and prayed for our wishes to come true. Sixty percent of the total country must be green cover; hence the tour also consisted of visiting the national park, museums and zoos. The city museum exhibited royal culture, the rich and preserved heritage and a feeling of patriotism for their motherland. We had a bird’s eye-view of the Royal Palace and found that the King lived in separate edifice, much away from the actual palace. I came to know another fact- The people here regarded their monarch as deities; hence it was customary to keep a photograph of the Royal couple in every shop and restaurant.

Our journey to Thimpu came to an end and we set out for the neighboring city, Paro. The journey to Paro took another hour, but before alighting there, we set out for the highest point in Bhutan, Chelela. This particular point was freezing, the temperature must be some zero degrees celsius and the moment I got down, I hit my head against the door only to get in again. We, in India, have never experienced such cold climes! There are parts in the north experiencing snowfall, but I was not accustomed to this! And then after clicking some ‘cool’ pics out there, we did set out for Paro. Paro housed the international airport. Then it was the same- eating momos or dim sums, travelling and sleeping.

Overall, this was the journey which I would never forget. It made us feel truly Asian! So, if ever you travel to Asia, do pack light in your valises and spend a night in Bhutan!!