Minitrip to Bhutan

Paro Dzong, is the place where "Little Buddha" was filmed.

Takstang Dzong, is the monastery of the Tiger in the middle of the mountains. It takes at least one hour by foot to reach it from the parking lot. It has absolutely stunning views! You cannot visit it but the view itself is worth every effort.
Punakha Dzong, is a wonderful monastery in the middle of the mountains. You can have a glance at the small monks who study there.

Quick Tips:

Try to book the trip way in advance through a Bhutanese operator (there are many agencies on the net, and most are very reliable). It takes some time for the Visa to be processed and the flight ticket to be sent it will be sent to an agency in your departure city (Delhi, Kathmandu or Kolkata).

You can discuss the itinerary with the tour operator, but once you have paid, you cannot change anything... I had some trouble visiting a school because I had not previously asked for it.

The Visa is delivered once you get into the country. It is valid only for the duration of your trip. No extension is possible.

Bear in mind that every day spent in Bhutan will cost you no less than USD200 (that includes everything: food, accommodation, transfers and visits, but not the international flights). It is a flat rate, not negotiable, and fixed by the Bhutanese government. So try to arrive in the morning and leave in the evening so that you can make the most of your money.

You will not need Bhutanese currency. Dollars are accepted when buying souvenirs and giving a tip to the guide and the driver.

Flying from Kathmandu or Kolkata, India is the cheapest way to reach Bhutan. But flights are not cheap as there is only one company that flies to Bhutan.

It is forbidden to smoke in the streets in Bhutan. You are allowed to bring a pack of cigarettes with you but you can only smoke in your hotel room.

Bhutanese wooden masks are very beautiful and colorful. You can ask your guide to show you where to buy one (in Thimpu).

Best Way To Get Around:

The only way to get around in Bhutan is with a guide. You are not allowed to travel on your own in the country if you want to visit its highlights. Everything is arranged by the agency you have booked.

You cannot fly into Bhutan if you have not booked a trip through an agency.

The roads in Bhutan are narrow but in a good state. However, it takes a very long time to reach another city from Paro even if the distances seem short to you. You'd better not be subject to motion sickness as most of the roads in Bhutan cross mountains.

Like for most hotels in Bhutan, the tariffs are not revealed to foreign tourists visiting Bhutan. It is part of your tour package ($200 per night spent in Bhutan - see my overview). But from what I could see, it is a mid-range hotel and could be classified as a three to four-star hotel in Europe.

This charming hotel is located outside Paro, near a narrow street uphill, just above Hotel Olathang. Like every Bhutanese home, it is built in wood, and has 28 en-suite rooms decorated in the Bhutanese way (see the pictures). All rooms have a living room, a separate bedroom, and a modern bathroom with Western toilets and a bath. To get hot water, ask someone to explain you how it works because it is a bit tricky.

The rooms are very clean and well decorated as you can see in the pictures. There is no A/C in the room but central heating (as the nights can be cold sometimes).

The restaurant, empty most of the time, serves a three-course dinner and a small continental breakfast if you stay overnight. You do not have a choice over the menu (a standard Bhutanese dinner is served).

The staff are friendly but absent most of the time.

At night, some frogs wander in the hotel gardens and can be noisy!

Like for most hotels in Bhutan, the tariffs are not revealed to foreign tourists as the hotels are part of a package ($200 per day spent in Bhutan, see my overview). Usually, you cannot choose your hotel when booking a tour with a Bhutanese travel agent.

The Riverview Hotel Thimphu is above the east Bank of River Thimpu. It has 50 rooms with all the modern amenities and with a private balcony offering a nice view on the city of Thimpu and the national soccer ground, opposite the hotel.

From what I could see, I would range this hotel among four-star Asian hotels or three-star European hotels.

The rooms are very clean and well-kept but decorated in an impersonal way, like most international hotels. All have a double bed, a small colour television with many Indian and Bhutanese channels (and some international ones).

Room service is very good, and the staff speak good English.

A spacious restaurant, next to the reception delivers meals to groups of tourists (when there are enough people, a buffet is proposed instead of a three-course meal). Food is mostly Bhutanese and Chinese adapted to Western tastes.

Overall, I was very satisfied with this hotel, but if you want to have a walk in Thimpu town, it is a long way by walk. Also, it is not an hotel in the true Bhutanese style. If you want a true Bhutanese hotel, you would better look elsewhere.

Just above Paro Rinpung Dzong, the Ta Dzong (dzong means monastery), was previously a watch tower and an observation point to defend its neighbour and Paro valley during inter-valley wars in the 17th Century. It is since 1967 Bhutan's National Museum.

It is a round tower in which there is a stupa and you have to visit it clockwise. You start visiting the last floor, there is a nice collection of Bhutanese stamps (for stamp collectors, Bhutan is heaven!), you can even find 3D stamps or holographic stamps there, or even stamps that are like music discs (they even play music). The whole collection is worth several thousands dollars.

On the lower floor, there is a collection of thangkas (Buddhist paintings), where you can see all the 'saints' pictures, Buddha faces, etc. You can also see a nice display of weapons and Bhutanese textiles. A guide is needed to understand it all, but it can become very boring if your guide starts to recite the saints' names especially if you have little or no knowledge of Buddhism history.

The thangkas are stunning and you can find copies of them in Kathmandu for less than USD200 (do not buy them in Bhutan as they are too expensive - more than USD1,000).

There is also an interesting collection of kitchen ware, music instruments, and even religious relics from Tibetan Buddhism.

From the Ta Dzong, on a clear day, you can see the landing strip of the airport and if you are lucky you will be able to see a plane landing. It is quite a frightening view: the plane flies very close to the mountains and it seems like it will crash on them but it always lands safely.

The visit is part of a package tour and the museum cannot be visited on an individual basis without a Bhutanese guide. Also, the Folklore museum in Thimpu is a complementary visit and both museums are an excellent way to understand the Bhutanese way of life.

Also called the Tiger's Nest, this monastery is in the middle of the Bhutanese mountains, above Paro Valley.

To visit it, you have to hike in the mountains. The trek uphill can take up to three hours (one hour if you are an experimented walker) through villages and pine forests. The walk follows a steep zigzag trail through pine forests. A rest is possible mid-way at a teahouse where biscuits and drinks are available. Then it is possible either to sit outside the building and admire the monastery and its beautiful surroundings or if there is enough energy, to continue another thirty minutes to a closer viewpoint, which is definitely breathtaking.

The monastery which clings to a huge granite cliff 800 meters from the Paro valley was devastated by fire in 1998 but the Bhutanese Government took immediate steps to restore the monastery to its original structure so that tourists could admire it like it was before. The monastery was rebuilt and consecrated in March 2005.

It is believed that a great saint called Padmasambhava (alsk known as Guru Rinpoche) came in the 7th Century on a flying tigress and meditated in a cave for 3 months. The demons who were trying to stop the spread of Buddhism were subdued and the Paro valley was converted into Buddhism.

During the end of the 17th Century a monastery was built on the spot where the saint meditated and it is nowadays a popular pilgrimage site. Every Bhutanese has to visit it once in his lifetime.

Non-Bhutanese visitors are not allowed inside the dzong, they are only allowed to go as far as the last viewpoint, whereas Pilgrims can carry on with their hike on a small paved path for another thirty minutes to the entrance of the monastery.

It would probably be your best memory of Bhutan because the scenery around Takstang Dzong is absolutely stunning and the monastery itself seems to have been lifted and put there from nowhere.

The trek is part of a package tour (200 USD per day -see my overview-) and is almost always proposed to first-time visitors in Bhutan. If you feel too old or too tired to do the hike, it is possible to hire a horse for an extra price.

The most famous monument of Bhutan, the one you will see in many introductions to Bhutan, is Paro Dzong.

This Dzong (monastery) may seem familiar to you. You might have forgotten it, but Paro Dzong was the place where a part of the movie 'Little Buddha' by Bertold Bertolucci was filmed in the early 1990s. Paro Dzong became then famous abroad for a short time then was forgotten. This is Paro Dzong who made me dream of an unspoilt and inaccessible land, the last Shangri-La. Only thirteen years later, I was able to visit it.

Paro Dzong (Paro Monastery) is the monastic and administrative centre of South-West Bhutan. It is also called Rinchen Pung Dzong ('fortress on a heap of jewels'). It is an impressive building located outside the city itself, above a river. To enter it, you have to cross a wooden bridge (Nyamai Zam) before being welcomed by monks.

Paro Dzong will probably be your introduction to the architecture of Bhutanese temples and is always included in a standard Bhutanese tour. Entrance is free (but the guided visit is part of your 200 USD daily fare - see my overview).

Paro Dzong was built in 1646, but has been destroyed a number of times, either by fire or by earthquakes, but has been rebuilt every time. It is also the place where Paro Teschu festival is held in September. The architecture of Paro Dzong is characteristic of Bhutan and it has been copied by other dzongs throughout Bhutan.

Not all parts of the monastery are allowed to visitors, but you can visit the most important parts of it when the monks are not in it (the courtyard which was re-painted recently and the main temple). The administrative quarters (on the first floor of the Dzong) are out of bounds all year round.

From August, you can see the monks practising folkloric dances and songs for the Paro Tsechu Festival, which is held in September. The festival itself is impressive, with monks wearing wooden masks (just once, then the masks are sold to tourists) and performing Bhutanese dances to chase away the evils.

The Ta Dzong (the national museum is just above Paro Dzong on the hill) but it is only accessible by a long mountain road. I watched 'Little Buddha' once again after getting back home and suddenly the surroundings were becoming familiar. I could say I had been there. Even though Paro Dzong is not the most beautiful Bhutanese dzong I have seen, I can say it will be printed forever in my memory.

Punakha is located in a small tropical valley and its monastery is just between two rivers, Mo (female) and Pho (male). Notice the different colours of the rivers waters.

To access it from Thimpu, you need to cross a pass in the mountains, Dochu La at 3050m. The roads are narrow and if even the toughest of travellers can be subject to motion sickness (I personally felt almost sick on the way back to Thimpu).

The history of Punakha Dzong is as follows: a Tibetan monk, Guru Rinpoche, had recommended to build a monastery near an elephant-shaped mountain. One needs lots of imagination to see a sleepy elephant behind this monastery!

Punakha Dzong was the second of Bhutan's dzongs and like all dzongs in Bhutan, built without any plans. The builders just used their imagination and did not use a single nail (Bhutanese houses and dzongs are all built without using nails!).

Its construction started in 1637 and was completed the following year. It was named Druk Pungthang Dechen Phodrang (Palace of Great Happiness). Later embellishments included the construction of a chapel to commemorate the victory over the Tibetans in 1639. The war material captured during the battle is preserved in the Dzong.

For many years, until the time of the second king, it served as the seat of the government. Punakha is the place where kings are crowned and is still the winter residence of the Central Monk Body established by the Shabdrung with 600 monks. In summer, the monks go to the capital, Thimpu in Trashi Chho Monastery. The dzong was the seat of government when Punakha was the capital, and King Jigme Dorji Wangchuk convened the new National Assembly here in 1952.

When the monks are away, it is possible to visit the Dzong and its main temple, where three walls are decorated with scenes from the life of Buddha. If you know the legend of Buddha, the paintings are visual enough for you to recognise most scenes (especially if you have seen Bertolucci's 'Little Buddha'). The remaining wall is decorated with head statues of lamas who lived in Punakha.

It is not possible to see other rooms as they are out of access to non-Buddhists but you can admire the wall paintings outside the buildings and if you are lucky, your guide may show you some out-of-access rooms if there is no one around.

The visit is part of a package tour (200 USD per day -see my overview-) and the Dzong can only be visited with an official guide.

Located in the heart of the Bhutanese mountains, Wangdue Phodrang is a small village with a dzong (monastery). This dzong is also a fort, one of the most famous ones in Bhutan. Wangdue Phodrang Dzong is the village's most visible feature. You can see young monks who will try to practise their English with you.

English is the compulsory foreign language for all Bhutanese children who learn Dzongka (the national language) and also English. This is quite strange, seeing that the country is so closed...

The village of Wangdue has a buzzing market (for a Bhutanese village!) on the main street with various shops selling many things including shoes (Wangdue Phodrang is famous for its shoes).

During my trip in Bhutan, I asked my guide to show me a deaf school since I am deaf myself. There are two deaf schools in the small kingdom of Bhutan, one of them being near Paro, on the way to Drukgyel monastery, about ten kilometres from Paro.

The deaf school is actually in a small building separated from the rest of a big secondary school. The first classroom was opened in September 2003, with three deaf students. In 2005, they were 14, split in two classrooms (first and second grade). All students are between 7 and 16 years old and are supervised by five deaf adults, two hearing teachers and a sign language researcher.

Before 2003, there was no Bhutanese Sign Language. To create a new national Sign Language, five deaf adults were reunited and tried to establish a way to communicate. They were asked by the Sign Language researcher to create basic signs for concrete words such as "fruits", "vegetables", etc. The word creation process was partly influenced by the researcher's knowledge of American Sign Language, and nowadays, American Sign Language is used for numbers and spelling words.

Classes are taught in English only (as it is the compulsory language in all Bhutanese schools). Dzongkha, the national language is only taught as a second language at school.

When I visited the deaf school, teachers were trying to teach literacy and mathematics to children with moderate success.

I was highly impressed by the courage of the teachers and of the kids and how a Bhutanese Sign Language emerged in just a few years without having existed previously.