Bhutan has been one of the most memorable holiday experience for me and my family. May-June is the best time to visit Bhutan when the weather is just perfect. It is a perfect balance of occasional showers, pleasant chill and warm sunshine…
The thing which immediately strikes you as you reach BHUTAN is Peace and laid back nature of the people out there. The people are happy living in their own slow pace and are very laid back. Infact we have to be extremely patient while dealing with them.
For eg. if you place an order for food in a restaurant, the minimum serving time is 1 hour or more in most cases. Once you place an order, they start preparations afresh (even the groceries are still in the market most of the times). Even if you go and stand on their head in the kitchen, they will not be affected, they will work the way they are used to 🙂
Please note – If you expect to get really yummy INDIAN food, please be disheartened. Bhutan is not a place to satisfy your food cravings. You get very basic quality food. However do not forget to try DATSHI which is a local dish made from cheese and chillies with variants like potatoes, mushrooms, beef, meat etc. It is yummy 🙂
Also, unlike Indian sellers in the local markets, the Bhutanese sellers are not at all aggressive in selling. They will not at all be pushy. They are more than happy just sitting near their display area least bothered whether you buy something or not.
One thing which strikes you is that there are no commercial hoardings and signages in Bhutan. Coco-Cola is freely available but you will not see single branding signage outside any shop. They are very clear that the Bhutanese culture has to be maintained and tourism should not flourish at the cost of their culture. For people like us, it becomes difficult to identify what kind of shop is it from outside as all of them look the same and have similar kinds of hoardings.
For adventure seekers there are mainly 2 things
- River rafting at Punakha
- Trek of Tiger’s Nest at Paro which is really very very tough and challenging
One thing that impressed me a lot was that there is no discrimination between males and females here. All the jobs are done equally by both genders, infact women are seen more doing all the manly jobs in public places like hotels (acting as porters carrying heavy luggage, room service, etc.), restaurants (cooking, cleaning, waitresses, etc.), running the shops, etc.
The king and royal family are a highly respected entity in Bhutan and you get to see their photos at all public places like hotels, restaurants, shops, etc.
One important note – Please carry enough cash (Average cost for our family was INR 1200 per day) as Indian Debit cards/ ATM cards dont work in Bhutan. Indian currency is easily acceptable everywhere.
Also please make sure you take a LEFT window seat while going to Paro and RIGHT window seat while coming back from PARO. On a clear day you can see the magnificent view of MT. EVEREST from your flight window 🙂 The view of the majestic Himalayan ranges is not the one to miss 🙂
To summarise, Bhutan justifies the title of being the country of Gross National Happiness. It is a must visit destination and I just hope and pray that like many other untouched destinations it does not become a victim of commercialisation in near future!
