Bhutan’s early history is steeped in Buddhist folklore and mythology; it features tremendous deeds and beings with supernatural powers. It’s said that a saint who had the ability to appear in eight different forms, one of them being Guru Rinpoche, visited Bhutan on a flying tiger and left the imprint of his body and his hat on rocks. School texts describe demons that threatened villages and destroyed temples until captured through magic and converted to Buddhism. Tales abound of ghosts who destroyed temples, and angels who rebuilt them.
Researchers have attached dates to many events, though these often do not seem to fit together into a credible and accurate chronology. When reading Bhutanese history, it’s easier to let your imagination flow. Try visualising the spirit of the happenings rather than rationalising events as historical truth. This will, in part, help prepare you for a visit to Bhutan, where spirits, ghosts, yetis, medicine men, and lamas reincarnated in three different bodies are accepted as a part of daily life.
Tourists visiting Bhutan must travel through an authorized local tour operator on a pre-planned, pre-paid, guided package tour. Independent travel is not permitted. The government stipulates an all-inclusive entry fee per day. Concerned local tour operator is responsible for all logistical arrangements during your stay in Bhutan .
You can entry from three entry points: Samdrup Jongkhar (southeast Bhutan), Gelephu (south Bhutan), and Phuntsholing (southwest Bhutan).
Upon arrival immigration officers endorse your identification card: the passport or voter’s registration card. Also, please carry some passport photographs as well just in case. The permit can be extended by contacting the immigration office. The following permits are issued to visitors. You will have to go personally! The endorsement is done at the entry points in Phuentsholing, Samdrup Jongkhar, and Gelephu, if you are travelling by land, and Paro airport, if you flying into Bhutan.
Tourists who plan on travelling to places other than Thimphu, Phuntsholing, and Paro (free zone) will have to obtain route permit from the immigration office in Thimphu.
Please remember that not all religious places are open for tourists. However, most of the religious places are made accessible to tourists but they are required to produce a special permit. For this, tourists will have to contact Department of Culture.
| Area : | 18,000 square miles. | |
| Position : | Approximately between 26’ 45”, 28’ 10” north latitude and 88’45” and 91’ 10” east. | |
| Population : | 1,200,000 (Appx.) | |
| Government : | Thimphu. | |
| Capatial : | Thimphu. | |
| State Religion : | Mahayana Buddhism of the Durukpa Kagyupa Sect . | |
| Language : | Dzonkha, Nepali, English and a number of dialects Including Sharchopkha and Khen Kha. | |
| Name of Currency : | Ngultrum (Nu.). | |
| Best Season : | High Season : | Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec. |
| Low Season: | Jan, June, July. | |
| Currencies Name : | NGULTRUMS (NU) Loacal time - 6Hrs. ahead of GMT and ½ an ahead IST. | |
| Clothing : | Summer : | Light woolens. |
| Winter : | Heavy woolens. | |
| Climate : | Bhutan's climate is as varied as its altitudes and, like most of Asia, is affected by monsoons. Western Bhutan is particularly affected by monsoons that bring between 60 and 90 percent of the region's rainfall. The climate is humid and subtropical in the southern plains and foothills, temperate in the inner Himalayan valleys of the southern and central regions, and cold in the north, with year-round snow on the main Himalayan summits. | |
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