Tours to Bhutan

Bhutan. The Kingdom of Thunder Dragon

Bhutan. Map Official name: The Kingdom of Bhutan. It is a state, situated on the southern slopes of Eastern Himalayas between India and China . The capital is Timphu (27°28? n.l., 89°39? e.l.) Area is 47 thousands km2, which is approximately equal to Switzerland 's

Population is about 670 people. Around 30,9% are townspeople . Main people are: shachops, kengkha and bhumtangkha (native population, speaking Dzongkha dialects) – are 35%, Tibetan and Indian people 39%, Nepalese 26%.

Bhutan is the only state, which official religion is tantric Buddhism. The state language is Dzongkha (the language of Tibetan group), official documents are often written in English. .

Political system is monarchy, the governing dynasty is in power from 17.12.1907. The head of the state is the King (from December, 9, 2006 – Jigme Hesar Namgyel Wangchuk) In 2008 there are the plans to introduce constitution and to change to parliamentary democracy.

Legislative body is a national Assembly, 150 deputies (106 from them are elected by general voting), the laws are passed by the King.

Telephone code is 8-10-975. Time difference with Moscow is: 2 hours when there's summer time operation on the territory of Russia , and 3 hours in winter time period.

Monetary unit is ngultrum (Nu), in 1 ngultrum there are 100 chetrums. 1$ = 45,6 Nu (31.5.2006)
Domain zone in Internet is .bt

The Kingdom of Bhutan is an exotic land of high mountains and thick valleys, snow peaks and pure running springs, ancient ecology and incredible wild life. This is a real amazing country without hunger and crime, where people live happily, not knowing wars and poverty. For many centuries the world around this country didn't have a clue of its existence and its name. Bhutanese people themselves always called their country Druck Yul or the Kingdom of a Thunder Dragon. Comparatively recently Bhutan has opened its doors to the tourists, but still a few number of people can explore the hidden kingdom.

The country is studied still too little, and huge territories in the southern and middle parts are not occupied by people at all and represent huge nature reserve with amazing fauna and flora. Just one curious fact – on the territory of the kingdom there's the highest elephant density on the unit area, and jungles are one of the most impassable and humid in the world. All this is preserved in Bhutan for very simple reasons – hunting is forbidden and there's almost no deforestation. The kingdom provides itself with food and clothes . Королевство полностью обеспечивает себя продуктами питания и одеждой. Herewith almost all the population wears national clothes – kho

People live in big and beautiful two- three-storeyed buildings, scattered around the slopes of the mountains along the small valleys. There are not many towns, and the largest is Timphu, at the same time it is the King's residence and the capital and its population numbers nearly 40 thousands people.

There are about 200 monasteries-dzongs on the territory of the kingdom, and some of them were built in VII century by the king of Tibet Songsten Gampo. For many centuries they served as refuges from Tibetan invaders and wild animals. In the course of time settlements appeared around them.

The country was visited by such famous Buddhist masters as Padmasambhava (or Guru Rimpoche) and Milarepa. And if you come to Bhutan today, you can see and touch the sacred places and objects, which belonged to these highly realized masters.

Not more than 3000-5000 tourists per year can visit the country, and the route, number of days, the places to have a rest and other small details should be thoroughly coordinated with the host country beforehand. And during your staying there you should be accompanied by a special guide. There are also many places which one can visit only after having a special permission, often signed by the King himself.

It's interesting that a conventional notion of gross domestic product is substituted in Bhutan with more suitable indicator – “gross national happiness”. This is the only state in the world, where there exists a Ministry of Happiness, in this way, happiness is a matter of primary importance in the national politics. One can be hundred percent sure, that a real adventure fan, who would like to enter XVI century not in a dream, but in real life, will get everything he could dream of.