We left for Delhi on 25th so as to catch early morning flight to Paro, Bhutan on 26th.
Mittu sent us the following information:
"Tucked into a tightly cropped valley and surrounded by 16,000-foot-high Himalayan peaks, Bhutan's only airport is forbidding to fly into. It requires specially trained pilots to maneuver and land through a channel of tree-covered hillsides."
The pilot made an effort to land at Paro twice without success. A thick low cloud cover made it impossible to see the airstrip, so the flight was diverted to Kolkata and we had to spend 26th night in Hayett, Kolkata. Finally on 27th we reached Paro. I have never seen such beautiful airport terminal. It looked like a palace. Run way is dead end at the foothills of mountains. It was absolutely fantastic. We set of for Thimpu by road immediately after collecting our baggage.The entire 45 minute drive was beautiful.
After 2 nights in Thimpu we left for Punakha to see one of the most beautiful Monasteries on the river banks. This is where the young K5 was crowned last year.

Tourism is very new to Bhutan as airport, roads etc. were built in only last 20 years or so.Surprisingly all the infrastructure in Bhutan is developed by Government of India to international standards. So I was wondering "what happens to the same government when it comes to India?"

30th morning we left for again Paro and spent next 2 nights in a hotel which was a palace once upon a time.

Bhutan has monasteries, palaces and mountains and nothing else. people are simple, polite and all of them speak excellent English. So communication is not a problem at all. We had 2 drivers and 2 guides with us all the time along with 2 minivans and a truck for luggage. This was because, the ambassador Mr.Vyas is a friend of Dr. Subbarao who had organized this trip.
ours was a motley crowd of 13 people. Dr. Subbarao, his daughter and son in law from US, a family of 3 Americans, 4 of us from Pune, and Dr. Subbarao's brother in law and his wife from Hyderabad and this most charming elderly lady from Delhi Vijaya Pandit.

We were divided into 2 vans with all Americans in one van with Dr.Subbarao and all others in second van.
Baba charmed Vijaya by helping her to get in and out of the van every time. So now we have a standing invitation to go to Delhi and stay with her house in Greater Kailash.

Shopping was mainly hand woven textiles and Budhist paintings and artifacts.
Food was combination of Indian, Chinese and continental cuisines.
We left for Delhi on 1st April and reached Pune at midnight after considerable flight delays from Delhi to Pune.
I am posting some pictures of beautiful Bhutan.
Enjoy