Bhutan & India might be next to each other, but they are also worlds apart. India is a hive of activity – seldom quiet - morning, noon or night, people are out and cars are wizzing around honking like crazy. Bhutan is all about tranquility, calm and peace. India has the fastest growing population in the world, while Bhutan remains very small and isolated.

They are not without their similarities though. Both countries have long histories, and architectural antiquities beyond description. The people of both countries are also very spiritual; Bhutan being Buddhist, and India Hindu (and Muslim).

Both countries absolutely amazed us – the sights, sounds, colors, people, music – it was a stunning 19-day trip, although also a bit of sensory overload!

In India we visited Delhi, Jaipur, Pushkar and Agra. We traveled by private car and driver, plus local guides at the destinations. One way between Jaipur and Delhi we took the train for the experience, which was great fun although not fast (our driver waved us off in Jaipur, and was there waiting on the platform when we arrived in Delhi!). Through everything our driver was calm and collected, even if we might be biting our nails in the traffic. We were always behind schedule because he would make suggestions and we invariably said yes!

I’m sure we caused our driver some consternation on our last day in India when we wanted to stop at a modern roadside McDonalds so we could experience a beef-less menu! Weird Americans! 

We were not as enthusiastic with a couple of our guides as we were with our driver. In Delhi we finally gave up trying to convince the guide that we didn’t want to visit his favorite shops, so visited one complex for as short of time as possible. We however did very much want to visit a shopping collective - Delhi Hatt - that had been recommended to us by some of Mike’s Indian co-workers - and the guide absolutely refused to stop there (we went later that day by tuk tuk after he’d dropped us off, and it was wonderful). 

India highlights included the drive from Delhi to Pushkar, observing the morning bathing in the lake at Pushkar, strolling the Camel Fair and the desert at sunset, Jaipur and the early morning at the Amber Fort, being pulled into the night-time pre-wedding street dancing by the revelers, staying at the Rambaugh Palace, and sunrise at the Taj Mahal… 

Accommodations were quite the mix, from a tent camp in Pushkar (only vegetarian food is served), to the divine Rambaugh Palace (one of my favorite hotels anywhere now… I closely examined the cool marble floors in the bathroom our first night, where I lay recovering from food poisoning!). 

Bhutan was also a (quirky) delight. Remote - set deep in the Himalayas - sandwiched between India and China, the country has a single international airport and essentially no road boarder crossings (trucks come in from India via a very circuitous route). Don’t try and bring blue jeans, cigarettes, or plastic bags into the country - they are not allowed and will be confiscated at the airport on arrival. Visitors are not allowed to climb the mountains, which are sacred.

The country’s tourism model is that all visitors must pay a daily fee to be in the country. This fee includes your transportation, guide and driver, all accommodations, meals and entrance fees. The daily fee increases the smaller the group size: we opted for a private tour so paid a higher daily fee. A few deluxe new hotels are under construction so those will increase the daily fees as well. 

Bhutan is a monarchy, with a young king. He is in the process of giving up much of his power, turning it over to the people and local officials. “Traditional dress” is required of the Bhutanese if doing any official business (the exception being shoes - everyone wears modern sneakers with their traditional dress). 

Some of our highlights in Bhutan included walking alone through the weekend market in Thimpu, the Folk Heritage House/Musuem in Thimpu, the Dzong of Wangdie, hiking from the hotel to Tromsa Dzong, a sunrise hike into Jakar from the hotel, visiting a school in the east before the morning assembly, sitting quietly and watching the Black Necked Cranes, visiting the Temple of the Divine Madman on his national holiday morning, the dart game on the temple lawn between monks, and hiking all the way up to, and into, the Tiger’s Nest. We did miss out of a few highlights the country is known for, such as like spectacular views of the surrounding Himalayan peaks (we had cloudy weather all but one day), the rhododendron groves (wrong time of year), and an archery tournament (the country’s passion).

Hotels in Bhutan have a charming off-beat quality. Our guide would always call ahead and request the best rooms for us, and they were lovely in an austere way. Meals throughout were redundant - there seems to be a universal idea of what visitors can/will eat, and options were few. The locals will eat a chilies and cheese sauce concoction daily!

Our guide, Palden, was an interesting fellow; having previously been a history teacher, he was surprisingly weak on the history of Bhutan (or just unable to explain some of it in English). He didn’t believe in much of the folklore of the country, but was extremely devout in his Buddhism, very nearly to the point of trying to convert visitors (he said that some had in the past). 

On our last day in Bhutan, on the drive to the airport, Palden worked up the nerve to ask us a question… He wanted to know if we had voted for George W. Bush for president! We said we definitely hadn’t. He then said none of his visitors had said they voted for him, so how had he won the election?! We explained that his voters were probably not the people who would travel to a place like Bhutan.

Worldview Tours, based in Los Angeles, planned our holiday. They closed abruptly in 2018, after over 40 years in business.

travel journal text and photography by Mark Grantham