QUEASY ARRIVAL AT THIMPHU –BHUTAN JOURNEY

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We reached Thimphu, which is Bhutan’s capital and occupies a valley in the country’s western interior. In addition to being the government seat, the city is well known for its famous Buddhist sites.
By now we started getting a queasy feeling and could make out that this was car sickness or motion sickness due to Bhutan's winding roads with constant hair pin bends, one is strongly advised to take along anti motion sickness medicine based on their doctor’s prescription

Other than in Thimpu and Paro, one never has a stretch of straight road for more than a few seconds which sounds incredible but is very true ,one also should brace up for decreased metabolism ,slow digestion and have fewer and smaller meals
We were travelling with some essentials like rain jacket and umbrella, hats for sun, sunglasses, Sunscreen lotion, insect repellent, anti-itch cream for bug bites, Flashlight, batteries and camera .
If one has a specific item - like artificial sweetener, pickle , sweets etc we can bring them along from home, however there are plenty of  shops stocking sweets, chips and cookies ,specially in main cities

We can even take small gifts like stationary items ,small trinkets ,coins etc to gift the kids,we found that the Bhutanese were very friendly but shy
My overall impression about Bhutan was that the country was like a very good  and sweet child , innocent ,not yet exposed to the  many vices rampant in the world. The Bhutanese  love ,adore and worship their king and his family. Having the good fortune of being brought up in such pristine ,unpolluted conditions they are like fresh exotic flowers exuding fragrance all around

Just like credit and debit cards, no foreign SIM card works once we enter Bhutan. There is no provision to set up international roaming facilities.
So our first stop was to get a SIM card . There are two GSM network providers in Bhutan. First is the government-owned B-mobile (Bhutan Telecom) and second is private Tashi Cell. SIM card of both companies can be purchased quite easily.

Our guide took us to the Thimphu  Bhutan Telecom office and my husband took a SIM card ,he just needed his passport photo page scan and 200 Ngultrum (Nu). He got the SIM card purchased and activated in hardly 15 minutes. The vendor handled all necessities of activation process. While the process was going on, I had a quick look at the streets , various cars parked and vegetable market nearby. I found pasted on the wall the map of Thimphu

 Rice and cheese are the staple food of the Bhutanese. If one would like to try out the local cuisine the “Ema Datshi” is what would be optimal choice as it is the national food of Bhutan.
For the less adventurous, we can try to find familiar cuisines in Bhutan. There are multiple Indian restaurants throughout which we tried and got good Indian food ,there were buffet options too
If we are used to eat curds or yoghurt with every meal we are in for a shock in Bhutan as they are  hard to get in restaurants,  they don’t stock it nor do we get it in many of the shops so it is better that we inform in the hotel restaurants one day prior to our need
While visiting monasteries and places of religious interest it is always advisable to wear clothes that fully cover the body. Most places require everyone to wear full sleeved tops to cover the hands completely, using a scarf or jacket over the dress would also serve in most places.
Once we are in Bhutan we invariably start behaving with decorum ,lower our voices ,be friendly with all ,the influence of the locals is so much that we start relaxing ,not push things and not be in a hurry to get things done,no wonder many people want to retire and spend their retired life there
We then went to our hotel, the Ramada valley Thimphu  .

 We were greeted at the reception by two young girls traditionally dressed and given a welcome drink.

Luckily our room had a river view though the river flowing by was a mere brook.

 From our room through large windows we could see the views of hills capped by clouds ,roof tops and curving roads.

The room was adorned with local decorations

 and had a heater too, our room had a flat TV and wifi ,though we didn't seem to get many channels

There were 41 rooms,some suites ,altogether the hotel had a good ambiance

I particularly liked the arrangement made with simple metal cups to collect rain water

There was a fitness center, sauna, spa and massage facilities,Though we didn’t use them,every trip we take we religiously intend to use all these facilities but very rarely find time or energy! There was  a bar ,a meeting room ,private dining room and an outdoor river side restaurant
The hotel restaurant served local Bhutanese , Indian and continental dishes

We ordered a cup of tea after our dinner and savoured it sitting in the biting cold weather outside,it was a good experience