As I went thru a CN Travel article- "Bhutan or Bust"| this I write I thought I must...|

and see where this time www.bhutanrebirth.com strayed into (the article)

Ok, first of all only now did I notice that it isn't CNN but Conde Nast Travel. Great article though by a Adam Platt.

What made me do a double take (in slow motion) was the following excerpt:

[While on Druk Air, the stewardess handed out] Kuensel, which carried the story of a woman who’d been hung in a not too remote part of the country by villagers who suspected her of being a witch. (Maybe not everyone is happy.)  

I would like to say that it is not possible for 2 main reasons:

1: Lynching in public does not happen in Bhutan, not only uncommon but never takes place

2. Being a witch may not necessarily be a totally bad thing. There are people (openly known people) who can 'kill' through prayers, sort of witch-doctors, women suspected of being witches but not in a bad way, in sort of gossips around villages, love potions... you know. The Bhutan government took steps to ban such practices especially during archery matches when a Tsip or witch doctor was also one of the team, his main target the opponent archers ;). Lots of cases of people dying through such cases, well, attributed to such cases.

That's what caught my eye, oh and the fact that the Dell founder was hopping around Bhutan in his own helicopter. Didn't know that was permitted, even entering Bhutan in their own plane (once there was an Arab Sheikh (related to the Dell founder by money) who wanted to do that but wasn't allowed was what I had heard).

Rest great article, well observed.

Cheerio,

Keshav-http://www.bhutanrebirth.com/

write with comments to bhutanrebirth@gmail.com.

13 May 2013: A day of 2 incidents of Ladies and Alcohol... ;)

13 May, Thimphu outskirts: Group of ladies spilled a huge jerkin of local rice wine down the steps outside my parents' apartment. Immediately looked outside and the first lady was drenched in the alcohol. I think the first lady (not Mrs. Obama) dived to save her ara? The stairway is still smelling of the stuff ;)

13 May evening, Heart of Thimphu: Stood and watched outside a shop as 2 ladies got hold of a carpenter who sat down with his tools to open a bottle of red wine. Just watched as the carpenter used various tools to attack the cork while anticipation grew with the 2 ladies. Red, red, wine....

- yet another day goes by with Travel Vacation Packages to Bhutan 

Getting into Bhutan (or leaving)...

Today I wish to talk about, well, the topic up there...

Entering Bhutan is interesting (avoiding the Himalayan peaks for a start. Spotting a Yeti hiding. The last one could be hallucination. But then again, is it?). You most likely have to fly in with the Royal Bhutanese Airlines, Druk Air either from Bangkok, New Delhi, Calcutta, Kathmandu, Dhaka and (off and on) Bodhgaya, Rangoon, Singapore and Bombay. The first four are the reliable ones. The flight is interesting if your interests include roller coasters and similar thrills. I don't mean up and down- I remember once when I was a passenger this lady from somewhere abroad actually let out a scream while the plane was circling to land at Paro, our only international airport. But let me not get sidetracked.

Most tourists enter and depart from Paro, one hour from Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan. However, some tourists include Sikkim and Darjeeling in India in their itinerary.  They have the option of going (or coming) by road from Phuentsholing in the south (5 hours from both Paro or Thimphu, the capital). There's also another gateway in the east in Samdrup Jongkhar where you can exit (or enter) from Gauhati in Assam.

These here then are the comings and goings into and out of the tiny Kingdom of Bhutan... can I mention here details of everything (everything about Bhutan, well, traveling to Bhutan) can be found (that is, if you click there) at http://www.bhutanrebirth.com. Go for it, nothing to lose, let us welcome you to the website at least... it's not that bad, I promise....worth some clicks... ;)

- Keshav (Bhutan Rebirth Tours & Treks), and no, that's not my surname, hence the brackets