My first visit to Bhutan – or how it all began?
More than 5 years ago I decided to travel to Bhutan. I had heard about the country in 1990, sitting next to a Bhutanese in an airplane from Manila to Hong Kong, who told me about the rules and limitations of his country. I have been to more than 120 countries and once a year I do a trip with my best friend Franzl to a new country we dont know. Regarding Bhutan I checked a few travel agencies online and felt insecure about which one to take. Therefore I decided to call the German embassy of Bhutan, just by chance and try it out. I was lucky because the German Honorarkonsul for Bhutan, a German physician, was available and we spoke for at least 2 hours on the phone. He said: „Well if you go to Bhutan there will be one major problem.“ „Which one?“ I asked. And he said: „Well… you will not want to come back“.
And he was right.
He then did a very special favor to me because he linked me to Kado, the former chief lifeguard of the King Number 4 and kind of babysitter to the current King Number 5. After his lifetime duty of being ADC to the King he had opened and operated a travel agency. „Kado will open any door for you in Bhutan that nobody else can open“…the German Honorarkonsul said, and yes we exactly experienced this on our trip.
So Franzl and I flew via New Delhi on a „dry day” with the only available Bhutanese airline, Druk (Dragon) Air.
The plane arrival was spectacular, going with the Boing 727 in steep curves before the landing in Paro, Bhutan.
And then we had arrived and I finally met Kado:
And his niece Chencho who was our guide…
…to help us against truck accidents…
…and show us the local culture and traditions
The Bhutanese live a simple life…
They give you many presents and are happy…