Kingdom of Bhutan or Bootan is known as ‘Druk Yul’ or ‘Land of the Thunder Dragon’ by its own people. It is governed by one of the rare democratic monarchy system and the current ruler of Bhutan is known as King Jigme Singye Wangchuk. The Prime Minister of Bootan is known as Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk. Thimphu is the capital and the largest city of Bhutan. Sandwiched between India and People’s Republic of China, Kingdom of Bhutan is a landlocked South Asian nation. Most of the Bhutanese region is mountainous. The altitudes gradually drop towards the south. There is a 16-km long and wide strip of subtropical plains in the extreme south, which is about 16 km long. Valleys known as the Duars intersect these plains.
The snow-covered peaks of some of these Himalayan ranges exceed 23,000 feet or 7,000 m and there are many glaciers starting from here. Bhutan has actively sought to keep itself isolated from the rest of the world to preserve its traditions and rapidly disappearing Tibetan Buddhist culture from foreign influences. The government regulates tourism in Bhutan too. Bhutan shares its culture and much of its history with its neighboring country to the north, Tibet. Yet, it is closely linked to India because of its political and economic dependence on the bigger nation. India also provides much of the development aid to Bhutan.
Bhutan has carefully preserved its forests and environment along with history and culture and has a very eco-friendly lifestyle. It is trekker’s paradise and its ancient monasteries and their mysterious legends make it an enticing destination for tourists and travelers. While the number of tourists allowed in the country are limited and there are many documents required along with the necessity of taking packaged and pre-planned tours for people from all over the world, holiday making in Bhutan is much easier for Indians as there is hardly any paperwork for them and they also have the freedom of traveling to any place and explore Bootan as they like. Besides this, Bhutanese people understand Hindi in general and accept Indian currency as one of their own.