The Exclusive Club Known as the Kingdom of Bhutan

If I had been following the rules for entering the Kingdom of Bhutan, I would never have gotten in. Bhutan may be the toughest country to enter. (1) You cannot enter Bhutan without being part of a tour and all tours are run by Bhutanese agencies. (2) You cannot enter Bhutan without flying on the government sponsored Druk Airlines which has 2 planes and lands only in the one airport in Para, Bhutan on its' one landing strip. By the time my money had transferred to the travel agency, I had already bought an airline package for 4 stops in India. Since Bhutan is surrounded on 3 sides by India, I thought I could use this package to get to Bhutan. At the last minute I was informed that I couldn't enter without flying on Druk Air. At this point I threw the international equivalent of a hissy fit and the tour guide agreed to drive to Bagdogra India to pick me up. Kinzang the guide and Nobbin the driver met my plane at the airport and they were, to use a technical term, real hotties. They were both dressed very preppy in golf shirts and kakhis.....Every country I visit seems to ratchet up the driving difficulty level and the ride from Bagdogra India to Phuntsholing Bhutan was no exception. Before reaching the border, we experienced all the fun of driving in India - streets filled with people, every kind of animal, Took Tooks (Indian Taxis), carts, motorcycles, bicycles, potholes, etc. Things got tougher, however when we crossed the border into Bhutan. Almost automatically, it became mountainous (VERY steep mountains), with roads cut out of rock on the sides of the mountains to create a 1 lane road. Driving rain started as soon as we crossed the border. Much of the road wasn't paved or it was filled with potholes. This meant driving through muddy lanes sometimes filled from the rock and mud slides. Everytime we had to drive around an oncoming truck I wondered if the muddy shoulders would hold. Like most of Bhutan, Kinzang and Nobbin are both Buddhists, which means no drinking, smoking, etc. In every country so farI've been good about honoring that countries beliefs, but not here! I was so stressed that I was smoking with one hand and drinking out of a bottle of Chardonnay with the other. Don't be surprised if Bhutan announces a ban on all American women. And yes Dennis, it would be all about me....... Happy Trails, Marion (hic !)