Trip to Bhutan: Conference Day 1

Kutte

We reached Paro College of Education late night @ 1 A.M. and started looking for hostel/guest house to stay. It was a completely different place, there was a gate, but it was open and that too without a security guard, strange right. Adding to strangeness, there was no human being to assist/help us. Instead we were welcomed by Dogs, I mean many dogs. Bhutan has lots of dogs; some people call this beautiful place as Country of Thunder Dragon……..at that time I called it Kutto ka Desh (No disrespect).Somehow we got a person, took his mobile and contacted our Mentor. It was as if God has sent that person, else it would be very difficult for us to get a place to stay at that time.

Hashi Mam

We moved on to the hotel, where everyone was staying, and then there were confusions of different stays for boys and girls. Finally all of us were allowed to stay in hotel. My crew was getting fresh, hand wash, face wash, everything, but I was just looking for few hours’ sleep. I mean who the hell cares about hygiene after 3 days traveling without any sleep? The room was too good with a nice bed and I was so exhausted that I slept within a minute.

I woke up early in morning so that we can reach on time in the conference. While others were getting ready, Me and Taran Sir moved to Venue. I checked in to our guest house with the help of two pretty ladies. I was looking confused, so they even escorted me back to Conference hall, nice hosting team. Meantime, rest of my crew members came and all of us joined the Inaugural Ceremony. There were

Praying

delegates from Bhutan, India, Nepal, Singapore, and Thailand. The hall was completely made of wood, (Bhutan has lots of wood), and it was different from any conference hall that I have ever seen. The Bhutanese started the ceremony with lot of good things; they worshiped their God. They prayed to bestow us with goodness and success of the Conference. Then there was a meditation session included in Inauguration. I have attended lots of different types of Conference but this was the first which started with a divine spiritual practice of Meditation. This proves that Bhutan is really something, a place where peace lives, a place where greenery is religion, a fairy tale kind of place.

Conference

Night, me and Bhampi started the thing for what we actually visited Bhutan, i.e. to roam around here and there. We moved towards marked and were amazed to see that there was not even a single traffic light on roads; all vehicles were moving at a moderate speed, no one was in hurry. Then we spotted a one more new adventurous specialty of Bhutan-Archery. We thought of trying it, but the Bow itself was very heavy and then its string was so tight that it wasn't possible for us to stretch it. Still what’s the big deal in just taking pics with it; we had few clicks with it and continued our journey towards Market. Paro's marked at 8 O Clock is a free market; you won’t find too many people, it’s completely silent, shops will be open, but nothing of much interest. We can say even the markets are at peace in Paro. If you are looking to purchase some souvenir, purchase it from Tigers Nest or from Thimphu.