This really is a different country. The bus is new & comfortable with good shock absorbers and the roads are well made up. The sun comes out after a night of torrential rai; the mists hang on for a while and then let go their last clasp on the mountains to reveal blue sky!!!!! Rural & town houses are well constructed and well painted with beautiful paintings of spirits on their gables & facades.

The road winds up and down around valleys, ravines & peaks. Cows munch grass contentedly & pictures of alpine meadows come to mind particularly when the sound of the occasional cow bell can be heard. The mountains drop straight down to little slivers of rivers as mountains stand majestically above. I pass a Shagri-la of farmhouses, villages & small towns. Yep, really is like this. How can Bhutan be one of the poorest countries in the world? It seems they sell hydro electric power to India!!??

After a smooth drive we arrive in Thimpu, Bhutan’s capital – so surprising: modern, clean, large (600,000 people live in Bhutan, slightly bigger than Wales and 200,000 li be in Thimpu. I visit the national textile museum, the fort, the main stupa and have a wander around town.