Located in the Eastern Himalayas, The Kingdom of Bhutan, or in Bhutanese, Druk Yul, is often revered as the “ Land of the Thunder Dragon “ as well as the “ Last Shangri-La” in the Himalayan region. Its serenity, awe-inspiring mountain terrain, varied flora and fauna and unique Buddhist monasteries makes it one of the most beautiful cultural country in Asia. With a small population of approximately 700,000 people, the two main population groups in Bhutan are, the Dukpa (67%) of the Tibetan and Monpa origin and Lhotsampa (30%) of the Nepalese origin. The remaining 3% comprises of indigenous groups such as Toktop, Doya and Lepcha. The capital of the country is a city called Thimpu and it is purely a Buddhist kingdom.
Similar to Singapore, the monsoon in Bhutan starts in mid June and last till the end of September. However, as Bhutan is spread across mountainous terrains, the climate of mid-mountain belt varies; such that low-lying parts of the country have cool winter and hot summer, whereas the higher valleys have temperate climate with cold snowy winters and cooler summer. The foothills which are called Duars experience high humidity and heavy rainfall instead of seasonal weathers.
The national currency of Bhutan is Ngultrum (Nu); and by today’s currency exchange rate, 1 Singapore dollar is equal to Nu 31.90. There is no ATM machines in Bhutan but however, major shopping centres accept credit cards as a mode of payment.
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