Bhutan Scenic Tours: Bhutan

National Dress Code Dept: The small airport building was guarded by an armed soldier in com-bat dress and inside were two officials in crisp white uniforms, tall and distinguished and somewhat aloof. An attractive young woman in western dress came forward to help us while immigration officers scrutinized our Canadian passports and Indian visas at length. Finally we were free, according to Vancouver Sun. We were definitely alone. Then we happily spotted our guide and driver from Bhutan Scenic Tours. They were not in their traditional gho, the national dress code as they were "on holiday," having driven four or five days over the winding and sometimes treacherous Himalayan road to meet us and the Drukair Airbus glided smoothly to the runway of Guwahati, on the plains of Assam, India. My daughter, son-in-law and I were the only passengers to disembark along with an Indian couple - he reminded me of a young Omar Sharif and she was elegant in sari. The 60 or so other passengers went on to Paro in west Bhutan. Perhaps they had read the guide books warning to only visit Eastern Bhutan if you have a sense of humour and are prepared for a lack of hot water and western toilets or maybe because tourists could only exit Guwahati - not enter - until the last year or so. Our journey to Eastern Bhutan in the land of the Thunder Dragon had begun. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.