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Travelling to a new and beautiful place has always been my respite to the various forms of struggles of my life. So this time, we chose to visit the "Happiest country" around. We entered Bhutan via Phuentsholing. After completing our entry permit formalities, we checked in to one of the little eateries and had some delicious Thukpa and dessert. While paying for your happy tummy, we got the bigger Indian currencies of 2000 and some 500s exchanged into smaller Bhutanese currency Ngultrum. From Phuentsholing, we moved to Paro which is about a 3 hrs drive. Our accomodation was booked in a resort in the outskirts of Paro town. Although, I must admit, that the road from the highway to the resort is quite narrow and bumpy, but it is still worth it when you see the view around it during the daytime. We reached quite late in the evening around 09:30 pm and we hadn't had our dinner. Since there was nothing around, the hotel staff themselves offered us tea and reopened their kitchen to cook us rice and lentils. Hot rice-lentils on a chilly -5degC night in Bhutan was such a bliss. This followed by a hot bath equals blissful sleep. The next morning, we woke up to stunning view of the mountains from our bed. We had planned to visit the Tiger's Nest, which is about 20 km hike to and from the Nest. But we had our priorities straightened - food before anything else. We stopped for breakfast at UT88, a small eatery above a general store on the way to Taktsang parking lot. This is where we were introduced to koka. Before starting our hike, we got our entry tickets to the Taktsang from near the parking lot . On the way up, we had to halt many times to get a great snap of the Paro valley and the mountains around. "Om Mani Padme Hum.." - hearing the monks chant on their way up to the monastery, at one point of time even I started chanting it in my head. Halfway up the hike, there is a small cafe where you can have water, tea and snacks. We spent about an hour in the Taktsang built around the nest where the tigress of Guru Padmasambhava was believed to have resided. Then we started our hike downwards and as soon as we reached the parking lot, without a second we decided to grab a quick hot meal in the same restaurant UT 88 and bought some snacks from the general shop downstairs to munch on in our room at night. After the hike and a full tummy, all we needed was a hot bath and some rest. Then we headed out to explore the little town of Paro and have dinner. Although we wanted to eat in one of the many little eateries above a general store or something, we could not reach those as it was quite late already . So we decided to eat in the crowded Mountain Cafe. The next morning was a relaxing one - waking up around 9 am, sipping tea lazily in the balcony over viewing the mountains around. Then we checked out of the hotel and started our journey back. On our way, we stopped at the Paro market to have lunch. In just about 2 days, I became a fan of this little town and its delicious homely meals. We had our lunch at Nima Restaurant and Souvenir. The host (I don't remember his name but I do remember that he is a great photographer with pictures clicked by him hanging on a wall inside the restaurant) suggested that we try the traditional Bhutanese cuisine, Ema datshi - red chillies baked in cheese. Since we had already heard of the dish a number of times in the last two days, we decided to give it a try. We ordered it along with rice and homestyle chicken curry. I must admit that the ema datshi was really hot, but it was so delicious with the chicken curry and some chilli pickle that we finished one whole bowl of it. With a hot but happy tummy, we bid adieu to the beautiful town of Paro.