Oh no. Time to leave the glorious country where Gross National Happiness is deemed more important than the Boxing Day sales, the euro crisis or who is going to win X Factor. Its been totes amazing. From the smiling children who have all been keen to practise their 'what is your name and what country please?', and taken such delight in being shown their own photo, to the rickety old folk hanging around the temples desperately turning the prayer wheels, counting...

And so we ventured east, further into the more rural part of Bhutan; it's time to head to the more remote regions to see the countryside, explore some dzongs (old fortresses that were built over 400 years ago to repel the invading Tibetans) and hike up some mountains to see ancient monasteries, colourful temples and golden topped stupas. Everywhere we drive there are rows of brightly coloured prayer flags fluttering in the wind, sending out millions upon million...

Before leaving Kathmandu my inbuilt excitement level at finally getting to Bhutan was tuned to an all-time high of 11, possibly even bordering on a 12. I still can't quite believe we are actually here after dreaming about it for so long. And mentioning it about 17 times a year, according to Brian. Tch. Someone first told me about this tiny hidden kingdom in the Himalayas when I was in Tibet 25 years ago. But, they warned, like some old cackling witch in a ...