Travel Guide to Paro

• Helloཀླུ་ཤི་བ
  [klu shi ba]
• Goodbyeཞེན་ནས
  [zhen na]
• Yesགིས
  [gi]
• Noམེད
  [me]
• Please/You're welcomeཤིན་ཏུ་ར
  [shin tu ra]
• Thank youབཤགས་པ
  [sha kha pa]
• Excuse me/Sorryདཔལ་ངོས་བ
  [pal ngos ba]
• How are you?ཁྱེད་ར་རེད་ས་ལ་གཏིས་ས
  [khe ra re sa la gati sa]
• Fine. And you?སྣང་བས། ཁྱེད་ར་ལ
  [nang ba, khe ra la]
• Do you speak English?ཨིགས་ལི་ཁོང་ར་ལ་ན
  [ig li kong ra la na]
• I don't understandང་ཁོང་ར་མེད
  [nga kong ra me]

• I'd like to see the menu, pleaseམེད་དུས་མཇུ
  [me du menu]
• I don't eat meatང་ལག་ཟང་ལ་མིས
  [nga lak zang la mi]
• Cheers!མུངས་བས
  [mung ba]
• I would like to pay, pleaseམེད་དུས་ཉིད
  [me du nyi]

• Help!གསོལ་འདས།
  [sol da]
• Go away!སྲེན་མས།
  [sren ma]
• Call the Police!གལ་གསོལ་མཇུ
  [gal sol ju]
• Call a doctor!སློབ་མཇུ
  [lob ju]
• I'm lostང་སྐོར
  [nga kor]
• I'm illང་སྨན
  [nga men]

• I'd like to buy...མེད་དུས་ཌ
  [me du da]
• I'm just lookingང་ལྟ་ཏུ།
  [nga latu]
• How much is it?སྐུ་ལ་ལས་མ་ལ་ཞོན་པ
  [ku la la ma la zon pa]
• That's too expensiveསྣང་མེད་ས
  [nang me]
• Can you lower the price?གཤས་སོག་ས་ཡོས་ད
  [sha sog sa yo da]

• What time is it?མིག་མི། ལེགས་པ
  [mik mi leg pa]
• It's one o'clockམེད་འགོག་ལ
  [me gok la]
• Half past (10)སྡུམ་འགོག། ཕོ་གོ
  [dum gok po go]
• Morningཉི།
  [nyi]
• Afternoonསོ།
  [so]
• Eveningདགོངས་པ
  [gong pa]
• Yesterdayམཇུབ
  [ju]
• Todayད་ས
  [da sa]
• Tomorrowསྟེ
  [te]
• 1གཅིག
  [gzig]
• 2གཉིས
  [nyi]
• 3གསོ།
  [so]
• 4མོ།
  [mo]
• 5ལྔ
  [nga]
• 6དྲུང
  [drung]
• 7བདུད
  [dud]
• 8བར
  [bar]
• 9དགུ
  [gu]
• 10བཅུ
  [chu]

• Where's a/the...?ནང་འཇུ...?
  [nang ju]
• What's the address?ལས་གོ་ནང་འཇུ...?
  [la go nang ju]
• Can you show me (on the map)?ང་བས་ཡོས་དག་འཇུ...?
  [nga ba yo dag ju]
• When's the next (bus)?ར་ཆག་ལས་སྡུམ་འཇུ...?
  [ra chag la dum ju]
• A ticket (to ....)སྡུམ་གི་ཡོས་དག་འཇུ...?
  [dum gi yo dag ju]

Paro, a picturesque valley town nestled in the heart of Bhutan, has a history that stretches back to ancient times. The region has been continuously inhabited since prehistoric periods, with archaeological evidence suggesting settlements dating back to 2000 BCE. The valley's fertile soil and strategic location made it an ideal spot for early communities.

Buddhism made its way to Paro in the 8th century, largely due to the influence of Guru Rinpoche, also known as Padmasambhava. According to legend, Guru Rinpoche flew to the site of the iconic Paro Taktsang (Tiger’s Nest Monastery) on the back of a tigress to subdue a local demon. This event marked the beginning of Buddhism's deep-rooted influence in the region.

Paro Dzong, also known as Rinpung Dzong, was constructed in 1646 under the orders of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the unifier of Bhutan. This fortress-monastery served as a defense stronghold against Tibetan invasions and a center for religious and administrative activities. The dzong is a fine example of Bhutanese architecture, featuring massive walls and intricate woodwork.

The Battle of Paro in 1644 was a significant conflict between the forces of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal and the Tibetan-Mongol army. The Bhutanese successfully defended their territory, and this victory solidified the region's autonomy and the authority of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. The battle is a key event in Bhutanese history, emphasizing the resilience and strategic prowess of the Bhutanese people.

Paro played a critical role in the unification of Bhutan in the 17th century. The region's strategic importance and its dzong's defensive capabilities were crucial in Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal's efforts to consolidate various warring fiefdoms into a unified nation. Paro's support and resources were instrumental in establishing a cohesive Bhutanese state.

In the 1960s, Bhutan began opening up to the outside world. Paro became a gateway for international visitors with the construction of Paro Airport in 1968, the only international airport in Bhutan. The town has since evolved into a vibrant hub for tourists, offering a unique blend of historical sites, cultural experiences, and natural beauty.

The Paro Tshechu, one of Bhutan's most vibrant and significant religious festivals, is held annually in the spring. This festival features mask dances, traditional music, and rituals performed by monks and laymen. The Tshechu commemorates the deeds of Guru Rinpoche and serves as a time for the community to come together in celebration and prayer.

Paro is home to Bhutan's only international airport, Paro Airport (PBH), which is serviced by Druk Air and Bhutan Airlines. Direct flights are available from several major cities including Bangkok, Delhi, Kathmandu, and Singapore. Visitors must book their trip through a licensed Bhutanese tour operator or an international partner to obtain a visa and arrange travel.

Once in Paro, local transportation options include taxis and buses. Taxis are readily available and can be hired for short trips or for the entire day. Public buses connect Paro to other parts of Bhutan, including the capital, Thimphu. Renting a car is not a common practice for tourists, as driving in Bhutan requires a local driver's license.

The official currency in Bhutan is the Ngultrum (BTN). Indian Rupees (INR) are also widely accepted, except for INR 500 and INR 2000 notes. Credit cards are accepted at major hotels and some shops, but cash is preferred, especially in rural areas. ATMs are available in Paro, but it is advisable to carry sufficient cash for your needs.

Paro is generally very safe for tourists. Violent crime is rare, and petty crime is infrequent. However, it's advisable to take standard precautions such as safeguarding your belongings and not venturing into isolated areas after dark. There are no specific high-crime areas targeting tourists.

In case of emergency, dial 113 for police assistance or 112 for medical emergencies. The main hospital in Paro is Paro District Hospital, which provides basic medical services. It is recommended to have travel insurance that covers medical emergencies and evacuation, as healthcare facilities can be limited.

Fashion: Do dress modestly. Avoid wearing revealing clothing, especially when visiting religious sites. Religion: Do show respect when visiting monasteries and temples. Remove shoes and cover your head when required. Public Transport: Do be patient and respectful. Buses can be crowded, so give up your seat to elderly passengers. Greetings: Do greet people with a slight bow or a handshake. Avoid physical contact with monks. Eating & Drinking: Do try local dishes like Ema Datshi. Don't refuse food or drink offered by locals, as it is considered impolite.

To experience Paro like a local, visit the weekend market where you can buy fresh produce and traditional Bhutanese crafts. Engage with locals; they are often friendly and willing to share insights about their culture and history. Don’t miss the Paro Tsechu, a vibrant annual festival featuring traditional mask dances and performances. For a unique experience, hike to the iconic Tiger's Nest Monastery, which offers breathtaking views of the Paro Valley.