Page 16 - Bhutan Destination Guide - Alluring Asia

FOOD Although adherents of Buddhism, Bhutanese are not vegetarians and occasionally eat beef, especially in western Bhutan. Pork, poultry, goat and yak meat, and fish are consumed on a limited scale. Rice and corn are staples. Despite a scarcity of milk, dairy products, such PAGE 3-7 Population | Time | Visas as yak/cow cheese and yak/cow cheese by-products, are part of the Alcoholic Drinks: History | Religion diet of the upland people. Meat soups, rice or corn, and curries spiced The only beer brewed in Bhutan with chilies comprise daily menus. PAGE 8 is the very good Red Panda, an Language unfiltered wheat beer bottled in Bhutanese are fond of alcoholic drinks prepared locally known as PAGE 9 Bumthang. Throughout the "ara" and "Chang" brewed from rice, wheat and barley. The drinks Climate country there’s an ample supply are also used as part of the offering while performing ceremonies on of imported canned beer- Tiger PAGE 10 different occasions. Similarly doma (betal-nut and leaf) is also a part from Singapore and Singha from The Land of Bhutanese tradition. Salted butter called "suja" which may taste strange to western palettes is frequently offered together with puffed Thailand, or several brands of PAGE 11 Indian beer, which comes in large rice and maize. The People | What to Pack | (650 mL) bottles. The most popular brands are Black Label, PAGE 12 At selected hotels you will find delicious Chinese, Continental, Indian Golden Eagle and Dansberg from Currency | Credit Cards and Bhutanese cuisine. Changing Money | Tipping Sikkim. Insurance BEVERAGES There are several brands of PAGE 13 Etiquette | Safety & theft Nonalcoholic Drinks: whiskey including Special Indian style sweet milky tea (ngad-ja) is widely available and may be Courier, Black Mountain PAGE 14 served in a pot. Bhutanese frequently drink sud-ja, Tibetan style tea Whiskey (better known as Communications | Media with salt and butter, which is more like soup than tea, and ‘BMW’), Royal Supreme and surprisingly tasty and warming on a cold day. Filter coffee and Changta, the cheapest. The better PAGE 15 Shopping | Customs espresso is available in the top end hotels and a few restaurants in brands compare favorably with Bartering Thimphu, but elsewhere ‘coffee’ is invariably of the instant variety. good Scotch whiskey. There are local rums: XXX Bhutan Rum is PAGE 16 Food & Drinks Avoid tap water directly from the tap. Steps to purify water should be the strongest, and gins such as taken. The easiest of these is boiling your water. The best chemical Crystal and Pacham. PAGE 17-21 purifier is iodine. It should not be used by pregnant women or those Culture & The Arts | Religion with thyroid problems. The most common local brew is bang chhang, a warm beer -like drink made from wheat. The favourite hard drinks are arra, a spirit distilled from rice, and sinchhang, which is made from millet, wheat or rice. DRIED YAK MEAT