The Royal Visit

I think that royal visits do a lot of good, both for the countries visited and for us. Apart from the social good it does in countries where there is social deprivation there is a lot of work done behind the scenes - some of it by the royals and some by their entourage.

Even if it's only a small amount the visits make the countries do a lot for the locals. We saw the work being done in preparation for this latest visit. India needed it but Bhutan doesn't really have a problem. That's because of the difference in population. The population in Bhutan (700,000) is less than any of the small towns in India.

This is something that becomes obvious if you cross over between the countries by road. We went through a small town called Phuentscholing which is part in India and part in Bhutan. The part in India was jammed with people and vehicles and the Bhutan side is relatively empty in comparison. The Bhutanese side is very busy for Bhutan as it's the main way for the Bhutanese to get to other parts of India. So the Bhutan side has a population of 20,000 whereas the Indian side is nearly two and a half times that.

This is the border.

As you can see, we went in by bus and the Indians try to get into Bhutan so are queuing up.



Not many of the Bhutanese want to go into India but trade goes backwards and forwards. The Bhutanese side.