BHUTAN - Travelogue
BHUTAN - Travelogue
The compartment was dark and suffocating, the air-conditioning probably got switched off by the attendant in middle of the night. I opened the reading light box of my upper berth to check the time. It was almost six in the morning.
Fellow early rising travellers were searching for hawkers selling tea while i cleaned myself as much as possible in an overnight train. The train left New Jalpaiguri Railway Station around 8 and I preferred to stand beside the open door and savour the passing scenery of the Dooars region.
Manicured tea gardens were replaced by forests, the Elephant Zone. Our train passed slowly crossing rivulets with the green Himalayan foothills in the distance.
At 10:30am we reached Hasimara Railway Station and it took 30 minutes and 350/- to reach Phuntsholing in Bhutan by a Maruti Van taxi. On the way I did take out money for the entire stay in Bhutan from one of the ATMs in Jaigaon just across the Bhutan Gate and my quota of cigarette packets. As per Bhutan rules one can take 200 sticks of cigarettes for personal consumption. Selling, buying and public smoking of cigarette will amount to a minimum prison term of 3 years. This warning was on bright blue boards in front of all immigration offices, check posts and also at the boarder gate. Bhutan is the first country in the world to have banned the sale of tobacco under its Tobacco Act of 2010.
It was a Sunday and we knew that we will have to spend the night at Phuntsholing as the Immigration Office will open on Monday for Thimpu and Paro permits.
But to our surprise, the small office just next to the Phuntsholing Gate (India Border) was open and on my request the Bhutanese official agreed happily to give the permit. After filling the form and posing in front of the webcam and handing over a photo copy of my passport we crossed the street for lunch.
After lunch we got our permits and we got a taxi for 60/- to the interstate bus stand but unfortunately all the busses to Thimpu were full so another 50/- in the taxi we were dropped in the taxi stand.
We got seats in a Maruti Versa for 500/- per head and after a wait for half an hour the car was filled and we left Phuntsholing around 2 in the afternoon.
We drove up the Phuntsholing-Thimpu highway with a drink halt in Gedu and twice I had to show my permits to the immigration posts on the way for stamping.
When we reached Thimphu it was 7:30, it didn’t take much time to locate Hotel Tandin on Norzin Lam (Road in Dzongkha), which is the main market place of Thimphu.
The room tariff was 700/- +10% tax. The room had wall to wall carpet, two single beds, a two-seater sofa, a cupboard, a colour television and a dressing table. Linen, towels and sheets were clean and the restroom had a water heater and western style toilet. The USP of the hotel was its restaurant, which served delicious Indian, Chinese and Bhutanese cuisines. I liked Pork Ema datshi, made moderately spicy with dried pork, cheese and chillies. The bar was well stocked with local liquors and Fosters beer. Tuesday is a dry day in Bhutan though wines shops remains open.
The next day, I woke up early to capture some early morning pictures of Thimpu.
We took a taxi for 60/- to go to the Immigration Office at the end of Norzin Lam towards the Tashichho Dzong for permits to Punakha. It requires photocopy of the Thimpu permit and for that I located a photocopy cum stationary shop just opposite the Bhutan Development Bank. The smiling immigration woman asked for 1 hour for the permit, which gave us ample time to walk down the Norzin Lam to visit the National Textile Museum, which is dedicated to the living national art of weaving. Mannequins dressed up in different Bhutanese costumes were displayed in the two floor museum. The museum is maintained very well unlike various counterparts in India. There was a small group of women weavers working their looms inside the shop.
Just outside the National Textile Museum and in front of the Bhutan Development Bank series of temporary bamboo huts were lined up for the Handicraft Bazar. The handicrafts were of very high quality so was the price tags, which were mostly in US Dollars. I managed to buy few souvenirs, especially a miniature kira, the ankle-length female dress, which is clipped at one shoulder and tied at the waist with the long-sleeved blouse, the toego.
After collecting our permits to Punakha, we headed towards the National Post Office passing Taj Tashi and the UN house. If you are a philatelist then this place is a must visit. Bhutan produces one of the most beautiful and rare stamps in the world. When my philatelic quench was sufficed and my wallet was a lot lighter we took some time to bargain with different taxis to take us to the Motithang Takin Preserve. We had a deal with a taxi to show us the Takin Preserve, the Tashichho Dzong and back to our hotel for 450/-. The taxi drove us to various view points on the northern edge of the city to see the Tashichho Dzong on the western bank of the Wang Chu (Chu=River), which is the seat of Bhutan's government and presently houses the throne room and offices of the fifth king, the secretariat and the ministries of home affairs and finance. I was awed by the Dzong architecture and the dustless panoramic stunning view of Thimphu.
A picturesque drive up of around 15 minutes, passing various coloured trees took us to the Motithang Takin Preserve. It was under renovation and we calmly followed a couple of British visitors and their guide. The 10 minutes hike brought us in front of a huge green cage where we got the view of Takin, a goat-antelope and the National animal of Bhutan. Small openings in the fencing of the preserve allowed us to click few pictures of this special animal, sambar and barking deer.
On our way back we took a detour to pass by the National Library and also saw the gate to the Dechencholing Palace where the fourth king still resides.
The Numismatist in me made us to leave the taxi at the Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) of Bhutan in the quest of the special October 2011 Royal wedding commemoration edition bank note and coin. But alas it was lunch time though the security guard tried hard to sell me the solid silver coin.
We had lunch at our hotel Tandin as we really liked the food there and after that I took a taxi, paying the minimum fare of 50/- to the RMA. Now I met the officials and realised that the 100/- note album is on sale for 500/- and the solid silver coin of 500/- was for 5000/- as offered by the guard. I purchased two notes, after initial decline of accepting Indian 500 note one employee came to my rescue and the transaction was finally made, which made a happy man but I wished to carry more money to get the coin.
This time I started walking down the Norzin Lam from the RMA and fortunately got a shared taxi, which took 20/- to drop me near the hotel just at the back of the cinema hall of Thimphu, which only projects Bhutanese movies. The cinema hall reminded me the days before multiplex in India.
I met my wife at the hotel and went out for a stroll around the city; on a stone throw distance we reached the Clock Tower Square. It was late afternoon and we saw hardly anyone. The red building of the The Druk, a plush hotel in Thimphu stood just behind the Clock Tower Square. We went in to the Bar for few local drinks and a view of the National Stadium. An archery tournament, which is the national sport of Bhutan, was showing Live in the telly at the bar but till the time we paid our bill and walked to the stadium it was over and we were greeted by empty galleries and a lush green field. Our legs were tired and we called it a day after having a fusion of Indian and Bhutanese dinner at our hotel.
We rose early for our trip to Punakha, we had the permit but we need to get a taxi, I had all the details of fare and expenses curtsey Indiamike.com and a fellow blogger. We tried to bargain with the passing taxis in front of the hotel but they quoted much higher fare. Hence we walked down the bus stand which was just across the National Stadium on the other side of Wang Chu and at first bought tickets to Paro for the next day’s first bus at 9am.
A deal was cracked with a Maruti Wagon R taxi driver for the day trip to Punakha for 2000/-. We left the bus stand for our 72 kilometres journey to the old capital of Bhutan. We drove upward to Dochula leaving various coloured pine, apple and oak trees on our right and the humongous Buddha statue at the end of the Thimphu city. In around 30 kilometres we reached the Dochula chorten (stupas) at 3150 meters. These 108 chortens were constructed in 2004 to honour the dead, from a conflict between the Bhutanese army, and Indian insurgents who were using Bhutan as a sanctuary. The temperature felt like sub-zero as the pass was covered by clouds disappointing us to miss the magnificent view of snow clad Himalayan peaks. The chill re-nourished me. There were constructed heaters with a hole at the bottom for dried shrubs and a hole at the top for the smoke to escape like a conventional chimney. This heater served as the hotspot for the drivers and guides while their tourists roamed around the chortens.
I guess it is necessary to say at this point that all Bhutanese men and women are legally bound to wear their national dress. The male wears the gho, a knee-length robe tied at the waist by a cloth belt known as the kera. They wear formal leather shoes with knee length socks matching the colour of the gho.
After a stop of around 20 minutes we started descending towards Punakha crossing thick forests till we descended to almost 1000 meters. We crossed rice fields, and due to the season staked golden paddy were seen on ploughed fields. The village huts were identical to that of Bhutanese architecture that we saw while driving to Thimphu from Phuntsholing. Soon we crossed the main market and reached the confluence of the Pho Chu (father) and Mo Chu (mother) to become Puna Tsang chu or Sankosh River and flows down to eventually meet the Brahmaputra River in India. In the background is the picture postcard view of the Punakha Dzong also known as Pungtang Dechen Photrang Dzong “the palace of great happiness or bliss.” It is the second oldest and second largest Dzong in Bhutan. Punakha Dzong was the administrative centre and the seat of the Government of Bhutan until 1955, when the capital was moved to Thimphu. It is now the administrative centre of Punakha Dzongkhag (district).
We entered the covered wooden cantilever bridge crossing the transparent Mo Chu river an architectural marvel to enter the Dzong complex with surrounded by greenery and few special lilac coloured jacaranda trees.
The steps to enter the Dzong reminded me of my memory of Potala Palace as shown in the movie 7 years in Tibet. We climbed the steep steps to be greeted by a smiling police man and a huge golden prayer wheel surrounded by wall paintings. This Dzong was restored recently after being devastated by a fire and earthquakes at regular intervals.
I recollected the videos of the wedding of the King of Bhutan, Jigme Wangchuck, and his fiancé, Jetsun Pema, which was held at this on October 13, 2011. Unfortunately when we visited Bhutan they were on an official trip to Japan.
We took more than an hour to look around and inside the Dzong and its picturesque surroundings. Later our driver took us to the main market for lunch. The name of the eating place was Restaurant where we were served delicious lentil and chicken curry. It was the ground floor of a house and after lunch while have a smoke at the back yard I discovered a beautiful garden where the owners were drying red chillies and pork.
We reached back Thimphu passing the clouded Dochula in time to have a few drink followed by good Indian dinner at our hotel. This was our last night at Thimphu and hence we ventured out in the city at well past 9 at night to make some calls to India. International calls from Bhutan are expensive as compared calls made from western countries to India. I guess it is around 30/- per minute.
We settled our bills and tips last night so we got a taxi from our hotel to the bus stand and we were there by 8 in the morning. The bus for Paro was full with locals and a group kids from the monasteries. The 1 hour 15 minutes trip to Paro was passed looking at the passing magnificent scenery and witnessing love hate instances amongst the kids who will become lamas in few years’ time may be someone will climb ever higher the ladder but they acted as all kids around the world do.
It took a bit of time in Paro to locate Hotel Phunsum which was recommended by a fellow blogger at Indiamike. After bargaining we got the room for 1200/-. We were the only lodger and had the liberty to choose the room with the best view. The room was wooden floored and had two windows on two sides with a bath tub in the rest room. The views were awesome which we realised more on the day we left Paro. But for now we settled in and as per landlady’s recordation we talked down the town to Hotel Paljorling for lunch. This hotel is for lodge and food with cheap option (550/-) for night stay and a restaurant. The food was good and the Nepalese owner and staff were friendly. We had our meals here while we stayed in Paro.
After lunch we strolled to the foothills of the Rinpung Dzong. We crossed the traditional covered cantilever bridge very similar to the one we saw in Punakha and hiked up towards the Dzong. The hike was steep and because of the Sun it was exhausting. When we reached the Dzong we realized that tourist generally takes a taxi to this place to avoid this hike. Rinpung Dzong is a large Drukpa Kagyu Buddhist monastery and it houses the district Monastic Body and government administrative offices of Paro district. The magnificent view of Paro town can be enjoyed from this Dzong.
Photography was prohibited inside the fourteen shrines and chapels. I could find and entered three of them to again experience the calm, peaceful ambience, which is one of the elements that attract me to the Himalayas.
On the hill above Rinpung Dzong is a seven storied the watchtower fortress or Ta Dzong built in 1649. In 1968 this became the National Museum of Bhutan. We were so tired that we decided to visit it the next day by hiring a taxi. We walked down the Dzong and walked along the main street passing decorated buildings housing small shops selling mostly curios and few grocery shops. The stark difference with Indian towns was the population. The streets were hardly populated even at day time with few passing taxis or tourist buses carrying elderly western travellers. Foreigners are required to sign up with a Bhutanese tour operator and pay US$200 per day of stay in Bhutan except citizens of India and Bangladesh. Hence may be old westerner forms the majority of the tourist’s population apart from Indians and Bangladeshis.
The next day we hired a taxi for 2000/- to visit Chele La (Pass). A six kilometres drive from the main market brought us to the bird’s eye view point of the Paro Airport, which is situated in a deep valley on the bank of the Paro Chu at an elevation of 2,200 meters.
A 90 minute drive from here is the Chele La which is situated at an altitude of 3,988 meters. Chele la separates Haa and Paro valley and it is one of the highest motor able pass in Bhutan. The drive from Paro is through dense Spruce and Larch forests where few monkeys and guinea fowls crossed the road. Slowly as we were reaching the top, the vegetation started turning white, the pass greeted us with snow covered Spruce and Larch trees. I went up in the trail to get few good shots of the snow covered trees and also in the hope to see Mt Jomolhari. The clouds were playing hide and seek with the peak but I got absolutely mind boggling views of the Haa and Paro valleys and while climbing down toward our parked taxi at Chele La we were granted to view her highness Mt Jomolhari, "the bride of Kanchenjunga”.
As planned we took another taxi after lunch and went to the view point of Taktsang Monastery also known as The Tiger's Nest. Due to unavailability of time and also due to the trek we decided to just have a view of this prominent Buddhist sacred site in the Cliffside of the upper Paro valley. The National Museum was closed as it was a National Holiday so we spent our time at the main market and also brought our tickets to Phuntsholing for 193/- per person.
We had early dinner as we had to catch a bus to Phuntsholing at 8:30am the next morning. Most of the night I spent by the window, the valley was sparkling in moonlight and I felt warm with the smooth Bhutanese Whiskey, Special courier as I wondered that the very next day I will be amongst sea of people in India.
The bus was a Toyota Coaster bus, quite comfortable 2x1 seats and it took less than 6 hours to reach the Phuntsholing bus stand border including a 30 minutes halt.
A local taxi took us to Jaigaon crossing the Phuntsholing Gate for 50/-. We left Bhutan and along with it all the disciplines and cleanliness. 7 days in the beautiful country and in Jaigaon it took a while to get used to the blaring horns (no one honks in Bhutan), stray dogs and cattle, people chewing tobacco and spitting on the road to spray it red. May be by instinct I brought a cigarette and took a long drag and exhaled rings of smoke on the air, smoke in Indian air, the happiness of being in my own country the smoke of freedom.
Pictures: http://www.indiamike.com/india-image...eries/bhutan-2
P.S. I am very thankful to indiamike and fellow bloggers especially to Mr. Asish Das.
Fellow early rising travellers were searching for hawkers selling tea while i cleaned myself as much as possible in an overnight train. The train left New Jalpaiguri Railway Station around 8 and I preferred to stand beside the open door and savour the passing scenery of the Dooars region.
Manicured tea gardens were replaced by forests, the Elephant Zone. Our train passed slowly crossing rivulets with the green Himalayan foothills in the distance.
At 10:30am we reached Hasimara Railway Station and it took 30 minutes and 350/- to reach Phuntsholing in Bhutan by a Maruti Van taxi. On the way I did take out money for the entire stay in Bhutan from one of the ATMs in Jaigaon just across the Bhutan Gate and my quota of cigarette packets. As per Bhutan rules one can take 200 sticks of cigarettes for personal consumption. Selling, buying and public smoking of cigarette will amount to a minimum prison term of 3 years. This warning was on bright blue boards in front of all immigration offices, check posts and also at the boarder gate. Bhutan is the first country in the world to have banned the sale of tobacco under its Tobacco Act of 2010.
It was a Sunday and we knew that we will have to spend the night at Phuntsholing as the Immigration Office will open on Monday for Thimpu and Paro permits.
But to our surprise, the small office just next to the Phuntsholing Gate (India Border) was open and on my request the Bhutanese official agreed happily to give the permit. After filling the form and posing in front of the webcam and handing over a photo copy of my passport we crossed the street for lunch.
After lunch we got our permits and we got a taxi for 60/- to the interstate bus stand but unfortunately all the busses to Thimpu were full so another 50/- in the taxi we were dropped in the taxi stand.
We got seats in a Maruti Versa for 500/- per head and after a wait for half an hour the car was filled and we left Phuntsholing around 2 in the afternoon.
We drove up the Phuntsholing-Thimpu highway with a drink halt in Gedu and twice I had to show my permits to the immigration posts on the way for stamping.
When we reached Thimphu it was 7:30, it didn’t take much time to locate Hotel Tandin on Norzin Lam (Road in Dzongkha), which is the main market place of Thimphu.
The room tariff was 700/- +10% tax. The room had wall to wall carpet, two single beds, a two-seater sofa, a cupboard, a colour television and a dressing table. Linen, towels and sheets were clean and the restroom had a water heater and western style toilet. The USP of the hotel was its restaurant, which served delicious Indian, Chinese and Bhutanese cuisines. I liked Pork Ema datshi, made moderately spicy with dried pork, cheese and chillies. The bar was well stocked with local liquors and Fosters beer. Tuesday is a dry day in Bhutan though wines shops remains open.
The next day, I woke up early to capture some early morning pictures of Thimpu.
We took a taxi for 60/- to go to the Immigration Office at the end of Norzin Lam towards the Tashichho Dzong for permits to Punakha. It requires photocopy of the Thimpu permit and for that I located a photocopy cum stationary shop just opposite the Bhutan Development Bank. The smiling immigration woman asked for 1 hour for the permit, which gave us ample time to walk down the Norzin Lam to visit the National Textile Museum, which is dedicated to the living national art of weaving. Mannequins dressed up in different Bhutanese costumes were displayed in the two floor museum. The museum is maintained very well unlike various counterparts in India. There was a small group of women weavers working their looms inside the shop.
Just outside the National Textile Museum and in front of the Bhutan Development Bank series of temporary bamboo huts were lined up for the Handicraft Bazar. The handicrafts were of very high quality so was the price tags, which were mostly in US Dollars. I managed to buy few souvenirs, especially a miniature kira, the ankle-length female dress, which is clipped at one shoulder and tied at the waist with the long-sleeved blouse, the toego.
After collecting our permits to Punakha, we headed towards the National Post Office passing Taj Tashi and the UN house. If you are a philatelist then this place is a must visit. Bhutan produces one of the most beautiful and rare stamps in the world. When my philatelic quench was sufficed and my wallet was a lot lighter we took some time to bargain with different taxis to take us to the Motithang Takin Preserve. We had a deal with a taxi to show us the Takin Preserve, the Tashichho Dzong and back to our hotel for 450/-. The taxi drove us to various view points on the northern edge of the city to see the Tashichho Dzong on the western bank of the Wang Chu (Chu=River), which is the seat of Bhutan's government and presently houses the throne room and offices of the fifth king, the secretariat and the ministries of home affairs and finance. I was awed by the Dzong architecture and the dustless panoramic stunning view of Thimphu.
A picturesque drive up of around 15 minutes, passing various coloured trees took us to the Motithang Takin Preserve. It was under renovation and we calmly followed a couple of British visitors and their guide. The 10 minutes hike brought us in front of a huge green cage where we got the view of Takin, a goat-antelope and the National animal of Bhutan. Small openings in the fencing of the preserve allowed us to click few pictures of this special animal, sambar and barking deer.
On our way back we took a detour to pass by the National Library and also saw the gate to the Dechencholing Palace where the fourth king still resides.
The Numismatist in me made us to leave the taxi at the Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) of Bhutan in the quest of the special October 2011 Royal wedding commemoration edition bank note and coin. But alas it was lunch time though the security guard tried hard to sell me the solid silver coin.
We had lunch at our hotel Tandin as we really liked the food there and after that I took a taxi, paying the minimum fare of 50/- to the RMA. Now I met the officials and realised that the 100/- note album is on sale for 500/- and the solid silver coin of 500/- was for 5000/- as offered by the guard. I purchased two notes, after initial decline of accepting Indian 500 note one employee came to my rescue and the transaction was finally made, which made a happy man but I wished to carry more money to get the coin.
This time I started walking down the Norzin Lam from the RMA and fortunately got a shared taxi, which took 20/- to drop me near the hotel just at the back of the cinema hall of Thimphu, which only projects Bhutanese movies. The cinema hall reminded me the days before multiplex in India.
I met my wife at the hotel and went out for a stroll around the city; on a stone throw distance we reached the Clock Tower Square. It was late afternoon and we saw hardly anyone. The red building of the The Druk, a plush hotel in Thimphu stood just behind the Clock Tower Square. We went in to the Bar for few local drinks and a view of the National Stadium. An archery tournament, which is the national sport of Bhutan, was showing Live in the telly at the bar but till the time we paid our bill and walked to the stadium it was over and we were greeted by empty galleries and a lush green field. Our legs were tired and we called it a day after having a fusion of Indian and Bhutanese dinner at our hotel.
We rose early for our trip to Punakha, we had the permit but we need to get a taxi, I had all the details of fare and expenses curtsey Indiamike.com and a fellow blogger. We tried to bargain with the passing taxis in front of the hotel but they quoted much higher fare. Hence we walked down the bus stand which was just across the National Stadium on the other side of Wang Chu and at first bought tickets to Paro for the next day’s first bus at 9am.
A deal was cracked with a Maruti Wagon R taxi driver for the day trip to Punakha for 2000/-. We left the bus stand for our 72 kilometres journey to the old capital of Bhutan. We drove upward to Dochula leaving various coloured pine, apple and oak trees on our right and the humongous Buddha statue at the end of the Thimphu city. In around 30 kilometres we reached the Dochula chorten (stupas) at 3150 meters. These 108 chortens were constructed in 2004 to honour the dead, from a conflict between the Bhutanese army, and Indian insurgents who were using Bhutan as a sanctuary. The temperature felt like sub-zero as the pass was covered by clouds disappointing us to miss the magnificent view of snow clad Himalayan peaks. The chill re-nourished me. There were constructed heaters with a hole at the bottom for dried shrubs and a hole at the top for the smoke to escape like a conventional chimney. This heater served as the hotspot for the drivers and guides while their tourists roamed around the chortens.
I guess it is necessary to say at this point that all Bhutanese men and women are legally bound to wear their national dress. The male wears the gho, a knee-length robe tied at the waist by a cloth belt known as the kera. They wear formal leather shoes with knee length socks matching the colour of the gho.
After a stop of around 20 minutes we started descending towards Punakha crossing thick forests till we descended to almost 1000 meters. We crossed rice fields, and due to the season staked golden paddy were seen on ploughed fields. The village huts were identical to that of Bhutanese architecture that we saw while driving to Thimphu from Phuntsholing. Soon we crossed the main market and reached the confluence of the Pho Chu (father) and Mo Chu (mother) to become Puna Tsang chu or Sankosh River and flows down to eventually meet the Brahmaputra River in India. In the background is the picture postcard view of the Punakha Dzong also known as Pungtang Dechen Photrang Dzong “the palace of great happiness or bliss.” It is the second oldest and second largest Dzong in Bhutan. Punakha Dzong was the administrative centre and the seat of the Government of Bhutan until 1955, when the capital was moved to Thimphu. It is now the administrative centre of Punakha Dzongkhag (district).
We entered the covered wooden cantilever bridge crossing the transparent Mo Chu river an architectural marvel to enter the Dzong complex with surrounded by greenery and few special lilac coloured jacaranda trees.
The steps to enter the Dzong reminded me of my memory of Potala Palace as shown in the movie 7 years in Tibet. We climbed the steep steps to be greeted by a smiling police man and a huge golden prayer wheel surrounded by wall paintings. This Dzong was restored recently after being devastated by a fire and earthquakes at regular intervals.
I recollected the videos of the wedding of the King of Bhutan, Jigme Wangchuck, and his fiancé, Jetsun Pema, which was held at this on October 13, 2011. Unfortunately when we visited Bhutan they were on an official trip to Japan.
We took more than an hour to look around and inside the Dzong and its picturesque surroundings. Later our driver took us to the main market for lunch. The name of the eating place was Restaurant where we were served delicious lentil and chicken curry. It was the ground floor of a house and after lunch while have a smoke at the back yard I discovered a beautiful garden where the owners were drying red chillies and pork.
We reached back Thimphu passing the clouded Dochula in time to have a few drink followed by good Indian dinner at our hotel. This was our last night at Thimphu and hence we ventured out in the city at well past 9 at night to make some calls to India. International calls from Bhutan are expensive as compared calls made from western countries to India. I guess it is around 30/- per minute.
We settled our bills and tips last night so we got a taxi from our hotel to the bus stand and we were there by 8 in the morning. The bus for Paro was full with locals and a group kids from the monasteries. The 1 hour 15 minutes trip to Paro was passed looking at the passing magnificent scenery and witnessing love hate instances amongst the kids who will become lamas in few years’ time may be someone will climb ever higher the ladder but they acted as all kids around the world do.
It took a bit of time in Paro to locate Hotel Phunsum which was recommended by a fellow blogger at Indiamike. After bargaining we got the room for 1200/-. We were the only lodger and had the liberty to choose the room with the best view. The room was wooden floored and had two windows on two sides with a bath tub in the rest room. The views were awesome which we realised more on the day we left Paro. But for now we settled in and as per landlady’s recordation we talked down the town to Hotel Paljorling for lunch. This hotel is for lodge and food with cheap option (550/-) for night stay and a restaurant. The food was good and the Nepalese owner and staff were friendly. We had our meals here while we stayed in Paro.
After lunch we strolled to the foothills of the Rinpung Dzong. We crossed the traditional covered cantilever bridge very similar to the one we saw in Punakha and hiked up towards the Dzong. The hike was steep and because of the Sun it was exhausting. When we reached the Dzong we realized that tourist generally takes a taxi to this place to avoid this hike. Rinpung Dzong is a large Drukpa Kagyu Buddhist monastery and it houses the district Monastic Body and government administrative offices of Paro district. The magnificent view of Paro town can be enjoyed from this Dzong.
Photography was prohibited inside the fourteen shrines and chapels. I could find and entered three of them to again experience the calm, peaceful ambience, which is one of the elements that attract me to the Himalayas.
On the hill above Rinpung Dzong is a seven storied the watchtower fortress or Ta Dzong built in 1649. In 1968 this became the National Museum of Bhutan. We were so tired that we decided to visit it the next day by hiring a taxi. We walked down the Dzong and walked along the main street passing decorated buildings housing small shops selling mostly curios and few grocery shops. The stark difference with Indian towns was the population. The streets were hardly populated even at day time with few passing taxis or tourist buses carrying elderly western travellers. Foreigners are required to sign up with a Bhutanese tour operator and pay US$200 per day of stay in Bhutan except citizens of India and Bangladesh. Hence may be old westerner forms the majority of the tourist’s population apart from Indians and Bangladeshis.
The next day we hired a taxi for 2000/- to visit Chele La (Pass). A six kilometres drive from the main market brought us to the bird’s eye view point of the Paro Airport, which is situated in a deep valley on the bank of the Paro Chu at an elevation of 2,200 meters.
A 90 minute drive from here is the Chele La which is situated at an altitude of 3,988 meters. Chele la separates Haa and Paro valley and it is one of the highest motor able pass in Bhutan. The drive from Paro is through dense Spruce and Larch forests where few monkeys and guinea fowls crossed the road. Slowly as we were reaching the top, the vegetation started turning white, the pass greeted us with snow covered Spruce and Larch trees. I went up in the trail to get few good shots of the snow covered trees and also in the hope to see Mt Jomolhari. The clouds were playing hide and seek with the peak but I got absolutely mind boggling views of the Haa and Paro valleys and while climbing down toward our parked taxi at Chele La we were granted to view her highness Mt Jomolhari, "the bride of Kanchenjunga”.
As planned we took another taxi after lunch and went to the view point of Taktsang Monastery also known as The Tiger's Nest. Due to unavailability of time and also due to the trek we decided to just have a view of this prominent Buddhist sacred site in the Cliffside of the upper Paro valley. The National Museum was closed as it was a National Holiday so we spent our time at the main market and also brought our tickets to Phuntsholing for 193/- per person.
We had early dinner as we had to catch a bus to Phuntsholing at 8:30am the next morning. Most of the night I spent by the window, the valley was sparkling in moonlight and I felt warm with the smooth Bhutanese Whiskey, Special courier as I wondered that the very next day I will be amongst sea of people in India.
The bus was a Toyota Coaster bus, quite comfortable 2x1 seats and it took less than 6 hours to reach the Phuntsholing bus stand border including a 30 minutes halt.
A local taxi took us to Jaigaon crossing the Phuntsholing Gate for 50/-. We left Bhutan and along with it all the disciplines and cleanliness. 7 days in the beautiful country and in Jaigaon it took a while to get used to the blaring horns (no one honks in Bhutan), stray dogs and cattle, people chewing tobacco and spitting on the road to spray it red. May be by instinct I brought a cigarette and took a long drag and exhaled rings of smoke on the air, smoke in Indian air, the happiness of being in my own country the smoke of freedom.
Pictures: http://www.indiamike.com/india-image...eries/bhutan-2
P.S. I am very thankful to indiamike and fellow bloggers especially to Mr. Asish Das.
Attached Images 
Thanks and regards,
Soumya Bhattacharya
www.soumyabhattacharya.com
Soumya Bhattacharya
www.soumyabhattacharya.com
Last edited by bhattanav; Dec 14th, 2011 at 23:07..
Great travelogue, Soumya! Compact, crisp and spicy... By the way, I am a bit curious to know from where did you get those snaps of (1) snow covered forest and (2) Local Heater?? I see you have mentioned my name in your blog, I'm honored...but we are all a part of great India Mike family. Credit, if any, goes to IM only. Anyhow, thanks for your kind remembrance.
Quote:
Thanks for the comment but you really helped me a lot and I had to mention this.
Originally Posted by asishdas 
Great travelogue, Soumya! Compact, crisp and spicy... By the way, I am a bit curious to know from where did you get those snaps of (1) snow covered forest and (2) Local Heater?? I see you have mentioned my name in your blog, I'm honored...but we are all a part of great India Mike family. Credit, if any, goes to IM only. Anyhow, thanks for your kind remembrance.
Great travelogue, Soumya! Compact, crisp and spicy... By the way, I am a bit curious to know from where did you get those snaps of (1) snow covered forest and (2) Local Heater?? I see you have mentioned my name in your blog, I'm honored...but we are all a part of great India Mike family. Credit, if any, goes to IM only. Anyhow, thanks for your kind remembrance. The snow capped picture is from Chele La, you only told me to try this destination from Paro
The Local heater is from Dochu La, on the way to Punakha from Thimphu.
I really enjoyed your trip report. I would love to travel to Bhutan as you did. Thank you for sharing your adventure.
Quote:
Costly affair though for non-Indian foreigners, and perhaps a few other regional nationalities.
Originally Posted by Lady Traveler I would love to travel to Bhutan as you did.
I would love to travel to Bhutan as you did. Great effort above, indeed. Thanks
thanQ so much for this article.i really enjoyed readin it.. this was very much helpful fr us as v r newly married couples nd r plannin for a week trip to bhutan in this christmas vacation.. so very excited to visit bhutan..
A complete Travelogue
Dear Soumya
Thats a complete travelogue as it should be written thank you.
SOme questions
1. How much did the entire journey cost for the two of you ex NJP?
2. Aren't there better ways to pay rather than lug cash around (aren't Credit cards accepted widely in Bhutan)?
3.IS Bhutan children friendly as a tourist place?
Thats a complete travelogue as it should be written thank you.
SOme questions
1. How much did the entire journey cost for the two of you ex NJP?
2. Aren't there better ways to pay rather than lug cash around (aren't Credit cards accepted widely in Bhutan)?
3.IS Bhutan children friendly as a tourist place?
Quote:
Originally Posted by bugnnis Dear Soumya
Thats a complete travelogue as it should be written thank you.
SOme questions
1. How much did the entire journey cost for the two of you ex NJP?
2. Aren't there better ways to pay rather than lug cash around (aren't Credit cards accepted widely in Bhutan)?
3.IS Bhutan children friendly as a tourist place?
Dear SoumyaThats a complete travelogue as it should be written thank you.
SOme questions
1. How much did the entire journey cost for the two of you ex NJP?
2. Aren't there better ways to pay rather than lug cash around (aren't Credit cards accepted widely in Bhutan)?
3.IS Bhutan children friendly as a tourist place?
1. How much did the entire journey cost for the two of you ex NJP?
ANS: 13K from Hasimara
2. Aren't there better ways to pay rather than lug cash around (aren't Credit cards accepted widely in Bhutan)?
ANS: I saw ATM in Thimphu but didn;t use it as got not so positive feedback from others who visited the place. You are very safe with cash as crime rate in Bhutan is very very low.
3.IS Bhutan children friendly as a tourist place?
ANS: Don't know what do you mean by children friendly. I have seen travellers with their kids in Ladakh during winter (though will never recommend that).
You get everything thr which suffices kid's need. Yes NO KFC or McD
Need Suggestion for Monsoon Honeymoon
we are planning our Wedding in July 2012.
we had initially thought of Bhutan as our Honeymoon destination. but it seems it wil be raining there.
My Queries are :
1) Can we visit Bhutan in July-August? Anyone who visited during this period kindly help me out.
2) Any other destinations during this time?
Budget is 50,000INR. time 10-12days. No problem with train travel. we can extend the it to 15days also(to include train travel)
we are planning our Wedding in July 2012.
we had initially thought of Bhutan as our Honeymoon destination. but it seems it wil be raining there.
My Queries are :
1) Can we visit Bhutan in July-August? Anyone who visited during this period kindly help me out.
2) Any other destinations during this time?
Budget is 50,000INR. time 10-12days. No problem with train travel. we can extend the it to 15days also(to include train travel)
Quote:
Hi,
Originally Posted by ladytraveller Need Suggestion for Monsoon Honeymoon
we are planning our Wedding in July 2012.
we had initially thought of Bhutan as our Honeymoon destination. but it seems it wil be raining there.
My Queries are :
1) Can we visit Bhutan in July-August? Anyone who visited during this period kindly help me out.
2) Any other destinations during this time?
Budget is 50,000INR. time 10-12days. No problem with train travel. we can extend the it to 15days also(to include train travel)
Need Suggestion for Monsoon Honeymoonwe are planning our Wedding in July 2012.
we had initially thought of Bhutan as our Honeymoon destination. but it seems it wil be raining there.
My Queries are :
1) Can we visit Bhutan in July-August? Anyone who visited during this period kindly help me out.
2) Any other destinations during this time?
Budget is 50,000INR. time 10-12days. No problem with train travel. we can extend the it to 15days also(to include train travel)
I will not suggest you to go to the Himalayas during monsoon because of landslides and flash floods which occurs from Manali to Arunachal.
If you are flying in and out of Paro then you can try, but road and train, just don't take the chance. The roads from Hasimara to Siliguri is in a bad state since years with no repairs and as per my discussions with local taxi drivers in Bhutan, the road from Phuntsholing to Thimphu gets blocked at places due to landslide during monsoon.
Best time to
The only place in the Himalayas, which will be very good for you, is Ladakh, and if you book your flight tickets from Delhi now (well in advance) it will be cheap.
I have helped many people to visit Ladakh in India mike and you will get all the details in my website for free.
http://www.soumyabhattacharya.com/ladakhinfo.htm
You can also visit my post on Ladakh though it is for the month of April at All about Ladakh in APRIL
July and August is the peak season there and it is quite lovely, i have also been there at this time.
I would suggest don’t get a conducted tour or a package, you will spend double.
More Images
Quote:
I got my permit on a Sunday from the Gate office. You will find this office on your right just after crossing the Phuntsholing gate. You request them and if you are 2-3 people then they generally issue. The trick is to always have a smile on your face while interacting with the officials
Originally Posted by emessaar Thanks for the well written informative trip report.
I want to know if Permit/Immigration Office work on Saturdays? Do they issue permits on these days?
Thank you
Regards,
msr
Thanks for the well written informative trip report. I want to know if Permit/Immigration Office work on Saturdays? Do they issue permits on these days?
Thank you
Regards,
msr
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