Traveling tales

Route – Guahati to Bhutan by Road

Guahati  - Goalpara – Abhaypuri – Dhubri dist – Gauripur – Buxirhat – Cooch Behar – Alipurduar – Hasimara – Jaigaon – Phuentsholing – Thimpu

Dist = 590 kms

Time – 15 and a half hours including 2 and a half hour break and permit work at Phuentsholing

Route – Paro to Guahati 

Phuentsholing - Jaigaon -Hasimara – Gossaigaon – Bongaigaon – Abhayapuri – Goalpara – Guahati

Dist = 534 kms

Time = 14 and a half hours including 1 hour break

 

Bhutan was a last moment plan but well sometimes, I think, we are always there where we are meant to be in a way. There are no coincidences.  So we originally planned to go to Tawang but as it would take 6 days 2 days of driving up and down and 2 days of being there, we gave it up. Bhutan was more accessible in a day’s drive and for me it was a spiritual place as well. As soon as I decided on Bhutan,  I felt that I was meant to be there…

So we had only a week to go and we started researching on the place and what we could do. We had 3 days and maybe we could extend to 4 days. I checked a lot of online websites and in particular Paro and the Tiger Nest Monastery. I had heard and read so much about it and there was this pull to go up there and while reading up more, I was more and more fascinated since it was where the patron saint Guru Rinpoche meditated. And Guru was the patron saint of Bhutan. That set the tone of my trip.

I did not find any online sites operating from India. I guess all were operating from somewhere in UK or US or Australia. And had information which I really could not use. Typically, it provided information of overall Bhutan trip which would take 10-11 days and with guide. Some were also giving me wrong information on emailing or online chatting.

One website Indiamike.com had some useful information from Indians traveling to Bhutan and I read them up.

Finally, I quit reading and decided to call some numbers up… and go by my instinct and yeah their local sites. That was somewhat helpful.  This is the most useful site I found for my information. http://www.tourism.gov.bt/

You can get an idea of all hotels and tips from here.

The plan was to drive up from Guahati  early morning and reach Phuentsholing by 11 AM and then take some time for the permit and then continue up to Thimpu and stay the night at Thimpu on Day 1.

Day 2 we drive down to Paro from Thimpu.

Day 3 we do the trek to the Tiger Nest monastery and back.

Day 4 we drive down to Guahati early morning.

I did not want to do too many places having a short time.  We specifically focussed on some places given the time. And the rest was for the next trip.

Day 1 : Driving from Assam

Started early in the morning at 4:30 and it was raining cats and dogs but it was an easy drive through Goalpara.  We had originally planned a shorter route but after consulting with friends in Assam who know roads, we decided to take a longer route which though long was smooth and easy. So we quickly made time and crossed the bridge Sri Noro Narayan Setu, the newest bridge across the mighty Brahmaputra. The day was getting brighter and the rains subsided. We were reaching the West Bengal border. We stopped for a while to have some masala red tea sprinkled with pepper or chat masala. The tea guy was just getting ready to trade his  hot tea to the truckers who were there. It was not a pretty place but yet, it was good to sip the tea and take a break.

We reached Abhayapuri and continued to Gauripur where we stopped by a small shack and had some breakfast. Rotis were fresh and the curry was just made. They had just opened shop and were more than glad to serve us. The owner proudly spoke English and also served us some tea after the meal.

There are no good or fancy hotels along this route but you can stop by the Petrol bunks which have very clean restrooms with water. This is a trick from our biker days where petrol bunks with restrooms were a blessing when we travelled.

So food done and with an empty bladder, we drove on. The road was smooth and a pleasure to navigate around.

We reached Buxirhat which was the West Bengal and Assam Border and West Bengal slowed us down quite a bit with the traffic and towns and the roads. The roads are a  killer where potholes are an understatement. Anyway, we navigated through New Alipurduar town and looked for high route which would connect to the highway.  You have to have a  very good driving sense to navigate through the town You will get many directions but stick to the shortest route to High Route to touch the highway.

Anyway, we crossed Buxa wild life Sanctuary and touched the main highway where roads were pathetic as well.

The natives told us to go straight avoiding Kalchini to reach Hashimara early. Thank god we did not take the map but the native’s direction. Saved us some time.

Here on, we started seeing cars plying with red number plates which told us that we were nearing Bhutan.

We reached Phuentsholing at about 1:00 instead of 11:00 AM as planned. We were behind 3 hours but knowing North East landscape, timing just goes for a toss.

We parked and walked up to the permit office.  I was praying that we would get our documents up in time since as per my information, the office closed at 2:00. We had just about half an hour in our hand. We made some calls referred to us by our friend. This was very helpful since we got linked directly to the Head of the Immigration who made the paperwork done in a jiffy. I was thanking all the energies and my friends who helped us. The next bit was to get the permit from the RSTA office. I was planning to stay in Phuentsholing as I very well know that RSTA office was closed by that time. Still Rocky made his way to the office and VIOLA ! after a while, we actually got our papers signed. Rocky was telling me that he met a very nice officer who went out of his way to close on the documents inspite of the office being closed. Well I was inwardly thanking Guru Rinpoche who I felt was blessing us all the way….. ( it also helped that we gave the guy indian currency in exchange for Bhutanese currency. Indian Currency is in high demand)

I was a bit apprehensive about the night drive but well what the heck, we went on. Rocky was game as well. We climbed up the mountains and it was a steady climb from there on. We went round and around and round mountains again. Rocky was feeling very fatigued by now and we were greeted by thick fog. I knew we had to stop for a break but where ?? And my prayers were answered when we reached Gedu.

We reached Gedu quickly where we took a break for momos and tea. There are lots of houses which are actually houses cum  bar and restaurant. Gedu is a place known for fog. So after tea, we had to drive almost blindly in the fog and the dark.

We did not have fog lamps and we only had the white line drawn by the side of the road and the mountain walls for our guide. Up and up we went till I was counting hours.. and then minutes… and then seconds… We were tired but yeah dying to reach our destination.

We had to stop some 3 to 4 times at strategic checkposts to show our papers. Permits were checked quickly and we were flagged on.

Roads were gravelly in some areas and very narrow. The fog cleared as we went higher up.

Finally we spied the much awaited Thimpu gate. Phew. Entered the town and it was about 9:30 PM. We obviously made a wrong turn inside the town and immediately were stopped by the traffic police ready to write us a fine. But we told him we were there for the first time and were looking for a hotel. He took pity on us. And let us go. Lucky again. I heard that they were very strict there.

Bhutan has no traffic lights and no one honks. It was peacefully quiet. Even though we were tired, it was refreshing walking around town, which was busy yet quiet.

All hotels were booked and it was late. We were looking for some budget options but finally closed on what I had looked up in the net. Hotel Jumolhari which was somewhat ok priced. We got a suite which was the 0ption left. We took it. I had actually not booked in Thimpu as the review was that we would get a hotel even if we did not book it. But heck no,  during spring time, you better have your hotel booking in place. I think if you reach during the day and not drive in like us, you have a better chance of finding something on the spot.

Day 2 : Thimpu and an Evening In Paro

The next day we rose a little late, had our breakfast in the hotel and walked out to explore Thimpu. It looked like it would rain. I wanted to visit the famous Chorten. We walked it up and it felt like I was back in Shillong. Bhutan has some fancy cars. We spent some time at the Chorten. I said my prayers and circumambulated around along with the crowd. I loved the flock of pigeons there… Wish I had some food for them.

We planned to walk up the open air Golden Buddha statue which is being built. It would be the second largest statue after the Ngong Ping Buddha in Hong Kong China which I am glad to say I visited.

So while walking we realised that this was quite far. We saw a taxi waiting around a corner and talked to him to take us up there and well he was quite friendly. We decided to have him show us around Thimpu. It had started drizzling slowly. So our guide and taxi driver was Mr Prem who took us to various spots including the 150 year old house which is a museum and also took us shopping for the traditional dress, Kira.

After that, we gave him some Indian currency on request as well in exchange for Bhutanese Currency. ATMs work there to get you some extra cash if you want just like in China which is a convenience for travelers like us.

After a sumptous lunch of local Bhutanese cuisine and local Bhutanese rum, we made ourselves way out of Thimpu to Paro. Roads were beautiful the landscape was very sceanic and we reached Paro in no time. It takes about 45 mins to drive from Thimpu to Paro.

Paro is very quiet compared to busy Thimpu. Oh this place was just how I had imagined, small, quiet, mystical and really cute. We made our way from downtown Paro to our resort which I had booked in advance. Tiger Nest Paro was about 9 kms away from Paro town. It was nestled at the foothills of the actual monastery.

We settled in, made friends with the resident pets who realised I am a sucker for their cuteness, both dogs and cats. They took thorough advantage of me for cookies.. which I could not resist after their friendly hello. The manager of the hotel and the people are generally very friendly and very polite. All over Bhutan, I have seen this and its a pleasure interacting with them. I think we should also learn from them…