[@Chaand]

Day 11: Monday, 15 Jan 2018
Pheuntsoling to Paro

Woke up to these views from the hotel windows. As you see more pictures you will note the popularity of SUV's in Bhutan. I still wonder the reason for this. It wasn't bad roads for sure!





Hotel fittings manufactured by Indian firms as opposed to the fittings in Budget Indian hotels having Chinese fixtures.


We were out of the hotel by 9.15 AM after a simple but buffet breakfast at Ga Me Ga. We checked out and kept the bags in the car but left the cars in the parking.

The fuel prices in Bhutan! Indianoil, HP, BP are some of the providers.



The immigration office at Pheuntsoling is very close to the Indo-Bhutan gate situated just near the fuel station (visible in the background in the above image. At the immigration office there are a set of guys stationed just below the stairs who will provide you with the application form, verify your documentation and once all is in order you are expected to go upstairs to the immigration director and get the forms signed by him after which you will be photographed, your details computerized and then after some waiting you will be issued the permit. NO need to pay a penny!!! You will be met by some agents at the immigration office but surprisingly these guys aren't as pushy as the guys back home!
Now this permit is only for the individuals. The permit for the Indian vehicle is issued by RSTA Bhutan which is the equivalent of RTO in India. Highlight of both the immigration office and the RSTA is that both are corruption free and there is no hassle in getting the permit(s) as long as your paperwork is in order. You don't need to pay a penny for getting the Immigration permit. For the car permit it is Rs. 100 per car per day. The civilian permit is also required if you want a local sim card (highly recommended) for usage in Bhutan. All the documentation related details follow in the pictures below.



Immigration office







Aadhar card is not accepted in Bhutan by the Immigration authorities. Hotels do accept Aadhar.





Bhutanese currency - Ngultrum. At par with the INR. Most of the change is given in NU.


The Indo Bhutanese gate as viewed from the Bhutanese side


The park where we filled our application forms. Before that we had to buy a pen! Each traveller fills a form and ensure that you provide complete details of the occupation. For eg 'Business' wont do. You need to provide the nature of the business as well.


RK and Mahesh got these SIM cards for us whilst yours truly and Bhushan left for the RSTA. Immigration permit is a must for the SIM card. Data is cheap in Bhutan but not as cheap as JIO. Connectivity is good even in the mountains.




RSTA is a 4 minute walk from the Immigration office.




Restaurant where we had our food. Highly recommended!


Lunch to make one fall asleep!

Total bill with all this and more was around INR 500!

Photography at the gate




Day 11 - Continued in next post.

[@Chaand]

Day 11 - Continued.

With the permits in tow we began our ascent to Paro. Within 4 KM from Pheuntsoling, we hit the highway and there you we were supposed to register with the local police that you have entered Bhutan. There is one more checkpoint en route to Paro.



Stopped en-route to buy some fruits.

https://youtu.be/QQTpqn_ruOg

Average roads but good views. Climate was cloudy throughout with clouds at road level on some occasions.
Yes, BRO maintains the roads in Bhutan as well!

































Stopped at the Dantak BRO canteen on the way.














Indianised Menu at Dantak!


More proof of SUV's popularity in Bhutan

https://youtu.be/G5u5-P1W0SQ

Our Stay for the night



ODO


Distance covered for the day: 158 KM
Distance covered so far: 3733 KM

[@Chaand]

Day 12: Tuesday, 16 Jan 2018
Paro to Thimpu

Woke up to Zero degrees of temperature and this view outside our room.






Bench covered by a think layer of ice...



Went to the hotel parking to check the situation...


And all the cars were frosted!


















Tyre pressure and temperature for the Furteela!



Beautiful Harley in the Hotel Parking




Bhutan is a Mahindra territory as well!


We got ready to leave by 9. Skipped the breakfast at the hotel and thought of having something to eat on the way to Tigers nest.

The outside temperature at 9:00 AM!!


Headed out to Tigers nest through the beautiful Paro countryside

[@Chaand]

Day 12 - Continued...


As per the manager at Holiday Homes, it wold take us 45 minutes to reach Tigers Nest from the hotel. We started off on our way...

https://youtu.be/ct_OPDBQE-k

Spot the dinosaur in the picture!


Lovely views on the way


Stopped at a restaurant cum store for some breakfast.

Parking at the restaurant. Now without the two beasts this image would have been picture perfect!!


I liked this pic with the rock. Fellow bhpian VarunRaizada did not.



On inquiry we found that Tigers nest base was a two minute drive from the restaurant and we decided to leave the cars there and leg out the rest of the distance.


At the porch of the hotel we found this contraption. We had seen it at a few places in Paro and before that as well. This, my friends is the national heating system in Bhutan. Doesn't use electricity. Instead wood is burnt and the smoke is channelized to a chimney. On top of the burner is a can full of hot water. It feels good to sit around it in the cold Bhutan climate.


RK warming himself with the heater.


With breakfast and tea out of the way, we decided to start our trek to the base.

Lovely woods on the way to Tigers nest base. Excellent spot for a picnic or just doing nothing!




That us walking towards the base.


More woods...









Found this on the way. Some kind of temple?





Walking in rarified air was indeed an effort. By the time we reached the base of Tigers nest I was gasping!

Parking at the base of Tigers nest. At the right is the office, where you purchase the tickets in case you wanna get into the monastery.


Hawkers selling trinkets at the base of Tigers nest. Surprisingly, all of the hawkers were females and spoke excellent English.


Wares/Trinkets


After some shopping we deliberated whether we should go to Tigers nest or not. There were horses to take us some distance but apparently Tigers nest is another 40 minutes climb from that point
That thought was enough to ditch the idea of trekking and we decided to go back to the parking.

On our return to the parking, we were surrounded by these dogs. Apparently they were hungry.


That's me hoping and praying silently that they don't bite.


This canine came by too close. Turned out to be harmless though.


Took the route back to Paro. Next on the route was Chelela Point which apparently is the highest motorable pass in Bhutan.

Found the coveted 'Welcome to Bhutan' board and immediately clicked these photos


After going through Paro city we reached this view point which gives a beautiful view of Paro city and the airport as well.













Continued in the next post

[@Chaand]

Day 12 Continued.

We continued till we reached Chelala.

https://youtu.be/2L8cUQVrDYE

It took us more than an hour to reach Chelela. This place is located at quite a height and it was really worth the visit.























































Just one small mobile van providing food facilities at Chelela from where we had these dumplings.

[@Chaand]

Day 12 - Continued...

With Tigers nest and Chelela done, we started the drive to Thimpu. Roads were average.

Drive was uneventful. We stopped by for some pics.















Spotted this rare VW in Bhutan, a country largely dominated by Japs.


More proof of Jap and SUV domination






Hotel card:


Hotel rating: 3/5. Would have made this 4/5 if if they hadn't goofed up on the night's dinner. The morning breakfast buffet was also just about average.



This was the last night in Bhutan and also for our trip. Tomorrow, we would do some sight seeing in Bhutan and start the return journey to aamchi Mumbai.


Odo so far:


Distance covered for the day: 143 KM
Distance covered so far: 3876 KM

[@Chaand]

Day 13: 17 Jan 2018 - Thimphu to Bagdogra

After an average breakfast we checked out of Hotel Norbuling.



Headed to the kings Palace first which apparently wasnt very far from the hotel. When we reached closer to the place we were told that it was out of bounds. Decided to chuck the plan and go instead to the Golden Buddha Statue.



Drive to Buddha statue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKE3hDeFUcg

After this we started our journey back to Phenuntsoling. The target for the night was Bagdogra.

Encountered Tanalum check post on the way, where we were supposed to de-register.





Stopped for lunch en-route at this restaurant






Usual message, but this was a more threatening!



Reached Pheuntsoling around 4 PM. Refuelled to the brim and found many other Indian car/truck owners also doing the same. Did some last moment shopping and moved towards the gate. Felt a bit sad to leave such a neat clean place and move into the chaos on the other side. Check out the video for and observe the difference between Bhutan and India.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U91cYsQsX-k

Drove till 9:00PM and checked into Hotel Orbit (Site) at Bagdogra.
Hotel rating: 4/5

Odo for the day


Distance covered for the day: 353 KM
Distance covered so far: 4229 KM

[@Chaand]

Day 14: Thursday: 18 Jan 2018 - Bagdogra to Gorakhpur

Secure parking at Hotel Orbit on a foggy morning.


After a hearty breakfast we checked out. There was no fixed target for the night but the idea was to get back home ASAP,

Encountered good amount of fog in the morning as seen in the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzjDUahRlhg

https://youtu.be/RVwO0L2kfHI

https://youtu.be/ouSJfaV72nw

https://youtu.be/fET0dXDW43o

The day ahead was uneventful and we reached Gorakhpur and checked into Hotel Kama International.



By far this was the most tech savvy hotel we had been to on this trip. The only hotel with an electronic jet spray!




Odo at Gorakhpur:


Hotel rating: 3/5
Would have been 5/5 if not for the extremely cramped rooms, a more cramped parking and extremely narrow access routes.

Day 15: Friday: 18 Jan 2018 - Gorakhpur to Bhopal






Odo at Bhopal



Day 16: Saturday: 19 Jan 2018 - Bhopal to Mumbai - Home run



A parting selfie.

Once again thats (From L to R): Yours Truly, Bhushan, Mahesh, RK
Did feel sad to part ways after this epic trip but everyone was happy to be home and with their families as well!

Final Odo for the trip once back at Oshiwara:


Distance covered for the day: 774 KM
Distance covered for the entire trip: 6627 KM

[@Chaand]

Epilouge:


1. This is E-P-I-C. Till the time of publishing this travelogue, T-Rex is apparently the FIRST & ONLY All New Endeavour from TBHP and/or Mumbai to make it to Sikkim, Silk route and Bhutan all as part of one trip! Happy to be proven wrong on this one!

2. Most of the places in Sikkim are no plastic zones. You are not allowed to take polythene bags or plastic water bottles. Not only will the bottles/bags be confiscated, you would be fined as well.

3. Our two SUV's came to be known as 'MH ke gaadiyan' in Gangtok amongst the tourist drivers.

4. Some of the local tourist drivers who advised/cautioned us against taking our own vehicles to Gurudongmar/Zero point had to eat their words later. Almost all of them had discouraged against taking our vehicles to in the snow/ice to zero point/Gurudongmar. They also started admiring/envying us later and in general became more friendlier. On the flip side, these tourist drivers faced flak from the tourists as they also wanted to be taken to all the places our two SUV's went.

5. Ours were officially the ONLY two vehicles which went to Gurudongmar on 10 Jan 2018. No other cars/bikes managed to cross over through the snow/ice en route that day! As a matter of fact we got a call from the person at Mangan in charge of the permits who inquired about our status so that he could release other permits!!

6. One common question was why we took two vehicles when all four could have managed with one SUV?

7. Another common question - "Did you drive all the way from Mumbai???" This question was popped to us as early as Jhansi and at many other places on the way.

8. As seen from the last Odo image T-Rex spent a whopping 151 hours with the engine on!

9. On one occasion at Nathula, when I emerged out of the Sunroof of the T-Rex, a surprised driver remarked - "Accha! Iska chatt bhi khulta hai?" (Oh! Does the roof of this car also open?)

10. Its not required to go to Gangtok directly. People can do Mangan first and then reach Gangtok

11. People going to Gurudongmar, please ensure you take smallish oxygen cans (1 can per two people) as a precaution.

12. Not a single hotel was booked in advance. Each and every place we stayed in was booked on the fly. Aggregation sites did help (where data connectivity was available) in knowing the reviews of the hotel.

13. The main driving force for writing this long travelogue is to inspire and help other fellow travelers mainly from Mumbai to go to these wonderful locations and explore the beauty of India and its neighbours.

14. Both the SUV's performed well in the hostile conditions in terms of roads (or lack of roads rather) and temperature. My main worry regarding the T-Rex was the Wanderers but they managed to come out unscathed without a single flat or a blowout! Furteela had relatively good rubbers and it was a walk in the park for those Yokos.

15. A B-I-G thank you to the families of us four without whose support this trip would have been un-achievable. Thanks also go out to all those who helped us plan the itinerary and secure the permits where applicable. Special thanks to Piyal Pathak-da who helped us at various places in West Bengal and Bhutan.
Last and definitely not the least lots of lots of gratitude to Vaibhav Satpotdar(VS) who provided me the initial walkthrough of the routes, permits at a time when I had zero knowledge of Sikkim and Bhutan which were all of utmost use!

16. How important was the plan/proposed itinerary? Yes, It was important. But more important for me was the process of planning (and once again thanks to VS for that) which helped me learn about Sikkim and Bhutan and the route even before going there. And eventually - out in the field when we couldn't stick to the original plan, changing the plan and adapting to the new plan was a piece of cake.

17. A picture is worth more than a thousand words - and hence I have kept my comments to the minimum throughout the travelogue and let pictures do the talking.

18. As always we have decided the next trip, which as of now appears challenging not from a location perspective but from an availability of participants perspective. If that trip materialises, a travelogue may follow.

19. Of all the hotels that we stayed in - the best hotel was undoubtedly Orange Village at Gangtok. The worst of the pack was Himalayan Residency in Lachen.

20. Google maps worked fine all over the way with one exception. They stopped working as soon as we crossed the Indo-Bhutan gate. So did the inbuilt Ford and Toyota maps. We could find out the route through Gmpas, but turn by turn navigation just did not work.

21. Mobile connectivity Sikkim: All providers provide lovely connectivity at Gangtok and poor/scrappy connectivity in the rest of the hills. On the contrary, in Bhutan we had good connectivity (including data) for 95% of the time.

This travelogue has been published by me with extremely valuable inputs from Bhushan, Mahesh and RK. The pictures/videos posted in this travelogue have been clicked by us using a combination of mobile phones, a point n shoot, a DSLR and a dashcam. Credits to individual photographers/videographers where applicable. Special thanks to RK who was always game to click 'one more pic' of me posing with the T-Rex!

We hope everyone enjoys reading this travelogue as much as we have enjoyed compiling and presenting it to you.

Keep Revving

[SDP]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by @Chaand

Epilouge:


1. This is E-P-I-C. Till the time of publishing this travelogue, T-Rex is apparently the FIRST & ONLY All New Endeavour from TBHP and/or Mumbai to make it to Sikkim, Silk route and Bhutan all as part of one trip! Happy to be proven wrong on this one!

3. Our two SUV's came to be known as 'MH ke gaadiyan' in Gangtok amongst the tourist drivers.

7. Another common question - "Did you drive all the way from Mumbai???" This question was popped to us as early as Jhansi and at many other places on the way.

Keep Revving

Awesome report there! Keep it up and a couple more such trips might finally convince me that SUVs are the rides to have when exploring. Until then, I will be happy with my small car. The Furteela and T-Rex are two mile munchers for sure.

Despite my saying so, time and again it has been shown that the SUVs are far more capable touring cars in our country with such vast terrains. I think Ford and Toyota should rope you in as brand ambassadors for all the places you have been taking your cars to.

[ragh_bhushan]

What a lovely travelogue! Thoroughly enjoyed not only reading it but also reliving every moment of this truly epic adventure.

Over the past two years, I have had the privilege of embarking on some incredible journeys with Furteela and many of which were with the author of this thread, BHPian Chaand. Although, the homework done by him was pretty thorough but we never made any concrete plan which further enhanced the overall thrill quotient. Other BHPian Mahesh and fellow traveller RK made sure that we always had enough rested hands as well as there was never a dull moment!

The uncertainty even before the start of the trip and more so on reaching Gangtok of whether we would be allowed to drive our trucks to the elusive Gurdongmar lake was no dampener at all to embark on this journey. Also, the true roadie spirit shown by him when there was an incident with T-Rex is remarkable.

I believe that SUVs are truly the most comfortable, safe and anti-fatigue vehicles of choice when travelling on unchartered territories. We drove for more than 12-14 hours a day on multiple days at a stretch and yet had enough energy to push further.

Regarding use of diff locks or 4LL, I personally felt the requirement only on snow / ice, that too going uphill. But one needs to be cautious and gentle on the brakes / throttle while negotiating the slippery surface of frozen ice.

The East - West corridor or the NH27 which originates at Porbandar, Gujarat and goes all the way to Guwahati, Assam is a beautiful 3000+ km tarmac throughout MP, UP, Bihar and WB.

Fastag worked at all NH toll plazas and we did not have to pay cash anywhere except couple of state highway tolls in Rajasthan. This route was actually a detour and one need not go to RJ at all.

Sikkim feels like a whole another state with so much cleanliness, helpful administration, sensible traffic, no honking throughout state and liberal society. It actually feels closer to Bhutan than India

The author has penned down quite a detailed log, so do not have much to add in terms of words. So just adding some more pictures clicked from my phone.







Hotel right outside Muzaffarpur Station


Interesting name for the bridge

[varunraizada]

Wow Chandra ... What a lovely travelogue... I could see myself doing what you guys did !

Can you share a little about cold starting the cars ? Any additives used ? How easily did they start etc ?

That incident looks quite major in these pics .. glad that it's all sorted now

And yeah, I still like that endy pic without the stone

[RAHS]

Wow! Lovely travelogue guys! Enjoyed reading it. Wonderful clicks as well.
I am really glad to see 2 of the most capable SUV's in India side by side ( Endeavor and Fortuner ). I would pick them any day over the Luxury cars considering their go anywhere capabilities. Cannot even imagine Luxury cars getting into such locations

BTW, I currently own a Duster & plan to upgrade to pre-owned Endeavor or Fortuner sometime in 2020. These 2 have been in my list for long time. Just that I need to convince my family to get these trucks. Will come back to you guys if I need any advice during my upgrade.

Once again, awesome thread and keep rocking guys

[dsnaveen21]

Chandra, great drive, beautiful pics, very detailed report, really enjoyed it...Keep it up. Looking forward to more travelogues.