[PapaBravo]

It had been quite sometime (around 6 months) since we had made any trips to the Himalayas in Hulk. With Durga Puja holidays approaching this year the Himalayan itch returned. First we thought of going to North Sikkim but our last three Himalayan trips had been to Sikkim. The other option was the Land of Dragons : Bhutan. Bhutan had been in our bucket list for a long time, and bhpian dhanushmenon's super detailed travelogue made our decision easy. This was going to be our first time in Bhutan if you discount the visit to the border town of Phuentsholing which we had done in one of our Dooars trip.

Made some itineraries and bounced it off with Blackpearl since he has been there quite a few number of times and final one of the itineraries was finalised.

Now people who are not familiar with the geography here, there are two different bridges that one can use to cross the mighty Ganga in order to go to North Bengal. One of them lies in Bengal called Farakka and the other one is in Bihar called Vikramshila (in Bhagalpur). One month prior to the trip got news that Vikramshila will be closed for renovation till 15th Oct which was our travel date. This meant heavy traffic at Farakka which was bad news. In some time another news broke out that Farakka will be closed during days due to repair work at the bridge. Full points for the awesome coordination between two bridges. Thankfully some bhpians were leaving on their respective trips to North Bengal/Sikkim a day prior to us. Got updates from them and Farakka was finalized. To know what happened in Farakka read on.

An opening picture before starting the travelogue.

Day 1 : Kolkata-Phuentsholing-Chuapara


Left home and the first obstacle came in shape of a complete No Entry into Burdwan town. Called up bhpian himadrimondal, took his advice and a detour through Gushkhara to join back on SH7. The next obstacle would be Farakka, or so we thought. As soon as we reached Moregram, we encountered a truck Jam just before a single lane bridge. Before we could realize, there were trucks behind us and we could not take a U-turn. Got stuck there for 45 min and managed to get out tailing an Ambulance.

The truck line had started from 25 kms before the Farakka bridge. The police there guided us to go on the opposite lane till the mouth of the bridge. Obeyed and reached the start point of the bridge travelling on the opposite lane. Had to wait there for an hour before our flank started moving. The 2.2 km long bridge had taken 1h30m to cross. Post Farakka there were no bottlenecks and we made our way to Siliguri.

At the break of dawn near Siliguri

Did not opt for the Jalpaiguri route as we had got an update about the bad state of roads plus the other route is way more scenic. Took our favorite Sevoke road and reached 'Coronation Bridge'. Straight road takes you to Sikkim and right across the bridge takes you to Dooars and onward to Bhutan.

The Turn for the Bridge.



The Coronation Bridge

3 hours later we were inside Bhutan gate at Phuentsholing. While we were trying to find the parking of our car, we passed the immigration center which was flooding with people. Mustered all our courage and went to the immigration without any tour & travel guy.

As per the latest rules, one has to obtain an application form from the counter. Then there are two more stages.

Stage 1 : Get all your documents i.e. Passport/Voter Id with their Xerox, Passport Size Photo, Hotel booking confirmations & Travel Itinerary. We were ready with all the documents beforehand. Now get in the queue to submit the documents. The line moves unbelievably slow thanks to the tour & travel guys who submit 4 to 5 set of applications in one go. We were done with stage one by Lunch time and were given a token.

Stage 2: Once your token gets called, you take your verified documents to immigration counter for bio-metric registration. This doesn't take too much time. If you are carrying passports, you will be given a Visa, if Voter Id, then permits. Permits need to be xeroxed for all check-posts. Passport Visa doesn't require that. The only place you would need a xerox of Visa is while taking a local tourist sim.

Once the Visa was done, the car permits & local sim didn't take much time.

Our stay for the first day was not in Bhutan (yes, even after entering Bhutan & getting necessary permits). The organisation that I work for has a Tea Estate near the border & we were invited by the manager to stay at their place. We crossed the border again back into India & headed for the Tea Estate.

A beautiful tree enroute Tea Estate



Entry to Tea Estate


Our pilot was waiting for us to guide us to the residences, Following him inside the gardens.



By 1600 hrs we were at the tea garden and Hulk was parked for the day

Hulk was given a proper bath thanks to gardener at the tea estate. Since we were completely jaded we decided to have dinner early and retire for the day.

contd..

[PapaBravo]

Day 2 : Chuapara Tea Estate-Thimpu

Got up early next day finished up our breakfast to leave for Thimpu. Clicked some pictures of the beautiful morning in the tea garden.

A beautiful morning at Tea Garden



Hulk after a bath last night

An early start helped us get inside Bhutan without much traffic. Headed straight for Thimpu without stopping at Phuentsholing. Driving is easy and much more organised. Pedestrians have right of the way, there is no honking, everyone stays in a line. You need to indicate when overtaking and again after the you have completed the maneuver. This results in cars in Bhutan usually being scratch-less.

Now, unlike Sikkim or Darjeeling there are no small hamlets or towns on way to Thimpu. There is no population you find on the road. The roads are fairly empty. The beautiful scenery accompanies you through out.

Approaching the ever FOGGY Gedu



Somewhere on the way





The landscape turns very Himachalish in between. Doesn't it ?





Stopped at a small waterfall on the way, the bridge looked more beautiful

And finally we reach Chuzom. From Chuzom the left takes you to Paro and straight inside the gate to Thimpu. Paro and Thimpu are almost equidistant from this place.

Gate for Thimpu

Well before lunch we were at our destination. We were staying in the Guesthouse of Royal Thimpu College which was booked through AirBNB. This is located around 10 kms before Thimpu provides amazing views. There is no room service but you will not mind it, since there is a college cafeteria near the guesthouse.

The Parking at RTC Guest House



The Cozy Room



Having lunch at the Cafeteria





Meghna at the Cafeteria

After finishing our lunch we came to our room. Blackpearl & his better half Rajsri (teesta on TBHP) had highly recommended the base point of Cheri & Tango Monastery. This place would take half an hour from our hotel the sunset was around 1h45 later. So we could at least get hour of daylight at the place. Back to Hulk & started for Cheri. The route was beautiful & there were literally no tourists on this road.

Road to Cheri

We reached the end of the road from where the trek to Cheri & Tango start. Crossed a beautiful footbridge with Thimpu Chu (river) flowing beneath.

Thimpu Chu from the Bridge. We would be going to the right bank of this river



Meghna at the Footbridge Entrance



The Bridge from the bank



Meghna near the bank



Clicked some pictures at the bank







Stones stacked up

After spending 45 min at the spot we headed back. On the way, we found another more beautiful spot by the river. Parked Hulk on the road & went down to spend some more time by the rover before sundown.

Such a beautiful river



Meghna just absorbing the beauty of the place







On the way back from Cheri

After spending some beautiful time near the river, we were back in Thimpu. Roamed around the local market & returned to our accommodation for the day. Bhutan had been beautiful the first day.

Contd...

[PapaBravo]

Day 3 : Thimpu-Paro

This was one day that we woke up a bit late since we did not have too much travelling in our itinerary. We started our day with breakfast at the cafeteria. Spot breakfast we checked out of the accommodation and headed to Buddha Dordenma. It is a gigantic 'Shakyamuni Buddha' statue which is about 177ft tall. It is perched on a hilltop overlooking Thimpu City. The place was teeming with tourists so didn't spend too much time here.

Buddha Dordenma under the Sun



Was obliged by a local who clicked both of us.



Meghna near the statue



At the gate to enter Buddha Dordenma



Thimpu city as seen from the top

With this we bid Thimpu goodbye promising to return again and made our way to Paro. By now I am sure, you must have guessed that we like Himalayan rivers a lot, specially the quite & serene ones. So on the way to Paro we found another spot through which we could take Hulk near Paro Chu and spend some time there.

Way to Paro



Hulk goes down near the river



Meghna wading through the bushes trying to find that perfect spot to sit



And finally we got it



Meghna at Paro Chu





The clear water



Sitting and absorbing the beauty

After spending some time here we headed to Paro Airport viewpoint to catch a flight take off. Just before Paro, the cars with Indian plates were lined up. We were stopped by a policemen, who checked our papers and then let us go. This wasted around 10 min and we missed the flight takeoff by 5 min. The next one was 2 hours later. We checked into our hotel in Paro and had lunch. Since this was a lazy day we relaxed for sometime before going out for local sight-seeing. It was an election day & the shops were to be closed till 1730 hrs. We ventured out at 4 to find whole of Paro shut. With time to kill, we just went on drive on the outskirts of Paro. We then turned to go to 'Ta Dzong' also known as the National Museum since the view of Paro from above was supposed to be nice.

A hazy phone picture of Paro from 'Ta Dzong'

After spending sometime there, we reached back Paro town to find all the shops open. Around 80% of the shops were souvenir & artifact shops. We found most of them overpriced. After strolling in the market for sometime we went to the Paro Dzong on our way back to Hotel after having light dinner at Paro Market.

Paro Dzong at Night

So a lazy day came to end. The next day was going to be far from being lazy. We had a big day ahead of us. Called it a day and retired for the night.

contd..

[PapaBravo]

Day 4 : Hike to Paro Takshtang also know as Tiger's Nest

This was going to be a long and tiring day. We got up early in the morning and got ready with our trek gear for the hike to Tiger's Nest. The ticket counter opens at 0730 hrs and we reached the place 15 min earlier. Meghna made our backpacks ready with water, juice & food supplies while I went to buy the tickets. We were the second ones to get the ticket the first one being a student group from Kolkata.

All set, we started our hike at 0745 hrs. The hike in the beginning isn't too steep but the gradient starts to show after a few hundred meters. Our trekking poles were helping a lot by not letting the back take too much strain.

Start of the Trek/Hike



Going uphill





The trail going above

We were going on consistently without any need for breaks. About 25% into the hike and you get to see the first glimpse of Tiger's Nest.

So this is where we have to reach

This view along with being extremely beautiful is also very discouraging for some. Some people give away just by the thought of going so far. We kept on going and reached cafeteria. This is the midway and the last point till which the mules can carry you if you take one. This is also the place where most people end their hike. The number of people on the trail ahead reduces.

Paro Takshtang from Cafeteria

We kept on going ahead and finally reached a place from where the stairs start at around 1000 hrs. The uphill climb wasn't too tough for us but the stairs at the end are a definite leg killers. We didn't count them personally but there are approx 150 steps down & 150 steps up to reach the Monastery. This makes the total count of 600 steps to & fro. To top it off, the stairs are not very ergonomic since they have been cut out of rocks. And this all happens at around 10k ft with thin air. Well you get the drift, the last part is quiet difficult.

At the point from where the stairs start





The not so ergonomic steps



Going up after the descent



View of Tigers's Nest from that place



The altitude as shown by my watch hovering around 10k ft

We visited the whole monastery. All your belonging including phones, caps, trekking poles are kept in a locker so no photos from the inside. There wasn't much of a rush since we were the early reachers. There were prayers being offered in the Monastery. We stayed there for half an hour and enjoyed the peace & quite. It was time to head back downhill. After managing the stairs again we started our downhill journey. Some parts are steep so there is a chance of slipping but can be managed without much effort. We reached the base at around 0130 hrs after almost 5 hours of high altitude walking. The total distance covered was around 7 kms. We were very hungry & tired. Headed to Paro market for a quick lunch.

Dumplings at Paro market. We were too hungry to click pictures of any other food item

After a sumptuous lunch we went back to the hotel booked ourselves an aroma therapy at the spa and relaxed. We didn't go out that evening and had a quite evening in the Hotel. Slept off early since next day was return to India and a goodbye to Bhutan

Day 5 : Paro-Kolkata

We were in two minds which route to take, the Bihar one or the Bengal one. Had a talk with bhpian Sheel and got an update on Vikramshila Setu. Still undecided on the route to be taken we started from Paro at 0330 hrs. Post a small breakfast break in Oodlabari, we were at Siliguri around 1000 hrs. We were in touch with bhpian delix who had started from Siliguri in the morning & he updated us with Farakka traffic & we decided to take the Bengal route. The rest of the route was regular & mundane. We got very sparse traffic while entering Kolkata and were home at 2130 hrs with a total journey time of 18 hrs from Paro.

We found this country very beautiful. The topography is different than that of Sikkim/Darjeeling which we visit quite often. People are helpful, traffic is less maddening and the SUV scene is to die for.

Ending the travelogue here. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as we enjoyed the trip.

Cheers,
Pawan

[aah78]

Thread moved to the Travelogues section. Thanks for sharing!

[Samba]

So now we share the same wrist watch and same car!

Excellent travelogue. Rated all the stars available!

Hulk is looking beautiful, specially in the first pic of this travelogue.

Wish all three of you many more such awesome trips.

This travelogue made me nostalgic about our Bhutan trip in 2016! Thanks for updating the new procedure to obtain the permit. Things have changed since 2016.

Let me take the opportunity to photo-bomb few pics from our Bhutan trip.

The beautiful Thimpu city.





On the way to Haa valley.

[BlackPearl]

Lovely travelogue and beautiful pictures. You posted it quite fast as well. The timing of the trip was not perfect as there is a huge rush during the Durga Puja. Next time please plan for a quieter time and you will love it even more. If you liked Western Bhutan so much you should definitely plan to visit Eastern Bhutan in future. Both you and Hulk will love it

[ssambyal1980]

Another impeccable travel narrative of the north-east from none other than the veterans of the Eastern Front. Good one Pawan. Cheers.

[gmhossain]

Many of us are yet to get out of the so called "Puja mode" and here you go. A road trip to Bhutan is Dusted and the travelogue is posted! I enjoyed reading your fast-paced travelogue. Keep traveling and keep posting.

[DriveTrain]

Wow , that was fast ! Congrats on another great drive and a beautifully crafted and visually adorned travelogue. I am sure you will back to the land of the Thunder Dragon for more..

[Aniruddha_Ch]

Just back from 16 day long trip to Sikkim and Bhutan from Pune in my Swift D. Happened to hike Paro Taktsang on 19th Oct. I must say trail is very beautiful along with that view of monastery. Well written travelogue.

[SJM1214]

One more excellent travelogue with amazing photographs. Thanks for Sharing, Pavan.

[Sheel]

Thanks for sharing this t'log Pawan. Everytime, this route is a hit or miss and requires a lot of planning as to which route to take to travel to North Bengal & beyond.

Originally Posted by DriveTrain

visually adorned travelogue.

I hope and request you to come up with your t'log as well for your Sikkim trip

[redeye10]

Hey Pawan,
Another beautiful travelogue with equally nice images from your stable!
Btw, one opinion - do you think this Paro Thimpu circuit can be done in Baleno CVT? Primarily around steep inclines, if any?

Cheers,
Roy

[amit_i]

Originally Posted by Aniruddha_Ch

Just back from 16 day long trip to Sikkim and Bhutan from Pune in my Swift D. Happened to hike Paro Taktsang on 19th Oct. I must say trail is very beautiful along with that view of monastery. Well written travelogue.

Can you pl let me know which route you took from Pune. I am from Ahmedabad and planning to do sometime early next year so would appreciate a day wise route map