[saikarthik]

I am not a person who can sit at one place, and this is true for my career as well. For this reason, I moved a lot across the country and also with every move, I exploited the opportunity to tour the sector. This time I was in the western part of India, Nashik to be precise. I started exploring this beautiful part weekend by weekend and most of it was solo and short rides to remote places. But I have to say this - Himalayas has some divinity in it and develops an attachment with any rider. It had been a while since I did a long trip and also was missing the high altitude passes and the snow capped mountains. There was a young colleague who was inspired by the pictures of my previous rides wanted to tag along this time. So we planned for a ride to Bhutan.

Overconfident me: It's well planned and going to be an exited and fun ride after all, I had multiple rides in various terrains and meh!
Supreme entity: Son, you need to learn a lot!

Planned route: Siliguri - Phentsholing - Paro - Thimphu - Phobjika - Bumthang - Gelupu - Return (If time permits - Darjeeling and Gangtok)
Actual route: Siliguri - Phuentsholing - Paro (A little ahead of Paro - don't know the place) - Thimphu - Darjeeling (Jorehouse) - Siliguri.
Bikers: Two on a CBR 250R and RE 350
Budget: Rs.35k (includes bike shipping/flights from Mumbai & trip cost)
Duration: 9 days (including flying days)

The above was what I was planning but, the nature and trip has its own plans too. All trips are fun, good experience about travelling, bike, us, our limits, people, culture, food & nature - connecting our souls with the roads and paths all over the world. But there are some trips which will let you know where we and our will stands, pushes your limits, and lets u level up on limits and experience. These need not be a 40-50 day or 10-20,000 km trip but can also be a shorter few day and few hundreds/thousands of km ones. Our trip was such and we had this opportunity in Bhutan and northern Bengal in a span of a week.

Planning

The trip was planned just when I was whining with my friends that we haven't done any epic trips this year and some of my friends didn't do even last year. One fellow was suggesting a promising ride to Nepal to Mustang range on rented CRFs/local made dirt bikes. The plan was good, but my itch was immediate, and I needed to scratch it sooner. I have been to Nepal but, I was never been to the eastern parts or Bhutan. So, I propose the plan to my regular rider friends, and they turn it down with silly reason and one guy fixed onto Nepal. So, I managed to pull in a guy who wanted to do Bhutan and it will be his first big trip.

So, we booked our flights and started searching for bike rentals. We could find only REs and am not into them (no offence - just not my ride). Therefore, I decided to ship my bike to Siliguri and enquired the prices, the other fellow booked a RE 350 for 1.4k/day through a rental guy named Amit (Darjeeling riders). I packed my bike and shipped it through "safexpress".

The packing was good, and the bike had only minor damages like - stand peg bent, mirror mount broken, and side indicator broken.

Prepped myself for the trip and didn't risk sending the riding gear with the transporter and took it with myself on flight.
I took my jacket in cabin and put all the tools/helmet in check-in luggage. It was a connecting flight, and I had the whole day wasted in layoffs. But was able to see one of the beautiful in-flight views of the clouds in distinct patterns.

Was trying some filters and stuff when I got boring on flight.

DAY ZERO:

This is the same day I was cribbing about the flights and layoffs, but then after landing in Bagdogra airport, I went to Siliguri "Fulbari hat" to collect my bike. I was joined by my trip partner on his rented RE. This place Fulbari hat is just 5 kms from New Jalpaiguri station and is remote - when we reached the safexpress office, we could see all the transport cos like GATI, DTDC etc... in a single place. The reason I am telling this boring stuff is also important for sending my bike back in case safexpress screws up. Luckily my bike was safe enough and did minor adjustments myself and left for the hotel where we stayed the night (Park haven).

DAY 1:

Now the plan was to start early, reach Phuentsholing, get permits and reach Paro by the nightfall. We started early and filled up our tanks, packed our bags on bikes and rode towards Jaigaon (Border on Indian side).

With some local guidance, we got out of Siliguri through Sevoke and onto the Jaigaon border. The road was a two-lane beautiful surface and guarded by the tree lined forest zones & army camps. So, no problem of time over there to hurry up. One can do 80 kmph with ease and good visibility, and if lucky may see some elephants crossing too. We didn't have that luck but nonetheless the road itself was interesting to ride unlike regular boring highways.

That's the road and it gets even more beautiful. And as always eyes are the best lenses, and you cannot reproduce the experience similar in a pic.
On route we stopped only in towns to complete our purchase of some left out things from our shopping list (meds, chocolates). Once crossing Binnaguri, there comes another awesome highway, this one is different though like no trees around, but its elevated and can see a lot of distance around and ahead. we saw some speed junkies doing 120 kmph too. But we stick the needle onto 90 kmph.

Then comes the town of Hashimara, in and around the place there are lot of tea gardens, green lush, railway tracks running parallel to the road. Not much traffic and a relaxing ride. In between you get to see some villages which are built around palm kind of trees with lush vegetation and wooden houses - This was a sight like what I have seen in the movie Rambo (FB part 2) with little less moist/greenness. Puts a feel that you are in a different place.

On crossing Hashimara the traffic slowly increases with the Bhutanese & Indian trucks with supplies, on narrow roads at few places. We reached Jaigaon and its hell broken loose kind of traffic, the share autos are the most dangerous like anywhere in India. It gives you a reminder that you are still in India no matter how close to another country. We then had lunch at dominos as we didn't want to lose time searching for hotels. And drew some cash before entering Bhutan. Now this was another struggle. The ATMs were dry in Jaigaon. People suggested to go back to Hashimara, but luckily, we saw a half open ATM in IMRAT (some army area) and withdrew cash, after a small argument with the security personnel.

We then crossed the border with all necessary forms and papers, but dumb "us". We were informed or rather reminded that it was Sunday and can't get permits. So down on thoughts and frustrated, we took a room in Phuentsholing (Hotel Namgay) and roamed around the streets for the night. The Bhutan side is completely different from the Indian side though just a few hundred meters away. Everyone follows rules, no honking, patient, clean.

Smoking is not allowed in Bhutan officially. We then went into café and spent some time for Wi-fi, (Our mobile networks work too till some distance) and roamed the streets with pleasant climate. One more interesting observation was they had very good cars - Toyota land cruiser Prados, Hilux, Navaras, Ssangyangs. Bikes were less in numbers. With at least crossing the border, we went to sleep hoping to get the permits early the next day, Monday!

DAY 2:

Hmmm, day 2 we started out thinking we were smart by going to the immigration office early by one hour of opening and thereby avoiding queue. But again, dumb us, we forgot its Monday and there is a time difference of half hour in Bhutan from India. Now, don't think we are too dumb, we planned this stuff but couldn't execute in excitement. On the way there were few people celebrating Holi and painted out faces and jackets in colors (not by Indian standards though). With all funky colors, we stood in middle of a line in immigration office.

As soon as the doors opened at 9:00 AM (Bhutan time), People forgot their places in lines and crowded the counters, there were a hundred people standing in document verification counter (only 2 counters) and started making ruckus. The officials tried explaining and they shut down the counters for half hour. There goes our patience and we spoke to a police guy to clear them off. He simply replied this isn't India and we don't do that, we expect you people to control yourself.

We wasted another half hour and came to know there are counters open in ground floor. we rushed there without hinting the idiots and the process started, it was long and took 2 hours because the people were verifying too long and no proper method. Our papers were mixed with some tour group and we had to find the running behind people. Around 12: 00 Pm we got permits and rushed to RTO for vehicle permits. We explained the guy there that we lost time; he completed the process in 15 mins after payment (Rs. 700/- each). We went to the hotel to pick our luggage and check out. Finally, everything is in place and we started to Paro.

Damn, the clutch cable of the RE got cut. We went to Indian side (just 500 meters) and found its Holi and all shops closed. We took help of local Bhutanese and found a mechanic to fix the cable. I mean we could have done it ourselves, but we didn't want to lose more time and screw up. The mechanic was good, and we had a small bike chat over a Chinese dirt bike which was standing in his garage. Names AXXO - priced decently at a lakh for a 250cc mill.

We then started to Paro and decided to have lunch on route.

We crossed the first police check post after 5 kms and got our permits out for quick entry and started rolling again, just 15 kms later closer to the town "Gedu" (remember the name), we experienced thick fog at 1: 30 pm. It was unbelievable, the roads were clear few kms before and suddenly it was pitch black with fog. we turned on the indicators and followed a car, this stretch lasted about 5 to 6 kms and again everything back to normal with just cloudy skies. We understood why it is called the land of thunder dragon the moment we entered that stretch. Imagine in rainy months!

We stopped at a place called " XXXXXX" (Sounded like Wangka) for lunch and it was a good place, the hotel guy was friendly and spoke about the bikers coming to his hotel. We ordered a plate of momos (came with clear soup as complement), and I had chicken curry and rice. It was pretty good, and the owner even allowed me to use his reserved dining room to change my clothes.

[saikarthik]

A quick change of drenched clothes in their private room

Then a fast and enjoyable ride in good corners to Paro. The Roads got better, and we could do 80 kmph easily and the views got beautiful, we got the second stamp in police check post before Choka. We forgot to stop at the check post and stopped after the check post. The police are normally friendly, but this one specific guy was too arrogant and was dominating us. We then explained him it was not the intention and got the permits stamped. Still, he was cursing us, and we were in no mood to spoil our mindset and left.

The Roads got even better, that we saw signs: " This is a highway not a runway, Drive don't fly". The place close to Paro called Shaba was beautiful. We didn't stop for pics since the light was low.

We reached Paro and it was twilight. We crossed the Paro airport, - correction- we rode along the runway in Paro airport. The ride of 1.5 kms was so different, the airport, runway and the road were sandwiched between two converging mountains and it was awesome. We crossed bridge to other side and saw the magnificent lit up view of Paro dzong.

At this point it was too late, so got a decent place to stay - Hotel All seasons (750 bucks a day), good food. We then roamed around the streets and again stormed into a café for Wi-fi. Now the Indian sims were not working, and we couldn't get the local sims. every store closes early. It was cold, so took some herbal tea and contacted home and that was the day.

DAY 3:

The day was to be in Paro, ride to Taktsang (tiger's nest) monastery and trek. Then in evenings were dedicated to the Museum and Paro Dzong. At least that was the plan. We started at 8: 30 after lovely breakfast - Tea with French toast and poached eggs.

Taktsang was just 12 kms away from our hotel and we started riding away from the city, there were small villages with wooden houses, prayer flags everywhere and horse/mule ranches at few places. We could see the snow cladded mountains ahead of the road and overshot the destination. We went ahead few kms and it was not regretted, we saw beautiful views and one particular view that caught our eye was a mountain with pine trees on which the snow was spread like stars in the night sky. We enjoyed the views and took the return way towards Taktsang, which was a village route and a small one.

Reached Taktsang trek start point, parked our bikes and bought passes (Rs. 500 each). These passes are started from 1st of March. And we cannot carry all the gear on trek, so spoke to a shopkeeper and left our helmets and gloves with her. Trek started and the initial stretches were steep, there was an option of renting a horse/mule, but we trekked on foot. It was a 3.5 km trek approx. and was out of breath few minutes into the trek. It’s always like this for me, few mins I struggle and then once I cross my mental barrier of this is it and I cannot take more, then I trek with ease. We were accompanied by many locals as well as foreign tourists, out of whom two women both called Maria (one 78 years old and another 40s) were interesting and trekked alongside us sharing stories and how she comes to Nepal and India every year to trek. Also, we met some Israelis and Spaniards who settled in Singapore. Touring is all about this, getting to know different people, their stories and culture. Out of these conversations we put on a great distance behind us, and we were shocked how a 78-year-old lady kept up with us and even faster than us. All the way the views were changing and terrain too, we had to trek on slush from melting snow, rocks, horse hit and on ice too.

The starry sky mountain

We reached the halfway point where we saw a whole lot of flags and a big prayer wheel. There was a cafeteria nearby, but we decided to continue and have food on return leg.

Friend trying his photography skill, but this ball was there naturally.

[saikarthik]

Some pictures along the trek route




Panoramic view of Taktsang!

We had to wait for a guide after the trek to enter the monastery and we got a pretty good fellow who explained a lot about the monastery and how Buddhism is same as all the religions and how the world should start accepting everyone and respect everything. Trekked down with even greater speed as we lost time in climb and in the monastery, but the trek seemed never ending. Had a quick refill of water in the cafeteria and decided to eat in Paro. The lunch in cafeteria was a buffet and it was inviting though. We said our goodbyes to the people whom we met and started the trek down.

DAY 4:

This day was the peak of bad luck and all the upcoming struggles started!

We planned to leave Paro, reach Thimphu in an hour, roam around till noon, and get permits to tour further Phobjika, Bumthang Geluphu in next 2 days. So, the stay was planned in Phobjika.

And as planned we woke up, had quick breakfast - same old toast with butter and jam/tea. Enquired about routes and time it takes in real and started. The moment we came onto the road a policewoman saw us and diverted left to take a U turn further ahead (we wanted to take right). Without arguing, my partner went first, and I followed him. He went ahead and took U turn, I took the turn, he blasted away, and I was doing 30 kmph going straight. There was an Omni waiting to take right on the upcoming round about. But he was not rolling and was on left lane, So I just honked and went straight, and the bugger suddenly took the turn. I braked but collided with the van and fell. The bike fell on my knee and ankle, the whole weight of the bike was on those 2 points. The bugger in panic was still turning and I got dragged a bit on road. He stopped and people gathered around, he was trying to come out of panic, and someone lifted the bike off me.

People were trying to get me up, but I told them to be patient for some time. In any accident cos of adrenaline, we won't know the pain initially much and if we stand up and put weight on the injured/fractured leg it's going to get worse. So, I took a minute and stood up by myself. But I was unable to walk properly and put weight on my left knee. I sat in the footpath on side and my hotel owner gave me some water. Then police started taking pics and asked both of us to go to the station for statements and wrote me a medical check-up slip. Then the guy I had accident with took me to the hospital along with my partner and got X-rayed. The doc said PCL ligament and ankle tissue is damaged and its swollen. Got dressed up the bruises and was asked not to ride for 3 days. But I explained him I need to ride at least till Siliguri. He then commented If you can bear the pain and take a longer rest later it’s up to you.

BTW in Bhutan all medical facilities and treatments are free for all. Which is a very good and generous thing to do with quality.

We thought to wait for a day and decide in morning. We still had loads of formalities to complete in police station.
We thought there will be no case since both of us planned for compromise. But what we didn't know was the other guy's wife was expecting some payment for a dent in her Omni's door (Rs. 5000), we had some argument and the case escalated to a superior officer. The woman was not ready to back off, I mean it's mistake on their side (a police guy confirmed too - but unofficially) and I have physical damage and my bike has broken parts. Then after a long negotiation (cos even police official was mum, and one officer was on their side) we decided to pay Rs. 2000. She accepted and we both withdrew the case.

She then Invited to her café for tea and some lunch, and she prepared the food for us. We were not able to understand, I mean they are good people, rich enough, helped us in most of the time since accident, but she was very egoistic about accepting mistake and took money from us.

With this thought we went to the hotel and stayed for the night. Next day the pain increased and had difficulty in walking. But I was able to ride, needed cash and there was rain forecast for next 2 days, so we decided to reach Thimphu.

With difficulties I sat on my bike, and started riding. First few gear shifts were hard, but I forgot the pain once I started riding. We reached Thimphu and tried withdrawing cash, no cards were accepted. So, we had no choice but to return to the border. We had lunch at a restaurant and started the return leg with disappointment. Rode all the way to Phuentsholing and stayed at the same hotel where we stayed when we started the trip. The pain was subsiding, and we had two days more for our flights back. So, we decided to head to Darjeeling and spend a day in Kalimpong if possible.

DAY 5:

The bad luck which hit us, didn't have enough of us, it was haunting us on day 5 too.
We left Bhutan along with our disappointment and started day 5 as a new trip to Darjeeling. The ride from Jaigaon till Sevoke was good and we were enjoying besides me limping whenever I get off the bike. But then again, the bad stuff started, the key of the RE fell off the lockset while riding and we couldn't find it. But it was in ON position, so we rode a bit and found a mechanic to shell out 1000 bucks to replace the tumbler (lock). With the new key we cannot open or close the fuel tank, so we filled the tank (after the guy opened it with screwdriver) and closed it. By the time we reached Sevoke it was mentally tiring and 3: 00 pm.

A small break before starting from Sevoke

The sun was shining with little clouds, so we continued the last 60 km stretch. The climb was steep and slow even when the roads were neat and beautiful were the views. We started feeling cold and suddenly started drizzling. We were 20 kms from Darjeeling and it was 4: 30 pm. So, I decided to stay at a village, but there was only one hotel in that place and the guy wanted only Aadhar/voter ID. We had only DL/Passport. Upset at his attitude we decided to ride another hour and reach Darjeeling even in rain. Suddenly, the rain started pouring and got pitch black, our average speed got reduced to 10- 15 kmph. Just when we thought things cannot get worse, hailstorm out of nowhere.


Are you kidding me!!! Daylight to dark, rain, & hail in one hour? and at 5: 00 pm. The road got black ice and I was scared; our core temperatures went down. We were 3 kms away from a place called Jorehouse. We pushed for 15 mins to reach that place on Icy roads and hail. We reached Jorehouse and there was literally no place to park bike, we pleaded at hotels for accommodation, and they declined even after seeing our condition just because they don't have parking place. I was shivering, my friend left me in a small restaurant (Put Put hotel) and went to search for staying. The hotel guy was nice, he handed over a bottle of hot water for me to warm my hands and my partner found a dormitory nearby. We took the bags and requested police to put our bikes in station for the night. They accepted and we got dry and jumped onto beds covering up with all the comforters. I was breathing heavily, and my partner was scared. He went out to bring something to make me feel warm. The place was made of wood and still it was cold. Both of us had few sips of tea and felt warm. We somehow survived the night with my injuries, core temperature falling, and we left the place to Siliguri in the morning as soon as sun came out.

The place was beautiful, but we couldn't enjoy it because of all the bad stuff happening and were disappointed by the way few people were behaving.

We reached Siliguri, shipped my bike and stayed there for night and got onto our flights the next day. The trip made us learn so much, in its last days. My takeaway was "expect the unexpected" even if you think you are prepared.

[Rudra Sen]

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

[Tokengrip]

Seems like you had quite the trip..! Hope that injury healed up alright. Every trip has a certain amount of random events that happen- good and bad. Never know what may come your way.!
Also was this a recent journey.? No COVID restrictions while entering Bhutan by road.?

[saikarthik]

Originally Posted by Tokengrip

Hope that injury healed up alright.
Also was this a recent journey.? No COVID restrictions while entering Bhutan by road.?

Thanks, this healed up almost alright. This trip was a couple of years back, before pandemic hit us.

Bhutan and Nepal are really nice places to visit and start with, if someone plans for cross border touring as they are different, yet not shockingly. My advise will be, don't rush the trip if you can muster the leaves. Take them relaxed, about a month covering Sikkim, and Northeast.

[bblost]

Enjoyed reading your travelogue. This is lovely thread for anyone planning to travel by road into Bhutan.

Am sure these are memories, which will last a lifetime.

[desidino]

Hi,

Apart from Rs.1,200 per person per day SDF for Indian nationals (extremely generous compared to all other nationalities), there also seems to be charges of Rs. 4,500 per day if one takes one's own vehicle.

So, for a couple that works out to around Rs.7,000 per day just in fees. Looks like it makes no sense to take your own vehicle now to Bhutan :(