Soul Trip and Wanderlusting- Road Trip to Bhutan

Some of the beautiful places I visited in Bhutan

Trip Bhutan was a long and pending one,I wanted to visit Bhutan since long but for some reason or another it never worked out. It was facebook which made this trip possible,seriously  (Jai ho Facebook), I reconnected with my very good fren from college “ KC”…. we had not met since many years and I decided to visit her small and beautiful country on a soul trip.

I planned a road trip instead of going by air as it sounded much more excited and also because for some weird reason air tickets were not available for the period I wanted to travel ( I was informed later that the only flight which operates to Paro is “Drukair” with limited seats) . The journey was sure excited… I took a flight till Guwahati from Agartala…from Guwahati I took a train, the Rajdhani express till NJP (New Jalpaiguri)….travelling in Rajdhani reminded me of my college days…Rajdhani was a Luxury train for me during those days….it took only 28 hrs to reach Delhi and the food was free…unlike the other trains ( NE and the Brahmaputra Train), travelling in which was like a torture and we had to endure twice every year.  Once I reached NJP I had to rent a cab till the border town Phuntsholing, I paid Rs.2200/- from NJP , the best thing for travelers is to rent a cab from Govt. Pre-Paid Taxi Service counter located just outside the NJP Railway Station ( You can also find a lot of Thugs and middle man with taxis but the best is to avoid them) . The idea of travelling all alone from NJP to Phuntsholing was not very comforting….as I was travelling alone but still took the chance, the ride till the border town was mostly bumpy but the teas garden s on the way, were beautiful. 

It took me 5 hrs to reach the border, Jaigoan is the Indian border town and Phontsholing is the border town of Bhutan, the most interesting thing to me was the difference in these two places just across the border. Jaigoan was like any other small Indian town.…road full of potholes, dusty, super noisy, full of people and activities  everywhere….Phuntsholing on other hand was quiter, with better roads, not dusty and peaceful. Once in Phuntsholing I had to get my travel permit from the Immigration office, all thanks to KC's cousin she helped me get the permit (Indians visiting Bhutan are not required a Visa and vice versa), KC’s cousin knew the Chief Immigration Officer and that saved me from all the trouble of standing in queue. 

I stayed at Phunstholing for a night preparing myself for the 6 hrs bus ride to Thimphu, the bus started on time and as it climbed higher altitude I could feel the chill in the air. It felt really good to feel the chill , I had come prepared for winter and the thought of spending one whole wintery week in Thimphu excited me. The bus journey was not at all boring, the bus stereo was blasting Dzongkho FM, I was busy looking at the numerous waterfall…the beautifully painted houses on the mountains it was just so beautiful and I had a company…the last book in the twilight series “Breaking Dawn” I was totally hooked on to the Twilight series ever since I saw the first film.

Once I reached Thimphu, my fren “KC” was waiting at the bus depot which looked more like a mini palace to me…KC’s house looked like one of those beautiful house I saw on my way and I immediately fell in love with the Bhutanese house….they pay so much attention to outside painting and all the houses looked like it had straight come out of postcards. The locality was really clean and the outside view from her house in one simple word was “AWESOME”.

The Journey from Agartala to Thimphu though long was sure one of the best journeys I had till now.

Useful Tips:

1. Book your travel tickets much in advance and visit the Bhutan Govt. official website.

2. The best time to visit Bhutan is Autumn and Spring months.

3. Hotel accommodations can be expensive but the food is very reasonably priced.

4. Bhutanese people speak English very well.

5. Indian currency in the denomination of Rs 100 and below is widely accepted.

6. Credit card and Debit card is just a 4 inch long plastic card. Carry Cash, very few shops and hotels accept Visa Credit and Debit card.

7. Travelling alone can be expensive, plan trip in groups of 4 or more.