They say Bhutan is the world's happiest country and indeed they aren't wrong. This 'heaven on earth' is a beautiful small country that will surely give you multiple reasons to feel happy whenever you visit it. We started our journey to Bhutan from the city of Guwahati (Assam) which is also my hometown. One can travel to Bhutan either by: 1) Airways: Direct flights to Paro (Bhutan) are available from two destinations in India right now - Bagdogra and Kolkata, running three days a week. However prior booking (at least 2 months) is recommended.
Alternatively, there are flights to Bagdogra from where one can use roadways (taxi) to reach Bhutan.
2) Railways: The nearest railway station ideally is New Jalpaiguri (NJP) from where one can use roadways (taxi) to reach Bhutan.
3) Roadways: You can directly do a road trip (taxi/own car/bike) to Bhutan for which you have to reach West Bengal and then go ahead.
We chose to travel by flight from Guwahati to Bagdogra and then went ahead to Bhutan by a taxi. There are two options once you reach the Indo- Bhutan border, either you can stay in Jaigaon - the Indian border town or cross over Bhutan and stay in Phuntsholing which is the Bhutan border town.
The journey from Bagdogra to NJP takes approximately 45 minutes and then to Jaigaon/Phuntsholing it takes around 3.5 hours. As soon as we reached Jaigaon, we were wondering where should we opt to stay but once we saw the beautiful, gigantic gate welcoming us to Bhutan, we instantly made up our mind to stay in Phuntsholing.
Phuntsholing is quite a tourist-friendly area. One can find a variety of hotels and cafes to indulge in fooding and lodging at any time of the day. We took shelter in a cosy one for the night. What enthralled me is the amount of respect the King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and the Queen Jetsun Pema of Bhutan endure among st the locals. In almost every shop/hotel/outlet, you will see a picture of the royal couple with their baby.
The next morning followed by our visit to the permit office. Every non-national person has to get a permit made to travel further in Bhutan. It took us almost 4-5 hours to get all the formalities done (details at the end) and then we boarded a taxi to our next destination - Thimpu which is also the capital of Bhutan. Travelling to Thimpu: Meduim : Taxi/ local bus/ own vehicle Duration from Phuntsholing : 5.5-6 hours.
The journey to Thimpu might be bumpy for some people since it is an uphill ride but the scenery around made every moment worth it. With mesmerizing gigantic mountains and trees and massive fog, it literally felt like out of the world.
Once we reached Thimpu, we were stunned by the cleanliness and organized rules of the city. Very strict traffic laws like parking along the drawn lines, zebra crossing open all the time and city speed limit of 50/km made Thimpu a walker's paradise. After checking in our hotel and dining for the night, we strolled around the city to witness its magic.
The next morning, we headed for some local sight seeing - the Buddha point which is a must-see place in the town. A local taxi took us uphill and we reached there in hardly 10-15 minutes.
The view is spectacular - a massive statue of Shakyamuni measures in at a height of 51.5 meters, making it one of the largest statues of Buddha in the world. The statue is made of bronze and is gilded in gold. 125,000 smaller Buddha statues have been placed within the Buddha Dordenma statue, 100,000 8 inch tall and 25,000 12 inch tall statues respectively. Each of these thousands of Buddhas have also been cast in bronze and gilded.
After spending quality time at this enchanting place, we headed back to the town for lunch. The clock tower in Thimpu was something we couldn't get enough of. We could sit there for hours, basking in the beautiful weather and gazing at the wonderful locals and tourists there.
There were other local sight seeing places like the Zoo, the court etc. but we chose to skip those and have a glimpse at the King's house (only allowed from a distance). We also decided to witness a football match between the home country Bhutan and Maldives. A spectacular match with the whole of Bhutan cheered up for it's team. We were indeed amused to see the unity and devotion they had for their country even after the team couldn't win the game. It was indeed a very heartwarming memory for all of us.
After an amazing day in Thimpu, we decided to move to Paro the same day itself. The journey from Thimpu to Paro was a short one and took only about 45 minutes. We had pre-booked our hotel and hence quickly had dinner and called it a day.
The next morning we were very excited since we were trekking that day to the famous Tiger's nest. It took us about 20-25 minutes from the Paro town to the point where the trek starts. One needs to purchase tickets to enter the Taktsang Palphug Monastery in the Tiger's nest. The hike starts at the bottom of the mountain, right at the car park. There will be people selling souvenirs and hiking poles and this is place to hire a horse if necessary.
We started our 10, 232 feet trek around 11.30-12 pm and took about 2.5 hours (one way) to reach the sight. I wouldn't say it was an easy trek, but for those who enjoy trekking or are accustomed to walking uphill, it wasn't a very difficult one too. Having said that, I would also mention that it was indeed an exhausting trek. Once the uphill trek ends, there are about 150 steps downward and then another 150 steps upward to the monastery. A beautiful waterfall can also be seen at this juncture.
After finally reaching the highest point, we witnessed a breath-taking view of the entire place. We sat there for sometime to pause the moment. Just beside that area was the monastery. We were welcomed by a very calm and soothing ambiance. Monks draped in their traditional saffron and maroon robes were moving around - some praying and others completing their daily chores. We also got the opportunity to see the "Tiger's nest" as they famously call it, which is a dark, hollow cave. It is said Guru Rinpoche or Padmasambhava flew onto this cliff riding a tigress and meditated in the Taktsang Senge Samdup cave for time immemorial and that's how it got its name.
Soon we trekked downhill which took us about another hour and a half. The downhill trek was comparatively easy but we had to be super careful that we don't slip and fall since it was quite risky.
Important things to note :
1) If someone just wants to trek without entering the Monastery, they do not have to pay for the ticket.
2) To enter the Monastery, there are certain rules like you need to wear full sleeves/three quarter sleeves and be covered till the foot.
3) You are not allowed to carry your mobiles and cameras inside, which instead can be stored in a safe locker just near the Monastery.
4) There was cafeteria half way to refresh yourself but of course carrying at least 4-5 liters of water is recommended otherwise.
We reached our hotel back by the evening and had a hearty meal since we had skipped our lunch in the day time and hit the sack early to knock off our exhaustion.
The next morning, we headed to visit the National Museum of Paro as recommended by the locals. A taxi took us there in about 15 minutes. The museum was a small one but we enjoyed viewing the various art and crafts, flora and fauna and other historical aspects of Bhutan. Photography is strictly prohibited inside but one can purchase books and other souvenirs from the shop section there.
The museum was on an uphill and we decided to take off to the town by walking. It was one of the most amazing walks I took. We could witness the whole essence of the town through it - whether it be the school going children, the small vendors or the beautiful scenery.
Thereafter we bade goodbye to Paro and headed back to the capital town of Thimpu. But before that we made sure to taste the national dish of Bhutan - Ema Datshi. It is made from a combination of chili peppers and cheese; "ema" means "chili" and "datshi" means "cheese"in the Dzongkha language of Bhutan.
On our way back to Thimpu, we decided to visit the famous "Dochula Pass". It is a mountain pass where 108 memorial chortens or stupas known as "Druk Wangyal Chortens" have been built by Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuk, the eldest Queen Mother. Apart from the chortens there is a monastery called the Druk Wangyal Lhakhang (temple), built in honour of the fourth Druk Gyalpo (head of the state of Bhutan).
After this appeasing visit, we headed back to Thimpu and checked in to a hotel. Though we had reached in the evening, we decided to explore the town a bit more and hopped into all the prominent cafes and outlets there.
The next morning was our last day in Thimpu and we decided to have our brunch at the famous "Ambient Cafe". The food and the ambiance was amazing and we met Lara, the green-eyed cat there.
We then decided to head back to Phuntsholing the same day as it was quite a long and tiring journey. We boarded a local bus this time which took about 5.5 hours to reach our destination. Once at Phuntsholing, we checked in our hotels and took off for the day.
The next morning, we woke up with a heavy heart as it was our last few hours at Bhutan. Nevertheless, we decided to visit another famous cafe in the town called the "Kizom Cafe". The food quality was amazing and they bake their own breads!
Thereafter we checked out of our hotel and headed back to India. We had our train from NJP so we decided to cross over from Phuntsholing to Jaigaon and then take a taxi. It took s about 3.5 hours to reach the station from where we boarded our train back to Guwahati.
It was an unforgettable trip which I would recommend to everyone! Whether you travel by local transport like us or make it a bike trip, it is worth every second of your time.
Here are some very important details about the trip, especially about obtaining the pass which everyone seems to be confused about :
1) A permit/pass is a mandatory document to be carried with you everywhere you visit in Bhutan for non-nationals.
2) You can get your permit made from the permit office in Phuntsholing once you reach there. Documents required for the permit are :
a) Passport or Voter Id xerox
b) 2 passport size photographs.
If you are travelling by your own bike/car, you will need to make a separate permit for that.
3) Please note that the usual permit only allows you to travel to Thimpu and Paro. If you wish to travel further to Dochula Pass or any other district, you need to mention it in the permit additionally.
4) A new rule had been implemented that you need to showcase the receipt of your hotel booking of your first destination to obtain the permit. Therefore, you need to book your hotel prior to your visit. However one can show the receipt of only one day booking to cover this rule.
5) Inquire about means of transport wherever you go. For places like the Tiger's nest, Buddha point or the National Museum, you need to book your taxi for both ways otherwise you will not have any means to come back.
6) Indian and Bhutanese value of money is same and hence they accept Indian notes but will give you Bhutanese notes (Ngultrum) in return. Hence you should make sure either to spend the Bhutanese money or exchange it back to Indian rupees before leaving Bhutan. Also, when we traveled, the new 500 and 2000 Indian notes were not being accepted everywhere and hence we carried 100 rupee notes instead with us.
7) Smoking is illegal in Bhutan.
8) Strict traffic rules like crossing only at Zebra crossings and car door to be opened only on the left side etc. is expected to be followed by all tourists.
Finally here I end my super long post about Bhutan. I hope I could explain in detail what was it like to visit this exquisite place and that it inspired you to make a trip soon. For any kind of queries, please leave a comment below or ask me in my social media platforms. Thank you. Till the next time, -Benaaz :*