Bhutan:Thimpu
Bhutan
Bhutan has first traces of inhabitation since 2000 B.C and was known for its fertile land and a subsistence living. There were small communities with distinct cultures living almost without much contact due to the tough mountain terrain and following mainly the bon traditions that came from Tibet. Civilization came with Buddhism. It was only in the 16th century did the scattered communities get together into an unified nation.
Bhutan was never ruled by the British and it signed a friendly treaty with India in 1949. Is a country which is taking a cautious step towards the modern age while trying to preserve its culture and nationalism. It opened upto the world in 1961 on its own terms, its then when it started building roads,hospitals,schools etc. funded by indian government. You can feel that its any mountainous part of India when you are there, with most of the commodities at the market being sold coming from india or even the cars,trucks, road signs around. It introduced televisions in 1999 only.
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Bhutan is a nation in transition and is trying to take one thoughtful step at a time but its being bombarded by all the globalization and the invasion of commercial media. Its goal is to control the change and not be controlled by the change when it tries to follow the motto of 'Gross National Happiness" and not GDP.
Gearing up for the trip
Spent a week working remotely from Calcutta , spending sometime at home and also applying for the Bhutan Permit at the Consulate. Didn't want to waste a day at Phuentsholing. Got the 12 day permit ,the day after applying for it . I believe you can get upto 14days from Calcutta and only 6days from Phuentsholing and would need to extend it if you plan to stay longer. One also needs to apply for a special permit once at Thimpu since the entry Permit allows one to visit Paro and Thimpu only.
So after a week took the night train from Sealdah Station to Hasimara. The train passes through some lovely tea gardens in the morning after NJP/Siliguri station. The train was scheduled to reach Hasimara close to 11am but it was late by almost 2hours that day. I took a shared auto from the station to Bhutan Gate about 20dd kms away and then another Taxi to the Phuentsholing Bus stop. There are few buses to Thimpu/Paro but since it was a Sunday , all buses were packed and couldn't find an empty seat. So the option was to either stay back at Phuentsholing (which was the last resort ) or look for a share taxi. Talking around found a share taxi (Wagon R) with other passengers and so the journey into the land of dragon started. For the first time traveler the bus stand there is very basic with no food or rest rooms available.
Thimpu
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Thimpu (175kms) takes about 6hours unless road work or landslides create blockages. The road passes through some pristine forest . After skipping both breakfast+lunch with the long train ride and trying to find next mode of transport , was happy that the share taxi stopped at a wayside hotel after few hours and I ordered some maggi and tea. After that the other passengers started talking and usual with a sense of surprise on a single traveler and checked if I had work there or was some journalist etc. :)
We reached Thimpu around 7pm and I asked the share taxi guy to drop me at Norzin Lam, the main street in town so that I could search for a hotel. The street is lined with shops selling all kinds of necessities and tons of hotels,even karoke bars. I walked around to the first hotel and it was all booked , not a good feeling after a days travel. Soon got lucky though ,and the second hotel had an empty room. Nice clean room (double bed) with a TV and wifi at their restaurant. Couldn't have asked for more. After resting a bit , walked around trying to get a local SIM . You could get one with a photocopy of your passport and costs just 65rs and valid for a month.
I was expecting it to be a lot more inaccessible terrain or more remote and was surprised by the number of people, vehicles and buildings around. Walked to a hotel nearby for a good plate of beef curry and rice and yes good old indian thumsup for a drink!!
.JPG)
(Early morning traffic jam at Thimpu , but nobody honks and there is no traffic light)
Being a tennis fan and a bit of a player was surprised to find Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek's US Open Men's Doubles final being telecast live via Tata Sky there . They won that night and it was a good start to the trip...
Next morning , after breakfast (yes you even get good hot alo parathas there!!) , I walked to the immigration up the road to get a special permit for other places - Paro, Punakha, Haa, Bumthang. The lady asked me to fill another form and submit a photocopy of original Permit and wait for half hour. Its a tiny little office and one can easily walk past it.. My plan was fluid and was wondering what to do next. With the permit done within ten minutes , I decided to head out to Punakha , the closest stop as per the map . Just a 2hours ride away. Quickly went back to the room ,cleared the bill , packed up and headed to the bus stand and found a share taxi for the next pit stop.
Bhutan has first traces of inhabitation since 2000 B.C and was known for its fertile land and a subsistence living. There were small communities with distinct cultures living almost without much contact due to the tough mountain terrain and following mainly the bon traditions that came from Tibet. Civilization came with Buddhism. It was only in the 16th century did the scattered communities get together into an unified nation.
Bhutan was never ruled by the British and it signed a friendly treaty with India in 1949. Is a country which is taking a cautious step towards the modern age while trying to preserve its culture and nationalism. It opened upto the world in 1961 on its own terms, its then when it started building roads,hospitals,schools etc. funded by indian government. You can feel that its any mountainous part of India when you are there, with most of the commodities at the market being sold coming from india or even the cars,trucks, road signs around. It introduced televisions in 1999 only.
.JPG)
Bhutan is a nation in transition and is trying to take one thoughtful step at a time but its being bombarded by all the globalization and the invasion of commercial media. Its goal is to control the change and not be controlled by the change when it tries to follow the motto of 'Gross National Happiness" and not GDP.
Gearing up for the trip
Spent a week working remotely from Calcutta , spending sometime at home and also applying for the Bhutan Permit at the Consulate. Didn't want to waste a day at Phuentsholing. Got the 12 day permit ,the day after applying for it . I believe you can get upto 14days from Calcutta and only 6days from Phuentsholing and would need to extend it if you plan to stay longer. One also needs to apply for a special permit once at Thimpu since the entry Permit allows one to visit Paro and Thimpu only.
So after a week took the night train from Sealdah Station to Hasimara. The train passes through some lovely tea gardens in the morning after NJP/Siliguri station. The train was scheduled to reach Hasimara close to 11am but it was late by almost 2hours that day. I took a shared auto from the station to Bhutan Gate about 20dd kms away and then another Taxi to the Phuentsholing Bus stop. There are few buses to Thimpu/Paro but since it was a Sunday , all buses were packed and couldn't find an empty seat. So the option was to either stay back at Phuentsholing (which was the last resort ) or look for a share taxi. Talking around found a share taxi (Wagon R) with other passengers and so the journey into the land of dragon started. For the first time traveler the bus stand there is very basic with no food or rest rooms available.
Thimpu
.JPG)
Thimpu (175kms) takes about 6hours unless road work or landslides create blockages. The road passes through some pristine forest . After skipping both breakfast+lunch with the long train ride and trying to find next mode of transport , was happy that the share taxi stopped at a wayside hotel after few hours and I ordered some maggi and tea. After that the other passengers started talking and usual with a sense of surprise on a single traveler and checked if I had work there or was some journalist etc. :)
We reached Thimpu around 7pm and I asked the share taxi guy to drop me at Norzin Lam, the main street in town so that I could search for a hotel. The street is lined with shops selling all kinds of necessities and tons of hotels,even karoke bars. I walked around to the first hotel and it was all booked , not a good feeling after a days travel. Soon got lucky though ,and the second hotel had an empty room. Nice clean room (double bed) with a TV and wifi at their restaurant. Couldn't have asked for more. After resting a bit , walked around trying to get a local SIM . You could get one with a photocopy of your passport and costs just 65rs and valid for a month.
I was expecting it to be a lot more inaccessible terrain or more remote and was surprised by the number of people, vehicles and buildings around. Walked to a hotel nearby for a good plate of beef curry and rice and yes good old indian thumsup for a drink!!
.JPG)
(Early morning traffic jam at Thimpu , but nobody honks and there is no traffic light)
Being a tennis fan and a bit of a player was surprised to find Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek's US Open Men's Doubles final being telecast live via Tata Sky there . They won that night and it was a good start to the trip...
Next morning , after breakfast (yes you even get good hot alo parathas there!!) , I walked to the immigration up the road to get a special permit for other places - Paro, Punakha, Haa, Bumthang. The lady asked me to fill another form and submit a photocopy of original Permit and wait for half hour. Its a tiny little office and one can easily walk past it.. My plan was fluid and was wondering what to do next. With the permit done within ten minutes , I decided to head out to Punakha , the closest stop as per the map . Just a 2hours ride away. Quickly went back to the room ,cleared the bill , packed up and headed to the bus stand and found a share taxi for the next pit stop.
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