What prompted you to take this challenging ride?
I love travelling and visiting new places, Generally i prefer road ways to get to a new place, as one can feel that place in every possible way, One can truly explore the diverse atmospheric conditions, local languages, fooding, etc and can feel the difference gradually while getting closer to that place.
I keep an eye on weekends and Holidays to get into a new place or explore something new.
Before this trip, For like 2 years i rode to different places within Odisha with my group mates at “Xbhp bbsr. “
What actually prompted me to have a bike trip to Bhutan, is my love to travel through valley’s and my weakness towards the Himalayan mountains. Had heard about the beauty of Bhutan from many people and had read a lot about it in blogs by various travellers. So i thought the best way to visit Bhutan would be on a Bike. (After getting there i had a thought in my mind, this was the decision i would never regret in my life.)
How was your Trip?
After starting from Cuttack on 3rd March 2018, i had my 1st halt at Kolkata. It was a wonderful city, a bit populated i must say. Visited a couple of places like Victoria Memorial, Eco tourism park, Dakshineswar kali temple, Howrah bridge etc there.
Riding in Kolkata is a bit challenging if you are new there, due to the number of vehicles and ” One ways ” { There are no proper sign boards in the roads as well } I stayed in Kolkata for like 2 days and then left for Darjeeling.
Darjeeling, is a beautiful hill station located in the foothills of Himalayas. After riding for around 80 kms of uphill from Siliguri i reached at Darjeeling, it was lengthy 3 hours ride due to Sharp corners and uphill. Temperature in Darjeeling was around 15°c during day but in night it was droping to 7°c.
Sunrise observatory in Tiger hill, Darjeeling is a must visit place if you are in Darjeeling. One need to reach Tiger hill by 5.00 a.m. in order to witness the Sunrise. Toy train is also a unique thing one can see in Darjeeling. Apart from these, there are a lot of sight seeing places and the snow capped mountains of Himalayas are clearly visible from Darjeeling, and the views of clouds were scenic as well. After staying in Darjeeling for 2 days i left for Jaigaon { last Indian town before Bhutan }
Next day i left for Pheuntsholing, Bhutan. It was just 1 km away from Jaigaon. There one need to get the permissions for travelling in Bhutan. Bikers need to get two permissions one for themselves and the other for their bikes. By the time i got all the permissions it was 3 p.m. soo i stayed in Pheuntsholing that day and left for Thimphu the next day.
The route from Pheuntsholing to Thimphu was scenic. Riding through the beautiful valley’s of Bhutan and in some places the clouds are hung up so low that you can pass through them. Thimphu was 170 kms away from Pheuntsholing and it took me around 5-6 hours to reach Thimphu.
In this route i felt the actual beauty of Bhutan. After reaching Thimphu i took rest for a day , it was too cold in Thimphu, temperature was getting low to 4°c – 5°c in the evening and even lower in the nights. After taking one day rest i then visited Buddha point, which is one among the largest buddha rupas in the world and unbelievably it has over 100,000 small buddha statues hidden in it. Local market in Thimphu was a place for doing all the shopping. National museum, Motithang Takin preserve { Takin is the national animal of Bhutan } Tashichho dzong etc are a few other sight seeing option in Thimphu and the view of Thimphu city from the top of a hill was amazing.
After that the next day i rode to paro, Tiger nest is a famous tourist spot in Paro.
After staying a Paro for a day i rode back to Pheuntsholing. Again i witnessed a wonderful sunset in Thimphu – Pheuntsholing highway .
People in Bhutan were extremely friendly and helping in nature. Once you cross the border one can spot the difference between India and Bhutan. Neat and clean roads. Not much crowded. Everyone is disciplined while driving, Nobody seems to break any rules. The rules were strict in Bhutan. Honking and over taking is prohibited inside the cities of Bhutan. To explore the country upto its limits one should visit it by roads. After that i had my return journey, A few halts and i was back to Bbsr.
What would suggest others to do if someone is planning to do same?
1. To ride with proper riding gears and keep handy all the important documents like identity proofs etc and documents of bike as well.
2. Proper gears to protect yourself from cold and rain as well .
3. Have a contact with the Local bhutanese people , it will be helpful in case of emergency.
4. Study the map properly before starting as you may have network issue’s.
5. Be carefull while riding in the valley’s.
6. Avoid riding at night,
7. And always be prepared for foged up situations and rainfall as well.
8. Check the condition of your bike before leaving for a destination.
This was all about my ride to Bhutan.
Thanks for reading.