Bhutan-Gangtok

Bhutan-Gangtok Trip(14 Sept 2015-22 Sept 2015)

I got chance to visit Bhutan in Sept 2015. There is a good story behind my decision to go there. One day, a guy(Sharad) joined our team in my previous firm. Its my habit to ask people of their last vacation and I did the same with him.
He shared an amazing story of his going on bike with his 3 friends to Bhutan from Delhi. At that time I thought that if he can go on bike, I can at-least go by Air and see the so-heard beauty of Bhutan.

Then I searched various travel blogs and came to know its some what expensive to land directly in Paro (Bhutan's sole international airport) and it's good to land in Bagdogra (in West Bengal) first and then go from there on road to Bhutan. So, I decided to do the same.

Day 1(Delhi to Jaigon)

I took an Air India flight from Delhi to Bagdogra. Then, I took a taxi from there to Jaigaon which is located on the border with Bhutan which costed me around Rs 2600. I got to know the cheaper alternative later on by Train from Siliguri(30 min drive from bagdogra) to Harsimara(15 km from Jaigon).

I stayed in a hotel Jaigon in night.

Day 2(Jaigaon to Thimphu)

The hotel staff helped in getting entry permit, it took around 2-3 hours as it involved the form filling, fingerprints, Id(Voter card or Passport for Indians). This is issued at the regional immigration office in Phuentsholing which is just adjacent to Jaigaon. You can roam there without any visa upto 5 km, nobody will ask you anything. We took a 3 days taxi from Jaigaon to see Bhutan and got the permit for taxi too. After getting required visas, we started our trip towards Thimpu which is the capital city and is around 170 km from Jaigon. we started at around 2 PM and reached there by 7 PM. Then we just stayed at hotel.

Day 3 (Thimphu City Tour)

We started our city tour with Thimpu Chorten, it's a stupa which was built to honor the 3rd King of Bhutan i.e. Jigme Dorji Wangchuk. It is very beautiful and surrounded by flowers and greenery.

Then we went to see the statue of Buddha (Buddha Dordenma) which was just about to get completed at that time and considered as the largest Buddha statue. It gives the impression like Christ in Rio, Brazil.

Thereafter, we went to see Motithang Takin Preserve which is a wildlife reserve area of Takin which is the national animal.

The day tour halted with the visit to royal textile academy of Bhutan which was founded to preserve the art of weaving.

Then, in the evening after taking lunch and rest in hotel, we went to see the flag retreat ceremony in Dzong which starts at around 5 pm.This is where king handles affairs of the country. Also there is a Buddhist temple and monastery. Thus ended our Day 3.

Dzong

                                                                   

DAY 4 (PARO)

In morning, we left towards Paro which is around 50 km from Thimphu .There was this beautiful river on the way at which we halted for some time.

The first thing that I tried post reaching there was the Archery and its traditional costume

Paro is the most beautiful place that I have ever seen in my life till now. Its a fairyland as can be shown in this picture. A river is crossing the city and there are houses on the both sides.

Paro View

We saw the National Museum of Bhutan which houses the masterpieces of its art and the Dzongdrakha temple thus concluded our first day in Paro

Dzongdrakha Temple

DAY 5 (Paro :Tiger Nest Monastery Trek)

We started trek in early morning. Our driver advised us to carry walking stick, water and light snacks with us as there is no food joint on the way and trek is steep in some places.

It took us around 3 hours to reach the top to see the beautiful view and feel the silence of the place.

it feels so refreshing and rejuvenating to be so close to nature.

Tiger Nest Monastery

Then we reached back in around 2 hours and then headed back towards Jaigaon where we reached at around 7-8 PM. Ganesh Chaturthi was getting celebrated there and whole city was full of pandals and lights,

View from my Hotel Terrace in Jaigaon

DAY 6 (Jaigaon to Gangtok)

Our Hotel arranged a drop to Harsimara railway station where we boarded the Mahananda express which started at around 10 AM. We reached Siliguri in just 3 hours. The train was almost empty and the journey was awesome with the view of tea gardens. Then we deposited our extra luggage at siliguri station and boarded the bus to Gangtok. It took around 5 hours an finally we reached and stayed at Hotel.

DAY 7 (Gangtok City Tour)

We took a local taxi for city tour which costed around 1200 INR. It has various sight-seeing points in & around. The beauty and cleanliness can make anyone fall in love with it.

Gangtok

we saw various places like Rumtek Monastery,Flower exhibition centre,mall road etc.

Below is one quote from Monastery which I liked so much that I captured it.

........... To be continued