Bhutan
Diaries
This is a story of how I got into the world of touring.
It all started with a thought, to ride out to explore the beauty of the northeast. We had been planning to explore Sikkim ever since we were in the college in Kolkata. Post the completion of my college I had ample time for a road trip. So the plan was simple, ride to Duars and then enter Bhutan and return back through Darjeeling. And so it was Sukul Dada, Gautam and Me, with our bikes and endless beauty of the Northeast awaiting us.
A lot of planning went into the ride, since all of us were pretty novice in the world of doing a road trip on motorbikes. From buying the protective gears, prepping up the bike and getting into the habit of riding far at a stretch, we all developed the habit and got into the groove. I clearly remembered the level of excitement going into the ride.
We started off early in the morning and headed to Malda. The next day we rode to Siliguri. The first two days were really tiring, but never did I contemplated the idea of whether or not it was worth it because the smile on my face told me yes, it was. Our first destination was up in the mountains of North Bengal, a small village named Upper Fagu. The ride to reach the top was ver y challenging, but it was totally worth it. The amazing hospitality of the people in the mountains left me speechless. Imagine a cottage in the tranquility of the mountains, with a sight of entire Kanchenjungha Range in front of you fro the balcony, it did feel surreal.
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We then headed to Jaigaon, a small town on the Indo-Bhutan border. The border is marked by a gate that you have to cross over to get into Phuetsoling, Bhutan. We quickly got done with the formalities and then went for a stroll. I came across a guy riding a Yamaha XT 660 covered in dirt. What got me curious was the Australian number plate. I summoned strength to ask him where was he riding from, to which he replied – Brisbane. I was mind fucked. That was mind boggling for someone who had just got into the world of touring. We helped him out with the paperwork and offered him stay with us in the hotel. He obliged on the same and I was looking forward to all the possible sorts of stories that he would have to share. And Iyron(the guy) didn’t disappoint. We started over the endless discussions around his journey over the months over hand rolled cigarettes that he got from Myanmar. Iron offered to join to join us for the rest of the journey in Bhutan to which we just couldn’t refuse.
Looking forward to ride through the Country of Happiness, we entered Bhutan the next morning.
As soon as you cross the gates and enter Bhutan, you would find stark contrast between both sides of the gate. Bhutan is so disciplined in every sense, from people following traffic sense to everyone greeting you with a smile. There is 4 lane roads in the mountains and they are butter smooth. I was left in so much of admiration that I used to stop every now and then to admire the beauty of the surrounding. From children waving at you to everyone greeting you with smile, Bhutan is definitely the land of happiness.
We stopped by at a military canteen named Dantak for lunch. The food at offer was plain Dal Rice with some veggies however it felt really delicious. Perhaps its the taste of water in the mountains that turns the food lip smacking delicious.
We entered Paro as the sun was setting. The first lesson that I got from Iyron was to start early in the morning and reach destination by 3-4pm, take time to explore and find a decent place to stay. The next morning we went for a hike to the infamous Tiger’s Nest. The climb is difficult with steep rocky patches, but it all adds up once you reach the monastery. I wonder how they would have transported all the necessities to build such a marvel at this height.
We then explored around the town. Later that night we dined at a local bar. The food in Bhutan is really spicy and they add red chillies to almost everything. We got really high by the time we were done, lost our way back to the hotel, spoke to dogs on the road, sang with locals and laughed over rhetorically.
The next morning we all geared up to ride to Thimphu via Chelela Pass, the highest motorable pass in Bhutan . The road to the top is a steep climb, however the scenery is just surreal. I encountered snow for the very first time. The road through the forest with snow on both sides and massive pine tress felt like a scene carved out straight from a fairy tale. We then entered the Haa Valley surrounded by lush green hills. We stopped by at a homestay seeking for lunch and the lady mentioned that she had ramen in stock. We were actually excited to have ramen as we were too hungry to bother about anything else. She invited us to come inside her home as she made lunch for us. Post lunch we headed straight to Thimphu as it gets dark pretty early in the mountains. After hunting for hotels for a while we found a decent stay in the main streets.
We spent a couple of days seeing in and around the city. We discovered this gem of a cafe named, Traveller’s cafe, it has a wall where in anyone can post their travel stories. They have sessions in the evening where fellow travellers share across their travel stories. Ever sinceI have witness this, I have always dreamt opening something similar of my own. Imagine sharing space with fellow travellers who have endless stories to tell.
We bid adieu to Iyron who wanted to go further into Bhutan, as we had planned to ride back to Duars, Jaldapara. We had a long day of riding ahead of us along with immigration work at the border. I felt like having a void while we were checking out at the border, with such a short stay, I promised myself that I would definitely ride back to Bhutan, this time with no time boundation to explore what the country has to offer.
We had planned our stay via Nomdic Weekends in the jungle resorts of Jaldapara. The roads to Jaldapara pass through Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary, and hence it was tricky to reach before daylight ends. The 60km stretch through the sanctuary is absolutely wonderful. The mix of woody and fresh aroma lingering in the air, with constant chirping of birds and squeaking of other animals in the vicinity kept the adrenaline high all the time as we zipped through the forest to enter Jaldapara. We could hear the howling of hyenas and other animals throughout the night as spent the night thrilled being so close to nature. The next morning we got up early to see the wild animals gathered to drink water at the nearby river. What a sight it was…
We packed up and headed to Rhishikola, a small village atop Darjeeling.
The next few days were spent in this beautiful homestay in Rhisikola. Mr Amar and his family, along with Simba were such an amazing host. We spoke about how tourism has evolved over the years and how a lot of people keep travelling to places like these seeking for solitude away from the hustles of big cities. During my stay in the mountains I have observed that people in the hills are way more happy than folks like us who are living in larger cities. I don’t have a solid reasoning for this, however I feel this is perhaps because people in the mountains derive happiness in small things, being together with family and friends keep them cheerful and they don’t have materialistic desires as such.
I spent a lot of time simply sitting by myself, or being accompanied by Simba, who used to simply rub his head against my shoulders gently requesting for a pat every now and then. It was really difficult for us to say goodbye to such an amazing host. Simba accompanied us down to till the main roads and I was really worried about he would make it back to the homestay as it was good 6kms away up in the hills. We later got to know that he does this to every guests who comes down to stay with the family. As I headed back to Siliguri, I couldn’t stop thinking about the care, love and loyalty that dogs have for humans, only if we humans had 10% of it for other creatures, the world would have been a far better place to live in.