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| The Flag of Bhutan |
It all started on a fine weekend in 2017 when me and my wife were discussing where to travel this year. In an instinctive response, I replied, "Bhutan!". Unfortunately, on exploring further, we realized that plans have to be made well in advance as there are very less flights and heavily booked during most of the year. We switched over to Bali (at the time of an imminent volcanic eruption!), but that would be for another blogpost. So Rule 1: If you are planning for Bhutan, do it well in advance.
Fast forward to 2018, we decided to travel to Bhutan for my birthday in 2019 (21st March).
The Planning
Paro is the only international airport in Bhutan and Royal Bhutan Airlines is the only operator of International Flights. Flights to Paro are available from Delhi, Guwahati, Bagdogra, Kolkata, Gaya. We had booked our flights as early as in November from Bagdogra for March Travel. Foreign airports with flights to Paro are Kathmandu, Bangkok, Singapore, Dhaka. So there would be influx of Foreign tourists in Indian Airports too.
Next in list would be the hotels which are equally hard to book, especially the good ones during peak seasons. So right after the flight tickets are booked, book all your hotels according to the places of stay.
Bhutan has festivals all over the year. Planning your trip during one of the festival dates will make the trip more memorable (I can vouch for it as we got a chance to meet the King). Our Trip coincided with the Paro Tshechu Festival (Mar 17th - Mar 21st). You can check out the link for Festival dates for 2019 (https://www.drukasia.com/bhutan/bhutan-festivals-calendar-2019/)
Bhutan can also be reached by road and the most common is Thimphu-Phuentsholing Highway. We planned our return journey by road. One downside is that you can't book buses in Bhutan in advance but you can still arrange cab for the trip.
With respect to currency, the official currency of Bhutan is Ngultrum. Bhutan has kept it in parity to Indian Rupee so that 1 Ngultrum is always equal to 1 INR. Bhutanese interchangeably use Ngultrums & INR. Don't be surprised if you get back your change in Ngultrums for INR or vice versa. One suggestion is to avoid taking cash in higher denominations (like 2000,500). We took 50,000 INR as old 100 rupee notes but we did see the new INR notes being accepted without much fuss.
There is no big restriction for tourists from SAARC countries but other foreigners should pay a fee of $250/day which includes hotel stay with food, a cab with driver and a guide and ticket charges to places of interest.
Our Travel itinerary
- Chennai - Bagdogra - Paro (flight)
- Paro - Thimphu - Punakha - Haa - Phuentsholing (By road - bus/cab)
- Phuentsholing - Hasimara (West Bengal) via Jaigaon (Bordertown on the Indian side) (By Road - bus/cab)
- Hasimara - Siliguri (closest Railway Station to Bagdogra) (By Kanchankanya Express)
- Bagdogra - Chennai (flight)
Day 1
We boarded our early morning flight from Chennai to Bagdogra and reached there by noon. We stayed at Hotel Aquarium . It was an okay-ish OYO hotel but pretty sufficient for a just a night's layover. Since our flight to Paro was on next day morning, we decided to roam around. Though Darjeeling is just 3 hrs away, we didn't had time to do a round trip and go sightseeing. We travelled to Siliguri which is half an hour from Bagdogra in a local bus. We visited the ISKCON Temple and the Hongkong Market where you can get cheap knockoffs of quality goods.
Day 2
We were told that Bagdogra is a small military airport and it could get crowded soon. We reached the airport by 6 AM for the 9 AM flight just to be on the safer side. The airport was closed and it was set to open only by 6.30 :( The staff of Druk Air (Royal Bhutan Airlines) were very supportive and assisted in filling up the form to be submitted for foreign nationals to visit Bhutan. Passport (or) Voter's ID is preferred document for identification. DO NOT use Aadhaar, PAN, Driving License,etc.,
If you are going to use Passport as ID, ensure there is more than 6 months of validity left. We had a couple with passports less than 6 months validity and luckily they were able to travel with their Voter's ID. The check-in process was a breeze and we were on-board to Paro, Bhutan.
It was a one hour flight to Paro and if you are lucky to get a seat on the left side, you can get to see the beautiful Mt.Kanchenjunga (The one at the back of 100 Rupees Note). You can get a glimpse of Mt.Everest if you board a flight from Delhi. As I already mentioned, Paro is the only international airport in Bhutan and one of the difficult places to land in the world. Only 8 pilots across the world have license to land here as the flight has to be maneuvered across hilly terrains completely on manual control. The landing at Paro was so good and you can see it below video:
Paro airport is a beautiful manifestation of Bhutan architecture. Royal Bhutan Airlines is the govt owned operator and Bhutan Airlines is the private operator. At the immigration, you will be asked for your place of stay and duration of stay. Based on that passport will be stamped with the permit for Paro, Thimphu & Phuentsholing. If you intend to visit any other places like Punakha, Bumthang, Haa, special permit needs to be obtained from the Immigration office in Thimphu.
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| Royal Bhutan Airlines |
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| Paro Airport Terminal |
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| Private Owned Bhutan Airlines |
It is advised to get a local SIM card especially if you are in Bhutan for a week or so. You can choose from the two operators - Govt owned Bhutan Telecom and the private owned Tashicell. For 600 Nu. (Ngultrum), you get 300 Nu. worth of talktime & 3GB data. Topups can be done through prepaid cards available in general stores.
We checked-in at Hotel Phunsum which was in the center of Paro town with easy access to the market places. It was the day before the start of Paro Tshechu Festival so the town was getting ready into a celebratory mood. Taktsang (or) The Tiger's Nest Monastery is the most famous in Paro which involves a 2-3 hours hike either way and it is suggested not to do it on your first day in Bhutan. But if you have a short stay or time crunch, go ahead! With temperatures looming around 4-10 degree celsius in daytime, we went for an evening stroll to the Rinpung Dzong. [Sidenote: There is going to be frequent mentions of dzongs in this post, as every major town in Bhutan has a Dzong which is basically a fortress which contains a temple, monastery and also quarters for the forces to garrison themselves during olden days].
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| Rinpung Dzong, Paro |
Rinpung Dzong is on the banks of the Paro river and accessible via a over bridge followed by a short hike to the Dzong. A thing to remember while visiting Dzongs in Bhutan is that you should be fully covered - Full sleeved shirts, Full trousers (no shorts or 3/4ths). We weren't able to enter the Dzong on the first day as I was wearing a T-Shirt. Luckily we were visiting Paro again at the last three days of our stay so we were good. Also, make sure to see the Dzong at night with all the lights lit up. Paro Dzong is the most beautiful Dzong in all of Bhutan at night.
On our way, we purchased our bus tickets to Thimphu for the next morning and some snacks to munch on for the night. Most of the North Indian foods like Roti, Poori, Aloo Parathas are available in the restaurants and Momos are pretty common. Paro also has some pretty good cafes. Temperatures at night tends to go below 5 degrees celsius and may hit zero sometimes.
Day 3
We got our bus to Thimphu in the morning and it was an hour and half journey across the hilly terrain to the capital city of Bhutan. There are a lot of cabs & shared cabs for such travels as well. At the Thimphu bus stop, we were swarmed by a bunch of cabdrivers and we chose a person called Norbu to take us to our hotel Bhutan Boutique Residency. Since this was a new hotel, we had some issues in our booking as we booked from Hotels.com and the owners claimed they hadn't listed their property there. We had to do a fresh booking and luckily there was availability. Rule No. 2 Call and confirm your bookings in the hotel well in advance. The rooms were pretty well maintained and spacious and we had a view of Taj Hotel (pic below) from our window.
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| Taj Tashi Hotel, Thimphu |
Since some of the places in Thimphu are located far away, we decided to continue with Norbu's services for the Sightseeing in the evening.
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| Buddha Dordenma, Thimphu |
Buddha Dordenma is the largest statue in the country situated on top of a hill overlooking Thimphu Valley. The statue can be seen from anywhere in the Thimphu Valley.It was built to celebrate the 60th birthday of the fourth king of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuk.
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| Motithang Takin Reserve, Thimphu |
Next Stop was the Motithang Takin Preserve which was built to preserve Bhutan's National Animal, Takin. It is an animal with a goat like face and cow/ox like body and considered vulnerable due to overhunting.
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| Tashichho Dzong, Thimphu with Bhutan Parliament at the back |
As we approached evening, our last sightseeing for the day was the Tashichho Dzong on the banks of Wangchu River. It is the most heavily guarded Dzong as it has the current office of the king and many official buildings and also the summer residence of the chief monk or "Je Khenpo". Because of this, there are many restricted areas and a temple restricted for Non-Bhutanese inside the dzong. A guide is mandatory inside the dzong and included as part of the entry fee. The structure behind the Tashichho Dzong is the Bhutanese Parliament. The king's palace is located to the Tashichho Dzong. Surprisingly the palace is not so grandeur in comparison with any of these Dzongs.
On our way back, we visited the weekend market which was bustling with people buying all sorts of groceries, meat & produce. We had momos at a place where the Queen Mother orders her momos. Opposite to the weekend market is the Wang Chuu Bazaam which is an overbridge over Wangchu river connecting to a plethora of handicrafts shop. Few metres next to it is the Changlimithang Stadium which has an archery range as Archery is the National Sport of Bhutan.
We also decided to retain Norbu's services for our journey to Punakha, sightseeing and back to Paro.
After a good day of sightseeing, we roamed around the shopping streets of Norzin Lam and had a good dinner at the Ambient Cafe
Day 4
The first thing we had to do was to visit Immigration Office to apply for permit to Punakha as we had two days of stay there and to Haa Valley. The Immigration office opens at 9 and we had cab drivers and tourists lining up by around 8.50 and luckily we were able to get in as first few applicants. With the paperwork done, we were asked to come by 11 to collect our permits. On the way to Immigration office, we saw the office for Gross National Happiness which works on policies to ensure happiness index of the Bhutanese citizens.
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| Gross National Happiness - An index as important as GDP for Bhutan |
With the time available till we got the permit, we visited the King's Memorial Chorten which is a stupa built to honor the third king, Jigme Dorji Wangchuk.
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| King's Memorial Chorten |
On the way back to Immigration Office, we also visited the Clock Tower Square and the only traffic circle in Bhutan manned by a traffic policeman. Since there are no traffic lights in all of Bhutan, the policeman uses hand signals to regulate the traffic.
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| Only Traffic Circle in Thimphu |
After getting our permits right on time, we went to the General Post Office to get customized stamps printed with our photo. These stamps can be used for sending mails from Bhutan. Bhutan also has pioneered in many other innovative stamps like 3D Stamps, CD ROM Stamps which were on display in the Postal Museum.
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| General Post Office, Thimphu |
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| Customized Stamps |
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| CD Rom Stamps |
Then we visited the Bhutan National Library where they have preserved a lot of historical religious scriptures written on palm leaves. It was a multi-storeyed building and you have to leave your footwear outside before entering the library. It was like a Temple of Learning. Our last stop in Thimphu was the Textile Museum where they have displayed variety of weaving techniques and in order to encourage the art of weaving, the Royal Government even conducts a competition every year to honor the best artisan.
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| Religious Scriptures in the National Library |
Post lunch, we drove to Punakha and the on the way, we visited Dochula where a memorial with 108 chortens have been built in the memory of 108 Bhutanese soldiers who died fighting against the Assamese Insurgents in 2003.
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| Dochula Pass |
We reached Punakha by dusk and checked in our hotel, Zingkham Resort which was on a hilltop providing a wonderful view of the Punakha Dzong.
Day 5
This was the day of Punakha Sightseeing. The first stop is the Punakha Suspension Bridge which is the longest suspension bridge in Bhutan at 160 metres built across the Pho Chu River. It is located at a driving distance from Punakha Dzong. The Bridge decorated with many prayer flags and walking through the length of the suspension bridge is something a must-do when in Punakha.
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| Punakha Suspension Bridge |
From the suspension bridge, we headed towards Khamsum Yulley Namgyel Chorten which is a stupa built on a hilltop by the orders of the Queen Mother in order to ward off the negative forces. Reaching there requires a half an hour to 45 mins hike which was more like precursor to what we can expect in Tiger's Nest Hike and it is advised to carry a bottle of water. The Chorten itself is built in a pagoda like structure with steps inside to climb up to the top most tier of the pagoda. The view of the Punakha Valley from the top is breathtaking.
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| Khamsum Yulley Namgyel Chorten |
After the downhill hike which was relatively simpler, we headed over to the Chimi Lhakhang Temple which is also known as the fertility temple. All houses around this temple have paintings of phalluses on their walls. The tradition in the temple is to provide blessings using a wooden phallus. This monastery is visited by couples who want to give birth to children.
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| Chimi Lhakhang (or) The Fertility Temple |
After getting the blessings in Chimi Lhakhang, the route to reach the next destination is a short drive over a hill to reach the Sangchhen Dorji Lhuendrup Nunnery. This nunnery has constructed by the Fourth King Jigme Singye Wangchuk as a monastery and temple for nuns to enroll themselves and study religious preachings. The nuns stay at the quarters provided and learn other skills like tailoring, embroidery, etc., as well along with religious studies. We couldn't take a lot of photographs here as the Royal Family was visiting the King's ailing maternal grandfather in the Royal quarters near the nunnery.
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| Stupa at the Sangchhen Dorji Lhuendrup Nunnery |
The last and the most anticipated visit for the day was the Punakha Dzong. It is the most scenic monastery in Bhutan situated at the merging place of the Pho Chu (Male River) and Mo Chu (Female River). Punakha used to be Bhutan's capital before Thimphu and Je Khempo, the chief of monks, resides in Punakha Dzong during winter as Thimphu would be too cold.
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| Punakha Dzong with Pho Chu River |
Punakha Dzong has many architecture complex which includes the Royal Hall where most of the Royal events happen like King's coronation & Marriage. It also contains a temple which restricted to all which contains the embalmed body of the Great Unifier of Bhutan, Zhabdrug Ngawang Namgyal. The King is allowed to visit only once in his lifetime during his coronation. Only one caretaker is allowed all days who takes care of the temple.
Day 6
We started our journey back to Paro the next day visiting the Royal Botanical Park on the way. It is a 47 square miles of biological corridor between two major National Parks in Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuk National Park & Jigme Singye Dorji Wangchuk National Park. The Rhododendron Garden is very famous and it starts blooming in March through the Summer season.
We reached Paro in the evening around 4 and rushed to the Paro Dzong to see the penultimate day fesivities of Paro Tshechu. People had already started to return back and Dzong closing time was 5pm. Fortunately, due to festive season, the Dzong was open for few more hours. The courtyards were draped with colourful fabrics everywhere and we just made it to the last dance of the day.
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| Rinpung Dzong, Paro adorned with festive colors |
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| Traditional Dance at Paro Tshechu |
We returned back to the hotel strolling via a very busy Paro Town, so different from the quiet town when we first landed there. Festive mood was in the air. Next day was a very important day - Last day of Paro Tshechu, the day we hike the Tiger's Nest and my Birthday!
Day 7
We woke up very early and got ready to go to the Paro Dzong or Rinpung Dzong to view the thongdrel, which is the largest form of thangka painting (Tibetan Buddhist Painting on cloth depicting a deity) which will be unfurled only during Tshechus. The one in Paro Dzong is that of Guru Rinpoche (or) Padmasambhava, who is regarded as the Second Buddha, surrounded by his eight incarnations. Padmasambhava is believed to have spread Buddhism in the Himalayan Region as Gauthama Buddha had never visited the Himalayan Kingdoms. This thongdrel will be wrapped back just after the sunrise and will be taken out again only during the next year's Tshechu as the fabric is sensitive to sunlight.
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| Thongdrel of Guru Rinpoche on the last day of Paro Tshechu |
We were informed that the King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk would be arriving soon to get the blessings and there was a red carpet unfurled with Bhutan police, boys & girl scouts standing guard. After waiting impatiently for more than 30 minutes, we decided to get back to Hotel to start to Tiger's Nest Monastery as we have to reach early and start the hike in order to come back on time.
As we were getting down, we were requested by the Royal Guards to stand and wait aside as the King is hiking up to the Dzong. The King was stopping and talking to his subjects now and then. When he passed alongside us, he enquired us, "Visiting from?". We replied, "India". "Great to see you here. Have a wonderful stay in Bhutan", was his reply. We were lucky not just to have a glimpse but have a word with him too. Since photos with King are not allowed, the moment stays only in my gray cells.
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| His Majesty King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk |
Now to the best and Must-Do part of Bhutan Trip - Taktsang (or) Tiger's Nest Monastery. Taktsang Monastery is located atop a cliff at approx. 10,000 ft above mean sea level. It takes a hike of nearly 3,000 ft for around 2 hours to reach the monastery which includes 900 steps (600 down & 300 up while going and reverse while returning). It is medium - very difficult hike especially if you haven't hiked for a while. It is mandatory to have some light snacks & water bottles in your backpack. The main thumb rule while hiking Taktsang is that you are not in a race and take enough rest wherever necessary and complete the hike. There is a cafeteria at halfway point if you prefer a quick tea or to relieve yourself at the loo.
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| Taktsang (or) The Tiger's Nest Monastery |
The Taktsang monastery is believed to be the place where Padmasambava (or) Guru Rinpoche came flying in a Tiger from Tibet and meditated. The monstery complex contains a cave where Padmasambava meditated, a smaller cave which can be accessed by going down a very narrow pathway where the tiger meditated [If you are claustrophobic, you may have to rethink going down] and also few more temples and places for monks to stay. The hike would be life changing experience and I was blessed to do it on my birthday!
With tired legs, we were back in the Hotel and slept like logs with one more day of sightseeing remaining.
Day 8
We had kept the visit to Haa Valley for the last day and we had acquired all the necessary permits in Thimphu itself. The ride to Haa Valley from Paro Valley is up and down a hill. As we near the top,we started seeing a completely different terrain with snow all around.
The Road was built for Project Dantak which is an ongoing partnership between India & Bhutan. As we reach the top of the hill, we arrived at Chelela pass which the highest point in the Dantak Road. From Chelela pass, we can see the mighty beautiful Himalayas in its full glory.
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| Chelela Pass |
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| Great Himalayan Ranges from Chelela |
As we go down our descent to Haa Valley, we see the Haa Dzong and many green structures around it. These are the Indian Military Camp set up in Haa to counter Chinese incursions in these terrains. The Dzong also has military offices inside it as the day to day activity of the armed forces are in this area.
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| Haa Dzong with Indian Military Camps around |
The Black Temple (Lhakhang Nagpo) & White Temple (Lhakhang Karpo) are two main attractions in Haa Valley which is situated at the foothills of the Three Brother Hills. It is believed that a Tibetan King released two pigeons - black and white and the temples were constructed at the sites where they landed.
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| Lhakhang Nagpo - Black Temple |
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| Lhakhang Karpo - White Temple |
We spend some time at the Haa Town where school children were picking up trash from the riverside. It seems it is part of their curriculum to keep their town clean. They told us, "This is the only water source for our town and it is our responsibility to keep it clean". Children are being imbibed great values right from their childhood which is helping them to grow as responsible citizens.
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| Bhutanese School Children doing River Bank Cleanup |
On our way back, we saw a bunch of Yaks grazing around in the valley and a bird's eye view of the Paro Airport.
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| Yak |
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| Paro Airport - Bird's Eye View |
Day 9
We are at our last day in Bhutan and we had Norbu driving us all along for the past 7 days. We had planned to take a bus to Phuentsholing to cross the border but we decided to go with the cab and didn't get bus tickets the previous day. We drove back from Paro to Phuentsholing in a scenic hill road and reached there in around 5 hours. We halted at a temple in Phuentsholing where we can get a view of India & Bhutan.
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| Densely Populated West Bengal, India in the left & Bhutan in the right |
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| Bhutan Gate |
