Hey buddy, hope the bike's faring well now...Can't see the pics from office; will chk out at home. Our trip is starting next Tuesday, but another guy is having prob with leaves. If everyone drops out, I am planning to head your way.

@PKM: Beautiful pics man. Loved the pics of the twisties going into Thimphu. Fantastic!!

Praveenkm: Just ran out of words man!!!

NO words.....Just awesome.....take care and ride on safe.....

Sure thing Sunil. As per my latest plans i should be in Guvahati by Tuesday. We can team up if you are coming there

Rossitor: Fantastic twisties they are. Will try to get bettor pix of them tomm as i am heading back to paro

Thanks Aparajith and Fury

Btw the pemit extension process took till 1PM so i post poned Paro to tomm. Today just rode around Thimpu visited a monastry etc. The pix still in my cam and the log in my mind

fantabulous ride Sir jee....helmets off to you....cannot simply praise or congratulate you in mere words......

Bhesh bhesh goobesh! You are doing good. Keep it up, mail us your further plans.

Praveen- I am sure all the wait was very frustrating, but at the end of it, your trip has a lot of adventure and thats the best part we are all enjoying. The place looks very beautiful and calm.

I heard for non-Indian tourists, it is even more complicated to get in!!

Ride safe and waiting for more.

what happen Praveen, where are you now ?long time there is no updates.we all are waiting for the rest of your trip logs.

Hey Praveen@ reminds me of Bhutan trip done last year... Thanks for bringing old memories back..i just saw the photos and did not read the triplog as yet... will do it later...

From Thimpu go to Paro and spend a day there..then come back and ride towardsJakar, Mongar etc and ahead to get out at Sandrup Zonkar...(i dont remember all the names well)

The roads last year was not that great.especially the last 110 kms to exit out of Sandrup..the roads were built by BRO (and BRO means tough place & tough roads)

All the best for the ride and i hope u have a nice time

Regards.

be safe in gwhti. i suppose by now u would've heard of y'day's events there.

Cheers !!

Praveen,

Amazing stuff man. No words to express my thoughts..... nwz many thnx for giving all of us such an adventure filled write up.

U sure r having time of ur life..... Ride Safe & keep posting !!!

Hi Guys,

Me and bike are phareen return today. Reached Guvahati today evening.
5 days logs pending and ready but not getting proper net connection.

Today exited from samdrup Jongkhar after around 1300kms in Bhutan. Funny my fone not catching network in both BSNL and Airtell sims!

Thanks Motor mania, given an oppertunity any 1 can do it

SKSy_Biker: Back from Bhutan but not sure of the future plans from here. Mostly heading to Tavang day after tomm.

Yes Haroon, It was worth the effort. It was a completely different experiance of riding on the himalayas. Have mixed feeling due to the incidents.

Nabendu: With the back log of logs i need a good broadband connection to update. My laptops dialup will drive me crazy.

Anup: Glad to get you Nostalgic. I did pretty much what you said and also detoured to Lhuentse. Road construction is in progress though doneup roads are in majority. Pothetic roads near border.

Ragavishere: Yeah man, but then i was in bangalore when the blasts happened there. Infact i was watching a movie in forum mall when the blast happened next to it!

Thanks Abhishek. Will try to keep it that way

Day 26 - April 03 - Around Thimpu

GPS Trail...
April03 - EveryTrail

45 KMs

Permit extension was supposed to be a simple process and i planned for Taksakt Geomba and Haa valley. It was really tight considering i have to wait till the offices open. So did i. Since the traffic one ways was confusing i thought of walking to the Immigration office. First i filled the wrong form, then i filled the right form and then they wanted a xerox of the old permit! Now i have to walk back to the business area to find the xerox and again back to the immigration office. Is it done ? no i am told to wait till 11.30 for the permit extension letter!!. Man the process still haunts me. With no other choice i drop the plan for Takshakt for the day and instead would check out Timpu. waited till 12.30 to finally get the permit. Rush to RSTA to get the vehicle permit extended. Now since i wanted to visit the inside of Takshakt Geomba, i needed to get one more permit from Culture Department. Go to a hotel serving south indian dishes and Masala Dosa for a change. But it tasted like a Bhutanese dish only Get the culture permit also and finally now i am legal in Bhutan.

First visited the National memorial Chortan for a few pix and then went towards Nichiling Palace to get a good view of it. Strayed far end of the road and just wanted to go till the dead end. On the end of Palace authority's land, the road branched into three and according to a local lad all of them went to a monastery each! I picked the straight one and it was narrow winding road and climbing as well. There was threat of rain and i was in no mood to get into rain gear. At the end of the road there was this secluded Dark Orange colored Apadinghe monastery. Climbed upto it and the guard sent me towards the main temple. Went in and there was no 1 took a couple of pix of the Buddha statue and at the balcony there was these religious scrolls spread on the the ground. Guess some religious activity was going on. So left the place and hurried to my bike. Getting low on the altitude there is no rain. Riding back slowly all the way to Thimphu, crossed the main street once again and went towards bbs tower. And wat a view of the city. Could see the whole of Thimphu, wished i was there at night but it was getting cold and main rain as well, so din want to wait there for an hour! With nothing much to do i went back to the room and thought of checking out The discotheque. Well Bhutan is supposed to be safe place and i had never been to one so have dinner early and leave by 9.30 for it.

It seems i am the first one there and pretty clueless. The security arrangements seems to be good. The guards say that no fight happens all are friendly. Slowly the floor fills up and the music flows. Surprised as to how just gals would come on their own. Played many hindi numbers and the crowd seems to recite them even the "Dafali wala Dafali baja" song! I catch on a few pegs and enjoy the moments. It lasts till two. Felt good to indulge for a change and was totally euphoric. Then it happens a total killjoy and a set back.

I go to the hotel and find it locked! Man i assumed somebody would be there at the reception. As i was trying to find my way in, this guy comes along to help me get in. Since i have been hearing for a few days about how people of Bhutan are so good and did feel the same to so i trusted him. He tried to call the hotel with my fone and after diverting my attention ran away with it. That was unbelievable and devastating. It had my whole setup and contacts of four years! Falsely assumed i am in country of angles and there are bad eggs here too. More than the fone was upset about how i let it happen. Just wondering if i managed to get mugged in a place like Bhutan, then how will i survive in NorthEast!!

Thimpu streets. Was remembering Swissland..






My bike waiting for me to get permit...



The National memorial chortan...



Masala Dosa in Bhutan!


Mr. Soumi who gave me permit from Culture dept so that i can go inside Geombas. He was pretty facinated with my bike...


Exploring around Thimpu


Just when i was taking these pix...



Then the magic show begins. There is now a whole in the cloud and first time i am seeing Sunlight in bhutan. And boy did it feel good. The Light play was just awesome and i was just at the perfect place and time for that. The Pix dont really tell the story...


The weekend market...


The Magic show...



High view of the Nichiling Palace...


Climbing away to unknown monastery..


The Apadinge monastery...





Look look there is a hole in the sky!!


School kid in the national dress and uniform....


Bettor view of the palace...


Road by the Wang hoo river...


Bike by the sports association building of Thimpu...


The clock tower square...


Cute puppies up the BBs tower. They were meant to be future guard dogs...


High up can get a fantastic view of the city...



Height at BBS tower...


Thimpu by night...


In the discotheque



It seems i am the first one there and pretty clueless. The security arrangements seems to be good. The guards say that no fight happens all are friendly. Slowly the floor fills up and the music flows. Surprised as to how just gals would come on their own. Played many hindi numbers and the crowd seems to recite them even the "Dafali wala Dafali baja" song! I catch on a few pegs and enjoy the moments. It lasts till two. Felt good to indulge for a change and was totally euphoric. Then it happens a total killjoy and a set back.

I go to the hotel and find it locked! Man i assumed somebody would be there at the reception. As i was trying to find my way in, this guy comes along to help me get in. Since i have been hearing for a few days about how people of Bhutan are so good and did feel the same to so i trusted him. He tried to call the hotel with my fone and after diverting my attention ran away with it. That was unbelievable and devastating. It had my whole setup and contacts of four years! Falsely assumed i am in country of angles and there are bad eggs here too. More than the fone was upset about how i let it happen. Just wondering if i managed to get mugged in a place like Bhutan, then how will i survive in NorthEast!!

Boy o boy!!!
Which phone was it??
Anyways, good log and pics as always.
Best wishes for your ride.
Take care.