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Hi,
I am Abhishek Dwivedi and this year I, along with my two friends Ranjan and Saurabh, rode to Bhutan.
Saurabh is the same guy who went to the Old Silk Route, Sikkim with me last year. Ranjan is my childhood friend.
The three of us started from Dhanbad, Jharkhand on November the 13th and were back home by 18th evening. Total distance covered - 2000 KM
Day 1 : Dhanbad-Giridih-Devghar-Bhagalpur-Purnea-Kishanganj
Day 2 : Kishanganj - Siliguri- Sevoke-Nagrakata -Phuentsholing (Permits) - Gaedu (Night stay)
Day 3 : Gaedu - Thimphu
Day 4 : Thimphu city - Dochula - Budhha Statue - Paro - Chelela Pass - Return to Paro (Night Stay at Paro)
Day 5 : - Paro - Phuentsholing- Siliguri - Kishanganj (Night Stay )
Day 6 :- Kishanganj - Dhanbad
Our bikes were :
2009 FZ16, (mine)
2015 FZ16 V2.0 ( Saurabh's)
2012 CBZ Extreme. (Ranjan's)
Friends I like to keep my travelogues short. The points mentioned below are just to help our fellow riders if they ever plan to visit this incredibly amazing country.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________
Permits for people and vehicles are issued from two separate offices.
Permit Procedure for Tourists : (Passport not required for Indian citizens if they have voter ID)
[Working Hours : 10:00 AM to 05:00 PM (Monday to Saturday ) ]
As soon as you enter through the gate at the border from Phuentsholing, You'll see a petrol pump at the right hand side. The permit office is right before that petrol pump. On the counter, they'll give you a form that you need to fill and submit at the same office. You'll need to attach a photo copy of your voter ID/ Passport, address proof and 2 passport size photos along with that form. After which they'll take your finger prints and retinal scan and they'll hand you the permit within a few minutes. (I don't remember the exact fee but its less than ₹ 100/person)
Permit Procedure for motorcycles :
[Working Hours : 10:00 AM to 05:00 PM (Monday to Friday ) |: 10:00 AM to 01:00 PM Saturday ]
Permit for motorbikes is issued from a different office which is almost 1 Km further from the first office. You'll have to submit a handwritten application where you need to mention the places you'll be going. They'll require a copy of your permit issued initially (from the first office) as well as all your vehicle's papers (DL,RC,PUC, Insurance). We paid a fee of ₹ 210 for three bikes .
Remember, both these offices issue permits only for Thimphu and Paro. If you want to explore more places, these permits can be extended easily from Thimphu. But there too, there are separate offices for people and vehicles. The vehicle office is known as RSTA Office. We took an extension for Ha Valley only.
Documents Required for permit (Self) :- Voter ID/Passport, 2 Passport Size photographs, Address proof
Documents Required for permit (Vehicle) : - DL, RC, PUC, Insurance, 2 Photographs, handwritten application mentioning the places you'll be going.
IMPORTANT : Once you get all the permits, be careful not to skip any check post in excitement. It is absolutely mandatory to get your permits stamped at every check post. Even at return.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________
Hotel Prices (excluding food)
Hotels at Phuentsholing are a little expensive. Once you are done with the permit thing, do not stay at Phuentsholing. Ride to Gedu which is just 40 kilometers from Phuentsholing. After reaching Gedu, ask for 'Student guest house' and blindly head there. Don't let the word 'Guest house' confuse you. Its way better than most hotels. Neat and clean rooms with attached kitchen, room heaters, Double beds, geysers etc. The costliest room there costs merely ₹ 700. Hindi/English is easily understood and currency ratio is (1:1).
Hotels in Thimphu are of all ranges. Ours was 1000/night but was not very good
In Paro we stayed at Hotel Penjorling for ₹ 900/night. Extremely cozy and nice.
Alright enough gyaan .... I better be posting pictures now.
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At a trucker dhaaba near Banka (Bihar)
A few kilometers after Phuentsholing (Towards Thimphu)
It kept getting colder so we had to stop to wear warmers
We reached Gedu before dark and decided to spend the night there.
This is Student guest house I mentioned earlier.
Entrance
Sisters
The reception area of the guest house looked like a temple.
The person in the blue hoodie is a guest lecturer. We didn't know it untill the end of our conversation. He made breakfast for us, we made tea. He knew a lot about Indian Politics.
This was our room at the guest house, This was clicked in the morning before leaving for Thimphu.
Near Gaeddu College of Business Studies.
With some Bhutanese Students
This was taken from Dantak Canteen on the way to Thimphu.
Saurabh
Dosa at this canteen was really good.
Dochu La
This little hiker posed for a quick click
The gigantic 169ft. Buddha statue in Thimphu
One last look at the statue, seeking his blessings before leaving.
COD : Ghost
We reached Paro and headed straight to Chelela Pass. This was around 8 PM, the cold was BRUTAL but this was the happiest moment of the ride for me. A strange sense of achievement you know ?
Morning tea at a hotel in Paro.
Thanks guys, I've taken a few videos which I'll upload later.
I am Abhishek Dwivedi and this year I, along with my two friends Ranjan and Saurabh, rode to Bhutan.
Saurabh is the same guy who went to the Old Silk Route, Sikkim with me last year. Ranjan is my childhood friend.
The three of us started from Dhanbad, Jharkhand on November the 13th and were back home by 18th evening. Total distance covered - 2000 KM
Day 1 : Dhanbad-Giridih-Devghar-Bhagalpur-Purnea-Kishanganj
Day 2 : Kishanganj - Siliguri- Sevoke-Nagrakata -Phuentsholing (Permits) - Gaedu (Night stay)
Day 3 : Gaedu - Thimphu
Day 4 : Thimphu city - Dochula - Budhha Statue - Paro - Chelela Pass - Return to Paro (Night Stay at Paro)
Day 5 : - Paro - Phuentsholing- Siliguri - Kishanganj (Night Stay )
Day 6 :- Kishanganj - Dhanbad
Our bikes were :
2009 FZ16, (mine)
2015 FZ16 V2.0 ( Saurabh's)
2012 CBZ Extreme. (Ranjan's)
Friends I like to keep my travelogues short. The points mentioned below are just to help our fellow riders if they ever plan to visit this incredibly amazing country.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________
Permits for people and vehicles are issued from two separate offices.
Permit Procedure for Tourists : (Passport not required for Indian citizens if they have voter ID)
[Working Hours : 10:00 AM to 05:00 PM (Monday to Saturday ) ]
As soon as you enter through the gate at the border from Phuentsholing, You'll see a petrol pump at the right hand side. The permit office is right before that petrol pump. On the counter, they'll give you a form that you need to fill and submit at the same office. You'll need to attach a photo copy of your voter ID/ Passport, address proof and 2 passport size photos along with that form. After which they'll take your finger prints and retinal scan and they'll hand you the permit within a few minutes. (I don't remember the exact fee but its less than ₹ 100/person)
Permit Procedure for motorcycles :
[Working Hours : 10:00 AM to 05:00 PM (Monday to Friday ) |: 10:00 AM to 01:00 PM Saturday ]
Permit for motorbikes is issued from a different office which is almost 1 Km further from the first office. You'll have to submit a handwritten application where you need to mention the places you'll be going. They'll require a copy of your permit issued initially (from the first office) as well as all your vehicle's papers (DL,RC,PUC, Insurance). We paid a fee of ₹ 210 for three bikes .
Remember, both these offices issue permits only for Thimphu and Paro. If you want to explore more places, these permits can be extended easily from Thimphu. But there too, there are separate offices for people and vehicles. The vehicle office is known as RSTA Office. We took an extension for Ha Valley only.
Documents Required for permit (Self) :- Voter ID/Passport, 2 Passport Size photographs, Address proof
Documents Required for permit (Vehicle) : - DL, RC, PUC, Insurance, 2 Photographs, handwritten application mentioning the places you'll be going.
IMPORTANT : Once you get all the permits, be careful not to skip any check post in excitement. It is absolutely mandatory to get your permits stamped at every check post. Even at return.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________
Hotel Prices (excluding food)
Hotels at Phuentsholing are a little expensive. Once you are done with the permit thing, do not stay at Phuentsholing. Ride to Gedu which is just 40 kilometers from Phuentsholing. After reaching Gedu, ask for 'Student guest house' and blindly head there. Don't let the word 'Guest house' confuse you. Its way better than most hotels. Neat and clean rooms with attached kitchen, room heaters, Double beds, geysers etc. The costliest room there costs merely ₹ 700. Hindi/English is easily understood and currency ratio is (1:1).
Hotels in Thimphu are of all ranges. Ours was 1000/night but was not very good
In Paro we stayed at Hotel Penjorling for ₹ 900/night. Extremely cozy and nice.
Alright enough gyaan .... I better be posting pictures now.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At a trucker dhaaba near Banka (Bihar)
A few kilometers after Phuentsholing (Towards Thimphu)
It kept getting colder so we had to stop to wear warmers
We reached Gedu before dark and decided to spend the night there.
This is Student guest house I mentioned earlier.
Entrance
Sisters
The reception area of the guest house looked like a temple.
The person in the blue hoodie is a guest lecturer. We didn't know it untill the end of our conversation. He made breakfast for us, we made tea. He knew a lot about Indian Politics.
This was our room at the guest house, This was clicked in the morning before leaving for Thimphu.
Near Gaeddu College of Business Studies.
With some Bhutanese Students
This was taken from Dantak Canteen on the way to Thimphu.
Saurabh
Dosa at this canteen was really good.
Dochu La
This little hiker posed for a quick click
The gigantic 169ft. Buddha statue in Thimphu
One last look at the statue, seeking his blessings before leaving.
COD : Ghost
We reached Paro and headed straight to Chelela Pass. This was around 8 PM, the cold was BRUTAL but this was the happiest moment of the ride for me. A strange sense of achievement you know ?
Morning tea at a hotel in Paro.
Thanks guys, I've taken a few videos which I'll upload later.
Thanks chaosaddict.
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