re: LoneWolfRides® - Druk Yul [Bhutan] - Dec' 2016

Fantastic 5000th Post Approved

Ah RE. Hmmm. Waiting for all the tales of sorrow

re: LoneWolfRides® - Druk Yul [Bhutan] - Dec' 2016

Thank you!!

That was my feeling every day since I booked the rental, till I dropped it back. Everyone morning I'd wake up with a dreadful feeling ... "Will it start" !!

re: LoneWolfRides® - Druk Yul [Bhutan] - Dec' 2016



5000 + wow
@Praful ji

re: LoneWolfRides® - Druk Yul [Bhutan] - Dec' 2016



I had booked the second flight that was scheduled to land in Bagdogra that day, the first one almost an hour earlier was Spicejet and had a layover in Delhi, a double no-no for me. I did not want to be a victim of Delhi’s infamous fog delays or Spicejet’s regular flight cancellations. The next flight arrived at 11.40AM which I thought was a bit late considering we had to pack our entire luggage on the bike after we landed. And most of my sources claimed that 3 hours would be enough to cover the 160kms to Phuentsholing, I wasn’t so confident because of the bike and my general unfamiliarity with the route.

As soon as we landed at Bagdogra we got a cab that took us to the bike rental office which was just 10 minutes from the airport. After a brief chit chat with the owner we started the task of emptying our two full size suit cases into the Rynox saddlebags and tail bag and my trusty old cramster tank bag. It took us more than an hour to get packed and all the rental related formalities sorted out. We decided to have lunch at the nearest hotel so we wouldn’t have to stop anywhere enroute. By the time lunch was sorted it was almost 3 PM, at the back of my head I was counting down the number of hours left because the gates at the border closed around 10PM and with no place to stop in between I was a little worried. It took almost another hour to gear up and saddle up the bike, the biggest challenge was getting the tail bag securely fastened onto the bike with bungee cords, the small rack at the back of the Himalayan was quite a deterrent in getting it fixed. It took us three attempts to get it fixed correctly.

We left the bike rental office around 4.30PM about 3 hours behind schedule. I was not sure about the night riding capabilities of the Himalayan and safety on this route. We took another 15 minutes to tank up the bike outside of town, yes!! the rental agency did not give the bike with a full tank, not completely their fault. They have not had a good experience with people not returning the bike with a full tank in the past. The clock on the REH was almost nudging 5PM when we left the petrol bunk, and to make matters worse we hit a heavy traffic jam the right from the outskirts of Siliguri town. The next 20 odd kilometers till the railway crossing before the Coronation bridge near Sevoke took us almost an hour to get through, I am partially to be blamed as I was not feeling very confident on the bike straight off the bat and I had no idea where I could push the bike and where I could not. We were already tired by the time we hit the railway crossing and twilight was fast fading at little over 6PM. As the railway gates were down, we nudged our way to the front of the line hoping to beat some of the traffic. Aliens have landed, or at least that is how the crowd regarded us while waiting for the train. Once the gates went up it was dark enough to warrant the use of our headlights and I was pleasantly surprised by the throw the REH had. At that time, I did not know it, but right after the coronation bridge, starts a smallish ghat section through forests. As I was still getting the hang of this bike, it decided to stick behind some other two wheelers for the time being. But that lasted maybe 10-15 minutes, the twisties made immediately comfortable with the dynamics of the REH and I no longer needed to follow anyone.

The twisties gave way to the Dooars, excellent arrow straight tarmac and the best part was that it had very sparse traffic. This was a welcome change after the choked traffic around Siliguri. And the temperatures had started dropping as well, we only had mesh gear on and my wife was starting to feel the chill creep in. We took a ‘chai’ and ‘bio’ break in Mai Bazaar, got out a fleece jacket for her to keep her warm. I decided to ride on as it was not all that cold for me yet and Phuentsholing weather reports put it at a comfortable 20 degrees in the evenings. Post Mai Bazaar, the roads started to deteriorate a little. Some patches of the road were under construction so they were quite dusty thanks to the heavy-duty lorries plying about. We saw our first Bhutan registered vehicle and for some strange reason it pumped up our spirits. The roads get a little confusing as we neared in on Jaigaon, it was not helping that it was post sun down which made it difficult to see boards if there were any. To make matters worse, the maps on the phone decided to take a holiday. However, the compass on the REH helped a little here, I knew from seeing the maps that we need to be heading in a northerly direction after the turn at Hasimara and the compass confirmed that.

Jaigaon at the outskirts seemed to be deserted, but as soon the town started it was crowded and traffic was in a crazed frenzy due to some sort of a fest happening that evening. And then we saw it, the famous border gate into Bhutan, we stopped here to take some customary photos, but had to be quick as the clock was nudging past 9PM and we did not have a hotel to stay in. The moment you cross the gate, it’s like entering another world altogether. The roads are cleaner, the streets are emptier and the after noisy rush of Jaigaon, Phuentsholing so quite that our ears were ringing due to the silence.

The first hotel we rode into did have rooms and within our budget, however the bathrooms were shared, not something I prefer while travelling with my better half. However, that was the probably our biggest mistake of the night, the next 6-8 hotels that we enquired at did have rooms. We learned that Phuentsholing town was completely packed due to an Indo-Bhutan taekwondo tournament happening that week. One of these hotels was the one which had sent an email confirmation that the room is booked for me, even they refused as they ‘claimed’ I hadn’t confirmed, to which I said I had sent multiple emails but did not get a response. I was infuriated, tired, hungry and did not have a roof above our heads. The situation was fast becoming desperate, we tried seeing some of the seedier looking hotels and they too turned us down. Finally, someone on the street suggested, looking at this new place called Hotel Bhutan, they said new and not many people know about it. When we found it inside a dark alley, it was a modern building and from the looks of it looked expensive. It was almost 10PM, the gates would soon close and I was not too keen on going back to Jaigaon. This hotel quoted a ridiculous tariff and did not accept cards, we decided to go for it anyway as it would be too risky to not have a hotel within the next 5-10 minutes. To make matters worse, their restaurant was already closed and we would have to go and find another place nearby to eat. We got up to the room, not to complain the room was great and had all modern facilities, it certainly wasn’t worth the price we were paying for it. I’m quite sure they overcharged us.

We dumped our gear and luggage and changed into something more comfortable for walking and headed out in search of food. Most restaurants which were open whilst we were searching for a hotel were open but now at 10PM they had all shut. We walked around quite a bit and found that most of them had closed, the one place that was open refused to serve us food as their chef wanted to go home and hence were serving only drinks. Dejected at not finding anything, we walked back to our room and had to satiate ourselves with the mixed dry fruits that we were carrying with us. From the mad traffic of Siliguri, to eating dust after Bipara, to not finding hotels in Phuentsholing, to finding a ridiculously overpriced hotel and the final nail in the coffin was not getting any dinner. This was officially the worst possible start to the trip we could have expected. Disgruntled we went to bed hoping that tomorrow would be a better day. Yes, it was our mistake that we did not book any place in advance and arrived quite late in the night, but this was our first taste of laid back Bhutan and I was not liking it at all. This was not the end of the drama though, more lay in store for us the next day…

re: LoneWolfRides® - Druk Yul [Bhutan] - Dec' 2016



Completely Directed, Edited and Produced by the wife

Re: LoneWolfRides® - Druk Yul [Bhutan] - Dec' 2016

Nicely compiled!
Waiting for the next update!

Re: LoneWolfRides® - Druk Yul [Bhutan] - Dec' 2016


Note: No pictures as the whole day was spent running around!

We were hungry, but I think we more tired and falling asleep was no problem. Next morning we had to start early, as the permit office opened at 9AM and being a Monday we were expecting quite a bit of rush. But before we headed there, we had to have breakfast and get my wife’s passport photo clicked as I had forgotten to pack them. At about 7.30AM neither was the restaurant at this ridiculously priced hotel open, nor was any other restaurant open on the road. We found one lone Xerox shop functioning, and it was not surprising it was run by an Indian, he informed us that we would have to cross the border to get passport photos clicked. And that’s what we did, we walk over to India and you could immediately tell the difference. We found this fascinating and sad that both countries are just separated by a fence, but it’s like two different worlds on either side.

We found the passport photo shop in the middle of the busy market area, he said it would take about 15-20 minutes. So, we decided to have breakfast in Jaigaon at the little restaurant running right next to the passport photo shop. All they had for breakfast was stale rotis and potato (aloo) curry, but we ate anyway to fill our empty stomachs. With everything from breakfast, photos and photo copied documents we were set to go the permit office. We were patting our backs that we reached there quite early by 8.30AM, only to be surprised by a small crowd already gathered there before us. The process of getting the permits is quite well documented and straightforward. However, it’s our fellow compatriots who make this a completely hellish experience. We were let in at 9AM sharp and after two hours of standing in lines for submitting our papers and getting biometrics done, we were ready to just relax. But this was not the end of the tunnel, we still had to get our vehicle permits, local Bhutanese sims and not to forget pack and saddle up. Phew!!!

I decided to get our local sims while my wife packed up our luggage. Now I managed to get myself a sim, but for the second sim my wife had to be physically present. So I had to gear-up in at least the riding pants and boots as the rest had to be packed away as we were closing in on the 12PM checkout time at the ridiculously priced hotel. I reached the RSTA at around 12PM with all our papers, it took me nearly 15 minutes find the right office and get the form filled up, but alas it was not going to be smooth. The officer had shut office and left for an early lunch by then and would be back only by 2PM. Now our destination for today was Paro which barely 160 Kms away, but with the road ahead being completely hills and twisties, also with no idea about the road conditions I had no clue how much time it would take to reach. Asking the locals, I would get vague answers from 3 hours to 8 hours. The frustration did not end there, as the office was shut I had no option but to head back to the hotel. Now from RSTA to the hotel the distance is barely half a kilometer, but due to the immense traffic and strict road rules enforcement (i.e. no overtaking) it took me 45 minutes to cover the entire distance. The heat and hard clutch were already starting to tire me out.

You guessed right, this was no fairy tale welcome to Bhutan. Since we entered last night it was a constant struggle frustration. With nothing else to do we had lunch at the hotel (expensive and disappointing again) and decided to move to the RSTA office after checking out and saddling up the bike (which was a struggle too as today I had to figure out myself how to put up the saddle bag). We were already late when we got back to the RSTA office, it was 2.30 PM and I was starting to doubt if riding to Paro today was a good idea because, I was not at all sure if there was any snow or black ice along the way as we definitely would have to ride post sun down. While waiting in line to get the vehicle permits, one guy who looked like a Indian tour operator asked me where I was going. When I replied, “Paro”. He looked at me angrily and told me that I would be crazy to leave for Paro this late, saying its too cold and the road is not safe to be on a bike at night. When I enquired about black ice/snow he didn’t seem to respond. I nearly missed getting the vehicle permit as the payment counter closes at 3PM and I was there at 2.55PM. The final part of the process is to get a stamp of approval from the officer in charge, I was waiting in line to get inside the office and there was a board outside that read people in shorts will not be allowed. I was in the exact opposite, I was in complete riding gear. Now I was afraid that I might not be allowed in on account of looking like an alien.

But finally, at 3.30 PM I had the stamped papers in my hand. As I made my way to the parking, a policeman in overalls stopped me and asked me where was I going, when I said Paro he was quite happy and said he too is leaving for Paro on his bike in a couple of hours. When I enquired about covering the road at night, he reassured me that this is the best time to ride as there is no traffic on the road. And considering that its December, there are little to no chances of landslides. This was a HUGE reassuring feeling for me, I knew I did not want to stay another day in Phuentsholing, the experience was just too disappointing. We decided to push forward to Paro, there were small towns along the way, if it got too cold for us to ride we would stop for the night. Phuentsholing still had a bad traffic jam, to add to my woes I was tired because of the heat and walking around in gear all afternoon.

It took us some time to get out of the clutches of traffic, but as soon as we were outside Phuentsholing the roads were relatively free. But this was my first real experience with the Himalayan on twisties. The offroad oriented suspension and lack of weight on the front tyre was something that takes getting used to as well. The checkpost about 5 kms outside of Phuentsholing was quite a smooth process to clear. After that, the traffic dropped even further and was smooth sailing. The road surface was decent, there were patches where the roads would vanish and there would be potholes here and there, but nothing that the Himalyan could not handle. In fact the capability of the bike to handle these unforeseen road conditions was really starting to impress me and improve my confidence on the bike.

But I was still quite slow, getting out of Phuentsholing traffic, waiting at the checkpost and riding the bike slowly had started to take its toll on our time left for the day. You have to remember this is the far east, the sun set time is much sooner and being in the hills means that light fades away a lot more quickly. We crossed Gedu around 5PM and light was starting to fade rapidly and the temperature was also starting to drop quite quickly, and we had just covered about 40 Kms from Phuentsholing. A few kilometers outside of Gedu, my wife started shivering because of the cold. We pulled over to the side of the road to go to war with the cold. We got most of our thermal wear out, from fleece balaclavas to woolen scarves and neck warmers, even our rain gear was out to cut the cold out. The additionally layers stiffened up movement but was quite warm and toasty. We were back on the road and within a couple of minutes it was dark, this is where the Himalayan came into its element and I think to some extent even I found my groove with the bike. I was able to ride much quicker now and was quite confident of the bike’s capabilities when patches of broken/missing road appeared. I was really started to appreciate the bike’s capabilities especially on the broken pieces of tarmac. Found an Indian plate Innova driving very well through the twisties, not being overtly rash like some of our other fellow Indian taxis. That helped me keep my pace up for quite some time. Special mention the Bhutanese vehicles here for their amazing sense of road discipline.

Not wanting to repeat the previous evening’s misadventure, I called up our booked hotel to confirm our bookings and also order dinner and keep it aside. The only safe option at this point seemed to be to order two plates of veg sandwiches. At this point I was still not sure what time I would make it into Paro, despite the faster pace. Because it was night time, I was not aware of the height we were at and did not feel one bit of hesitation in getting off the road shoulder if it was needed. It would only be 10 days later on our return leg that I would be aware of the kind of elevation we were riding at and one mistake could have meant a 1000-foot tumble. We were stopped again for document checks around Chapcha, I was very impressed to see lady police officers manning the blockade. Soon after this the roads improved considerably, to a point where the Himalayan started to struggle to keep pace. We reached a cross roads where one road lead to Thimphu and the other to Paro, we were getting close. Strangely enough the temperatures did not drop much further below what we experienced at Gedu, but even at approximately an ambient 10-15 degrees, the wind chill whilst riding was quite strong.

We entered an almost deserted Paro town, and needed to rely on Google maps to navigate to our hotel. We were welcomed with warm cups of coffee, and I was glad that we had reached at a relatively more respectable 9PM. I was a bit disappointed that I had pre-ordered my boring dinner of veg sandwiches. We completed the check-in formalities and got to our room. Quickly changed out of the riding gear and were back at the restaurant for our dinner. We also met the owner of the restaurant who it turns out had stayed in Bangalore for a couple years to attend college. We also fixed up with the reception a taxi that would take us to the Taktsang base-camp. The temperatures now had dropped into the single digits and I was glad that we had a heated bed for the night. Finally, Bhutan was warming up to us and we were warming up to Bhutan.

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And the next day...

Re: LoneWolfRides® - Druk Yul [Bhutan] - Dec' 2016

Beautiful jouney in the making-tough start though

Re: LoneWolfRides® - Druk Yul [Bhutan] - Dec' 2016

Praful - a wonderful travelogue and beautiful pics

Looks like you have fallen for the Himalayan

Re: LoneWolfRides® - Druk Yul [Bhutan] - Dec' 2016

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An early start for the day was warranted, we had the Paro Taktsang or Tigers Nest trek as its more popularly known ahead of us. Though the locals at the reception had assured us that it’s just a 3-hour journey on the way up and 2 hours on the way down. Having failed at a trek in Karnataka last year and our fitness not in any better shape since then, we were quite skeptical if we would finish it so soon. But one thing was clear, no matter how long it takes, we were going complete the trek. I decided to take a cab till the basecamp as that way we don’t need to leave our helmets and other gear at the mercy of some shop, though I’m sure nothing would have happened anyway. But I’m paranoid that way. LoL !!



We started the day with a hearty breakfast, we needed the calories especially because the options for food were next to nil. The resort provided us with complimentary walking sticks to be used on the trek. The cab driver was a really nice guy, he was extremely polite and shared a lot of information about Paro and Bhutan. He also reassured us that the trek is quite easy and most people do it 5-6 hours up and down. He also stopped at a small restaurant before the basecamp and asked to pack as much snacks and water as we could, as the cafeteria half way along the trek is extremely expensive by Bhutanese standards. Finally, our short drive from the resort ended and we were at the basecamp. It was almost 9AM when we reached the basecamp, it was a little late yes but nothing to be alarmed about, at least not yet!

It was quite cold even at 9AM when we started walking, the staring path at the basecamp has its usual bunch of hawkers selling all sorts of touristy trinkets. The trek had started and we could not hide the excitement, this was THE highlight of the trip for us (at least at that point in time). Within about 5 minutes the forest had given way to a clearing and we could clearly see the Taktsang from where, it looked very very far away to be honest.



Unlike the failed trek to Kudremukh in Karnataka, we decided not to push ourselves too much. If we felt tired our out of breath we will just take a break for as long as it takes to recover, and decided not to let out ego get bruised if people overtook us, no matter how old they looked. After the initial bit of plains, the climb gets quite steep and we had to be careful of the ponies that carry people half the way. We took many breaks and often groups would go past us, but we had decided to leave our egos behind for the day. It was far more important to make it to the top than come all this distance and give up mid-way.

As we ascended towards Tiger’s nest, the view of the valley gradually opened up to us and we could the parking become smaller and smaller. The ascent by length of imagination is easy, as we rise almost 3000 Ft above the Paro valley. It took some time, but we eventually reached the mid-way point where people using ponies must alight and walk, this is also where the cafeteria is located. We took a longer break here to recuperate, and looks like we weren’t the only ones. The Taktsang certainly looked closer from here, but not close enough.




We resumed our upward journey only to be joined by an almost 90-year-old Bhutanese man and his granddaughter. They were with us almost for the next hour, only because our fitness levels were as bad or as good. The journey did get a little easier from here because the inclines at most places were lesser and more because we had started getting used to the strain. And, finally it happened, after almost 3 hours of huffing and puffing we were at the same level as the Taktsang. Pictures don’t do justice to the magical beauty of this place and yes it does take your breath away. Almost everyone stops here for a picture, some even stop their trek here and start the return journey. All the pictures we had seen the in past also showed pictures only till here and made it seem as if reaching the Monastery from here was child’s play. What it fails to show clearly is the 600 odd steps first going down and then going up. This for us was clearly the toughest part of the trek. We spent then next 45 minutes hobbling down and then climbing up these steps. What hit us the most that we had to repeat the same on the way back. When finally reached the top, it was a blessing in disguise that the monastery was closed for lunch hour and we got an extended break to relax and munch on some snacks.



Inside, the monastery is beautiful and kind of makes it hard to imagine how all this was built all those years back. We visited all the smaller temples inside the complex without understanding much about the significance of each as we did not hire a guide with us. However, the most interesting one is the cave where it is said Guru Rinpoche landed first on the back of the tigress. To descend into this dark cave one needs quite acrobatically descend wooden ladder and then twist yourself around on a small rock platform and then head down another wooden ladder which takes you deep inside another narrow cave where only one person can fit. This is definitely not recommended for people who have a fear of heights or have claustrophobia or even darkness. Because this is a combination of all three



It was almost 2.30 PM and we had to start our descent soon as it gets dark quite early this time of the year. The steps were the most dreaded part and it is as difficult to get down them as much as much as it is coming up. At the end of the steps on top on the other side, we bid a final adieu to the Tiger’s Nest and started our downward journey. This part of the journey is mostly about stopping yourself from rolling down and hence puts a lot of strain on the muscles above the knees. But even with burning quad muscles, the descent was relatively quicker as we needed much lesser breaks. We took one long break around the halfway point. We cracked open one of the oranges we had purchased somewhere on the road side the day before on our way to Paro. I don’t know if it was just the fatigue or it was really that way, but it was the most refreshing orange I have had in my life.



The sun had already set behind the mountains, but there was still sometime for it to be twilight by the time we got back to flat ground. Luckily for us our cab driver was already there waiting for us. Both of us heaved a sigh of relief as we plonked down on the car seats. And a few interesting conversations later we arrived back at the resort the bed could not seem any more inviting. After resting for about an hour I strolled back to the reception to get some recommendations on restaurants. Luckily, I bumped into the owner of the resort who happily obliged with some of his favorite places for local cuisine.

We ventured into the cold night looking for Jigsel-1, apparently the best place for buffet in town. Incidentally, this was also the first time today that we actually rode the bike. After getting lost and not finding the place as marked on Google maps, we resorted to asking some locals to give us right directions which finally worked. Entering ahead of us was another group of Indians, probably looking for the same thing as us, good food. But before we could enter, we saw the group beat a hasty retreat. Only when we entered I realized why, they were so quick to march out. The all you can eat buffet on offer had a variety of meats, which can look a bit intimidating if you only eat chicken and call yourself a non-vegetarian. I asked my wife if she is comfortable considering the meats on display, she was too hungry to be bothered with such things. We ordered the famous datshi dishes, one for each of us and to compliment that we ordered some Bhutanese wine and beer. Much deserved opulence after the arduous trek today, more considering that after breakfast this was our first meal of the day. After round one, we were still hungry and ended up ordering another round of drinks and food, I think hunger was satiated somewhere in the middle of the second round, but only when we completed the second round did our souls feels completely satisfied. The gluttony was also due to the fact that last two night’s our dinner had been below par and had to either do with no dinner or a paltry dinner of sandwiches.


After the celebratory dinner for completing the trek we were stuffed to our necks, but it was a very very satisfying meal. Not to mention it was delicious as well. We had planned to do some night sightseeing on the way back as the Paro Dzong was well lit up on our way in the night before. But the shivering cold and lack of carrying my zoom lens meant below par pictures. We thought maybe a closer picture would do more justice, but that too was not possible to capture as the road ran too close to the Dzong and the cold of the night was getting to us, so we just decided to head back to the resort. As the resort is outside the main town and the road runs right alongside a river it was even colder the last couple of minutes before we got to our rooms.

The exhaustion from the trek, stomach full of good food and toasty heated bed and blankets meant we just knocked out in a matter of seconds. The next day was relatively relaxed, we only had to ride to Thimphu which was hardly 50 kms away. I had found a decent hotel in the center of the city on booking.com and booked it right away.

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Re: LoneWolfRides® - Druk Yul [Bhutan] - Dec' 2016

Great!
Carry on!

Re: LoneWolfRides® - Druk Yul [Bhutan] - Dec' 2016

Wow ... I can visually go through your travelogue of your experiences. Keep it coming bro. We need the rest of them. 👌

Re: LoneWolfRides® - Druk Yul [Bhutan] - Dec' 2016

Finish it off buddy. Going great till now

Sent from my Redmi 3S using xBhp.com mobile app

Re: LoneWolfRides® - Druk Yul [Bhutan] - Dec' 2016

glued on to this thread I am now!!!! Please keep the update coming..