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Bhutan!Dec 28, 2008
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Sangay & Tashi
HIGHLIGHTS
• Cross border into Bhutan
• A long, bumpy and twist jeep ride to Paro
DETAIL
Jaigaon is a typical Indian town compounded by it being a border town. I had been warned that it was not particularly safe but I want to post my BLOG and get the ‘feel’ of the place – it took 2.1256 seconds so after posting my BLOG I head straight back to my hotel.
Bhutan – it had cost me about $2,000 for an eight day tour of Bhutan – very expensive. There is no option. One has to pay a tariff of 250USD per day but for this one gets a guide, jeep, accommodation and food.
In the morning I meet my guide Sangay and his driver Tashi at eight and we head for the Indian Immigration office and, as usual we wait and then cross into Phuntsholing, Bhutan. It feels different, quiet and peaceful, not at all like a border town.
We are at the beginning of the foothills and we start to climb to Paro, just over 2,000 metres. The road starts out OK but then it turns to gravel, then mud, then broken pavement, anon. The most interesting is that the width of the lane is no wider than a single Canadian lane except that this lane supports two-way traffic. This gets even better as the road clings precariously to the edge of the mountain with a drop of 1,000 metres and not crash barriers.
We twist and turn our way up and I am not only feeling the effects of the altitude but motion sickness. We stop for a cup of coffee and its coffee in the English way: hot milk and instant coffee. Off again and we stop for lunch consisting of vegetables, rice, noodles, gyoza and fish – very different.
We pass a number of checkpoints and the police are very polite and charming. The excuse for the checkpoints is that they want to ensure that if someone goes off the road they can pin-point between two checkpoints – yeh, right!
We make Paro and check-in to quite a lovely hotel about a couple of kilometres from Paro which would be wonderful in summer. In retrospect what I should have done is do the north first, i.e. the Punjab, Bhutan and Nepal as it might have been a little warmer. But my room is huge, comfortable AND more importantly it has heat.
I wish I hadn’t made an air flight booking yesterday as I should have just booked a flight from Paro to Kathmandu so I will try and cancel and fly directly from Bhutan to Nepal.
My first impressions of Bhutan, a landlocked country of 600,000 is that the people appear to be very respectful, deeply Buddhist and quiet. By quiet I mean is that there’s no shouting, people talk quietly to one another. An example of being respectful is that Sangay and Tashi broke into Bhutanese and Sangay turned and apologized talking in his native tongue. It wasn’t so much business rather his sincerity.
I update my journal on my flashcard go to the hotels Internet and its 300 Bhutanese Thingies, which I think are called Nu’s per hour ($7.50). I am politely told that Bhutan is a developing country – right! In India its only sixty cents per hour.
Anyway, the Internet is down which I believe is normality here so I go for dinner. The restaurant is huge and I imagine that in summer all tables are full. The waiter keeps bringing food, dish after dish. The only meat dish is pork and it’s a tad tough but it’s an OK dinner and the waiters hover.
