Bhutan Budget Backpackers - Day 2 ( Phuentsholing - Paro )

28 September 2014 – Day 2

Kuzu zangpo la Bhutan! (Hello Bhutan)

Our hotel guys were glad to exchange our Indian INR for Bhutan’s Ngultrum (Trivia: Bhutan and Nepal are the only countries in the world to peg their currency to India i.e. 1 INR = 1 Ngultrum) so you can use them interchangeably. Whilst a lot of blogs mention folks don’t accept 500 INR denomination notes, we had no issues exchanging those during our trip. Also Phuentsholing and Thimphu have a JV Bank ATM with Punjab National Bank. Visa cards don’t work but my Maestro card did.

Having filled our permit forms earlier (Keep a Bhutan hotel address handy) and attaching a color passport size photograph, we beat the queue at 8:15 AM BST and were done with our interviews by 8:30 AM BST. The good natured guy from last night was pretty serious today but mellowed down as we started asking his suggestions on whether we could get extension permits here itself. He did mention that being a public holiday, Thimphu office would be closed so wouldn’t make sense for us to hit Thimphu today and should head to Paro instead.

Famished, we decided to go to our favourite Café Kizom and grab some continental spread. Whilst the girls hung out with a common friend, we decided to head to the bus stand at 10:30 AM BST and figure our way to Paro. The bus stand is down the road, over the bridge in a tiny white building with lot of paid taxis standing outside.

Book first, explore later

 Bhutan is a mountainous country, spread out, sparsely populated and hence public transport is minimal. A handful of 20 seater buses connect places and the last buses for the day on an average leave latest by 6 – 7 AM. Phuentsholing – Thimphu route is the only one that has buses plying every hour till 3:30 PM – 4 PM BST.

As you would have figured, we had missed the last bus to Paro (9 AM BST). Cursing ourselves on the extra round of desserts we had ordered, we tried to figure out Plan B. The helpful people at the bus stand suggested we take the bus to Thimphu and get off at Chuzom (Confluence). From there would be a lot of vehicles headed to Paro from Thimphu and we’d easily get a ride for INR 100.

So we decided to book tickets (you are given a seat number on the ticket. No standing allowed) and found out all buses were booked to Thimphu till 01:30 PM BST (We got the last 2 seats in that bus). It cost us INR 230 per person. We had 3 hours to kill till our bus. Going forward, we figured we needed to book our bus tickets the moment we landed at our next spot else end up stranded or get the last seats (which are the bumpiest). Google maps suggested it would take us 6 hours to Chuzom. That’s where we soon learnt our second lesson, don’t trust google maps for time and also distances don’t matter in Bhutan.

After we grabbed some lunch, we bumped into the girls who had managed to book a cab since all buses for the day had been sold out by the time they got to the bus stand. Bidding them farewell and loitering around the town, we landed up at our bus by 1 PM BST not wanting to risk a chance of missing it. There were two buses that were being filled up with baskets, sacks, luggage and what not. Folks were already seated in their seats whilst others ate cucumbers and chit chatted. A Bengali man had come to drop his daughter in law and grandson and spotting us, figured we were Indian tourists (elementary my dear Watson). Being 2014, Modi fever was sky high around the world and he too started giving us his perspective on what he felt about the man and his policies.

Our bus driver was a class act, I am sure he had retired from a Laurel and Hardy sketch comedy and brought to drive buses here. Jumping around, cracking Dzongkha jokes ( I had to rely on the body language and audience reaction). We told him we had to get off at Chozum and accordingly dumped our luggage on the top in the front for ease of pulling it off later.

“It’s not the destination that matters, it’s the journey”

Settling into our not so comfy seats, we started taking in the scenery which we felt was breath taking at that moment (I later on deleted photos from this leg since they felt too plain to what followed in the ensuing days). Whoever quoted “It’s not the destination that matters, it’s the journey.”  was on a public bus in Bhutan. The entire bus turned into one big family chatting with each other, sharing the goodies they had got from India. Also please note: If subject A wants to attend nature’s call in the wild, just put your hand up and let the driver know. He’ll stop and everyone will happily pile out and mind their business. Now 5 minutes later, subject B wants to attend nature’s call in the wild, what’d you expect? Yup, in Bhutan, you just put your hand up and let the driver know. He’ll stop and everyone will happily pile out and mind their business. We must have had so many unscheduled stops, we lost count.

The other unscheduled stop was a customs checkpoint to see if any contraband items were being smuggled in. Stereotyping meant only the guys in 20-25 age group were asked to step out with their bags. Once we started off again, everyone laughed as an old aunt snuck out a box of cigarettes and so did a young lady. Cigarettes are banned In Bhutan but I am told the older generation whilst glad their kids won’t have access to them still are addicted and enjoy them in the privacy of their homes. Next stop was when we hit the check post where all foreigners have to show their permit. (If you see a bus full of labourers anywhere in the vicinity, just run to the permit room as if your life depends on it else you’ll be stuck in an extremely long queue) A lot of road construction etc is done by Indians who come in everyday to Bhutan, do their day job and go back.

We soon stopped at Karma café, a family run restaurant for tea and snacks. Being only a 10 minute halt and unsure of cooking times of local specialities, we grabbed some chips and suja (butter tea). Suja has a salty acquired taste so don’t expect to gulp it down like the Indian masala chai if you haven’t had it before. Soon we got acquainted to our fellow travellers – two of them in a similar age group: Pemo – a law student in Kolkata & Tshering – a substances abuse counsellor (after 12 years of addiction). They enthralled us with stories of their visits to India and the idiosyncrasies of our country and also how substance abuse is becoming a big problem in their country amongst the youth.

Stranger Things

As we rushed through the valleys, the sun had set pretty early and in the pitch dark, we suddenly stopped. You must have seen enough horror movie settings to recognise the one I am about to share. A cold chill in the air, the echo of freezing cold water frantically gushing through the gorges in the vicinity, nocturnal wildlife making their presence felt at high decibels and complete desolation. And it was only 6:45 PM BST. Everyone looked at us – this was our stop. I expected a junction, lot of people, 2-3 chaiwalas, a bus / taxi stand and light. I got none of the above.

Sash and I looked at each other and in our silence, we both agreed that it made sense to go to Thimphu rather than risk being stranded in the middle of nowhere. Pemo had sensed our uneasiness and already hopped off the bus. By the time we made our decision, he called us out. “Looks little scary. No worry. I found this man, he is also going to Paro. He’ll get you there safely. Have told him you are good friends so don’t worry. “ Tshering had also sensed our uneasiness, and had come out. She recognised the stranger Pemo had brought and they started off like old friends. She then summarised her conversation highlighting he was an officer at the Department of Narcotics where she counselled and we were in safe hands. We couldn’t have been anymore thankful to both of them for doing all this without even being asked.

Turned out our new friend was also named Pemo. Once the bus left, the only source of light was this huge canvas poster of the Royal family. Pemo continuously reassured us that we needn’t worry and he’d make sure we reach Paro safe and sound. He’d shout something every time an odd car zoomed by every few minutes but to no avail. Ten minutes in that setting, we had grown accustomed to the darkness and I started appreciating the tiny joys of nature as we whiled away our time wondering what kind of horror movie setting I could set up here.

Chip and Dale – Rescue Rangers

A huge pickup truck stopped at his random hollering after a while and he rushed to them. Calling us over, he said a couple was kind enough to drop us to Paro. The lady started asking us about where in India were we from and what our plans were and if we had booked hotels already. When we let her know we hadn’t, she mentioned it was a busy time and wouldn’t be nice to be left stranded. She started called up her friends and relatives who owned hotels in case they had any vacant rooms but unfortunately not.

When asked where to be dropped, I had one hotel in mind, Hotel KK as suggested by college seniors and fellow adventure seekers Stalin and Prathap Raja who had visited Bhutan a month earlier. Figured we’d find something in the vicinity. The couple refused to take a ngultrum stating we were guests in their country.

Pemo also refused to leave us till we got a hotel room having overheard how difficult it might be to get a room. Since we didn’t have a number, he also gave his email id highlighting he was travelling to Thimphu on the same day as us and in case we needed any help. He got us a room at Hotel KK at INR 1200 per night (2 beds / room + western attached). We were in no mood to bargain (yes you can) as we were grateful getting a room and had enough excitement for the day.

Sonam was a local kid who worked at the hotel and having a decent command over English came across as very friendly welcoming us and taking our order of rice and Kewa datsi ( potato cheese stew) since he wasn’t sure if we could handle the national dish of ema datsi (Chilli cheese stew). Having settled in, we decided to check out the town before calling it a night but looked like at 9 PM BST, the town had already called it a night with only stray dogs in the vicinity and a few youngsters having a high of a different kind. 

Druk - Punjab National Bank JV

First sights of Paro 

Immigration checkpost at Phuentsholing

Key Points
The walk in policy for getting a permit is only valid for Indians and Bangladeshis as we needn't pay any tourist tax. I believe all other nationals of other countries need to tie up with a travel agency to smoothen their payment of tourist tax (starts at about $150 per day but please verify official sources for updates) 

Public transport is limited so book first, think later. The earlier you book, the better seats you will get. You can pick a seat number if available. The first 12 are equally uncomfy, gets worse afterwards.

Phuentsholing - Chozum (Confluence) : 5.5 hours / 230 INR per person

Cigarettes are banned in Bhutan though if you asked around, you might be able to score some.

Keep your permit handy at the roadside checkpoint. They need to stamp your transit on it.

Hotel KK, Paro - INR 1200 / night. (2 beds + western attached)

*Believe in humanity*