Tour of Bhutan 2024 | Day 1 | Getting to the Border

I do not get proper sleep as every now & then I wake up to check the time on the mobile. The alarm is set to ring for 2:30 am but before that, I wake up 2 times. The flight has been delayed by half n hour and now the flight will depart around 5:30 am.

I leave the house around 3:30 am and reach the airport within 45 mins. Check in formality is completed with 1 issue being reported at security check. They find my plastic roll which I’d used to wrap my saddle bags. They tell me it’s prohibited in hand luggage and insist on putting it in check-in baggage. I let it go and board the flight.

We land around 8:35 am at Guwahati. I catch the next connecting flight to Bagdogra. Check-in and security check is done quickly & there are no any issues. In the flight, I meet uncle of my very close friend, who lives in Silchar. We get on talking and the 50 mins flight quick lands. I come out of the airport to quickly hail a taxi to take me to the bus stand. Bus seems the logical decision, given the late departure of trains as well as govt run bases. The ride fare is decided at 700rs as he takes 1 hour to drop me at the stand. At the Stand, I am lucky to get a bus leaving for a town town called ‘Birpara’. That’s the closest the bus will go. With still some distance left to the border. I am told that another bus from Birpara will directly take me to the border.

The fare is 110 rs and since I have luggage with me, I pay the ticket of the adjacent seat also as I keep my luggage there. The journey is comfortable with some occasional stops by the conductor to fill in more passengers. I reach around 4 p.m. at Birpara and immediately get another bus to the border in next 5 mins. This bus is even more crowded than the previous as I have to go standing for the balance 50 kms. I have to manage and there is no option. For the last 5 kms, I manage to get a seat as I reach the border town of Jaigaon around 5:30 p.m. Last 1 km to the Bhutan entrance terminal is done by rickshaw. Before I enter, I draw out some money from ATM as I know that going further, it won’t be possible. Indian currency is widely accepted in Bhutan.

After some walking, carrying all the luggage, I enter the terminal, show my ID and passport, only to be greeted by agent cum friend and the guide. We quickly move towards we have my hotel. We have coffee together and discuss the tour itinerary together. They see me off. I get freshened up and then have my dinner at the same hotel ‘Hotel Drukies’. Dinner and Breakfast are included in the package. Dinner is typical Bhutanese style consisting of Rice, Daal, Mushroom stew and stir fried pork. After the dinner, I get to physically see the bike which I will be riding. Tashi and my guide Phub Tshering has also come. We chat for a while before saying good night to each other. Once I see them off, I take a casual stroll around Phuenshotling town for around 30 mins, stopping and clicking some memorial photos and temples before returning back to hotel for a good night’s sleep.