An Adventure to The Royal Kingdom of Bhutan

A view of Haa Valley 
“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta

First of All ,  A Warm Welcome for Visiting this Blog Post . I'd like you to take through a mesmerizing & Adventurous Journey through Bhutan as we've done Last year.

Hopefully this post will be your Guide & will also help you to get required details & Contacts for your upcoming Journey to Bhutan.

I could've written it as "A Trip to Bhutan" but it was more of an Adventure for us . A Journey which may be we'll remember our whole Life , because it was a trip with Whole Uncertainty  from the Start till the End . Take some moment to Read the below as a Story or As a Guide, if you're planning to Visit Bhutan by Your Own as well.


Okay , Let's Start the Journey !!

It was end of December 2015 , when Me & One of my friend(Snehasish) took a Bus (From Dharmatola Bus Depot) to Bhutan all of a Sudden in hope to Visit to Bhutan. it was Bhutan Govt Bus suppose to Start on Thursday Evening but started on a Friday Morning & It took nearly 28 hour to reach to Bhutan Border City called Phuentsholing . When we arrived there it was already Saturday 11 AM & there was a long queue (Mostly were Bangladeshi People) to get the Entry Permit to Bhutan . We tried for few hour but got frustrated & decided to drop plan for visiting Bhutan & headed for Sikim that time.

"Note For You → Never take/Rely on Bhutan Govt Bus from Kolkata if you're planning for trip , first because of the Poor Seating Quality & secondly, the punctuality of the Bus timing is pathetic "

However since we're a bunch of people , who doesn't loose our Hope so Soon 😃 . It was next year (2016)September (Right After our trip to Kerala) , we decided to take one more chance to Bhutan on December Again  And as always it happens for every travelling Group , we initially got around 6 people who were interested for the trip but ended up with only 2 People (This time it was Me & Suvabrata) who took the Leap of Faith & started our Journey . Oh by the way this time we've booked the train ticket in Advance , though we couldn't get the Entry Permit well in advance from the Embassy of Bhutan from Kolkata since they were not providing Entry Permit from the Embassy & suggested to take it from the Entry Permit Office Just Beyond Bhutan Border.

The closest train station to Bhutan Border is Hasimara . It's Around 17 KM from Bhutan Border .
Our Trip was planned from 21st of December,2016(Thursday) upto 1st January 2018(Saturday) .
If you've noticed both the time we've traveled , start date planned was Wednesday/Thursday . The reason is almost all Bhutan Govt Offices are closed on Saturday & Sunday .

"Note For You → If you're planning to visit Bhutan & don't have your Entry Permit ready , don't plan to start on Friday . It is always advisable to start before Wednesday . Also if you plan to get your Entry Permit ready , don't do mistake as we've did by calling the Embassy. Instead you can directly reach embassy & we heard there are people who can make arrangement for you . But be sure to visit Embassy at-least 15-20 days before your Journey Start date."

Our train started from Sealdah on 21st Evening and we were hoping to reach Hasimara Next day(22nd) by at most 12 PM. However luck played a little bit foul and we reached there around 1:30 PM .
We took an Shared Auto from Hasimara station & Rushed to the border as we had to secure the permit on that day itself .
Auto Charged us Rs 30/- per head to make us reach to Bhutan Border .

We immediately went to the Entry Permit Office & Applied for Permit . We noticed that the Permit is provided upto 3:30 PM everyday . Luckily we got our permit quickly when our wrist-watch was ticking at 3 PM & we were little bit relaxed and then when we saw wall-clock in the office, it was 3:30 PM. Then we realized that Bhutan timing is 30 min ahead of IST timing.

"Note For You → Bhutan time is 30 min ahead of IST . Also your luck may not click as it happened for us to get entry permit so quickly , so be there earliest possible ."

We already knew that Bhutan is a little bit costly & since only 2 of us had traveled , we had plan to take the last bus (Which was on 4:30 PM Bhutan Time) to Thimphu. So we didn't wasted any time on taking Lunch & All , but rushed to the Bus Depot (Which is merely 20 min walk from the Entry Office) & again luckily got 2 bus ticket to Thimphu . Also because we had some mobile tower available till then (Thanks to Airtel) , we immediately booked an Hotel for that night through Booking.com for Thimphu night stay, though it costed us around 2100 INR for one night.

"Note For You → You may alternatively take Shared Taxi as well to go to Thimphu , if you don't get Bus ticket available. It'll cost around 400-600 INR whereas Bus ticket costs around 200 INR."

We reached around 10:30 PM in Thimphu and it was Chilly Cold at night on December. We somehow got a Taxi to our Hotel . While going for the Hotel , when we were checking the fare/travel costs for our planned visiting location by Taxi , we got an idea that you can never Visit Bhutan & Roam around Bhutan using Cab from Bhutan , as you can get bankrupt in one day if you choose to do so 😜😅 .

"Note For You →The Entry Permit you'll get from the Border Gate is only valid for Thimphu & Paro. Nowhere ELSE. If however you want to Visit other places, you need to secure extended/additional permit from the Thimphu Permit Office."

Hence we had to plan for alternatives and so we planned to visit places by Public Transport . Our plan of travel places were  Thimphu , Paro, Haa Valey , Chele La , Bumthang, Punakha and other places such as Trongsa, Wang-due on the way . So we planned to take the Permit on Next morning as a first task. Then we'll search for another budget Hotel & then head for Bus Depot to book Bus ticket for Bumthang for Next Morning .

23rd December , 2016 :

As planned, we went to the Permit Office by 9 AM & Applied for the Extended permit for all the places . Then searched for a Hotel & we got a Room for 900 INR Per day for that day stay . Then bought a Bhutan Sim Card (B Mobile) . It took 100 INR for the tourist Sim card but we got 100 as Main Balance & the Sim card was valid for 1 Month.
Then we got a CAB driver(Gyeltshen) through our first Hotel , who agreed for our luggage transfer to the second hotel , as we hired him for Sight Seeing in Thimphu .

After the Luggage transfer is done, He took us to the Bus Depot & then we found out there was no Bus ticket available to Bumthang for 23rd December Morning. The closest date Bus ticket available was 27th December. So we booked the Bus ticket for 27th December to Bumthang & Again we had to change our plan for rest of the places.

After the Bus Booking was Completed , we started for Sightseeing & the First Place we went was the Famous Dochu-La Pass.

Dochu-La Pass

View From Dochu-La

"Note For You → On the way to Dochu-La pass , there will a military checkpost where they will check your permit . You need to have extended permit to visit Dochu-La. "

Coming down from Dochu-La , we visited Buddha Dordenma(Kuensel Phodrang) . It was a Enormous Budhdha Statue , inside of it was a beautifully designed Prayer place .Located at a short drive from Thimphu city centre, visitors can get a good overview of the Thimphu valley from the Buddha point (Kuensel Phodrang). You can walk around and take a glimpse of the valley.

Budhdha Statue

Thimphu- City View from Buddha Point

Then we visited Takin Preserve, where you can see Bhutan's National Animal The Takin,It looks like a Cross-breed of both a cow & Goat.

Coming back to the City , we visited Memorial Chorten,was built in 1974 in the memory of Bhutan's third King .
Then we visited Trashichhoe Dzong,while you can enjoy visit to other Dzong for free in almost entire Bhutan , this Dzong is an exception . You need to buy pass which is around 300 INR as well as you need to be in a proper attire (As like Bhutanese Govt Employees) to visit. Hence we couldn't visit this on that day .

"Note For You → If you wish to visit this Dzong , wear shoes & ready to pay atleast 300 INR "

We wanted to taste Authentic Bhutanese Home Made Food , not the Hotel one . So we asked Gyeltshen, if he can arrange something And he was so helpful to take us to a known place of him & we had Authentic Bhutanese Home made Food . They provide us a special Dry Chilly smashed with Cabbage as a Chakhna 😆 . Though initially it felt a bit odd to have , but we got accustomed quickly .

As wise says, "To be a Traveller, You need to leave the Tourist Mentality " .


Then he dropped us at Thimphu City Centre . Where we visited the whole Market place. Tried few local Snacks & Foods and returned to Hotel at around 9 PM.

24th December , 2016 :

Because we had got Bus ticket for Bumthang on 27th December . We planned to complete the Paro trip by then . But we planned not to Visit Paro Directly.

Instead we planned to Visit to Haa Valey , then through Chele-la Pass to Paro City .

So we started at very early morning. It was 5 AM , we started to dress up with all the warm clothes possible , as the weather was very chilly that time and we started by 6:30AM from Thimphu with Gyeltshen .

On the way , we stopped for a BreakFast around a Beautiful unknown valley-Side. Even though it was Winter , we were Amused by the Greenery on the way. Few Snaps on the way to Haa Valey is given Below.

Near Indian Army Camp in Bhutan

On the way to Haa , we visited Lhakhang Karpo (White Temple) & Lhakhang Nagpo(Black Temple) .

Lhakhang Karpo (White Temple)

A Snap of  Haa Valley

After Roaming around Haa Valley , around afternoon we reached to Haa Town , a Small Peaceful town around the valley . Took our Lunch there with Rice , Same old Chakhna , Keya Dasi (Made of Potato & Cheese) & Jasha Maroo(Bhutanese spicy chicken ) .

Haa Town

Post our bellyful lunch , we headed for Bhutan's highest Motorable Pass called  "CHELE-LA" . It was unbelievably cold when we reached there. Literately we were  shaking on our foot . We've immediately took some Hot Soup & Tea . That made us stable and then we hiked upto the top of the Pass on foot & did some crazy photoshoot (Like without the cloths , of-course the upper part of our body 😜) .
Few Snaps from the Chele-La as below.

From the Top

Upon returning from Chele-La , we halted for a Paro Airport View on the way .

Paro Airport

We didn't had any hotel booked in Paro and when we reached almost all hotels from low to High range was all booked as it was the Eve of 25th December. During that time a lot of tourist from India visits there .

However the Cab driver really helped us a lot to get a budget Hotel in Paro after searching a lot of places . Also he has arranged for another Cab for our next day travel & sight seeing in Paro .

In the evening we roamed around the Paro Market , took a few snaps .Especially the Paro Dzong looks stunning in Night .

Paro Dzong

Then we rested that day as the next day was planned for Hiking/trekking.

"Note For You → If you're planning to visit during Christmas Eve to Paro/Thimphu , book your hotel advance. As you may not get the help always like we've got from them . "

25th December , 2016 :

Today is the day which entirely booked for the Tiger Nest Trek/Hiking.

We're so pumped up last night that we couldn't sleep well. Waked up at 4 AM to prepare ourself.

Cab came at sharp 5 AM (Cab Driver Zimba was Son-in-Law of the Cab driver ,who took us to Paro).

It was merely 15 min drive from our hotel to the Base . We took trekking stick on rent for 50 per piece , had some tea before starting the trek . 

Those who can not hike by foot , can take Horse Ride alternatively , but even if you take horseride , you can not reach upto the Monastery . You can maximum reach upto a view point.

We started our Trek sharp at 5:30 AM .

Initially we took less time as the weather was little bit cold and reached almost halfway mark within 2 hour . Halfway in the trek there is a Cafe , where you can take little bit rest . Fill up your bottles with Water & have some tea & Coffee & enjoy the view of the Monastery. 

Below are few snaps upto Halfway .

Trek Route Starts through Jungle way

Half-Way View of Tiger Nest

Me & Suvabrata -Halfway on the Trek

View from the Cafe

After taking cup of tea for INR 120 each (With 4-6 biscuit complimentary 😄😜) ,we again started our Journey . I'd definitely recommend to Anyone who want to enjoy the scenic beauty of Bhutan to must do the trekking , as otherwise Visitng Bhutan will not be worth .

We Finally reached to the Final View point of the Monastery . If you want to visit the Monastery from there, its around 800 steps up & down to reach .
I must acknowledge that its one of the greatest structure created by mankind , as I've had experienced till now .

Photography is not allowed within the Monastery . You need to visit the entire Monastery without your shoes & the floor stones of the Monastery was too cold . If you want to know more about the Monastery click the Link → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paro_Taktsang

Few Snaps of the Monastery & from the view point as below:

From the Final View Point

From the Viewpoint

After visiting the Monastery , we tried some few more way to discover there , but failed 😜 😆 , then returned back around afternoon . Then we visited the Paro Market place & visited a local Wine shop , tried some local drinks & bought our return Bus ticket to Thimphu for next day & came back to our hotel & started planning for our travel to Bumthang.

26th December , 2016 :

Today we waked a little bit late at around 7 AM . Got ready & started for Paro Sightseeing with Zimba .

He first took us to Kyichu Lhakhang & then to Ta Dzong (National Museum) . From there we went to Ringpung Dzong Which a River Side Dzong (Paro Dzong) . We roamed around these places upto around 12 PM . Then came back to Paro Bus stand , took our lunch & headed for Thimphu .
He charged us INR 1200 for Sightseeing + Monastery drop & Pickup . Also add-on was the Cab Driver was by profession a School Teacher, so he was well guiding us with History & Geography around Paro & Bhutan as well.

Few Snapshot of the places we visited on this day.

Ta Dzong

Paro Dzong

View From Paro Dzong

Paro City

Within the Paro Dzong

Bus started at 2 PM from Paro and reached by 3:15 to Thimphu. We again went back to the same Hotel we stayed earlier at Thimphu .

27th December , 2016 : 

Today is one of the most challenging day in the entire trip & the uncertainty factor again added up.
The primary reasons are :
1> What we came to know from People , the Road to Bumthang is very bad
2> We didn't have any hotel booking there
3> Since almost most of the tourists does not go to Bumthang through Trongsa , not much people we came across was much aware of the place .
4> The most uncertain factor is we don't have any return Bus ticket booked .

With all these uncertainty in mind , we kept our finger crossed & started for Bumthang.
Today we waked up at 5:30 AM . Got ready by 6:15 . Reached to the Bus stand  by 6:45. Bus was scheduled to start at 7:10 . It is very unusual in Bhutan that Bus leave late , but today it started around 10 min late on 7:20 .

Though distancewise Bumthang is only around 300 KM from Thimphu , but the calculative journey was around of 10-11 hours.
The First hurdle came at the first checkpost , the same checkpost through which we visited Dochu-La during Thimphu Sight Seeing and since we already once made an entry through the checkpost , they were not allowing us to go through again .

"Note For You → If you're planning to visit places through Dochu-La , make sure you go once visit all the places and then only come back . Because your entry permit only allows you to visit through a checkpost once. "

However with many requests , they finally allowed us to go through but this time they didn't made any entry in the checkpost , so we knew while returning we again need to plead for getting us back to Thimphu .

The Road around after 60 KM came as a huge surprise. It was not only very bad but one of the worst Road we've ever been to until now. The road were like made by Potholes 😜😂 . And the other of our fellow passengers said , the remaining roads till Bumthang is same.


The Whole day we were in Bus. It stopped once for Lunch and that's all . Even we were consuming less water as you can not Urinate anywhere in the Road in Bhutan  😂  .

Though the Road was challenging but the outside beauty was making us Forget about the Road.

“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu

The only contact we had was of  Mr Pema from Kaila Guest House . His contact we had arranged from our Hotel in Paro . He was very Nice & kind of his words . He called us as little as 10 times the whole day asking about the Journey & if in case of any trouble . He also tried to book our return Bus ticket for 29th December  using his contacts, even before our arrival, but no ticket was available.

We finally reached Bumthang around 10:30 PM(Around 15 Hour journey) , And Pema himself came up to pick us up with his Range Rover to his Hotel . We reached his hotel & then he offered us Tea & then we took our dinner & rested .

The Unique concept we became familiarized for the first time in Bumthang was the Room Heater.  It was not the usual Electric Room Heater . It was sort of an Iron Made Box connected to a Chimney . You need to put some woods with Petrol/similar Oil & the smoke from the buring wood will be out through the chimney but the Iron Box will be heated & make the room warm.

Room Heater for Good Night Sleep 

I forgot to mention that Bumthang was one of the most chilled place until now we've had visited. The temperature was in Minus in Night. The bed was too cold to touch even though the room was made of Wood. Somehow after warming us up using the heater (You'll fill somewhat like Bonfire) , we finally went to bed .

During our journey Today , we came across few scenery , few of which are Given Below :

28th December , 2016 : 

This day was one of the memorable & adventurous day in my life till now .

We waked up early today by 7 AM . And the first thing noticed was the hot water pipeline was all Frozen , so no water for essential things we do at morning 😜😂 . However the beautiful support staff (We both got crush into her on our first meet last night 😜) arranged some hot water for us & then we dressed up, took our Breakfast & went to the Bumthang Market . Almost all the shops were closed , in winter they usually opens up shop at late.

We checked for return Bus ticket at many places but the closest date Bus ticket was available was 2nd January ,2017 . So we had decided to leave Mr. Tshring's Hotel & to take Dormitory just beside Bus stop. The another reason was the Dormitory was very cheap as compared to the Hotel .

Also , we arranged of a Cab Driver who agreed to visit us to the sightseeing there in a cheap rate of around INR 1500 .

So we checked-out from the hotel and shifted to the Dormitory . Then started for Sight Seeing.

First we visited Kurje Lhakhang ,Tangbi Goemba ,Lhodrak Kharchhu Monastery & then to Membartsho (The Burning Lake) .

After visiting all these places , we walked up to Jakar Dzong. Few Snaps are Given Below .

With the Helpful CAB driver @Bumthang

After returning from the Dzong something miracle happened .

As the Wise Says "Luck Favors the Brave" .

The same Cab Driver who has taken us to sightseeing , came back to our Dormitory to provide us a School Bus driver number . He said a school bus will be going towards Thimphu with school kids for some Taekwondo Competition and may have few seats available . We immediately called the Bus driver and he told us to wait in the Bus stop by 6:30 .

Then in the evening we roamed around the market place & then came to the Dormitory & we took a local Alcohol just to taste as it was looking like odd in Green Colored Drink called by Name "Sonfy".

Half Glass of Sonfy to make you Sleep Well

Then we ordered for Dinner & went to our room . We're doing some chitchat within ourself & suddenly we heard people rushing to outside of the Rooms . We got little bit afraid when we heard there was some Fire around the Market Place nearby our room . It seems that the Fire has been started from the Chimney or Room Heater of some Room & it was spreading like anything. Personally I have never seen such Fire in my lifetime before.

We rushed outside , waited for sometime but because we were seeing no control of the Fire as such , we decided to move back to Mr Pema's Hotel Again and so we did .

After sometime when we came back to the Bumthang Market Place , we saw the Fire was somewhat under control , but I was amazed to see still those people are smiling & talking with each other. We paid for the room as well as the food we ordered and saluted them for such way of living life. As if their way of living life can not be bend by any events . They can win over any unexpected event in their life with their smile.

We didn't had our dinner that day . But then we had some biscuits & slept off .

29th December , 2016 : 

Waked up again at 5 AM & went to the Bus stop in hope of getting 2 seat in the normal local Bus , because we didn't want to only take chances on the school Bus. But we didn't got any bus seat on local buses . And it was sooo chilled that our Foot & Hand were feeling like Burning. We've never felt such feeling in extreme cold before . It was a different experience all together with 3 jackets on , 2 socks on & 1 hand gloves on , we were shivering in cold in -9٥ C . We waited there until 7:15 O clock and then the school Bus arrived & there were 2 seats for us .

We're happily boarded & headed for Punakha .

We reached Punakha around afternoon 5 PM . Punakha was warmest of all the places we've had visited till now. With plan to do the sightseeing on next day , we visited the Punakha city . Went into a custom Football ground . Few people were playing football . We watched the game for sometime & came  back to Hotel. Took our dinner & Slept off.

30th December , 2016 : 

Today early morning we took a shared Cab and went to Punakha Dzong. Punakha was by far the most colorful places we've seen in this entire trip . It was mesmerizing & Astonishing . Instead of blabbering further , let me attach some snippet of pictorials display of Punakha here. That'll definitly make you plan for Punakha next time you're planning for trip to Bhutan.

Add caption

Iron Bridge

Scenic View of Punakha

Scenic View from Punakha

Capture from Punakha Dzong

Colorful Punakha

We came back in the afternoon to Punakha city & took shared Cab to Thimphu back to the same old hotel we've been earlier.

I forgot to mention the help we got from the Hotel Owner from Thimphu . During coming back from Bumthang we called the Hotel Owner at Thimphu where we stayed 2 days previously and he helped us by booking our bus ticket for 31st December toward Phuentsholing .

We stayed there on 30th & he made us special Nepali Dish as they were from Nepal by Birth Origin .

31st December , 2016 :

Today we waked up late & we took bus toward Phuentsholing and did bid adieu to Bhutan.

I really want to mention that Bhutanese people are very Helpful & Fond of Indians as we feel. Each & every person we became in touch with has helped us enormously , otherwise this trip would have been unsuccessful .

The persons from whom we've had great help,  if I don't take name in the End  , this Post becomes incomplete.

I've also included their contact numbers here with permission from them . Its not a promotion for them , they may be not aware only of this blog.

However if in case you need any help , don't hesitate to call them, I'm sure they will help you as they did to us.

Gyeltshen (Taxi Driver From Thimphu) : +975 17682788

Zimba (Paro Taxi) : +975 17620356

Thimphu Hotel : +975 77214297

Tshring Bumthang(Cab Driver @Bumthang) : +975 17493183

Mr Pema from Kaila Guest House(Bumthang) : +975 77369076

I hope the above was though long but will be helpful for your Journey toward Bhutan if you're planning by yourself to visit there. If however you've a larger Group , I'd recommend to get car booked for entire journey from Alipurduar . It'll be way cheaper .

Bhutan's living cost is high , so everything including Taxi fare are high , so we had to took Public transport for long journeys. It was though stressful but it was enjoyable , as we could have more involved with local people there .

With this , let me draw an End to this Blog Post .

Thank you for visiting . Keep Share & Subscribe for more like this .

And Best of Luck for your Upcoming Journey to Bhutan .

With Best Regards From ,

Avijit & Suvabrata