JORNEY TO BHUTAN
“The gladdest moment in human life is a departure into unknown lands.”
This is the narration of a bike ride; from Ahmedabad to Bhutan to Meghalaya and back to Ahmedabad, approx 6700 km ride spanning 18 days, covering the 8 states, from the west India to East India.
It was a month advance planning and research over the practicality of the trip, documentation necessity, road conditions and safety.
For Indian Nationals, you don’t need visa or even a passport for visiting Bhutan, voter ID will suffice. Bhutan is a small but very beautiful country between China and India, has a population less than a million.
Bhutan is known for its unique way to measure development: Gross National Happiness Index. The founders of Bhutan chose happiness over material possession and these values are seen everywhere in Bhutan.
It is the only carbon negative country in the world. With 72 per cent forest coverage in his nation, the overall carbon production has been nullified. Bhutan produces around 1.5 million tonnes of carbon every year but because of the immense greenery, more than 6 million tonnes of carbon is absorbed.
It is a unique country where world witnessed rare benevolent king. Despite people’s protest, the king brought democracy (it’s just about 10 years ago) and started passing on the powers to the people.
Preparation :
The most important device during the bike tour is Bike. We got our bike serviced and instructed clearly to the garage guy that the bikes will be used for a tour that will span approx. 7000 km in coming few days, so keep that in mind.
My friend brought a homemade charging device for the phone which connects to the bike battery and charges the phone. His Bike looked all “wirey”. He also brought solar panels to charge the phones. [we will be using GPS extensively which drains the battery a lot. Hence, we took every care to ensure that our mobiles stay charged. From power banks to connecting charger to bike batteries to solar charging].
Following is a pic of our bike loaded with the luggage. [Notice the jugaad. We put blanket (see Royal Enfield) on the seat which increases the cushion to a great extent.] All that stuff tied to the bike includes our bags, water bottles, our tent, our sleeping bags, tool kit, air pump, a bag containing SLR Camera, National Flag
3rd June, 2019
The journey started on 3rd June, 2019 in the evening. My friend own Royal Enfield and I borrowed my friend’s Avengers (150 CC). We clicked some photos, tied our bags behind the bikes and started the ride. Our plan was to reach Kota by Next Day morning. It was around 550 km distance. Hence, we rode entire night with few minutes rest after every hour. Next day, we reached Kota.
4th June, 2019
The next target was to reach Lucknow. From Kota to Lucknow, the distance is approx. 630 km. Till we reached Lucknow, we had to face extreme heat of May of North West India. Also, till we reached Lucknow, we bypassed each and every city. Lucknow was the first city we entered after we left Ahmedabad. It’s a nice city. We passed through city, watching the beauty of this ancient city.
5th & 6th June, 2019
Now, next place to reach is Muzaffarpur (Bihar) via Barabanki, Faizabad, Ayodhya, Basti, Gorakhpur, Gopalganj, Pipra Kothi, Majhauli. From Lucknow to Muzaffarpur, the distance is about 540 km. Some Greenery started appearing enroute. I want to utter that the road condition of National Highways are excellent and improving. Lots of work is already undergoing to build new roads, bridges.
6th & 7th June, 2019
Now we headed towards JAIGAON. From Majhauli to Jaigaon, it is approx 520 km distance via Darbhanga, Narahiya, Dodra, Sisauna(Sh -63), (Madanpur-Aria Marg), Bahadurganjh, Thakurganjh, Ghospukur, Ambari Canal Road, Gajol Doba Road, Oodhalbari(Nh -17), Chalsa, Chapramari Wild Forest, Nagarkata, Birpara(Nh -17 To Transfer Nh -317), Hasimara.
Jaigaon (West Bengal) is located on the border with Bhutan. The main overland entrance to Bhutan is through Jaigaon and Bhutan Gate separates the two countries.
From Jaigaon border, we entered in Phuentsholling – entry point of Bhutan. Here we have to get the permit for Paro and Thimphu. (You can not roam around everywhere in Bhutan. First you have to get the permission for PARO and Thimphu. From Thimphu, you have to extend the permission to wherever you want to travel in Bhutan).
[INDIA - BHUTAN Border]
[Phuentsholing]
They have one weird condition here – you have to have the hotel booking for one day (for the day you arrived at Phuentsholling). We reached one day late than our expected planning. Hence, our already booked hotel which was for 6th June did not work here. We have to book the hotel again for 7th June.
Then, we got the permit from immigration office for visiting Paro and Thimphu. Now, the next task was to get the Route Permit for riding bike which we need to get from RSTA (Road Safety and Transport Authority).
My friend’s bike was registered on his father’s name and I had borrowed my friend’s bike. In such situation, you have to bring authority letter from the owner of the bike. Luckily, they accepted authority letter which was sought by us over email. You need RC Book, Licence, Insurance and authority letter.
We got the permit to ride bike in Paro and Thimphu. It was pretty quick. We stayed at night in the hotel, drank DRUK 11000 beer (good taste and very pleasant effect), ate some food and slept.
In Phuntsholing (and then out entire journey of Bhutan), we witnessed the discipline that is alien for us Indians. People walk only on Zebra crossing. They even take the strain to go back certain steps to find Zebra crossing to cross the roads.
Vehicle owners respect the pedestrians very much and their car stops at every Zebra crossing even if a single person is standing there. Here, hardly any vehicle driver is found honking or overtaking. Traffic rules are strict. Bhutan is the only country in the world that doesn't have a single traffic light in its capital city.
8th June, 2019
Now as per our plan, we headed towards PARO. From Phuentsholling to PARO, it was about 150 km. distance. It is a historic town with many sacred sites and historical buildings scattered throughout the area. It is also home to Paro Airport, Bhutan's sole international airport. It’s a very planned, clean and beautiful city. This is the first place which gave us the feeling that we are now in the foreign land. People are very nice and helpful. It’s a different feeling here altogether. In Hindi, we say “Melody khao khud jan jao”, meaning you feel sentiment by yourselves through experience. No words can describe the beauty of PARO City.
We booked a hotel and roam around the city entire day. Here, you can find lots of shops selling handicraft items. If you are planning to buy someone a gift from Bhutan, PARO is the place, albeit a costly place, but quality and options are very good.
[Somewhere on the roads to PARO from Phuentsholing ]
[PARO International Airport]
[A Click in the city PARO ]
Bhutan is a very open minded country. We saw a girl breastfeeding her child in front of us while she was explaining some product in her shop.
These people worship male reproductive organ which is called Phallus. You can find phallus in every shop even painted on the walls, ranging from the size of a finger to the size of a baseball bat. We find this very strange, unique, amusing and hilarious.
[Picture of Phallu painted on the wall along with Dragon or Druk. The Druk is the "Thunder Dragon" of Tibetan and Bhutanese mythology and a Bhutanese national symbol. Here, number of shops, road projects, products are having the name DRUK. It is their favorite word !!!!!!! ]
[Phallus selling in the shop]
At the night, we went to a nearby club “Park 76”. That was my first experience of visiting any kind of club and that was a lucky day. A band was performing live on that day and the band was no ordinary band. Two young guitarists, a drummer boy and a vocalist girl created so much energetic ambiance that you cannot stop dancing. It is the magical effect of the band that our legs and hands were moving in rhythmic motion. I won’t be exaggerating if I say that the band was of international quality and you know what, the most cheer they got was on the hindi song from Rock On !!!. [ Meri Laundry Ka Ek Bill, Ek Aadhi Padi Novel..]
[Phallus selling in the shop]
As I mentioned earlier, Traffic rules are very strict in Bhutan. Once I took a u-turn by mistake where it was prohibited and the police came within no time. I was told that I will be taken to the Police Station for fine. Luckily, they let me go after I apologized.
9th June, 2019
On this day, we planned to visit Taktsang Monastery, famously known as Tiger Nest Monastery, located in Paro, Bhutan. Actually, it is approx. 10 km away from the main city. We hauled the bikes towards the monastery.
[Tiger Nest Monastery]
The legend of Taktshang (Tiger's den) evolved form 747 AD when Guru Padmasmbhava (Supreme god in Bhutan) chose a cave on a sheer rock face to meditate. Taktshang thus became one of the most important Buddhist monuments in the Himalayan Buddhist world.
It’s a 3 to 4 hours long route by walk to reach the Monastery. Bhutan charges Rs. 500 per person for visit fee to the monastery. Outrageous, don’t you think ?…(this is for entering monastery. If you just wish to go to the view point, it’s free. )
You can ride on the horse if you want till the cafeteria. Then, everybody has to walk. It was an exhausting walk. There was a steep downward and then upward trek at the final stage. Luggage, Mobile phones, Video Camera is not allowed in the Monastery. Assistants there take you to the tour to different temples in the monastery.
It was almost the evening when we returned. That day, we slept early.
10th June, 2019
On the morning of 10th June, we started driving towards Chelela Pass, the highest motorable roads in Bhutan at an altitude of 3988 meter above the sea level which locates between the Haa and Paro valley.
It was about 40 km away from PARO City. We were passing continuously through oak trees and free roaming yaks. At the peak, it was pretty windy yet spectacular view.
Unfortunately, my bike experienced little fault. First gear was not working. I have to keep the bike on minimum second gear. Still, I was able to ride. We started driving towards Thimhu. From Chelela Pass to Thimphu, it was about 80 km. distance. I got my bike repaired in Thimphu. In Thimphu, all the automobile work is done at one space. I mean, all the automobile shops were in that specific area only.
Thimphu is the capital and largest city of the Kingdom of Bhutan.
[Thimphu]
We took a hotel (Kuenden Boutique) on a hill slightly outside the city. From here, you can witness breathtaking view of the Thimphu City.
The young hotel owner was quite a personality. We talked about lot of stuff, about Bhutan, its culture, its people, the king. He was an adventurous guy. He go on solo trekking for days and spend time with villagers and lamas. He even had a website that has the history and clicks of all his adventures.
As I said earlier, if you want to roam outside Thimphu and Paro, you have to extend your permission from Immigration office in Thimphu. We got our permit extended here. Also, we got our bike permit extended from RSTA office. It was quick. But, it was already evening and Bhutan closes early. You have to give order for food before 07:30 in the evening. So, we went back to hotel, took a dinner and nap with satisfaction.
11th June, 2019
We visited statue of Buddha Dordenma in Thimphu on this day, a massive, golden Buddha sitting atop a gilded meditation hall.
After visiting the statue and before returning to the hotel, we wandered in Thimphu during entire day for purchasing some handicrafts items. The hotel guy earlier I talked about offered us free dinner on the second day at his hotel.
12th June, 2019
On this day, we left Thimphu and headed towards Punakha via Dochula Pass. Dochula Pass was about 25 km from Thimphu.
[Peak of Dochula Passs]
From Dochula Pass to Punakha, it is about 50 km distance [downward]. It always feels like butter ride whenever we ride bikes on downward slope. In Punakha, there is a very beautiful monastery with the same Punakha Dzong. Here entry fee is Rs. 300/- with a free guide.
Also, there is a beautiful suspension bridge.
After vising this beautiful constructions, we headed towards Gelephu via Wangdue. (approx. 200 km away).
Galephu is on the border of India and Bhutan. You can enter in India from Galephu border. We also planned the same as our next tour was Meghalaya via Guwahati.
But, when we arrived at the check post, we were told that Gelephu is not in our route permit, so we are not allowed to even be here. First, they told us to pay the fine and they will let us pass through Gelephu border. When we accepted the offer, they even denied that also. They told us that you enter via Phuentsholing border and exit from that border only.
We urged, begged, but nothing helped. We had to start our ride back to Phuentsholing passing through a road in a deep forest. (distance : approx 400 km !!!). It was already dark. We have to stop after 30–40 km and decided to sleep in the Jungle in our sleeping bag. Somebody should tell this Bhutanese government people that this is not a way to treat tourists. Just an entry missing in our route permit had put us in great danger.
13th June, 2019
Entire day wasted to reach Phuentsholing. It was like recap of our tour because all the roads we visited have to be rode again. We crossed the border and started heading towards Guwahati which was approx. 350 km. away.
Tour to Meghalaya
14th June, 2019
Reached Guwahati and visited famous Kamakhya temple. It is one of the oldest of the 51 Shakti Pithos. Here we witnessed sacrifice of a cow along with other animals and doves !!! very hear wrenching!!!
[Kamakhya Temple ]
Same day, we started our journey towards Shillong - capital of Meghalaya. Shillong is a very densely populated place.
15th & 16th June, 2019
Meghalaya is a very beautiful and unspoiled place. During our visit, the monsoon already started. so, there was a thick fog everywhere. Visibility was very poor. Had to take great care while riding the bikes.
[somewhere ON route Meghalaya]
There are number of waterfalls and caves in Meghalaya. Due to Monsoon, waterfalls were full of water.
From Shillong, we started our ride towards Cherapunjee or Sohra, as it is locally known. In between, we saw many waterfalls and caves. Cherapunjee is among the worlds rainiest place. Beauty of Sohra strucks you instantly and there is lot still unexplored in this place.
[Elephant Fall]
[Mawasmai Caves - Meghalaya…. Of the ten longest and deepest caves in India, the first nine are in Meghalaya !!!!!! ]
[Arwah Caves]
[Garden of Caves ]
[Seven Sisters Fall - Meghalaya ]
[Wei Sawdong Water Fall …..The most beautiful location of our trip ]
At the night, we camped near Dawki River which is famous for its clean water. However, due to monsoon, we could not witness the clarity of the water.
(A photo of clean water of Dawki River )
17th June, 2019
From Dawki, we rode our bikes to see living root bridge which is situated near Mawlynnong village. [Mawlynnong village is famous as Asia’s cleanest village.]
[Living Root Bridge ]
The same day, we started our journey back to Ahmedabad. From 17th June, 2019 to 21th June, 2019 we covered distance of around 2700 km to reach to the Home.
Thanks for reading. [Image Source : Google and and our own clicks ]
“I now know, by an almost fatalistic conformity with the facts, that my destiny is to travel...” ― Ernesto Che Guevara, (The Motorcycle Diaries : Notes on a Latin American Journey )
RUSHABH MEHTA
ANKIT MASTER
Tour to Meghalaya
14th June, 2019
Reached Guwahati and visited famous Kamakhya temple. It is one of the oldest of the 51 Shakti Pithos. Here we witnessed sacrifice of a cow along with other animals and doves !!! very hear wrenching!!!
[Kamakhya Temple ]
Same day, we started our journey towards Shillong - capital of Meghalaya. Shillong is a very densely populated place.
15th & 16th June, 2019
Meghalaya is a very beautiful and unspoiled place. During our visit, the monsoon already started. so, there was a thick fog everywhere. Visibility was very poor. Had to take great care while riding the bikes.
[somewhere ON route Meghalaya]
There are number of waterfalls and caves in Meghalaya. Due to Monsoon, waterfalls were full of water.
From Shillong, we started our ride towards Cherapunjee or Sohra, as it is locally known. In between, we saw many waterfalls and caves. Cherapunjee is among the worlds rainiest place. Beauty of Sohra strucks you instantly and there is lot still unexplored in this place.
[Elephant Fall]
[Mawasmai Caves - Meghalaya…. Of the ten longest and deepest caves in India, the first nine are in Meghalaya !!!!!! ]
[Arwah Caves]
[Garden of Caves ]
[Seven Sisters Fall - Meghalaya ]
[Wei Sawdong Water Fall …..The most beautiful location of our trip ]
At the night, we camped near Dawki River which is famous for its clean water. However, due to monsoon, we could not witness the clarity of the water.
(A photo of clean water of Dawki River )
17th June, 2019
From Dawki, we rode our bikes to see living root bridge which is situated near Mawlynnong village. [Mawlynnong village is famous as Asia’s cleanest village.]
[Living Root Bridge ]
The same day, we started our journey back to Ahmedabad. From 17th June, 2019 to 21th June, 2019 we covered distance of around 2700 km to reach to the Home.
Thanks for reading. [Image Source : Google and and our own clicks ]
“I now know, by an almost fatalistic conformity with the facts, that my destiny is to travel...” ― Ernesto Che Guevara, (The Motorcycle Diaries : Notes on a Latin American Journey )
RUSHABH MEHTA
ANKIT MASTER
roopkund
“The gladdest moment in human life is a departure into unknown lands.”
This is the narration of a bike ride; from Ahmedabad to Bhutan to Meghalaya and back to Ahmedabad, approx 6700 km ride spanning 18 days, covering the 8 states, from the west India to East India.
It was a month advance planning and research over the practicality of the trip, documentation necessity, road conditions and safety.
For Indian Nationals, you don’t need visa or even a passport for visiting Bhutan, voter ID will suffice. Bhutan is a small but very beautiful country between China and India, has a population less than a million.
Bhutan is known for its unique way to measure development: Gross National Happiness Index. The founders of Bhutan chose happiness over material possession and these values are seen everywhere in Bhutan.
It is the only carbon negative country in the world. With 72 per cent forest coverage in his nation, the overall carbon production has been nullified. Bhutan produces around 1.5 million tonnes of carbon every year but because of the immense greenery, more than 6 million tonnes of carbon is absorbed.
It is a unique country where world witnessed rare benevolent king. Despite people’s protest, the king brought democracy (it’s just about 10 years ago) and started passing on the powers to the people.
Preparation :
The most important device during the bike tour is Bike. We got our bike serviced and instructed clearly to the garage guy that the bikes will be used for a tour that will span approx. 7000 km in coming few days, so keep that in mind.
My friend brought a homemade charging device for the phone which connects to the bike battery and charges the phone. His Bike looked all “wirey”. He also brought solar panels to charge the phones. [we will be using GPS extensively which drains the battery a lot. Hence, we took every care to ensure that our mobiles stay charged. From power banks to connecting charger to bike batteries to solar charging].
Following is a pic of our bike loaded with the luggage. [Notice the jugaad. We put blanket (see Royal Enfield) on the seat which increases the cushion to a great extent.] All that stuff tied to the bike includes our bags, water bottles, our tent, our sleeping bags, tool kit, air pump, a bag containing SLR Camera, National Flag
3rd June, 2019
The journey started on 3rd June, 2019 in the evening. My friend own Royal Enfield and I borrowed my friend’s Avengers (150 CC). We clicked some photos, tied our bags behind the bikes and started the ride. Our plan was to reach Kota by Next Day morning. It was around 550 km distance. Hence, we rode entire night with few minutes rest after every hour. Next day, we reached Kota.
4th June, 2019
The next target was to reach Lucknow. From Kota to Lucknow, the distance is approx. 630 km. Till we reached Lucknow, we had to face extreme heat of May of North West India. Also, till we reached Lucknow, we bypassed each and every city. Lucknow was the first city we entered after we left Ahmedabad. It’s a nice city. We passed through city, watching the beauty of this ancient city.
5th & 6th June, 2019
Now, next place to reach is Muzaffarpur (Bihar) via Barabanki, Faizabad, Ayodhya, Basti, Gorakhpur, Gopalganj, Pipra Kothi, Majhauli. From Lucknow to Muzaffarpur, the distance is about 540 km. Some Greenery started appearing enroute. I want to utter that the road condition of National Highways are excellent and improving. Lots of work is already undergoing to build new roads, bridges.
6th & 7th June, 2019
Now we headed towards JAIGAON. From Majhauli to Jaigaon, it is approx 520 km distance via Darbhanga, Narahiya, Dodra, Sisauna(Sh -63), (Madanpur-Aria Marg), Bahadurganjh, Thakurganjh, Ghospukur, Ambari Canal Road, Gajol Doba Road, Oodhalbari(Nh -17), Chalsa, Chapramari Wild Forest, Nagarkata, Birpara(Nh -17 To Transfer Nh -317), Hasimara.
Jaigaon (West Bengal) is located on the border with Bhutan. The main overland entrance to Bhutan is through Jaigaon and Bhutan Gate separates the two countries.
From Jaigaon border, we entered in Phuentsholling – entry point of Bhutan. Here we have to get the permit for Paro and Thimphu. (You can not roam around everywhere in Bhutan. First you have to get the permission for PARO and Thimphu. From Thimphu, you have to extend the permission to wherever you want to travel in Bhutan).
[INDIA - BHUTAN Border]
[Phuentsholing]
They have one weird condition here – you have to have the hotel booking for one day (for the day you arrived at Phuentsholling). We reached one day late than our expected planning. Hence, our already booked hotel which was for 6th June did not work here. We have to book the hotel again for 7th June.
Then, we got the permit from immigration office for visiting Paro and Thimphu. Now, the next task was to get the Route Permit for riding bike which we need to get from RSTA (Road Safety and Transport Authority).
My friend’s bike was registered on his father’s name and I had borrowed my friend’s bike. In such situation, you have to bring authority letter from the owner of the bike. Luckily, they accepted authority letter which was sought by us over email. You need RC Book, Licence, Insurance and authority letter.
We got the permit to ride bike in Paro and Thimphu. It was pretty quick. We stayed at night in the hotel, drank DRUK 11000 beer (good taste and very pleasant effect), ate some food and slept.
In Phuntsholing (and then out entire journey of Bhutan), we witnessed the discipline that is alien for us Indians. People walk only on Zebra crossing. They even take the strain to go back certain steps to find Zebra crossing to cross the roads.
Vehicle owners respect the pedestrians very much and their car stops at every Zebra crossing even if a single person is standing there. Here, hardly any vehicle driver is found honking or overtaking. Traffic rules are strict. Bhutan is the only country in the world that doesn't have a single traffic light in its capital city.
8th June, 2019
Now as per our plan, we headed towards PARO. From Phuentsholling to PARO, it was about 150 km. distance. It is a historic town with many sacred sites and historical buildings scattered throughout the area. It is also home to Paro Airport, Bhutan's sole international airport. It’s a very planned, clean and beautiful city. This is the first place which gave us the feeling that we are now in the foreign land. People are very nice and helpful. It’s a different feeling here altogether. In Hindi, we say “Melody khao khud jan jao”, meaning you feel sentiment by yourselves through experience. No words can describe the beauty of PARO City.
We booked a hotel and roam around the city entire day. Here, you can find lots of shops selling handicraft items. If you are planning to buy someone a gift from Bhutan, PARO is the place, albeit a costly place, but quality and options are very good.
[Somewhere on the roads to PARO from Phuentsholing ]
[PARO International Airport]
[A Click in the city PARO ]
Bhutan is a very open minded country. We saw a girl breastfeeding her child in front of us while she was explaining some product in her shop.
These people worship male reproductive organ which is called Phallus. You can find phallus in every shop even painted on the walls, ranging from the size of a finger to the size of a baseball bat. We find this very strange, unique, amusing and hilarious.
[Picture of Phallu painted on the wall along with Dragon or Druk. The Druk is the "Thunder Dragon" of Tibetan and Bhutanese mythology and a Bhutanese national symbol. Here, number of shops, road projects, products are having the name DRUK. It is their favorite word !!!!!!! ]
[Phallus selling in the shop]
At the night, we went to a nearby club “Park 76”. That was my first experience of visiting any kind of club and that was a lucky day. A band was performing live on that day and the band was no ordinary band. Two young guitarists, a drummer boy and a vocalist girl created so much energetic ambiance that you cannot stop dancing. It is the magical effect of the band that our legs and hands were moving in rhythmic motion. I won’t be exaggerating if I say that the band was of international quality and you know what, the most cheer they got was on the hindi song from Rock On !!!. [ Meri Laundry Ka Ek Bill, Ek Aadhi Padi Novel..]
[Phallus selling in the shop]
As I mentioned earlier, Traffic rules are very strict in Bhutan. Once I took a u-turn by mistake where it was prohibited and the police came within no time. I was told that I will be taken to the Police Station for fine. Luckily, they let me go after I apologized.
9th June, 2019
On this day, we planned to visit Taktsang Monastery, famously known as Tiger Nest Monastery, located in Paro, Bhutan. Actually, it is approx. 10 km away from the main city. We hauled the bikes towards the monastery.
[Tiger Nest Monastery]
The legend of Taktshang (Tiger's den) evolved form 747 AD when Guru Padmasmbhava (Supreme god in Bhutan) chose a cave on a sheer rock face to meditate. Taktshang thus became one of the most important Buddhist monuments in the Himalayan Buddhist world.
It’s a 3 to 4 hours long route by walk to reach the Monastery. Bhutan charges Rs. 500 per person for visit fee to the monastery. Outrageous, don’t you think ?…(this is for entering monastery. If you just wish to go to the view point, it’s free. )
You can ride on the horse if you want till the cafeteria. Then, everybody has to walk. It was an exhausting walk. There was a steep downward and then upward trek at the final stage. Luggage, Mobile phones, Video Camera is not allowed in the Monastery. Assistants there take you to the tour to different temples in the monastery.
It was almost the evening when we returned. That day, we slept early.
10th June, 2019
On the morning of 10th June, we started driving towards Chelela Pass, the highest motorable roads in Bhutan at an altitude of 3988 meter above the sea level which locates between the Haa and Paro valley.
It was about 40 km away from PARO City. We were passing continuously through oak trees and free roaming yaks. At the peak, it was pretty windy yet spectacular view.
Unfortunately, my bike experienced little fault. First gear was not working. I have to keep the bike on minimum second gear. Still, I was able to ride. We started driving towards Thimhu. From Chelela Pass to Thimphu, it was about 80 km. distance. I got my bike repaired in Thimphu. In Thimphu, all the automobile work is done at one space. I mean, all the automobile shops were in that specific area only.
Thimphu is the capital and largest city of the Kingdom of Bhutan.
[Thimphu]
We took a hotel (Kuenden Boutique) on a hill slightly outside the city. From here, you can witness breathtaking view of the Thimphu City.
The young hotel owner was quite a personality. We talked about lot of stuff, about Bhutan, its culture, its people, the king. He was an adventurous guy. He go on solo trekking for days and spend time with villagers and lamas. He even had a website that has the history and clicks of all his adventures.
As I said earlier, if you want to roam outside Thimphu and Paro, you have to extend your permission from Immigration office in Thimphu. We got our permit extended here. Also, we got our bike permit extended from RSTA office. It was quick. But, it was already evening and Bhutan closes early. You have to give order for food before 07:30 in the evening. So, we went back to hotel, took a dinner and nap with satisfaction.
11th June, 2019
We visited statue of Buddha Dordenma in Thimphu on this day, a massive, golden Buddha sitting atop a gilded meditation hall.
After visiting the statue and before returning to the hotel, we wandered in Thimphu during entire day for purchasing some handicrafts items. The hotel guy earlier I talked about offered us free dinner on the second day at his hotel.
12th June, 2019
On this day, we left Thimphu and headed towards Punakha via Dochula Pass. Dochula Pass was about 25 km from Thimphu.
[Peak of Dochula Passs]
From Dochula Pass to Punakha, it is about 50 km distance [downward]. It always feels like butter ride whenever we ride bikes on downward slope. In Punakha, there is a very beautiful monastery with the same Punakha Dzong. Here entry fee is Rs. 300/- with a free guide.
Also, there is a beautiful suspension bridge.
After vising this beautiful constructions, we headed towards Gelephu via Wangdue. (approx. 200 km away).
Galephu is on the border of India and Bhutan. You can enter in India from Galephu border. We also planned the same as our next tour was Meghalaya via Guwahati.
But, when we arrived at the check post, we were told that Gelephu is not in our route permit, so we are not allowed to even be here. First, they told us to pay the fine and they will let us pass through Gelephu border. When we accepted the offer, they even denied that also. They told us that you enter via Phuentsholing border and exit from that border only.
We urged, begged, but nothing helped. We had to start our ride back to Phuentsholing passing through a road in a deep forest. (distance : approx 400 km !!!). It was already dark. We have to stop after 30–40 km and decided to sleep in the Jungle in our sleeping bag. Somebody should tell this Bhutanese government people that this is not a way to treat tourists. Just an entry missing in our route permit had put us in great danger.
13th June, 2019
Entire day wasted to reach Phuentsholing. It was like recap of our tour because all the roads we visited have to be rode again. We crossed the border and started heading towards Guwahati which was approx. 350 km. away.
SARPASS
Sar, in the local dialect, means a lake. While trekking, across the path from Tila Lotni to Biskeri Ridge, one has to pass by a small, (normally) frozen lake (Sar) and hence the name Sar Pass Trek.
(Source: Wikipedia)]
I and my two friends somehow succeeded to book for this trip offline before 6 months. [Online booking fills up astonishingly fast.] We took train from Ahmedabad to Chandigarh. A Volvo bus took us from Chandigarh to Bhuntar. From Bhuntar to Kasol, one needs to take a ride of local bus.
KASOL
Kasol is a stunningly beautiful place, on the banks of Parvati River.
It is also the nearest major bus stop, connecting to Manali. It will look like a foreign land, once you reach there. One will find more foreigners than locals and Indian visitors. Mostly Israelis. The reason is its proximity to Malana. [Malana is known for its world class quality Marijuana and Hash]. The place is so much adapted to them that you will find locals talking with these foreigners in Hebrew. Shops have their names written in Hebrew. The food is Israeli and menu is written in Hebrew. It’s a magical world. You will wonder that such a place exists in India. Bongs, Hash, Chillum, Pipes, cigars…………..it’s a world of Intoxication.
Our first stay was in Kasol Base Camp.
The KASOL Base Camp:
The base camp was situated in a very nice and neat place. Parvati river was gushing down just besides the camp. Beginning of Splendid views starts from here!!!!! Around 14-15 tents (capacity: 12 people each tent) were built for our group members and their crews. You can see the peaks covered with ice, even sitting in your tent. Ecstatic!!!!!!!!
[Base camp view along with tents ]
[That’s our Group – SP2]
Three days were spent at the base camp for acclimatization. The days were full of activities like morning exercise, acclimatization walk, rock climbing, rappelling. We also took hot spring water bath at Manikaran (around 5 km from our Base camp). After 3 days at the base camp, we moved to walk for our first climbing - towards GRAHAN camp.
GRAHAN Camp
Climbing to Grahan camp is considered easy, however unpredicted rain can cause difficulty. On our climb, we had our first encounter with the rain. Many of us were not having raincoats. Also, ponchos or rain sheets were not entirely helpful. It rained heavily and path was also muddy and slippery.
It was around 10 kms of walking upwards and downwards into the jungle full of greenery. We walked over many streams and waterfalls. For a city dude like me, this is truly heaven.
Following are some of the clicks enroute the camp. Believe me…….you cannot cover true nature in photos. The view your eyes can see (I would call 360 degree view), it cannot be entirely covered by camera.
It took about six hours of walking to reach to the camp. We were all wet, our clothes were all wet, and our baggage was all wet. Camp leader was a smart Kashmiri young fellow. He greeted us with welcome drink. It was still raining. So, the sitting in the tent was the only solution.
We begged for sun light which embraced us next day.
The mobile networks of smart phones were down from this camp. As per the words of one beautiful bride of this Village: “Smartness yahan pe kam nahi karti”………
At around 9:00, we started to move on to our next camp.
PADRI Camp
PADRI Camp is considered relatively hard and we experienced it thoroughly. The path was all muddy. Since we have to walk downwards for some time, it was very difficult. Most of the members tasted the experience of falling on the way due to very slippery path.
One can enjoy various beautiful waterfalls on the route.
This was again 5–6 hours of walking.
About at 3:30, we reached the next camp.
Weather was nice. Camp leader again greeted with Welcome drink. Since, it’s a sunny day, all enjoyed roaming around the camp and in the night, all danced on random songs from a small music player.
MINH THATCH Camp:.
Next destination is MINH THATCH camp. Thatch means a ground.
This is relatively easy trek. It has awesome beauty. Group is mixed. Everybody now knows everybody and people opened up a lot.
Again, next morning we moved on to next Camp.
NAGARU Camp
NAGARU camp is considered the most difficult climb in entire trek. The climb is steep and air is thin. You have to breathe heavily.
It is the smallest trek in the whole journey, yet it takes the same time like our treks. Nagaru trek is about 5 km., however it takes about 6 hours to complete the trek. (In mountains, it is said that distance is measured in hours, not in kilometers !!!)..
Here, its the first time we got to touch the ice. There is no need to repeat that the entire trek was breathtaking.
The camp is mostly covered with snow.
It’s an awesome place for stargazing. Since, it was a moon night, we missed the chance for it, but later camps got some awesome views of Milky Way.
It was instructed to sleep early in this camp, since we have to leave early for the next camp.
Biskeri Camp via SARPASS
For SARPASS, we have to start early. (Early means we have to start climbing at around 3 A.M., because afterwards, the ice started melting and you cannot walk on the melting ice. )
Walking on the ice was very difficult. Many of us slipped.
But, anyway completed the pass. The most exciting part comes now. There was around a mile long ice sloping downwards, from where we have to slide. No tools, no guide, no help. They just advised us to sit and enjoy. This was the most thrilling part of our entire trek. We experience another 3 slides until we reached to Biskeri Camp.
After completing the SARPASS, all were all in relaxing mood. Rain came to bid a goodbye to us. Group now moves on to the next camp.
BHANDAK THATCH camp:
From Biskeri to Bhandakthatch camp, its relatively easy. However, we forgot our path and lost in the jungle. For about one and half hour of roaming, finally we figured out the way and reached camp.
This is camp has awesome beauty. It was situated in a big green ground. It is considered a mini Switzerland and truly it is.
It is also a good place for Stargazing. Following are some of the photos snapped from this camp.
Return to Base camp via Barseni village:
From Bhandakthatch to return to base camp, you have to walk around very nice village “Barseni”. It’s an awesome village. After reaching there, you have to take a bus/taxi to Kasol. We spent another 2 days in KASOL and enjoyed relaxing in a heavenly place. This answer could have been very longer if I would include interesting interaction with group members, dangers we faced, funny situations, confusions as to nature’s call etc.
Photos are not enough to capture what our eyes can see and the words are often not enough to express what we feel.
Though I regret not visiting MALANA, I do tasted the “MALANA Cream” !!!!!!!
Journey to Leh Ladakh
This is about our memorable journey from grandeur– Me with my rider friend (Ankit Master), towards the beautiful flower in the bouquet of India – Leh Ladakh, plan for which got made, dropped, made, dropped and finally fulfilled during the span of 2 years. Finally we decided to visit our dream tour entirely on bike. We took some time gathering information and preparing for the tour.
Leh Ladakh can be reached by two ways.
1. Shrinagar Leh Route
2. Manali Leh Route
You can choose either of the ways. We decided to take Shrinagal Leh route to reach and Manali Leh route to back to home since it was found that Manali – Leh route has splendid grandeur than Shrinagar Leh. We bought a tent online. Most importantly, we got the bike serviced entirely (with a very hefty price), since that was the most important device that will be going with us for 5000 kilometres. Here is the description of our journey. Not everything could be included. Also, we could cover only small distance of this vast land and I agree that my photography skill sucks
3rd June, 2016
Journey started with little embarrassment on my side. A significant amount of my friends’ relatives gathered to tell best of luck to us. (I, being introvert, felt that awkward.) Nonetheless, we started almost at 08:00 at night. It’s only about 25 km and our bags got loose. We have to stop and rebind our bags again. This has happened 10 more times. But slowly we got expert in tying the bags. This is our bike with loaded luggage.
It was just an hour and we got a hint of physical trauma we are about to face by riding on motorcycle with luggage. Bumps stared aching. Knees started crying. We have to get off every half and hour from the motorcycle. We were seriously wondering how 5000 km journey would be possible.
4th June, 2016
Kilometres were taking ridiculously more time. As sometimes, we agreed that there is some major mistake in measuring the distance on highways!!!!
Continuous driving even at night fetched us upto Jaipur by 12:00 afternoon. We rode the distance of 600 km within 16 hours continuously driving with some spare time for our bumps and knees.
Scorching heat of Rajasthan made it impossible to ride. So, we spent some time in Mac D and later in a bar nearby and get ourselves some booze. Again started driving from 05:00 in the evening and drove continuously in the night. This time my blanket came to rescue. I put it down over my seat which somewhat solved the problem of aching of bumps.
5th June, 2016
Again driving in the night. It made us reach on udhampur road (on the way to Patnitop). We decided to stay on the way rather reaching Patnitop. (It was already night, and the mountain road seemed very risky.) We took a lunch and spent our night over a rooftop of a small dhaba. (This is a first sleep for us after we have started our journey).
6th June, 2016
We started our journey and drove towards Shrinagar. We need to bypass Shrinagar. But forgot to take a turn and entered in Shrinagar. Nevertheless, took a long ride around Dal lake and rode toward Sonamarg. Again, we reached Sonamarg late night. Here, we stayed in a hotel (rent Rs. 400/ !!!! ).
7th June, 2016
After waking up, took some free walk in Sonamarg and got ourselves some hash from a small tent in Sonamarg. ( We came to know about this from two youngsters who happened to meet us on the way to Sonamarg. We smoke some weed and spend nearly 2 hours together. They were really shitty smoked but good fellows. Weed and Hash is very common in here. You will find many locals and tourists in possession of it.)
(Some snaps in Sonamarg)
Vehicles are allowed to leave for Kargil after 11:00 hours in the morning in Sonamarg. So, we started our journey to Kargil around 11:30. We reached zozilla from where ladakh started. The route to Kargil is divided in two segments. First is Sonamarg to Drass via zozilla. The route is really a hell to ride. However, we passed our test. Second segment is from Drass to Kargil (I would call it a road to heaven !!!!!). The route here is really amazing. Riding on the road feels like sliding on butter. A gushing river nearby create awesome background music. High mountains and serene environment makes your forget from where you have come. You start enjoying the present moment.
We reached Kargil pretty quickly. We started riding again towards Namayuru Monastry. Our decision took us to face minus degrees on the road to this Monastry. (It was night already). We reached there very late night and managed to prepare our tent and sleep there. The cold must have fell down several degrees below zero. We severed a lot and took broken sleep.
8th June 2016
We started our journey from Namayuru to Leh around 09:00 in the morning. The road to Leh made us our mouth wide open with awesome landscape. On the road to Leh and afterwards several times during our journey in Ladakh, we encounter the effect of “Magnatic Hills”. Bike did not get enough pick up on a relatively straight road while sometimes, upward slopes could be easily passed with 50+ speed. The effect of these phenomena was present in several place.
We reached Leh quite quickly (around mid afternoon ) and spent some time in Tourism Reception Centre. Also, got the permission to prepare the tent in their facility. We made a visit to Shantistupa on the same day. Local market seemed like walking in the streets of Goa. A lot of foreign tourists and youngsters gathered here in countless cafes. It feels the place must be accommodating something more which I could not comprehend!!!!!!
(Some snaps on the way to Leh)
As mentioned, we spent our night in Tourism Reception Centre in a tent.
9th June, 2016
On this day, we started our journey towards the Worlds Highest Motorable Road – “Khardungla Pass”. The road was very curvy and very bad. We come to know from army people that every year they built this road and every year it gets washed away. We rode on this road with very difficulty. I have to get down from the motor cycle several times since I was sitting in back and it is very difficult to ride on some of the steep slopes. Finally we reached on the top.
The oxygen level was very low on the top. You have to consciously gulp the flow of air in your lungs. We did not remain there for much longer time due to low oxygen level and started our journey downwards towards Nubra Valley. Somehow, we felt dizziness on our downward journey and stopped. This time we really felt the need of oxygen just by stopping, So we quickly started our journey again. Again, on our way downwards, we experienced snowfall the first time which forced us to stop our journey for one hour. Luckily, weather became again good after one hour and we began our journey again towards Nubra Valley.
Nubra Valley is 130 km from Khardungla Pass. It seems that roads are built specifically for tourists and riders in Nubra Valley. You will find many zig zag curves on roads even though the surface is quite plane. Nevertheless, the view of landscape was amazing.
Nubra Valley is a desert surrounded by Mountains whose tops are filled with snow. A river was also pass along in the Valley. (Shayok River) and adding to that effect, there was a sand storm at that time. We feel awestuck seeing this much variety of Nature. We stop our journey near a small lodge on the bank of Shayok River, where we decided to built our tent. However, the people there offered us a guest room at a very nominal rate, so we decided to rest in the guest room for the night.
Our next day journey would be towards Pengong Lake ( The lake which was made famous by Three Idiots Movie. ). We came to know that there is no Petrol Pump enroute. So, we have to go Diskit to collect petrol pump. (20 kms away from our stay). We did not have any option. So, we launched towards Diskit and there we find a stretch fully straight of about 5-7 kms. (Yeah, like the stretch you generally find in Leh Ladakh photos. We felt excited riding the bike on this route). After around half and hour, we reached Diskit and find a funny petrol pump.
There was no light there. They operate a petrol pump manually. (They rotate small wheel to pull out petrol). There was only two measurement device: 5 Litres and 10 Litres. There is no option to go midway!!!!! we filled in 15 litres of petrol and rode back to our stay. Here also, we enjoyed smoking some weed with some cool guys of the lodge.
10th June, 2016
We started our journey towards Pengong Lake. Again after few kilometres, the road started becoming bad to worst. But now, we got used to these things. Now I think there is no need to say that view was tremendous. We were fed up of taking pictures. Neither we could cover the entire magnificence of the landscape, nor could we cover the variety of the nature. It seems that there is no way to explain the viewer about the splendour of this place. One has to experience this place, one has to visit this place, and one has to be in this place to understand truly the grandeur of this place. It seems like watching entire world in 4K clarity.
In the evening, we reached Pengong Lake. The lake which has got the water of various colours, from blue to Green to Grey and every colours midway. Eyes can not believe this. We kept on staring the water for hours. Adding to that effect, there was a rainbow on straight to our view in the clouds. A Rainbow, very clear, so clear that you can clearly see the boundary of each and every colour. There is no way to describe this phenomena.
We setup our tent on the bank of this lake and smoked weed with two local guys. However, the weather got bad. Rain started and forced us to remain in the tent.
11th June, 2016
We got up early, since we decided to ride towards Tso Moriri Lake from here which was quite a distant. But for the first time, our motorcycle did not support us and failed to start. It seems very low battery was the cause. So we looked around for help and we found some of the coolest Punjabi folks. They assured us help on the condition that we have to drink tea and eat breakfast together. We agreed. We talked together about 3 hours ranging from Politics to culture to history to technology
Due to very cold weather, it takes some times to start the bike. After passing of some time, the bike started and we started our journey towards Tso Moriri Lake.
But this was the first time, where we have to change our planning. There is just a route, but no road from Pengong Lake to Tso Moriri Lake. We rode around 20 kilometres and quickly understood that it is impossible for two wheelers with luggage to ride on this road. We decided to cancel visiting the lake and started our journey back to home.
We planned our journey back to home via Leh Manali Route. From Pengong, one needs to go back to Leh and then ride towards Manali. However, we came to know that we do not have to go back entirely to Leh. A place called “Karu” is the diversion point to Manali, which 35 kilometres before Leh. We rode towards Karu.
(From Karu, to Manali, there is not Petrol Pump in the entire stretch. You have to make the provision for Petrol in Karu. So, we filled our tank fully and also, took 5 litres of Petrol in the can. )
It took entire day to reach Karu. However, we decided to ride further towards Manali for night Stay. There is stay facility in a place called Rumtse which is around 30 kms from Karu. We drove around 20 kms and started feeling that it is about to rain. We reached near a place “Miru”, between Upshi and Rumtse. (I have to mention that the roads here was so awesome, that we called it Grease Roads.)
Here, we requested a local fellow to let us stay during the night. Surprisingly, the fellow quickly convinced and let us stay in his home. He offered us tea and dinner. On asking about the charge for the room, he told us that this not about the money. You are my guest. I have no expectation. This was quite shocking to City Dudes.
12th June, 2016
We started our Journey towards Manali. First pass was Tyanglang La. Iit was already rained. So we had be to super cautious riding on this route. The weather was foggy and visibility was very low. It seemed riding in the clouds. Nevertheless, views were amazing. It took us to Shirchoo. But we have plenty of time, so we decided to move along towards Keylong. We rode along more two passes : Lachung La and Bralachl Pass. Finally we reached near Keylong. Here we decided to stay for a night in a small guest houe with a nominal rent of Rs. 400/- (Mind you, it was fully furnished) just before 7-8 kms from Keylong.
13th June, 2016
We started our Journey towards Manali via Rohtang Pass. A small accident near Manali cost us around 6 hours of journey. Manali get visited by various foreigner groups. There was a remarkable crowd of foreigners near Manali. Again I have to say that there is something more in Manali than meets the eye. (May be drug availability, rave parties - god knows).
We started riding towards home. From Manali to Kulu and from Kulu to Shimla. From Shimla to Rohtak. We rode and rode and rode non stop. Took little nap in the night on a open place on a highway and started again.
14th June, 2016
We took Delhi – Ajmer Highway. It was almost straight way journey. However, riding on National Highway 1 and then National Highway 71 A and then Dohana by pass road gave us soothing feeling. These are very well built road. We reached Ajmer and decided to pass night here. Again slept somewhere on the open place on the highway.
15th June, 2016
We started riding towards home. Now there is no stoppage. Home is calling. We were out of patience. But small problem in Motorcycle hampered our journey and wasted 3 hours. Finally, we started: From Ajmer to Nathdwara, Nathdrara to Himmatnagar, Himmatnagar to Ahmedabad at home.
