Day 2: To Thimpu

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The ceiling fan blowing air at full speed and the sun rays being blocked by the surrouding buildings, I slept till 8.30 am what seemed a luxury a couple of days ago at HMI. Welcome to the plains ! I hurriedly freshened up to keep the appointment at 9.00 am. In the last month, bath showed up just a couple of times on my morning schedule. No chance here. We crossed the border to Phuntsholing and headed to the immigration bureau for our permits. They accept only passport and voter id cards. Shyam had his driving license and we had a tough time getting through. The people at the Indian embassy were unhelpful to the point of being rude. Not that the Bhutanese guys are courteous, but the Assistant immigration officer might just help you out as he did in our case. Beware of the women at the immigration office. Most of them are agents with an unspoken right to pass any queues. They will bark at you if you dare to intercept them.

After a prolonged wait, we finally got our permits and strutted scurried off to Phuntsholing bus stand. Its a beautiful building with a traditional Bhutanese architecture. They run comfortable Toyota miniibuses from Phuntsholling to Thimpu (Rs. 172/-) for a 6 hour journey. A smooth, neatly marked road amidst densely forested mountains promise a beautiful journey ahead. But after the first check-post, the horrible roads dash the hopes of a comfortable ride. The nature holds its promise though and keeps offering amazing views. Neat, small and well lit towns show up very sporadically in this otherwise seemingly inhabitated area. The population of Bhutan is less than 750,000 (less than Siliguri town) and almost 72 % of its area is under forest cover. Fittingly the last Shangri-la of the world. It was 10 pm before we reached Thimpu. We managed to get a decent double bedroom in Hotel T.T. (Rs 600/-, opposite Clock tower, a 10 min walk from bus stand). A quick dinner later we were soundly sleeping.

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