Day 2 in Bhutan ~ Phuntsholing to Thimpu

Greenery all around

Prayer flags in the garden

We all woke up early in the morning got ready and reached immigration office at 8.30 am. The office was yet to open but there was already a long queue of visitors waiting to get the permits. A localite informed that Mondays and anyday after a government holiday is the busiest day in permit office. Around 9.45 official staffs started coming dressed in the traditional Bhutanese Gho and Kiras. It took us about an hour to enter the main office and another hour to complete the formalities. Our travel agent informed that  it would take another hour to get the permit made. So we returned back to our rooms, packed our belongings , had our mid day meal in the in house restaurant and waited for our driver to arrive with the permit.

It was around 2 pm that our driver arrived, he helped us fasten our luggage in the upper carrier and we finally started our journey towards the capital town of this beautiful country. The serpentine road started amidst lush green surrounding.

Three different type of Chorten

Our first stop was after half an hour of uphill journey to visit the Karbandi Monastery. This monastery was founded by the royal grandmother Ashi Phuntsho Choedron, who has had a winter residence here. We passed the royal guest house to reach the main entrance of the monastery. As we entered we were informed not to click any pictures inside the main temple. The main temple housed magnificent statues of the Bhutanese deities of Shakyamuni Buddha, Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal and Guru Rinpoche while the walls were covered with ornate paintings. Strategically built  at a height of 400 metres with long lines of prayer flags lining the outside garden, this place offered an unparalleled view of the Phuentsholing Town and the North Bengal Plain. In the garden one can also view the different types of Tibetan Chortens (Stupas).

The view from the garden

After spending sometime there we proceeded forward with our journey. We soon reached the check point where our immigration permit would be checked. Our driver asked us to wait while he would get the formalities done. Post completion of the checking we moved through extremely picturesque surrounding. Often we were given company by clouds , waterfalls and tiny villages. After almost 6 hours of uphill travel we reached the welcome gate of Thimpu Town. It was dark by the time we reached our hotel Bhutan Centennial. We received a warm welcome from the staff and were guided towards our rooms. Although their kitchen was supposed to be closed by then they kept it open for us to complete our dinner. Soon after dinner we settled into our rooms and exhausted with the days travel went off to sleep immediately.


Things to keep in mind before planning your trip to Bhutan follow the link : http://travel-ab.blogspot.in/2017/10/tips-for-indians-travelling-to-bhutan_16.html

To know how our trip started : http://travel-ab.blogspot.in/2017/10/a-visit-to-land-of-thundering-dragons.html