Yes, I am talking about ‘The Royal Kingdom of Bhutan’.
I was on a business tour on this picturesque Himalayan country of pristine natural beauties on 14th & 15th August.
I left Siliguri around 12-00 noon on 14th and reached Jaigaon on Bhutan border at afternoon 3-45. It is nearly 150 Km and most of the journey was on NH – 31 which connects North-Eastern states with rest of India through the chicken neck of North Bengal.
It was drizzling and temperature was comfortable. We pulled up our vehicle at Jhajhangi on a road side dhaba to take lunch. The dhaba was one of the biggest of its kind I have ever seen. We passed through Jaldapara wildlife sanctuary famous for rhinos. We crossed three biggest river of North Bengal - Teesta, Jaldhaka and Torsa. Jalgaon town is on Indian side and Phuentsholing is in Bhutan. Phuentsholing is a neat, tidy & beautiful town at the foothills of Himalayas. The two towns are divided by a wall constructed by Royal Government of Bhutan. There is a sprawling gate and it reminds me of the gate with similar architecture I have seen in India – Nepal or West Bengal – Sikkim entry point. Nepal, Sikkim & Bhutan are having many things in common. I had to travel quite few times to these places for sake of my work. West Bengal police had a glimpse inside our vehicle for security check before entering Bhutan. As the next day was Independence Day of India, the security personnel were supposed to be more vigilant. Our vehicle reached near to the gate and Royal Bhutan Police checked our vehicle through windows – it’s like sort of formalities. Indian vehicles and personnel are allowed to enter Phuentsholing and they need not to show any documents for the same. But to go beyond Phuentsholing, pass is required from immigration authority of Bhutan showing proof of Indian citizenship. There is a consulate general office of India at Phuentsholing. At our company’s office at Phuentsholing, I noticed an invitation from Conusulate General office for Independence Day celebration. After finishing our work at office at Phuentsholing we came to Jaigaon and stayed in a hotel there. The next day 15th August we had to go to a place called Gedu. Gedu is 45 Km away from Phuentsholing. We hired an Bhutan vehicle to go there. We left our hotel at Jaigaon at morning 6-45 and entered Phuentsholing. We had some work at Phuentsholing office. We re-entered Jaigaon to have breakfast. At 10-00 am (Bhutan Time which is 30 minutes ahead of Indian Standard Time) we left for Gedu from Phuentsholing and reached there at 11-30 am. It was one of the typical journey through mountainous range of Himalayas which I did experience many times in Nepal, Sikkim, West Bengal or in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The road with sharp bends has mountain at one side and deep valley on other side - all covered with lush greeneries. I enjoy a lot this kind of journey through natures – be it in Konkan coast in Maharashtra or in Himalayas.
We had work at Gedu and we stayed there for 2 hours. We left Gedu at afternoon 1-30 . At roadside, local girls selling local bananas and apple . Apple is damn cheap – Nu 30 per Kg. Ngultrum (Nu) is the currency of Bhutan and it is having same value of Indian Rupees. Indian currencies are also accepted in Bhutan. We reached Phuentsholing at 3-00 pm, crossed border and had lunch at Jaigaon. Again we went to Phuentsholing and completed our job. We left Phuentsholing at 5-15 evening and reached Siliguri at night 8-30.
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