Bhutan

Day 6: Getting back to motherland (17th Feb )

Friday marked the end of our Bhutan experience. But we had a situation: Our tickets to Kolkata were booked for the evening from Siliguri, and we were yet in Paro with only P’sholing bus tickets in hand. The bus to P’sholing was to leave at 08:30hrs and the journey takes around 8-9 hours by it. P’sholing to Siliguri is another 4 hours by bus. So that meant we were cutting it too close.

I was ready early on Friday, and braved the morning chill to shoot panoramas (I had forgotten to do that all along, and it luckily occurred as an afterthought to my friend the evening before). Outside, it was too cold for comfort and first my hands refused to co-operate and then my brains. So I decided to go back indoors, and while heading back to the room to get ready I heard some taxi drivers shouting out for P’sholing. I made some enquiries and found a taxi willing to take us to P’sholing for 300 rupees per head. It was a good deal, considering that a taxi ride would take lesser time. So we were in P’sholing by 13:00hrs and it was a thoroughly enjoyable ride coming down from the mountains to the plains. In P’sholing we again got lucky and found a taxi willing to take us to Siliguri for 350 rupees per head (as against 65 rupees by bus, but at 1.5x the duration). The taxi was a Scorpio and the journey quite comfortable. We were in Siliguri well ahead of our schedule – by 17:30hrs. We killed time exploring the city and soon I was on my way back to Kolkata in a West Bengal State Corporation bus called the ‘Rocket’. The bus did speed like a rocket, but the roads were so bad that it felt like we were traveling on the moon. I was to spend the next two days in Kolkata and consequently finish my vacation.

Takeaways

Below are some things I learnt on this trip:

• A trip can be fun even if it is not well planned. But you cannot stretch your luck too far. Example, in spite of reaching Siliguri well in advance, my friend missed his train.

• Be prepared and spend time thinking of what you want to click. Imagine yourself on vacation, even before you get there, and note down the things you want to shoot. That way, you won’t miss out on things the way I missed out on Panoramas.

• Carry small gifts. You’ll never know when you’ll meet someone like Chetin.

• Carry a bottle of Dettol. Can be put to a zillion good uses!

• Always carry photocopies of important documents like Passport, ID card etc. Also carry extra mug shots. Paperwork can have illogical formalities.

• Don’t play around with bus/train timings. They are not variables.

• Carry a cheque book/cheque leaves. Practical when you run out of money. Will add value to the sorry face you may have to cut if you are stranded with no money.

• Never go to a cold place thinking you can buy warm clothes once you get there.

• Carry calling cards. That way you don’t have to spend money on phone calls.

• If you are vegetarian and fussy about food, carry packets of ‘Maggie’ noodles with you when you travel to remote places .

All in all, I had a good trip and really look forward to visiting Bhutan again. If you have made it till this page, I am honoured! Thanks to the friends who made this trip happen, and the ones who helped me create this write-up.

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