Bhutan — My first Solo Trip
I had recently taken a break between switching jobs. With just 2 weeks in hand, did some googling about weather, budget and safety, and I finally zeroed down to Bhutan!
Not only this place is rich in culture but also you will find serenity and warmth by locals. I stayed for 7 nights and 6 days in the month of April. And here comes the best part: This was also my first solo trip in my life. With mixed feelings of excitement, nervousness and yes, loneliness I decided to overcome all and plan this trip.
I tried contacting some tour operators for the trip but because of dates and overall budget, I decided to make the bookings all by myself. In 7 days of the trip, I covered Pheuntsholing, Thimphu, Punakha and Paro.
I stay in Bangalore and thus, booked flight ticket from Bangalore to Bagdogra. I will share day wise itinerary below and most importantly general points to keep in mind before you plan to visit Bhutan. I spoke to many solo travelers (blogs and travel forums) who had been to Bhutan before to plan my itinerary.
General tips:
▪ You can get permit either from government office at Pheuntsholing or at Paro airport.
▪ Local people fluently speak English language and you will find many Indians working in Bhutan.
▪ In general cabs are expensive in Bhutan, hardly you will see intra-city buses. I highly recommend booking full day cab (approx. INR 2500 per day WagonR, Indica) which would save both time and money.
▪ Indian currency is accepted everywhere. Indian currency notes which are accepted are 100 and 500. INR 2000 NOTES ARE NOT ACCEPTED. Also, if you swipe Indian credit or debit card, that will cost you hefty transaction charges. Thus, I would suggest carrying enough cash to make all payments.
▪ Almost all Indian groceries are available at Bhutan grocery stores. Moreover, prices are also same (mentioned in INR) which you pay in India.
Here is my day wise itinerary:
Day-1:
Flight from Bangalore to Bagdogra. After 3 hours of flight journey, I booked a cab from Bagdogra to Pheuntsholing, which approximately takes 4-5 hours. On the way, you will see many flyovers under construction and roads are in decent condition. I had booked one-night stay in Park Hotel, which is walkable distance to Permit office. You can read more about my hotel stay in the link below.
I reached permit office around 2PM to complete immigration formalities. I was little worried as there was not much clarity if Bhutan government provides permit easily to solo travelers. To my surprise, the whole process was very smooth. The immigration officer enquired about my itinerary and wished me pleasant stay. More details here how to get permit easily and buying SIM card in Bhutan.
After completing all the immigration formalities and buying SIM card, I headed to bus stand which is around 400meters from hotel to buy bus ticket to Thimphu for next day. In the evening, I visited Karbandi monastery which was my first visit to monastery in life!
The monastery was so peaceful with great view from top. You will hear many people chanting Om mani padme hum (pronounced as Om mani peme hung), which has several interpretation and most common meaning offered for the mantra is “Praise to the jewel in the lotus”. You can read about the benefits of chanting the mantra here.
Few rules mentioned by the monastery authority were —
- Clicking photos inside the monastery was not allowed
- It is open till 6PM
- Appropriate dressing (full legs covered) was required.
After spending serene time there in monastery, I headed back to hotel to call the day off.
Day-2:
I decided to head to Thimphu and explore the place for next 2 days. One-way bus ticket costed INR220 and had specific timings. It was a 16-seater mini-bus and the earliest time was 7AM to leave from Pheuntsholing. From Pheuntsholing, it takes approximately 4 hours to reach Thimphu bus stand.
The overall bus journey was mesmerising, driven between mist and cloud. The roads were very well maintained and in case if the road were not smooth, you may see a board of “INCONVENIENCE REGRETTED”. The fear in me as solo traveler gradually started to turn into joy and excitement!
I checked-in to Dorji elements hotel (which is approx. 2km from bus stand). More details here regarding hotel stay and amenities provided by them.
Places which I planned to cover in Thimphu were Buddha Point, Simply Bhutan, Institute of Zorig Chusum, Folk Heritage Museum, Memorial Chorten and Junghi handmade paper factory. More details here related to entry fees and which all places to include in your itinerary in Thimphu.
After resting a bit in hotel, I took an evening walk and explored nearby places by foot.
One important point to note is if you plan to visit Punakha, you need to apply separate permit for Punakha from Thimphu. The immigration process is simple and just requires you to submit following documents –
● Voter ID or passport xerox copy
● Thimphu or Paro permit xerox copy
● One application stating that you are responsible for your own well being
● Punakha hotel stay xerox copy
● Permit application form (will be provided by Thimphu immigration authorities)
You can submit all the documents and come back to collect the permit document (signed document) within 2hours.
Day-3:
I checked-out from the hotel around 7am and went to bus station to board bus for Punakha. The departure time of buses from Thimphu to Punakha is 8am till 2pm. Overall bus journey takes around 3.5hours. It is highly recommended to book your bus ticket in a day advance to avoid any last-minute hustle.
Since I had just planned a day in Punakha, I covered Punakha Dzong and did Mo Chhu river rafting.
Here are more details about distance from bus stand to river rafting point, overall cost of rafting and entry fees to Punakha dzong. After covering those places, I took a shared cab from Punakha Dzong and checked-in to my hotel. I was staying in Meri Puensum resort which is on a hill top. From the room, you can see mesmerizing view of Punakha and misty clouds in morning. You can read more about my experience here.
Day-4:
This was my last morning in Punakha and I decided to start my bus journey for Paro around 7:30am. There is no direct bus or taxi from Punakha to Paro. Instead all buses and cabs will first reach Thimphu (bus stand) and from there to Paro. I took a taxi from Punakha to Thimphu (reached in 1.5hours) and then from Thimphu to Paro (1.5hours). Buses approximately take 2 hours each way as compared to taxi and have specific timings.
I planned to stay 2 days in Paro and decided to cover Chele La Pass, National Museum of Bhutan and Rinpung Dzong on first day. For second day, I had just kept the most awaited Tiger’s nest trek and monastery. Paro was cooler in terms of weather as compared other places in Bhutan.
After reaching Paro bus stand around 1pm, I decided to book full day cab. After talking to multiple cab drivers and hotel staff, I booked cab from bus stand which costed me much less as compared to price quoted by cab drivers at Thimphu bus stand and hotel staff. You can read more about my first day experience!
I had booked Soenam Tshkong resort which was little away from the city but very close to Tiger nest monastery. The resort was hardly a year old and had spacious rooms. You can read more about the resort here. After returning from Ripdung Dzong, I called it for the day.
Day-5:
After a sound sleep, I woke up by 5:30am and got ready for the most awaited Tiger’s nest trek. I had my breakfast in resort and started from hotel around 7:00am. I walked around 4km and reached the base point, where you can buy the entry ticket to Tiger’s Nest monastery (INR 500 per person). It took me approximately 2 hours to reach the monastery and 1 hour to come back to the base point.
You can buy wooden stick (INR 50) to take support while trekking. In between the trek, there is a small restaurant where you can get snacks, water and use restroom. On the way of trek, you will meet many other travelers motivating each other to reach till monastery.
The moment you are close to reaching the monastery, you will see magnificent view of Paro and the monastery. In case you are not accompanied by guide (which was my case), Taktsang monastery authorities will provide a guide free of cost. Clicking pictures and bags are not allowed inside, you can keep your belongings in the designated storage area free of cost.
You will hear interesting stories about the monastery from guide and it is said that whoever makes a wish inside that monastery is fulfilled by the Guru Rinpoche. Here are helpful tips for people who are planning to visit Taktsang monastery.
After completing the tiring trek around 2pm, I decided to rest for the remaining day in the hotel.
Day-6:
This was my last day in Paro and in Bhutan. I had booked my return flight from Paro to Delhi. An elderly Indian couple was going back to Pheuntsholing and offered me ride in their car till airport. It was 30 minutes’ drive from hotel to airport and cab charges approx INR500 for one-way trip.
Paro airport is a small airport and has 3 boarding gates. Airport authorities told that only 8 pilots (that’s what the figures they mentioned in April) have the license to fly from Paro. Paro airport is considered one of the world’s extreme plane landing and take-off airports. Landing and take-off is in between the mountains and is definitely a breath-taking experience!
In general, the flights to Paro are expensive, run on specific days and on specific routes. Thus, would recommend to book flight tickets in advance. There are 2 airlines which run from Paro — Druk Air and Bhutan Airlines.
While flying from Paro to Delhi, there is a stopover to Kathmandu and one can see Mt. Everest and other Himalayan peaks from the plane (on a clear sky). To watch the spectacular view, I would suggest to check-in early and reserve right side window seat if flying from Paro.
Being a solo traveler, not even for a single moment in Bhutan I felt that I am away from family, whoever I met during this trip treated me like their family member.
With so many wonderful memories, I promised myself to visit this beautiful country again 😊
