What is the cheapest foreign trip from India?
Written By -Rohit Baheti.
I suggest you to go for Bhutan. Cost for 2 – 20k INR. How? I used to stay in Kolkata at that time. Prerequisites = Entry Pass for People from Royal Bhutan Consulate, Kolkata (you can get the same in Phuentsholing (border city) but that will take atleast 3–4 hours). Make sure you keep Bhutan’s holiday calendar in mind and then decide the dates.
Took a train to Siliguri (New Jalpaiguri) – 335INR per head maybe from Sealdah. Rented a bike in advance (Royal Enfield 500cc ;)) – 1700 per day – 5 days. Bike – Santanu – 9434047898. He gave me Bike papers (of course), helmet, gear, gloves, carrier.
Make sure you carry not more than 2 backpacks so that they fit easily in the carrier. Also, carry a rope of somesort to tie the luggage. I had stretchable rope (used for drying clothes) for that. Started for Phuentsholing in the morning itself after having breakfast just outside the railway station.
Reached around 4PM. Had lunch. Took rest in Phuentsholing that night. Next day – We then came to know that we should have permit for bike also. Luckily (sarcasm), all Bhutan offices were closed on Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon for King’s birthday. We were STUCK. Our whole plan of a roadtrip to bhutan was collapsing. Went to Bhutan Bus stand where they issue the passes for vehicle. Stood there for almost 3 hours.
There was no one from office to help – except one guy who had the power to give us the pass. As expected – he was rude – kept telling us that it is a holiday and he can’t do anything. We begged for an hour or so and then, with the help of a didi who owned a Xerox shop in the building, helped us. That guy, finally gave in and gave us the pass.
We over overjoyed. Thanked everyone. That guy came out to be a nice person though. He told us to be careful while driving and gave us few stories of how and when accidents occurred. Our journey started from there.
Reached Thimphu at around 6. I had a place already in mind (didn’t book it). Hotel Name = Hotel New Grand And Pure Vegetarian Restaurant and Bar. Directly went there and got a room (a single room) for two – 1100INR per day. That single room was enough for 2 of us.
I stayed there for all 4–5 nights. Roamed around to places on bike. Visited Paro on bike – Tiger’s cave and returned to Thimphu at night itself. Added few photos for you to make a decision and visit that awesome place.
NOTE = This trip happened during Demonetization ;). We went with just 4k with us. Other expenses were borne by our Hotel manager in Thimphu. She gave us money for food and travel. And we paid back via online transfer 😉
NOTE 2 = Many are asking if we can take our own vehicles to Bhutan. Answer – Ofcourse we can. If the bike is not yours, you should have a letter from the owner stating that he/she are voluntarily giving you the bike.
NOTE3 = I have added the Hotel Name where I stayed in Thimphu.
NOTE4 = I went there in the month of November. It gets really chilly that time. I had a T inside + a Lehather Jacket. Please don’t make my mistake of wearing a sport shoe (with net (I hope you understand)) ;). Temperature during the ride will be around 15. Have a safe journey.
Many have asked me the howz and whatz. I tried making sense on those below
- Note down Bhutan holidays, festivals for sure. If it is a holiday, you will not get permit (bike permit).
- You get your bike permit from Phuentsholing’s bus depot.
- Get vehicle permit from Kolkata in advance if possible. If not, you can get it from their office (at the entry)
- Jott down your plan – day by day. What I mean is, using Google Maps, understand the distance to cover and always add an extra 2–3 hours buffer time (rain, bike breakdown, chai-sutta breaks, susu breaks, etc).
- You cannot leave to Thimphu or Paro from Phuentsholing without your permit. They will not allow you to enter.
- If you are renting a bike, make sure your bike provider gives you a form stating that he is the owner of that bike and is willing renting / giving it to you for certain number of days along with RC, POC, Insurance, helmet (compulsory for pillion riders in Bhutan), necessary gears and most importantly CARRIER (you don’t want to carry all your luggage on your back while driving). I carried a stretchable cloth hanger with me to fasten my luggage (works better than rope as they have hooks)
- There are no goibibo, makemytrip, etc there. They have their own government website for booking hotels. I gathered information about hotels from there and googled those. YES. GOOGLE is your best friend. MAPS helped me A LOT (I have given the hotel’s name above). Go for it. You will not regret.
- Have your jackets, gloves, shawls with you. It is going to be freaking cold there. I carried an extra pair of shoe (just in case).
- As mentioned earlier, carry light luggage (only backpacks). You WILL get food. Leave that kurkure, biscuits aside. You have shops there as well. You won’t starve.
- Obvious – plan this trip well in advance. Don’t rush on things. You’ll be in a different country. People ARE helpful but you gotta have a perfect plan.
- Drive safely. Roads are easy but a wrong, desperate turn and you know what’s gonna happen.
- NO HONKING. Bhutan is not India. Their country is their house. They don’t make noise or litter garbage. Respect that please.