Drive from Bhutan border Phuentshiling up the hills
As soon as we crossed the Indian border by road, we saw a stark difference from the earlier chaotic, disorganised, crowded and dirty streets to the clean and clear streets of Bhutan.
Our immediate stop was to admire the huge colourful entry gate to Bhutan, the first of many arched gates that we would see later.
We had to stop at the Immigration office formalities where our local escort cum driver Sam, helped us with the paperwork formalities. Within an hour, our entry permit to Bhutan, was stamped on all our 4 passports, another country was ticked off from our bucket list!
The best part was that Indian currency was accepted everywhere at equal rate, so it was a pleasure to shop at the local supermarket for some snacks. Also the men brought some
Druk 11000 extra strong lager beer, to try something new and different.
We immediately started climbing up the mountain roads, both the weather and view kept getting better and better along the drive. We stopped to admire the mountain scenery next to some colourful flags at the Sorchen view point.
We stopped at another supermarket for some more local beer at Peru and admired the local dogs that seem to be at bliss in the country that measures high in the Gross National Happiness rating!
As we went higher it started raining lightly and at one point I felt as if we were driving into the clouds!
We saw Bhutanese cars with red name plates, we were told that – BP registration is for public vehicles, BT registration is taxis and
BG registration is for government vehicles
We drove past a group of bikers, who seemed to get adventurous in the rain and tough driving conditions. We met them at the Duntak canteen at Thukti where we had our first of many momos of our trip.
The mist and clouds kept playing hide and seek with us, sometimes showing us spectacular views of the valley, sometimes just making the road feel dramatic!
At the end of the day, just around dusk, we got to chill out next to a natural waterfall and click many pictures..yes the hills are calling and making us smile again!
So in 2018 do notice these simple smiling moments.Have a smiling year.
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