a total waste of a day...

Nothing much to do today. We got up araam se. Me and Amit went to get the permits from the RSTA. But we had already left our luck in Lachen. The office was closed. Every Tuesday they conduct a driving test in which all the officials of the department are busy. We were told to sit on a bench in front of the closed office. I saw the officer who we had met the day before and went to him. He told us that permits weren't his responsibility and asked us to go to another officer. That officer wasnt even ready to listen why we had come to him. As soon he heard the words road permits, he directed us to another office which turned out to be that of the first officer. So again we were sitting in front of the closed office. Since permit timings were till 12, we waited till then and came back to the hotel. Next slot was 2-4. I dropped Amit at the hotel and went to higher grounds to get a better view.

me posing..


our hotel..

To pass time then we washed our bikes which looked as if they had just been taken out of a sand pit. Then all others went for a swim while i had some lunch.

Soon it was 2 and both of us again went back to the office. This time the office was open. And this time the same guy who had said that permits weren't his duty, signed the permits for us. Although this also required a lot of patience. First i had to deal with a junior who was so slow that i had to hold my right hand with the left to stop it from snatching the pen from him and making the permit myself. Then there was the lady at the cash window who took eternity in counting Rs.250 and making the receipt. It was a relief when the senior officer saw of standing and shouted at his juniors for taking so much time. But finally i got them. For details on permit process see page... After getting the permits Amit dropped me in the main marker and returned to the hotel. Since now we were international we dint have outgoing on our mobiles and the incoming was costing bloody rs50 per minute. Also the ISD costs were rs.21 per minute and that wasnt cheap either. So i crossed back into India and called home at the usual rs.2 a minute. Since we had wasted many days i knew i could not see everything i had initially planned. So i was trying to get my train tickets extended by 2-3 days. But tickets were not available and the agents are not reliable. My father said i will get a confirmation only after 3 days. So i crossed back into Bhutan and returned to the hotel where i spent the rest of the day sleeping and watching tv..
the sunset..




Distance traveled in the day: 20kms
Total distance in the trip: 1380kms


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