The Trongsa Dzong..
At the Dzong entry there was a beautiful garden with many exotic flowers.
Some of the pics i took..
Now as I reached the gate of the dzong I dint know where to start from. So I asked a person coming towards me. He asked me for my badge. What badge? He said I had to show the permits at the entry and they will issue a badge. Since this was a government building, we could not just walk in like this. And I had forgotten to get the permits. He and I both tried convincing the guards but they dint let me enter without the permits. I regretted asking the man for directions. If I had just walked in, maybe i would have been able to see the dzong(as i had already crossed the guards while clicking the flowers). Again with the helmet in my hand and the riding jacket making me sweat I climbed up the stairs.
Bhutanese houses..
On reaching the market, I stopped at a restaurant which had the sign “Indian food served here”. Again I was hit by the realization that I was a foreigner right now. I ordered poori-sabzi. This is what I got…
The white thing is potatoes and green chilies in cheese sauce. Yup you guessed it right: Ema Datshi.
a children playing nearby..
After food I called up home. No news of the tickets. The agent was not picking up his phone. No option but to wait. Because if I got an extension I would have lotsa time and would be going ahead towards Samdrup Dzongkar (the exit from India into Assam) and if no extension then I would be having just enough time to reach back to Phuentsholling. Was calling home after every half hour but was still not getting any confirmed news. In order to save time, I packed up my stuff and loaded it on the bike. I boy standing there and watching me told me that he had seen a similarly loaded bike a few minutes ago at the checkpost before Trongsa. I was surprised. I knew Jithu was somewhere behind but how could he have reached here so fast. After sometime came Jithu, smiling ear to ear. We greeted each other like long lost brothers. His chain had come loose and after getting that mended, he had taken the same route as me. Then 86km before Trongsa after riding in very heavy rain and through streams of mud which gave hints of landslide, he stopped. The final confirmation came at 12. Extension of ticket not possible. So it was 12, that meant around 5.5 hrs of light left. 200kms to Thimphu. Stopping at Wandue (129kms from here) would mean a long ride (Wandue-Phuentsholling is around 240kms) next day. I decided to push it, to cut down the breaks and not the speed. I reminded myself that the secret to achieving good average speed is not riding fast but riding consistently. But soon it started raining. A quick stop to wear the raingear and I was back on the way. The only breaks I took were to show the passes.
The rainy evening..
One stop was at the Pelela top(70kms from Trongsa).
Many times I felt like stopping for pics but dint to it. On Pelela it was very cold and wore my woolen gloves and muffler. It was now raining intermittently. But some times the rain was pretty heavy. I reached Wandue at 4:15. Now around 70kms to Semtokha and about an hour of light left. If I could just reach Dochula before dark, I would have just 17kms of good roads to do using my acentric headlights. I decided to give it a shot. Non stop I was riding. Just couldn’t stop myself for stopping for the pic of these beautiful flowers.
But in a hurry it also came blurred. I rode, rode and rode.
some vistas on the way..
Sharp 5:30pm and I was on time for my appointment with Dochula just as the last rays of the sun were fading. 183kms in 5 and half hours with heavy rains and bad roads.. not bad man!! Now relaxed I went to the hotel near Dochula and had a luxurious snack of tea and omellete and toasts with lots of butter. I thought it would be nice to stay here itself but Rs.1600 for a single room was even beyond my budget for 3 days. But a nicely made place with traditional paintings and handicrafts everywhere and 6 beautiful women in traditional uniform smiling and standing at the door.
Some photography till the food was being made.. The clouds over Dochula (it was actually pitch dark when this pic was taken)
some flags nearby..
After having rested and taking some night shots of the valley, I started for Semtokha. I though I will find a place there instead of going back to Thimphu, because it is on the way from Thimphu to Chuzom. So I will save some distance and also not have to negotiate the one ways in Thimphu. Now I was riding slow and steady and stopping many time for pics.
Tried to take a pic of the Semtokha Dzong but without the tripod couldn’t get a good shot( i had a tripod but was too lazy to take it out)..
After reaching Semtokha, I tried finding a hotel but people said that I will only get at Thimphu. So again I came back to thimphu and started looking for a hotel. No hotel had a single room and the double rooms were costly. Finally I checked into this new hotel which gave me a double room for Rs.300 after negotiations. Tomorrow was going to be my last day in Bhutan. The plan was to ride till Phuentsholling and the next day to NJP. Due to the various delays, we had skipped many places which offered good photography opportunities. Foremost amongst them were Bumthang and Paro. The photographer in me wasn’t satisfied. He had been deprived his share of fun. He wasn’t ready to let me end the trip this way. So after another look at the Bhutan map and the travel guide, the decision was made. I was going to Haa Valley the next day and from there to Paro. This time the rider in me had to compromise. Now I would have to do Paro to NJP in a single day. Its around 300km. on paper very much possible. Only concern was that the roads would be in bad shape and so the journey will be a long and tiring one. Koi gal nai!! I will rest in the train yaar.. so with this decision I went to sleep...
Distance traveled in the day: 205kms
Total distance in the trip: 2026kms
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