Bitten by the wanderlust more so than before, I had started frequently traveling, escaping to the destinations as feasible by my number of leaves (I was working full-time then, as a software developer), clubbing weekends, long holidays. So it was time for me to experiment traveling farther, away from my country India, and move out of my comfort zone so I decided to Travel to Bhutan.
WHY TRAVEL TO BHUTAN
I had to start somewhere. So I thought, what better than visiting my neighbouring country? So I chose to travel to Bhutan for these reasons.
- No visa is required (Citizens of India, Maldives and Bangladesh need no visa or entry fees to travel in Bhutan and are the only nationals that have the permit for independent travel. More information on this at the end.)
- Easier to convince my parents (yes, you see, I was traveling outside my country, alone!)
- Bhutan is not expensive
I don’t have to explicitly mention that the beauty of Bhutan that I saw in pictures online had already captivated me. And that’s what naturally convinced me to travel here in the first place!
THIMPU & PARO
I had set out on my solo trip to Bhutan, which was for about 2.5 weeks, and I came by road to the border town of Phuentsholing. After getting the permit to travel in the cities of Paro and Thimpu (Indians need to get extended permit for visiting the rest of Bhutan, which can be obtained in Thimpu). My first stop was in Paro. After taking a public bus to half the distance, I had hitchhiked at night with a Bhutanese couple, returning from their work to their home in Paro.