Phuentsholing - Bhutan

A road less travelled. A country less visited. Bhutan is a beautiful part of Asia. This is my first time to reach the border and enter the county through Phuentsholing. To get to the border and the only entrance to the country that foreigners are allowed is to get a bus from the Siliguri Junction Bus station. There are 2 government buses that runs from here daily which is at 7 AM and 12.30 Afternoon. The last bus leaves at 2.40 PM and is privately run. The cost o ticket is RS 81. The bus goes to Jaigaon, the border town of India. From Jaigaon to enter Phuentsholing, it is a 5 minutes walk.

Important information: Phuentsholing is only accessible by road for Indians, Nepalese and Bangladeshis without a Visa. Other nationalities need to go through the proper process of getting the permits and Visa for Bhutan and through travel agencies. Generally the trip is arranged at a fixed cost of USD per night, which includes meals, transportation and visits to permitted areas. Then the foreigners can opt to access through Phuentsholing (Only one way, either entry or exit). So another entry or exit must be done by Government owned Druk Air. The flight tickets are expensive and the whole visiting process must be done as early as possible and at least 3 months in advance. Check online and you may find many options and travel agents.

From the Jaigaon bus station, take a shared auto to the town centre, and probably to the crossing gate. It should not cost more than RS 5 to 10. The hotels in Jaigoon are really bad. Some in total unacceptable conditions. Smelly, bad walls and baths, bed bugs and more like hotels for brothels! So do you homework and I suggest not to stay in Jaigoon. Some of the worst hotels includes Hill View, Kasturi and Sivam. For locals, these hotels are excellent so if you ask around they will probably tell you these are the great hotels. Basically nothing much to see in Jaigaon. Quick walk through the town will take about 1-2 hours, and off you go.

The crossing is interesting. There are separate entry points for pedestrians and vehicles. There are no checking done for pedestrian on Indian side. But there will be army personals all over the gate area. At the entry point of Bhutan, there will be Bhutan Police and will check the passport/id cards when they suspect that you are not from any of the 3 countries. Locals will easily get away. They are strict and they speak professional english. If you managed to cross that, then you are in the soil of Bhutan. No passport stamping needed. My PIO somehow helped me to cross that border!

You will see a vast difference between Jaigaon and Phuentsholing, mainly in cleanliness. Phutsholing is 20 times cleaner and neater than Jaigaon. There are many Hotels within few minutes from the gate. I checked into Hotel Central at RS 1000. Great service and very good hotel indeed, where for the same price you will get a lousy room filled with urine smell in Jaigaon. The people are friendly and they look similar like Nepalese. Most of then can speak Bhutanese, Hindi, Nepalese, English and even Bengali.

Phuentsholing town is quite small and you can take a walk around the town and see the place within 2-3 hours. Many nice cafe's and restaurants. I saw many locals wearing the traditional clothes. Even their police and customs personal's dresses are very different and has their traditional dress elements. From here to go to Paro or Thimphu, it is a 6 hour journey by mini-bus. But will first need to get a permit with passport copy and photo id. This is for the Indians, Nepalese and Bangladeshis. I did not try this.

I was happy to visit Phuentsholing and in someway very happy that I have stepped into Bhutan.

Dhaka to Darjeling

This is fun. It is not the normal path that most of the westerners or tourist take to visit Darjeling. But generally the Bangladeshis travel this way and it is a common during the high season in Darjeling. Now there is only one bus that goes from Dhaka (Bangladesh) to Siliguri (India). It is run by the trusted bus company Shyamoli Transports. The package includes an A/C Coach in a 2 X 2, forty seats coach, you have to book the seat in advance as it sells out at least 3-4 days before the scheduled departure, a packaged food and drink and assistance at the customs for border crossing. The ticket was Taka 1300, but may change from time to time. It is a computerized system and need not to worry. Shyamoli Services are professional.

The bus leaves about 10 PM from Dhaka. But you will need to be at the Ticket Office by 8 PM. There are quite a number of Shyamoli Ticket counters in Dhaka. So they will pool all the passengers to one Mini Bus before dropping you off at the changing counter at the outskirts of Dhaka. Bags will be tagged and you will be given a coupon. So need not to worry. Once you leave in the A/C coach, you will be given a bottled water and a pack of food (Snacks).



The bus then will stop at a Highway Cafe about 11-11.30 PM. Remember like any other stopover cafes, this place is expensive, but will be your last stop till the next morning.

The bus will arrive at Burimari, the border village of Bangladesh (North West of Bangladesh) around 6 AM the next day. The fun part begins! The Bangladesh Customs will only open it's doors around 8.30 AM. So you will have some time to wash up and walk around the village. Shyamoli Counter offers some basic rest areas with toilet. The whole customs and border crossing process will take approximately 5 hours. The bus assistant will collect all the passports and do the necessary. If you are a foreigner, please ensure you have done all the checking and have no issues on Visa for India. From the bus stop to the border gate is about 200 meters. They will arrange a rickshaw for this distance and your bags will be transported by default. Expect to pay a Taka 10 for the ride. Next, the customs officers will call the names one by one, and you can from there walk another 100 meters to the other side of the gate. Not yet, this is still Bangladesh soil. Once you reach the other gate, this is where they will stamp the passport and let you go.

Cross the gate and there will be sign - India. Yes! There is a small hut after the gate on the Indian side. First the gate officers will check your passports. Next the customs officers will go through, stamp the passports and you are ready to go. Again, please ensure all your documents are right. There will be another Shyamoliy Bus waiting to pick up the same passengers. A different bus on the Indian side. The bus will approximately leave at 11 AM and reach Siliguri at 1 pm. Indian time is 1/2 hour earlier than Bangladesh timing.

    

The bus will stop at a Hotel, a little far from the bus/jeep stand to Darjeling at Siliguri. From here, take a rickshaw to the Siliguri Junction. RS 20. There will be plenty of jeeps waiting for turns to go up. It is a 4 hour ride and please ensure to arrive in Darjeling before 9 PM. After that the whole town goes to sleep unless you have an earlier booking for a hotel. The shared jeep costs RS 100 per person. Try to get the front seat next to the driver for a more comfortable ride. Happy journey!

Bangladeshi Farmers at the Burimari Border

Dhaka and the long lost Bangladesh

Dhaka, a city full of mysteries and magic. Beautiful colours, friendly people but with some eyes always watching for some possibilities to lure you. The less visited and appriciated Dhaka and Bangladesh as a whole is not that bad. People just have not seen the true colours of the city and the country. A reverse meaning of true colours.

Smoking Autos, more than 400 thousand rickshaws and rest of the population on foot. A few minutes before landing at the International Airport, I believe I saw Dhaka almost sinking in. The whole city looked as if it was drowning. Waters everywhere. The airport was decent and convenient. I met a a Bangladeshi whom immediately identified me as Malaysian. Then he spoke to me in fluent Malay. This guy was working in Malaysia for more than a decade. Step out of the airport and you will see the most interesting Bangladesh.

People are generally friendly and helpful. Unlike India where anyone on the street could speak some basic English, the communication in Bangladesh tend to be difficult. English is for the upper class and the new generation is generally good at it. The rikshawallas, auto drivers and the merchants speak Bangla. Knowing few words on Hindi/Bangla will help you. Most of the Bangladeshis speaks Hindi and Bengali. There are many interesting areas in Dhaka where you can enjoy visiting. Sadarghat Boat Terminal is one of the place that should not be missed. This is starting point of the "Rocket" Steamers & Boats Khulna and Barisal. The cost starts from Taka 600 to 4000 per night journey depending on the type of room. The scenery of people crossing the river is definitely to be witnessed.

Take note that Bangladesh is still new for incoming visitors. It was actually a little difficult to get a Tourist Visa at the Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia without an invitation. Meaning that you must be invited with a valid letter and identity of the Bangladeshi to be given a Visa. The question was, there are nothing much to see in Bangladesh?! Why do you planned to go there? Fortunately after an Interview with the a good diplomat, First Secretary of the High Commission, they gave me a 15 days Single entry Visa. Please check on the Visa requirements before booking your tickets.

I spent 5 days visiting the important monuments and places in the city. Clean food and water are rare unless you tend to choose the high end restaurants. Hotels are bad for the price you pay. Some of the hotels which costs even up to US 35-45 are unacceptable. So imagine the cheaper ones. After some initial disappointments, I found a good hotel. Hotel Ashrafee with a single room for Taka 1850. Decent, clean and comfortable hotel in Rajabargh close to the main Kamalapur Train Station. This is the station where you get the Maitree (Frenship) Train to Culcatta from Dhaka. It runs every Tuesday and Thursday  from Dhaka and Sunday and Wednesday from Culcatta with almost 12 hours journey including the checkpoint procedures. The train timings and days has changed, so please check again and don't just follow information on the web. The cost of one way ticket is about Taka 1260.

Clothes, jeans, paints and jackets are the speciality of Bangladesh. Bango Bazaar is so far the best place to shop for rejected branded goods. It's extremely cheep and original items. Again do check yourself to confirm the original items as recently they are mixing the clothes with counterfeits from China and Thailand. You can easily buy a good Levi's jeans and a Dockers pants for about US 3-5. Bargain hard. Start with 1/4 of the asking price. and don't pay anything more than 1/2 the price. If you are not getting it, just walk away and look for other shops. There are very few buyers nowadays, so as long as they make a little profit, they will sell it to you.

Unfortunately, Air Asia has suspended their flight to Dhaka from 1st of July. So plan you travel with other Airlines, but at a higher cost! :)