Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Day 12: Ride to Thimpu

Route: Pheunstholing-Pasakha-Gedu-Chukkha-Chuzom-Thimpu (190 KM approx)
Road Condition: Due to a diversion, the road stretch between P'ling to Gedu via pasakha was really bad and slow moving. Gedu To chukka had some bad patches.Especially after the dantak canteen till Chukka. After chukka the roads were excellent and for 40 km patch before Thimpu, the roads were awesome!
Max. Altitude: 7600 ft (Thimpu)

Manas went to RTA office and got the permits while we got ready. We decided to leave some of the luggage at the hotel and pick it up while coming back. At 9 we got the permits and left for Thimpu, the capital of Bhutan. The road stretch between Pheuntsholing and Gedu was closed due to some ongoing work so the diversion was through Pasakha and then to Gedu. The road stretch till Gedu was thus very bad . We had brunch at Gedu where we met Kapil Thapa who second finalist in Indian Idol 2. I never saw that show, but still took some snaps with him!
with Kapil Thapa, runner up, Indian Idol 2.. I never watched the show but still...

No..not carrom..its called Marriage!

After Gedu, for about 20-30 km the road was good but after that there was heavy back cutting work going on which made us wait. As soon as we crossed Chukkha, the road conditions improved.
Way to Thimpu

land slides were common

Project Dantak(BRO) maintains all the roads in Bhutan

We had to show the permits many times on the way. 40 Km before Thimpu, there was an excellent four lane road, something we never expected!
Never expected such roads.. four lane roads..too good!

Thimpu City!

We reached Thimpu at 6:30 and soon booked a Hotel on the main Norzin Lam street. We then got freshen up and went for a small walk. Thimpu is a lovely place where people are very friendly. The Norzin lam is a shoppers delight and is the main street in Thimpu and has many hotels to choose from. We asked around for places we could hangout at night. One guy told us to visit a place called The Hub. It was a local pub which had a live band. There was a big screen which showed local Bhutanese video songs. We befriended a man named Sangay who was the lead singer of that band. He was quite famous with people who came to visit the pub. When we asked about the nightlife, he suggested a places called Boomerang Bar. Parag and me decided to check out the place. There was a stage where women dressed in traditional dresses were dancing around with people. Women there were forcing people to request songs for which there was a charge of 100 bucks. I ordered a beer and was sipping and watching the whole thing. We soon left the place, came back and slept off.
Thimpu: Night View

Thimpu: Night View

Thimpu: Local Pub

Thats Sangay, lead singer at the pub.. he dedicated few songs for us too!

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