Guidelines for Indian Tourists entering Bhutan - updated

There is a lot of confusion regarding travel to Bhutan for Indian tourists and searching the internet did not really clear my confusions when I was about to enter. So I'll try to chart down my experiences and thoughts in the hope it could be of some help to someone. Also I am waiting for my permit for Eastern Bhutan and alcohol is not served on Tuesdays in Thimpu and I need to kill time.

Firstly let me mention that I entered by road in a motorcycle from Jaigaon (Indian side) / Phuntsholing (Bhutanese side). I am not aware of the procedures if you are flying into Paro. Also the easiest way is to get hold of a Bhutanese travel agent and get a guided tour. But I don't find such tours fun and this is a blog for people (Indian of course) who would like to get in through the road.

By road you are allowed to enter Bhutan through three points. I have entered through Jaigaon in West Bengal / Phuntsholing and plan to exit from Samprud Jonkhar that will get me into Assam. I stayed the night in Jaigaon and the next morning I crossed over to Phuntsholing in the immigration office at sharp 8:30 am IST or 9 am BST. You will need a Passport or a Voter ID card. Get it photocopied and fill a form and attach a passport size photograph with it. Typically they will give you a weeks permit and that too only for Paro and Thimpu. So in the form also you are only supposed to mention Paro and Thimpu and your duration of stay is a week. You can get your permit extended in Thimpu.

It takes some half an hour or 40 minutes to process. Try doing it early as once it gets crowded it might take longer. If you are not traveling in your own vehicle your work is done. Theres a taxi stand nearby which could take you to Paro and Thimpu or you could walk a Kilometre to reach the bus stand where you might get buses to these places. I don't really have an idea about the fares and all. But yes since I was in a motorcycle my work was not done. The Bhutanese are very helpful people. There was a travel agent who was there at the immigration counter and he took me to his office and helped me with the procedures for getting a vehicle permit free of cost. Its not really a difficult procedure. You need photocopies of you vehicles RC book, Insurance, your Driving License and Pollution under check form. Now my PUC was expired so I had to get back into Jaigaon and get it done. Submit these photocopies with the photocopy of your permit to the Regional transport office which is just at the bus stand. He will typically give you the same 7 day transport permit till Paro and Thimpu which then you can get it extended from in Thimpu.

After this start off to Paro or Thimpu. Both these places are about 180 Kms (mostly climb) from Phuntshooling. Roads are decent and you should reach in 6 to 7 hours if you don't hit the rains and maybe even 4 - 5 hours if you just don't stop to take pictures on the way.

Now there are a lot of things you would have heard about Bhutan. I'll try to make things clearer but I might end up making it more confusing for you

1) You are not allowed to travel alone in Bhutan

Well till Paro and Thimpu it should not be a problem at all. I am in a cyber cafe in Thimpu right now after being to the immigration office to get my permit extended and get a special permit to visit Eastern Bhutan. The lady over there asked me if I was alone and she said she was not sure if I will be allowed. But thankfully the Regional Transport office guy at Phuntshooling was so impressed by my bike ride story that he gave me a transport permit for 15 days and he mentioned all the Eastern Bhutan areas in the form so that I don't have to go to the transport office in Thimpu again. So I told the lady that I have a transport permit from Phuntshooling for all these areas and I don't think it should be a problem. She was surprised and then she asked for a photocopy of that form and said to come by 3 pm after lunch. So basically I am just killing time writing this blog. I am still not sure if I will be allowed but like I said the Bhutanese are very nice people to talk to and I think I would be able to reason with them and convince them to allow me to go in alone.

But yes it is preferable to have some company I guess

2) There are no ATM's in Bhutan

I had heard this and I am carrying a lot of cash with me. I don't like to do that. There are ATM's in Bhutan. In Phuntshooling my ATM card did not work in some 3 to 4 ATM's cause mine is a VISA card and these accepted Mastercards. So I faced a slight problem. But then I finally did manage to find a VISA accepting ATM. Also Indian currency and Bhutanese currency are of the same value and you can practically use Indian currency throughout the country. But just be careful with 500 & 1000 rupee notes as they might not be accepted everywhere. But I decide to be safe and keep Bhutanese currency only but I have used Indian currency once in a while without any issues. I haven't been to Eastern Bhutan yet and that might be a place where ATM's may not be very common

3) You need a guide to travel and it costs around $200 a day for permits into Bhutan

These rules are for people of other nationalities and are not applicable to Indians. I think even Srilankans and people from Maldives are also exempt from this but not too sure of it. Permits are free for Indians and getting your motorcycle in costs Rs 150 as a one time fee. Four wheelers might have to shell out a little more. I am not aware.

4) Hotels are very expensive here

Yes they are kind of expensive. Its not like you won't get cheap rooms but they are filthy. I am on a  budget trip so I have to make compromises sometimes. I reached Paro at 8 in the night and I was cold and wet and I did get a single room without an attached bathroom for Rs 350. It was nothing great but I could manage. The only problem was the bathroom did not have a geyser and I really needed a hot water bath or else I might have got sick. So I got another room for Rs 600 with attached bathroom and geyser and a TV too. But trust me in India in 600 you get a very respectable room specially if its offseason but this was the kind of room which will just make you wake up early in the morning and get out. Even in Thimpu the room I am staying costs 800 and this one is decent but does not have hot water. But luckily for me the taps in the bath area and the wash basin are not working. Not a big deal there is another tap and I can manage. But it gave me an opportunity to make a big fuss about it to the hotel guys and hopefully I will get the price lowered a bit. So this is one more reason its preferable to travel in a group. Decent rooms start from 1000 to 1200 and with another person sharing it won't hurt your budget so much

Things you ought to do in Bhutan

Now everyone has a different reason to travel and all I can say is that Bhutan is a very beautiful place. You just find out whatever you want to do. It has a lot of culture. You will find a lot of people wearing their traditional dresses. I can't help it but my way of describing it is that the men wear skirts and the women wear longer skirts. Check it out if you don't believe me

But leave that part. The Bhutanese are very polite and very friendly people. The only thing I would ask you guys to do when in Bhutan is to go up to some foreigners who are touring and strike up a conversation with them. Bring up the $200 a day tourist permit thing. And then with a genuine or a fake look of concern (depending on how hot the women in the group are) say something like its a pity tourism is so controlled in such a beautiful place. Thank God I am Indian. Just rub it in. After all how many countries in the world can you think of where being an Indian tourist is an advantage. Yes I live for the cheap thrills. Try it out. Its fun :)

Updated part:

Well to update you I got a permit to travel to Eastern Bhutan. So from Thimpu I went to Phobjika, Bumthang, Mongar and exited through Samprud Jonkhar.
Some pointers that might be of help

1. The eastern part is very beautiful. Try not to skip these parts.
2. The roads are not award winning types but are manageable. Do not be too fussy about the roads.
3. Vast stretches are without civilization but you will find a small village every now and then at some 40 - 50 odd Kms
4. The best part about villages in Bhutan is every village will have 2 or 3 restaurants where you get good enough food and yes alcohol is available in probably every store and is cheap. 
5. Point number 4 is absolutely true but then "Do not drink and drive". Its very good advise
6. In Phobjika I only found luxurious room 2000+ for a night but yes I was there at a time when it was not tourist season and I bargained, made a sad face and did everything I could and I got the room for Rs1000. But in peak tourist season bargaining might not really work. I really could not find cheaper looking lodges in that area.
7. In other places you could get very cheap rooms if you lower your standards a bit.
8. And yes there were ATM's in these areas but they are few and far in between and anyway I was carrying extra cash
9. The people are very nice over here. I say that again and again. These are places where I leave my luggage strapped on the bike on the road for the night on the main road without any fear. Even when I stop for lunch and all I keep my luggage, riding jacket and a few times even the bike key on the road even when the bike is not in my line of sight. I am confident that no one would touch my stuff.
10. I truly believe in point number 9 but yes keeping your wallet there might be pushing it a bit too far. But for all you know even that might just be fine. 
11. Make sure you are carrying just about enough Bhutanese currency because even though Bhutanese and Indian currency are of the same value no one in the border areas will give you Indian currency. I even tried in the Bhutanese banks but getting Indian currency from the banks is difficult as it involves a lot of formalities. Its because most goods are bought from India and everyone tries to save whatever Indian currency they have as in the Indian side touts take 10% commission to change it.
12. Like I had mentioned earlier use Indian currency throughout the country. They will gladly accept it. Preferably 100 rupee notes. 
13. Petrol costs some Rs 63 in Bhutan. So make sure you fill up if you are travelling in your vehicle

I really have to mention this. I had some 7000 in Bhutanese currency and I was a bit pissed off that I could not covert it. I would have to pay Rs 700 in India to convert it. So far Bhutan had been great and I was just leaving it on a bad note. But here is where I have to mention how the Bhutanese policemen on the border checkpost helped me out. I had asked them earlier where I could get it changed and they had suggested that I try the bank. So finally when I was leaving they asked me if I had got it converted. When I replied in the negative they asked me where I was heading to. I said Guwahati. They then said that Guwahati is just 100 Kms away and roads are good. I'll easily reach in 3 hrs. They told me they will get it converted for me if I could wait some 1.5 to 2hrs. It was just 11:30 a.m so I said fine.

As I mentioned petrol is cheaper in Bhutan. So a lot of Indian vehicles cross the border and fill up in Bhutan. 3 policemen took the 7000 from me and they started stopping all Indian vehicles entering Bhutan to fill up petrol. They asked them for Indian currency to exchange with Bhutanese. Slowly Rs 500 at a time they converted the whole amount for me in some 1.5 hours. And No they did not ask me any chai paani ka kharcha for their services. So these 3 policemen ensured that I only have good things to say about Bhutan.

So yes I'll say it again. Beautiful people, beautiful country - Bhutan.