The Kingdom of Bhutan is one of the most stunning destinations where few travelers make it due to the cost, travel, and the beautiful locations. Being the last Buddhist kingdom, Bhutan has a strong cultural heritage. It is a harmonious society and varied natural scenery which ranges from huge mountain peaks on the North and green forests on the South.
These things have definitely amazed me since the time I got to know about the wonders of Bhutan and always have a wish to travel and explore this small yet a beautiful country.
On June 2018, I, with my family planned a weekend trip to Bhutan. The first thing I planned was to consult a tour operator of Bhutan to arrange my travel cost and other itineraries for three days and AV Tours made it possible. Being the most trusted tour operator for many years in Bhutan, they arranged all my necessities for my Bhutan weekend trip. I was very excited about the whole journey and couldn’t sleep the whole night.
phuentsholing gate. people lining up to enter and vote. students waiting to join a cleaning campaign, apparently pic.twitter.com/heavvpryb6
— khendum dorji (@khendumdorji) April 20, 2018
9th June, Saturday: NJP to Phuentsholing
We left in the evening around 7 pm for the train to Phuentsholing. After arriving at the station, we waited there for some time and bought some snacks if needed during the journey and stood there for the train to come.
The excitement was increasing when we finally sat on the train and left for the Himalayan kingdom. On the way, we could view the amazing sceneries and cool air brushing our face. Finally, after 8 hours long journey, we reached Bhutan during the night. From Phuentsholing, we went to our hotel and halted there for the night.
Overnight stay at the hotel.
10th June, Sunday: Full day sightseeing in Paro
On the next day, early morning we had our breakfast and left for Paro in the taxi services in Bhutan. It was a 4 hours journey from Phuentsholing. After reaching we started hiking to the Taktsang Monastery, also known as ‘Tiger’s Nest’. The climb took around 1½ hours and enjoyed the spectacular view of the monastery. We halted there for refreshment and walked further up to the monastery which also took about an hour.
After having lunch at the cafe located at the monastery, we took 30 minutes drive and reached Rinpung Dzong which is the finest example of Bhutanese architecture as well as local religious centre. Continuing from there we reached Ta Dzong which has a watchtower housing the famous National Museum, with the abundant natural relics.
After exploring the museum we drove off to Khichu Temple, it was one of the oldest temples in Bhutan ending at a local farmhouse where we gossiped with the local people. After visiting a few more places we left to return back to our hotel.
In the evening, we were free and spent some leisure time shopping and visited some nearby places in Phuentsholing.
Overnight stay at the hotel.
11th June, Monday: Departure
In the morning, we packed our bags and the tour operator dropped us at the station and we left for Siliguri with the wish of returning to this beautiful country as we were left with exploring the whole Bhutan due to the shortage of time.
Lastly, I would be thankful to AV Tours for providing the best Bhutan experience and services from taxi booking in Bhutan to other assistance throughout our stay. I would recommend AV tours to everyone who would want an offbeat and local view of Magical Bhutan