Hi all,
So after going motor-biking in Bhutan 4 years back, (
read the blog here), I had always wanted to return to this amazing country. It's interesting that though my last trip was full of problems ... due to permits & other issues, I still felt that this time things would be smoother. Hope somehow always wins over hard experience (after all, people do get re-married. One would have thought that they would have learnt their lesson already)
We already knew that Bhutan doesn't have self-drive cars available. We also knew that cabs are allowed from India into Bhutan. What we didn't know is if Bhutan allows self-drive cars hired from India into it's borders.
There is very little information on it (at least we didn't find any) anywhere. So we decided to find out the hard way.
After booking an Innova through Myles, I was wondering about car insurance in Bhutan. So I called up their call center:
Me: Would I face any problems with insurance when I take your car to Bhutan?
Call center: No sir there won't be any problem.
...
Call center: Of course we don't allow our cars to be taken to Bhutan.
Me: (oh oh. Maybe I should avoid telling them that I'm taking it there)
Call center: And we have GPS chips which detect where our cars are. Would you like to know the fines you have to pay in case you break our rules?
Ok that didn't go too well. I promptly cancelled their car ... and realized we are stuck!!!
(They were actually very sweet & didn't charge me cancellation charges as I was unaware of their rules).
Luckily I remembered reading about this company in Guwahati called 'Awe Rides' which has started self drive operations. So I called them up & found out that they DO allow their cars to be taken to Bhutan!
We quickly cancelled our Delhi tickets & re-booked them to Guwahati. We hired a Renault Lodgy as it was quite new.
Our
new plan:
1. Praveen & me fly to Guwahati
2. Pick up the car & drive to Bagdogra (Simultaneously our wives
fly to Bagdogra)
3. Drive to Phuentsholing, take our entry permits, take RSTA permit, drive to Haa (if they give us permits from Phuentsholing)
4, 5, 6. Stay in Paro
7, 8, 9. Stay in Thimphu (extend our permit days & add permit for Punkha, Wangdue, Gasa. + Extend RSTA permits)
10, 11. Punakha (visit the Jigme Dorji National Park if we get permits till Gasa)
12. Wangdue
13. Return to Paro (our wives take a return flight Paro - Guwahati - Mumbai)
14. Praveen & me drive back to Guwahati
15. Return the car & fly back to Mumbai
So with this new plan, we managed to save 2000 kms & 2 days of extra driving
