An Unusual Greeting in India

24 October

Depart Bangkok | Arrive Guwahati, India | Drive to Samdrupjonkhar, Bhutan

The most common way to enter Bhutan is by flying Druk Air to Paro on the far western side of Bhutan. For our trip, we have chosen to fly instead into Guwahati, India entering Bhutan by car at the south east border town of Samdrupjonkhar. This is such an unusual approach, that the flight attendants not only questioned whether we were supposed to deplane in India, they required us to show our boarding passes to prove it. As we exited the airport, we faced a sea of hundreds of Muslims there to greet Haj pilgrims returning from Delhi. The only way past was through the guantlet of well-wishers, all of them looking as surprised as we were to interrupt the parade of pilgrims they were there to see. It felt a bit like stepping into a parade and waving at the bystanders as if we were part of the festivities. L. Dorji, one of our favorite Bhutanese guides, was a welcome face at the end of the line who helped us past the crowds to two vehicles in the blazing heat of the morning. Guwahati felt even hotter than Bangkok, maybe because of the dust that covers everything along the road, and the more primitive ambiance of this part of rural India where sari-clad women worked in the rice fields, barefooted men carried 30-foot lengths of bamboo on their shoulders down the highway, and goats, cows and chickens grazed along the ditches and napped in the road. The three-hour drive to the border fascinated and thrilled everyone, in spite of the very bumpy road conditions, and the constant honking of cars and trucks passing in all directions. The procession of vehicles – highly decorated trucks, motorcycles and tuk tuks overloaded with families, farmers pulling handcarts filled with hay, school children on bicycles kept us easily entertained. We began in a bustling city, drove past rice paddies and small villages, through lush fields of tea and ended in a landscape with tall ficus and palm trees with glimpses of the prayer-flag draped mountains of our ultimate destination. The crossing into Bhutan required us to exit the vehicles and walk through a tiny office and metal detector, then back into our cars and we were officially in Bhutan. The city we are staying in is like most border towns, a poor representation of each country it straddles, and in this case, lacking the usual Bhutanese charm. While L. Dorji took our visas and entry documents to the Immigration office, our other two guides, Wangdi and Jigme, took us on a walking tour of a tiny park and vegetable market. Fortunately our hotel reservation was moved to Tashi Gasel Lodge on the outskirts of Samdrupjonkhar, where the rooms are spare, but clean and the meals are good, away from the noise and dirt of the town. I am up in the middle of the night, thanks to the 12-hour time difference, taking advantage of the surprisingly excellent access to the internet. We suspect this is due to our proximity to India, but for whatever reason, I am grateful to make another post so soon.