In The Realm Of The Dragons

We Cross Borders To Experience A Journey Of A Lifetime

- Janak Sorap

It was that time of the year when we were all making plans with our near and dear ones to celebrate the last party of the year before kick-starting a new one. I, too, had been planning the same for the last few days. But, no way was I willing to celebrate it like before, as they all end up the same. So what was I to do? Wait for something to come around. Well, that was exactly what happened when Raunak asked me whether I’d be okay going for a trip with Mahindra Adventure. The deal was to drive across borders into Bhutan and spend the next five days, including the last night of 2017, in a different country. All this was way beyond what I could’ve come up with on my own.

The first leg of the junket was from Chalsa to Thimpu and our steed for the journey ahead was the small yet mighty Mahindra KUV100 NXT. Sharing this journey with me was Jehan Darukhanawala from Evo India. This was a special day for me as I was going to drive into a foreign country for the very first time. The feeling was special, but at the same time had me caught by surprise, too. That was because once we were across the border, everything felt so organised all of a sudden. There was a feeling of peacefulness which I was hooked on to in no time at all. The first thing you notice is that there are no signals at road intersections. People in Bhutan believe in mutual understanding and are very obedient to the laws. Wish the same was the case back in India. So after waiting for a good couple of hours for our immigration work, we set off to Thimpu which was 164 km from Phuntsholing. By the time we arrived, it was almost midnight. The glow of the street lamps leading to the largest and the capital city of Bhutan was very welcoming as a convoy of 31 Mahindra cars rolled into Phumtsho Pelri our place of stay for the next day.