Saturday, May 16, 2026
Siliguri, West Bengal
Away an Extra Day while Awaiting a Return Flight to Bombay
We awoke in our Newas Home Stay after a good night’s sleep. I had realized late at night that I had an appointment with friends in Bombay today involving a Walk-through of an Art exhibition by Subodh Gupta called ‘A Fistful of Sky’ followed by Afternoon Tea at The Art Café at the Ambani Center. I had sat up for a good half hour last night cancelling my appearance and making alternative arrangements so that my friends could continue having a great time in my absence. I even left a message for the Manager of The Art Café informing him of my flight cancellion and my absence and requesting him to take good care of my friends.
Then, with Llew and Marisa up, we realized that we had no set program for the day and could take it really easy. Breakfast would be served to us in just a little while and I used the time to walk outside in the beautiful garden taking in the tropical vegetation on a day that promised to be really hot, Because we had left the mountain coolness of Bhutan behind us and were in the dusty plains of India again, the temperature reflected the geographical change.
Breakfast did appear before long, provided by our landlady Pratima. There were omlettes with toast, butter and jam and coffee. We ate our fill and then each of us set off to do our own thing. Marisa stayed in her room and got on with some work, I put on the TV set and watched You Tube videos on Bhutan—it was good to relive the sheer joy of our recent travels It was hard to believe we had left it all behind us and would need to get back to reality again. Llew went back to our room where he spent the rest of the morning completely out for the count—probably making up for lost sleep following our fairly late nights.
A couple of hours later, we had our showers and around mid-day, we were ready to go out and look for some lunch and poke out heads inside the Hongkong Market. We had packed up and kept our baggage ready to be hauled into the car of the general dogsbody that was in-charge of the place as Pratima had left for Gangtok, earlier in the morning, after leaving us her bill. The rickshaw ride took much longer than we expected and, ultimately, we were hungry enough that we decided to postpone shopping until we could eat.
We did look at a few shops as we went past the market looking for a suitable place to eat. Eventually when we did find something it was rather terrible. On the upper floor, where it was air-conditioned, we managed to squeeze ourselves into some seats, ordered a non-veg thali and satisfied our hunger although service was extraordinarily slow and tested our patience. When we finished, we had just enough time to try to find another rickshaw, get back to our bungalow and into the car that would take us to the airport. We managed to find our way back and headed off to the airport.
At the airport, there was the regular streams of humanity waiting to get inside, but at least it was orderly. Things seemed to be working normally and we checked in our baggage, after ascertaining that all flights were on schedule. There is not much to be said about the airport at Bagdogra. There were good, clean, working toilets, shops that sold the regular detritus of handicrafts and souvenirs at inflated prices and a lot of coming and going. We settled ourselves down on seats (it seemed much less crowded and chaotic today) and, ultimately, made our way to our gate when our flight was announced.
There is also not much to be said about the flight except that it was full and on time. Service was good but as we had no meal plan, we ate the last of our snacks and contented ourselves with that light repast. When we touched down in Bombay, we made our way to the Uber station (after calling for one) and ended up getting back at about 11.00 pm. We were dropped off first and then Marisa made her way to her own place.
Yes, after a whole week in Bhutan and with one unexpected bonus day in Siliguri (which turned out to be a sheer waste of time), we were back home again. As always, it is so good to be home and no matter how fantastic a time one has had, the thrill of being in one’s own bed and bathroom in priceless and we were deeply glad that we had reached home safely.
Conclusion:
Our travels in Bewitching Bhutan had gone beyond expectations. Frankly, I had not done much reading or looked at any You Tube videos before our departure—so I really did not know what to expect. But, as it turned out, Bhutan was just delightful. So here are some of the things that will stay with me about this lovely country:
1. Aside from its wonderful natural beauty which will stay with me always, it was the people I liked. They were gentle, soft-spoken, kind, helpful and seemed to be guileless. Yes, we were guests in their country and, as such, they were hospitable, but I believe it went beyond that. I think there is something intrinsic about their culture (perhaps their religion?) that makes them kind, patient and gentle.
2. The grandeur and extravagance of their unique temples which, sadly, we could only commit to memory and not photograph. I do not believe I have seen such monumental figures in sacred spaces as I saw all over Bhutan—or indeed the lavish decoration that surrounds their shrines and altars.
3. The cleanliness, the greenery, the order and organization everywhere were striking. I did not see people shoving or pushing or raising their voices because they did not need to do so. Every place seemed orderly and organized and people knew where they were going and what they were doing. The place is definitely under-populated, compared to India (I suppose every place is under-populated, compared to India) but this country seemed especially empty.
4. The neatness and visual uniformity of their man-made structures—buildings, house, temples, monasteries, even shops and official buildings, have an architectural sameness about them that was very interesting. Painted in a calm color palette of just four or five colors (red and green for roofs), stark white or off-white for buildings with stylized decoration in orche, white, black and red for other buildings, there was no monotony—just a sense of pleasing homogeneity which I truly loved.
5. The interesting national clothing that is worn by everyone: gho for the men (checked tunics that look like midi skirts with long sleeves that end in pure white cuffs, thick black knee length socks and flat black shoes; and kira for the women—a two-piece outfit consisting of a colorful skirt and a self-colored short blouse held together with a brooch.
6. Food that is not really edible unless you love fiery chillis. We did like the Ema Dashi (chilis with cheese but they were not always done well everywhere).
7. Butter Tea made with water, salt, butter/yogurt and tea leaves (made from a local herb—not from tea leaves as we understand them). I absolutely loved this tea which reminded me very much of chicken broth and I enjoyed sipping it with all my meals.
8.The natural landscape of this country in the foothills of the Himalayas. There is so much forest cover, so much vegetation (and we were lucky enough to be there in spring when many trees were still in bloom) and so many naturally beautiful vistas—cascading waterfalls, snow-capped mountain peaks, miles of flooded rice fields, etc. We were also lucky enough to have stayed in hotels in varied terrain: in urban settlements like the big cities, in the midst of rice paddies, in the soft curve of nestling mountains, etc. Each place offered into own ambience and beauty that we really enjoyed.
Thank-you for following me on these travels. I enjoyed having you as my armchair-companion and until the road rises up to meet me again, I wish you Carefree Wanderings.
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