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There is a Bhutan transport bus which leaves Esplanade Bus Station at 7pm on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. It is a 24 hour journey. An easier journey would be to take a flight from Kolkata to Bagdogra and then do a 4 hour bus journey to Phuentsholing.Before entering Bhutan, non-Indians are required to receive an exit stamp in their passports at the Indian immigration office. Therefore get off at the main stop in Jaigaon. It is a short walk from the immigration office in Jaigaon to the Bhutan border.
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Try Blue Poppy. Bhutan always gives sticker shock since it is the premier non-backpackers destination..7
I´d strongly recommend the train to Hasimara as "idlysamba" suggests, according to a young dutch couple we met in Phuenthsoling in november, the road from Siliguri to Jaigaon (on the border) is partially in very poor state of repair and the bus ride is very hard at times. From Hasimara get a cab to Jaigaon and ask the driver to make sure to drop you at the indian immigration (about 4 minutes walk from the border crossing) to get your India exit stamp - without it Bhutan immigration will not let you in. Make sure that you have at least two copies of the entry permit paper to Bhutan, as indian immigration will keep one copy of it and the Bhutan guard at the border will not let you enter Bhutan unless you have another copy with you. If you travel to Thimphu/Paro or beyond, ask the travel agency making your Bhutan arrangements to pick you up in Puentsholing and drive you free - it ought to be included in the daily quota, if they do not agree, change the agency. Make sure that you make foolproof arrangemnets with your Bhutan agency about the place and approx. time for you to be picked up by your Bhutan guide/driver in Phuentsholing. Straight after exiting Phuentsholing, you´ll see some women selling fruit by the road, if you like fruit, buy it from them, it will be much fresher and lot cheaper than fruit bought elsewhere in Bhutan.
