Working up the Bhutan Plan - Part 1

Whenever we tell people that we are actually going to Bhutan for our honeymoon people project a stone face and a subtle astonishment with a dash of inquisitiveness. “Bhutan??” is what they ask, well frankly not many Indians are really aware of Bhutan. All they know is that it is lost in the Himalayas and probably a good friend of India. Some people have even asked if this trip is going to be exhaustive! Well, frankly speaking I say that I don’t know if there is going any. But, one thing is sure that we will be traveling a lot on Bhutan roads and a small hike here and there. I definitely don’t want to make this a trekking trip for we don’t want to get totally exhausted; mind you that this is our “first” honeymoon!

All the while Siri was sure that if she is going on a Honeymoon; it would not be in India! Given this situation I hastened and a lot of places came up. Frankly speaking the first one that came to my mind was Mauritius. Well, that is where all the Honeymooners go and enjoy the sun and water. I was a little itchy about these beach resorts since it would definitely be over crowded since it was summertime and this place is slam next to the Equator and its going to be in actual fact, a very “hot” place. So, Seychelles and Maldives were out too on similar lines. Now since we had developed need for cold feet, the first thing that hit me was the “Swiss Alps”, but sashayed it away into the dim since it would become typical. Of course I was sure it was not going to be very easy on the pocket either.

Coming to the penultimate, way back in 2004 I had developed a very strong interest in Hindu Temples and architecture and was particularly impressed by Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Angkor Wat is mega temple complex build by the Khmer Kings during the 12th and 13th century AD. I was particularly amazed and awed by the Hindu influence and impact beyond the Indian subcontinent and I somehow wanted to experience this grand temple. In fact I had made strong itineraries and joined several groups, which discusses travel to Southeast Asia and particularly Cambodia. The plan was something like this: Leave for Calcutta by train, then later take a flight from Calcutta to Bangkok, then take a plan further to Phnom Penh and then later visit Siam Reap to experience the great Hindu/Buddhist temples. Well, frankly it did not happen and I surely wanted to see if I could go there for my honeymoon, since I am spending all that cash anyways. But, given that we are travelling during Mid of May – I felt that this place is going to be really hot (close to 40C) and probably not the best place to Honeymoon. So then went the idea of going to dear old Kambhujadesha - Kampuchea (Cambodia). Just to reveal a secret, I had Cambodia so much on my head that I used to create profiles by the name kambhuja_pravasi (Cambodian traveler).