Bhutan for free
There are these three possibilities to visit this almost impenetrable country, where tourists enter as if by eye-dropper:
1 - You are rich and pay about 4/5000 US Dollars for a 15 days tour with guide, hotels, food, all in.
2 - You are clever and wait in Sudder Street, Calcutta, for a possibility to pay 450 US Dollars for 6 days stay in Paro with daily excursions, flying in and going out of the country in jeep. (That is what I did).
3 - You are broke and just want to taste a part of Bhutan. Then you go through a train and a minibus to the Bhutanese village of Phuntsholing, inside Bhutan, for a few rupees, without Bhutanese visa.
The point is that the immigration is in the mountains, about 5 kilometres up, and Phuntosling is an open city where Indians make business with the Bhutanese. You enter the Bhutanese town and buy Bhutanese stamps, post your mail in Bhutan, eat Bhutanese food, etc. Phuntsholing is 100 % Bhutan, but you do not get a Bhutanese stamp in your passport.
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