Samdrup Jongkhar - Samdrup Jongkhar Dzongkhag borders the Indian State of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The major portions of the Dzongkhag fall within the subtropical belt with elevations ranging from 200 meters to 3500 meters.It is also known as the Phuentsholling little sister due to the similarity in architectural style and the fact that both towns are on the border with India. Samdrup Jongkhar is a very clean and pleasant place with an eclectic mixture of Bhutanese, Indian shops, restaurants, hotels and is worth visiting. It is necessary to visit the Indian foreign check post at Darranga nearly 5 kilometres from Samdrup Jongkhar to get your entry stamp. Samdrup Jongkhar is a town of Samdrup Jongkhar District in Bhutan. It is located at the south-eastern part of Bhutan and borders the Indian state of Assam. This town perhaps was developed as a result of the construction of the Samdrup Jongkhar - Trashigang national Highway in the 1960. Samdrup Jongkhar is only the entry point of Bhutan from India from the Indian district of Assam. There are not many tourist spot yet Trashigang, Jakar, Mongar etc are nice places to visit from here. It is one of the important trading town for eastern districts of Bhutan. Samdrup Jongkhar Dzongkhag has a mix of population mainly dominated by the Sharchops and Lhotshampas. Samdrup Jongkhar District is one of the 20 Dzongkhag or districts of Bhutan and it have 11 Gewogs. The dominant language of the district is Tshangla or Sharchopkha in the north and west and Nepali in the east. Samdrup Jongkhar acts as an entry point to Bhutan and is one night stay. Other than Samdrup in eastern Bhutan other cities are Bartsam, Deothang, Khaling, Lhuentse, Mongar, Trashigang, Trashiyangtse, Wamrong, etc worth visiting. Southeastern Samdrup Jongkhar contains Khaling Wildlife Sanctuary, which is connected via biological corridors to Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary to the north and Royal Manas National Park to the west. A small portion of northern Lauri Gewog is part of the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary. The town has no tourist class hotels but one can stay at Hotel Peljorling, Hotel Shambhala, Friends Hotel, etc. Bar serves Bhutanese liquor and some Bhutanese, Indian, Assamese food along with Chinese and Tibetan food.

 

If you are flying to Paro and wish to explore Bhutan in just a couple of days, we would suggest trying a minimum of four days package of Bhutan Tour if entered by airways. If one wishes to combine both trek and tour in your Bhutan trip, we recommend to undertake twelve days Bhutan Cultural Tour which generally includes three to four days Bumathang Trek or the ten days Druk Path Trek that offers cultural highlights of Bhutan combined with five days trek and three days package tour.Bhutan Travel Packages, sightseeing, adventure; religious, cultural packages are designed by us. It is meant for the exploration of these attractions under Bhutan Tour Package, Thimphu Tour Packages, Budget or cheap Tour Packages to Bhutan, Religious Tour Package to Bumathang, Paro, Thimpu, Trongsa, Bumathang and best tour packages for the Himalayan Region of Bhutan are all organized, booked or included in our packages. Samdrup Jongkhar is a three day bus ride from Thimphu. The nearest direct services terminate in Trashigang and Mongar. Next morning travellers has to get the onward ticket for Samdrup Jhonkhar. Cmfortable buses are the small Japanese coaster buses.

 

When travelled by road two nights stay at Phuentsholling while entering and leaving is necessary for permit and while leaving as rest day. Paro sightseeing, Thimpu sightseeing excursion to Punakha or Chele La Pass is organized by us. Deothang is a small hill station nearly 18 kilometres from here. Bhangtar is also a nice area with a clean river and wide valley offer a good place for a picnic and swimming. Guwahati is nearly 110 kilometres from Samdrup Jhongkhar. Samdrup Jhongkhar is nearly 110 kilometres from Guwahati. Visiting Bhutan is best and economically done via Phuentsholling i.e. Siliguri in West Bengal of India.

 

·         Zangtopelri Lhakhang

·         Mella Bazaar

·         Mithun breeding farm

·         Dewathang / Deothang

·         The Zangdopelri

·         Bhangtar

·         Trashigang

·         Mongar

·         Jakar

·         Bomdeling Wildlife Sanctuary

·         Khaling Wildlife Sanctuary

·         Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary

·         Singye Dzong

 

Places from Samdrup Jongkhar

 

·         Mongar Dzongkhag

·         Lhuentse Dzongkhag

·         Lhuentse & around

·         Trashigang Dzongkhag

·         Far Eastern Bhutan

·         Trashi Yangtse Dzongkhag

·         Trashi Yangtse

·         Gom Kora

·         Trashi Yangtse & around

·         Samdrup Jongkhar Dzongkhag

Airways – Guwahati is the nearest airport to Samdrup Jongkhar. Bhutans nearest Airport is Paro. Guwahati airport is 115 Kilometer from Samdrup Jongkhar. Bhutan’s national air carrier, Druk Air, operates several flights per week from Bangkok, Delhi, Kolkata, Kathmandu, etc to Paro. One of the spectacular flights flies passengers through the stretch between Kathmandu and Bhutan. The flight passes along the Himalayan Range and all the peaks seems so close to eyes, it’s a flight to cherish. Whereas Guwahati airport is well connected to rest of India with daily flights

 

Roadways – The border at Samdrup Jongkhar was reopened in 2008  but travelers heading to the Eastern districts must come with passes or visas issued in either Phuentsholling or Thimphu. Guwahati is the nearest airport to Samdrup Jongkhar nearly 110 kilometres. From northern route it is a three day bus ride from Thimphu. The nearest direct services terminate in Trashigang and Mongar, where travelers will need to spend the night before departing on a different bus the next morning. Prior to that, one night stop in Jakar but it is the same bus that continues the next morning. There are 2 buses at around 6 A M (India time) to Guwahati from India border at Samdrup Jongkhar. There might be more during the day as the distance by bus is only 3 to 3.5 hours

Railways – There are no railway in Bhutan. Nearest railway station is 120 kilometres from Samdrup Jongkhar and is known as Guwahati Railway Station. It is connected to rest of India with regular trains.  The road between Darranga and Rangiya which is nearly 55 kilometres from Guwahati is very bad at stretches. Though 120 kilometres but avoid after sun set as the fog is very heavy and night time driving becomes hazardous

Tags: Samdrup Jongkhar Travel, Samdrup Jongkhar Package, Samdrup Jongkhar sightseeing