After leaving Sikkim we drive towards Assam. This state is bordering Bhutan and we are wondering if we can get a glimpse of this magical country. We take a local road to Bhutan and as the border post comes closer, there’s no sign of any Indian border guards. We decide to enter Bhutan, surprising the border guards who have probably never seen a white person before, so they don't stop us right away. After a minute standing there flabbergasted, they begin to whistle us back. We turn around and drive out of Bhutan. Bhutan is a little too expensive for us, with visa fees of over 200 dollars a day per person. But hey, we can say we were there!! We even have a video to prove it….

We don’t want to sleep at the border, and prefer to drive a little longer. We stop at a night market, but unfortunately they only sell meat and vegetables. That night, we sleep in Birpara but first we go for an evening walk over there. There are about twenty kids following us and we understand that they are our bodyguards, so cute...
In the morning we are ready to leave when we discover a puncture in our rear tire. Quickly we pump up the tyre and there’s enough air inside to reach the local tire centre. Here they repair the tyre within half an hour. The hole was caused by a small nail, and it’s our first puncture on this trip.

Our First Puncture in Four Months and Over 20.000km

More info on www.wijzijnweg.org