Masala Dosa on the Mekong

"Solo travellers are not allowed to enter," said the Bhutanese immigration officer. "What should I do?" I asked. "Get a partner and come," he said. I was travelling alone by road from India to the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan.  I was waiting in Kolkata airport when I heard a flight announcement to Paro. I could have taken that flight and flown directly to Bhutan. But instead, I had decided to enter Bhutan by land, because it is invariably more adventurous. My plan was to fly from Kolkata to Bagdogra, and then reach Siliguri by road. From Siliguri, I planned to take a bus to the Indian border town of Jaigaon. At Jaigaon, I planned to cross the border to Phuentsholing, Bhutan and then take a bus to Paro. The flight time for the direct flight from Kolkata to Paro was about one hour. I would reach Paro in three days.  There was a prepaid taxi counter in Bagdogra airport, but it was run by a taxi mafia. Passengers had to take a taxi only through that counter, at...

"Land borders are not always straight." he said. "Sometimes there is a bend in the border." I was crossing the land border from Uganda to Rwanda in East Africa. "Why are you crossing at this border?" she asked. I was driving back in my car from Montreal to Buffalo, where I was living. I was crossing the U.S. - Canada border at a remote border crossing in Vermont. It was a single lane road and the border was two flagpoles with the Canadian and U.S. flags on them.  A woman officer on the American side asked me to pull over. I was the only person at the border. I gave her my U.S. Green Card. "Where do you live?" she asked. I replied, "Buffalo."  "Why are you crossing at this border? You should be crossing the border at Niagara Falls," she said. "I want to drive through Syracuse," I said. "Why?" she enquired. "I am planning to apply for a doctoral programme and want to visit the University there," I s...

"Alimony should be paid by the woman", she said. I said, "Why?". "That way the woman retains control, even after the divorce", she said. I was in Lomé, capital of Togo in West Africa talking to a matriarchal woman. I was in Hillacondji crossing the border from Benin to Togo. The officers on the Beninese side of the border were relaxed. He punched my passport lazily and gave it back to me. The women officers on the Togolese side were business like, observant and very smartly uniformed. People were deferential to them. I was sitting in front of a young Togolese immigration officer and she asked me, "What is the purpose of your visit?". I replied, "Tourism". She then asked me, "What is your profession?". I replied, "Engineer".  The road on the Togolese side was better, even though Benin was the richer country. I anticipated road blocks and checkpoints on the road from the border to Lomé, the capital of Togo. I had to ge...

 "You don't know Français. You don't know Swahili. And you want to go to Burundi?", said the young woman. I was travelling from Kigali in Rwanda to Bujumbura in Burundi. I wanted to reach Lake Tanganyika, of which I had read so much in my Geography class in school.  Rwanda in East Africa was one of the most progressive countries that I have seen in my travels. It was one of the first countries in the world to ban plastic. My bags got checked for plastic when I crossed the border from Uganda. The motorcycle taxi drivers in Kigali, the prosperous capital of Rwanda, wear a neat uniform with a prominently displayed registration number. They wear a helmet and also carry a helmet for the passenger. Rwanda has gone through a horrific past documented in the highly disturbing Genocide Museum. But the country has gone past that period. Recently they have installed solar powered smart dustbins that notify the collector when to empty them. I reached the Nyabugogo bus station in K...

 Always cross using a land border, is what I say and try to do. You are certain to have an adventure. I was planning to travel from Patna, capital of Bihar state in India to Pokhara in Nepal.  I landed in Patna airport, picked up my bag and headed out to get a taxi to my hotel. There was not a single taxi to be found. There were no auto-rickshaws either. Most airports in India have a prepaid taxi counter, but there were none in Patna airport. Every single passenger who had come on my flight had a car waiting for them, either a pre arranged taxi or their own car with a driver. Everyone left and pretty soon I was the only person in the airport. I started walking and headed out of the airport. I reached the main road and waited there for some transport. After about ten minutes, I got a cycle rickshaw and he agreed to take me to my hotel. While we were going, we got stopped at one place by a man carrying a stick. The cycle rickshaw driver took out some money and gave it to the man...