The Journey from
Bhutan to Myanmar
by DR. MARAL YAZARLOO - PATTRICK
We exited from Bhutan and headed to Siliguri (India). On account of
the earlier breakdown with Pankaj's bike, we could not take the risk of
ruining the engine. So we transported Pankaj's bike from Thimpu
(Bhutan) in a Balero, while I rode my bike to Siliguri.
It is true when they say. 'When it rains, it pours!' We were greeted at
Siliguri with the news from our Visa Agent that my visa for Myanmar
was rejected; and Pankaj's visa was not valid for entry into Myanmar by
road. So I flew to the Myanmar embassy in New Delhi to get our visas
sorted. In the meanwhile, Pankaj stayed back at Siliguri, as Joshua was
to arrive with the parts to fix the bike.
Things finally started to look brighter. The officials at the
Myanmar Embassy were awesome. I provided them with the
documents and the next day, our visas were ready!
And Partner's bike got fixed too! He and Joshua rode our bikes to
Guwahati, to make sure that the bikes were okay and fixed. For the
first time in several days, I saw a little smile on Pankaj's face. I took a
flight from Delhi, directly to Guwahati. Got into my gear, jumped onto
my bike and headed towards Kaziranga. As soon as we set off, it
started to rain. A little chilly, but the roads were good - moreover we
were glad to be back on our bikes once again.
At Kaziranga, we were scheduled to stay with Pankaj's friend, Manoj.
As it was already sunset when we reached, we did have a little
difficulty locating his place due to the darkness, winding village roads
and constant rain.
We finally reached a beautiful peaceful house amidst a big farm. Our
host, Manoj greeted us with a damn monkey perched on his shoulder.
I tried to get close to him but he snapped. But by then, I was hooked
and named the monkey 'Lio'. Manoj has dedicated his entire life to
rescuing animals in distress. To date he has rescued over 2500 animals
- even an eagle and a couple of pythons that he kept at his farm.