Bhutan - some guidelines to enjoy the country.

Bhutan is a wonderful country - full of scenic value, warm hearted people and distances which take hours to reach! There are a few important Bhutanese rules to follow, apart from the ones the Govt tells you about before or on arrival. Also given at the end is the name and contact details of our excellent travel agent in Bhutan :

1. Bhutan is a strictly cash economy. The concept of credit or debit cards as known in India or elsewhere does not exist. The only places taking credit cards are those where sales are high value – e.g. high end textile / retail shops or 5 + star hotels. Everywhere else it’s CASH, cash and Cash (note my variations on spelling to stress importance of cash currency). If you were like us, as we had limited cash, be warned, you will have a tough time. So travel to Bhutan with lots of cash. If using Indian credit or debit cards, inform your Bank of the destination abroad else the card will be barred / stopped after the first transaction. I do not know the current status after demonetization.
2. Indians need to carry a passport or an election card to enter Bhutan. It’s advisable to carry a passport as with an election card, they issue a travel permit which the traveller needs to keep safely until departure when it’s collected back from you. Do not carry Xerox copies. I saw pax with Xerox election cards and they spent quite some time getting clearance.
3. If you want a peaceful quiet holiday, without children running around, people screaming from one end to another, people often wearing their night gear to the dining room etc, do NOT stay in hotels which cater to Indian groups – especially Gujerati groups. Regrettably, I suppose because they come from the "interiors" of Gujerat like Porbandar, Surat, Bhavnagar, Rajkot etc and possibly may have never travelled abroad, they are unfamiliar with travel decorum or manners - they behave as if they are back home amongst their community. They have no respect for others and are noisy and believe that as they have money, they can behave any which way they want. They dont accept that they are at fault and become aggressive when you request them to make less noise. Be warned. We had to change a hotel room in Paro at 11.45 pm at night in 6 deg temp as we had noisy uncouth yuppie neighbours.
4. Roads. Distances appear close by but do not forget that Bhutan is a mountainous country. You need to go up a mountain and then come down that mountain. There are no tunnels or direct routes. Not once, but many times, before reaching your destination. From Thimpu to Phubjikha was 134 kms. One would think that we could do this in may be 3 hours?? Excluding a break for lunch and a pit stop, it took us actual travel time of SIX hours: an average speed of 22.50 kmph. The roads are being re-constructed. You pass major road work; you have to wait at certain places where the work is going on. You have to go at walking speed at certain places as the drop down is many thousand feet. So, reaching your destination is an activity where you need patience. Here are the actual driving times for the places shown along with distances. No stops included.
1. Thimpu to Phubjikha        134 kms       6 hours
2. Phubjikha to Punakha      73 kms         3.50 hours
3. Punakha to Paro    103 kms        3.00 hours

The worst stretch is the stretch going towards Punakha before you go towards Phubjikha. Don’t travel in anything less than a 4 x 4, if you can. Travel in Eastern Bhutan is more difficult as we were told the roads are worse. To go there, you require 2 to 3 days by car though distance is not much. So, plan the trip carefully.

5  Guide – for foreigners a guide and a driver are compulsory. For Indians, not so. However, if you want to appreciate the country and its intrinsic values, no amount of reading can beat the services of a good guide who is knowledgeable. We had a guide the first day who was appalling. We complained and had her changed. It’s important that you specify your requirements to the agent so that guides are booked accordingly. There is no point having an experienced guide on trekking when you want a guide more knowledgeable on Buddhism and textiles! Our second guide was outstanding. There is a custom to leave a gratuity / tip / appreciation for the guide and driver depending upon how happy you are with their services. This is totally voluntary but it is appreciated by them especially as they spend 24 hours at your service with you. It is considered an important part of their pay package.  

6   Food – Can get tedious at times. Most hotels and restaurants push their buffets as its fewer headaches for them, it’s more remunerative and all are catered at one shot. So, if you don’t want multiple items which mostly look the same at different meals but have different names, then demand a la carte. It’s better to have one decent item than so many which are tasteless. Also, Bhutanese eat a lot of chillies. So ask before placing the order. There is enough vegetarian food for visitors.

7   Museums – considering they are a small country, they have managed to create museums with outstanding documentary films shown at each venue, the exhibits are beautifully marked so as to be readable clearly and the displays are superb. I don’t think we saw one museum of poor calibre. Indian museologists need go only as far as Bhutan to learn how to create good museums for visitors to Indian museums.

8   Finally, especially for Indian tourists. Please treat hotel staff with respect. We saw many Indian tourists treating staff as if they were servants or worse: shouting and demanding services. They are not our servants. They work because they need the money and a career, just like most of us. Because we have money does not mean we treat them like scum. Its a sad reflection that we are our own worst enemies abroad by behaving so abysmally.

     We used Wind Horse Tours who had organised a 95 pax Rotary Group tour of which my nephew had been a member. Due to his reference, we used their services for our 10 nights / 11 day trip. We were extremely happy with their services. Our guide Sonam and driver Dawa were outstanding. 

They are a Bhutan based high profile Tour Company operating since 1998 setting high standards while keeping a competitive edge in pricing, product and quality services. We found their rates very good. Horse back trekking, deluxe camping, birdwatching, Buddhist Meditation Tour are exclusive products. Our guide was an expert on Buddhism and Bhutanese culture. 

They are a well established tour operator, employing 20 permanent staff and 15 registered tour guides. Selling both FIT and Group tours and focusing on sustainable and responsible tours. 






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