Bhutan Travel Guide

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Thimphu

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Asia/Bhutan/Thimphu_Dzongkhag/Thimphu-1155984/TravelGuide-Thimphu.html

40,107,14

Paro

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Asia/Bhutan/Paro_Dzongkhag/Paro-1156039/TravelGuide-Paro.html

20,51,8

Phuntsholing

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Asia/Bhutan/Chhukha_Dzongkhag/Phuntsholing-1156036/TravelGuide-Phuntsholing.html

0,6,0

Himalayas

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Asia/Bhutan/Himalayas-1156079/TravelGuide-Himalayas.html

6,9,0

Pro

arctichawk profile photo

 This is a travelers dream destination. This country is not westernize. No McDonalds, Wal-mart or Hard Rock Cafe. Just plain culture! Bhutan is AMAZING and worth every penny that one must pay to visit.... 


Con

illa profile photo

 It is quite expensive to go travelling in Bhutan, as the daily tariff is set by the government 


In a nutshell

tremendopunto profile photo

 Bhutan is the only place that fullfills my Illusions of the Himalaya. Nowhere else can you find that anymore! 

 

Explore Bhutan

Thimphu  

Taj Tashi

 1 Review and 153 Opinions  I was there for a week last month. The hotel is 5* hotel in Thimpu. It is a joint venture project by... 

 Hotels in Thimphu

Paro  

Uma Paro

 1 Review and 248 Opinions  I upgraded one night from the government hotels and was so glad I did. While the government hotels... 

 Hotels in Paro

Bhutan  

Bhutan : Jambay Lhakhang Drup

Bhutan : Jambay Lhakhang Drup, Bhutan

 mlguitar Says:  I just visited this festival this year, 30 Oct 2012. I would say this festival is rather special and not the usual masked dances festivals you will attend in... 

 Things to Do in Bhutan

Bhutan:Jambay Lhakhang Drup:Bumthang's Festival

Bhutan:Jambay Lhakhang Drup:Bumthang's Festival, Bhutan

 mlguitar Says:  Hi, I just visited this festival this year, 30 Oct 2012. I would say this festival is rather special and not the usual masked dances festivals you will attend... 

 Favorites in Bhutan

Druk Air: The Royal Bhutan Airlines

Druk Air: The Royal Bhutan Airlines, Bhutan

 ozalp Says:  The official airline of Bhutan is Druk Air. No other airline can fly to Paro, the only international airport of Bhutan. Druk Air’s symbol is the flag of Bhutan,... 

 Transportation in Bhutan

WHERE IS IT ???????? IN BHUTAN

WHERE IS IT ????????  IN BHUTAN, Bhutan

 jillikins Says:  Bhutan is a land-locked country bounded by Tibet and India. It's about 300km long, and 150km wide.Altitude ; 180m to 7550mm above sea level.Population;... 

 Things to Do in Bhutan

Takstang: The Tiger's Nest Monastery

Takstang: The Tiger's Nest Monastery, Bhutan

 HasTowelWillTravel Says:  Probably the most famous site in Bhutan for outsiders, the Tiger's Nest Monastery, sits alongside a sheer cliff thousands of feet above the valley. This... 

 Things to Do in Bhutan

Hiking the Royal Botanical Garden

Hiking the Royal Botanical Garden, Bhutan

 HasTowelWillTravel Says:  Hiking through the Royal Botanical Garden (which is more akin to a National Park than a garden), the landscape has a wide variety, ranging in elevation over 800... 

 Things to Do in Bhutan

Dochula Pass

Dochula Pass, Bhutan

 HasTowelWillTravel Says:  In 2003, Bhutan was pushed towards war. Indian rebels were hiding in Bhutan, and the Indian government had given Butan an ultimatum of either driving the rebels... 

 Things to Do in Bhutan

The betel habit

The betel habit, Bhutan

 HasTowelWillTravel Says:  Betel is a commonly-consumed (well, chewed) nut in Bhutan, as with a good portion of SE Asia. It is a hard nut containing a mild narcotic that is chewed with a... 

 Local Customs in Bhutan

Savor the Flavors

Savor the Flavors, Bhutan

 HasTowelWillTravel Says:  Bhutan has a cuisine that is distinct for the country. If you are to enjoy Bhutan, trying the local flavors are, in my opinion, a must. Two things that... 

 Local Customs in Bhutan

Bird watching - wildlife

Bird watching - wildlife, Bhutan

 ziger Says:  Bhutan has a unique wildlife and is worth a trip for bird watchers.Even waiting for the plane to leave you can spot a black eagle gliding not to high over the... 

 Things to Do in Bhutan

Close to the town center

Close to the town center, Bhutan

 boasnovas Says:  When making plans and reservations, ask to be accomodated in hotels in a walking distance from the town center . Most of the hotels are kind of out of the... 

 Hotels in Bhutan

International meals

International meals, Bhutan

 boasnovas Says:  Once the tourism in Bhutan can only be made by travel agencies, they will provide only international meals for tourists. If you want to try local food, ask your... 

 Restaurants in Bhutan

Comments (1)

  • Jan 1, 2013 at 8:04 AM

    I think it is time to put travel to Bhutan into some kind of perspective. During my three week travel to this idyllic country I discovered the place is not all it is hyped up to be. Value for money is extremely poor. Furthermore, service is terrible and there is little understanding of the desires of tourists.
    One huge problem is the setup of the entire tourist industry ; tourist agencies book your hotels and restaurants so that there is no true consumer competition between establishments and the places most likely to profit are either those that either offer the guides best service or are the cheapest. Although there is no lack of staff in restaurants, hotels and museums, there are often few people actually working. One of many examples of this is the widespread habit of all meals being buffet based. If you are paying $250 per day and are clearly paying enough staff, I think it is reasonable to expect more than this, especially as there are usually only 5 dishes anyway so for a table of people it is really not a lot of hassle to serve warm fresh dishes instead of luck warm self service. There were many more examples of poor service for example; our three week trip started at the airport in Paro with a luke-warm welcome from our guide who we discovered did not even know all of our names! In any other place in the world if you are spending $15000+ for a private guided tour for a group of 4 you would really expect the guide to be familiar with your names!
    Some of my favourite scenes were a bunch of Bhutanese standing around in a museum with no clear role and one westerner busily working on the electrics. Clearly there was little interest to work or to learn in this scene. This is an attitude which is freely admitted by some Bhutanese we meet. Bhutanese are extremely proud people, although this characteristic is one great factor that has allowed them to preserve much of their cultural heritage it is also a huge barrier for development and prosperity of the country. Many of the physical labour jobs are not done by Bhutanese as people there look down on these vocations. For example, all of the road works and much of the building construction, electrics and plumbing is done by Indian labourers. Bhutanese people lack skilled work forces to do these jobs yet there is little interest to acquire these skills as they are looked down upon by Bhutanese.

    I would argue there is something foul in a country where even the monks eat meat and yet no animals are butchered due to Buddhist beliefs. All meat you will be served will be imported from India, over terrible roads and without consistent cooling– I am neither a vegetarian or Buddhist or an animal rights fanatic but I can just imagine with disgust the condition where these animals are farmed and thus this setup is disturbing and hypocritical for numerous reasons.
    Do not go expecting to purchase any souvenirs as the quality is poor and items are overpriced to the point of insult. The best quality items are invariably those imported from India, Nepal or China- but there two are overpriced. Also be aware of always inquiring about prices before you make use if any service. We ended up paying over $40 for one load of laundry. When complaining about this cost the hotel staff wrote down how this cost was created by listing each item and its price individually. We had obviously thought it they would just charge a lump sum or one load of laundry and not over a dollar for each pair of underwear. This was in Bumthang and it is not reasonable that this cost twice what this service would have cost in New York, obviously the overheads are not comparable and there is plenty of labour available as there is no other industry.

    We generally like to travel in a way that allows us to visit hospitals, schools and industry. The first two where readily accessible to us which is quite a positive, however, there is no real industry to speak of in Bhutan. We also always make a conscious effort to consume local produce (obviously our attempt of consuming local meat was a shot into the wind), one such product was Panda Beer however, this unfortunately was actually run by a Swiss man who immigrated to Bumthang, and therefore less Bhutanese that expected.

    All in all I recommend you reconsider spending your hard earned money on this trip, however if you do decide to travel there avoid using the Bridge to Bhutan travel agency. Our guide was not good and the atmosphere he created was very negative. He chose some pretty bad restaurants and hotels and did not react to our preferences. The two brothers running this company seemed more capable than our guide however, although this is a quite a new company, in a start-up economy they do not find it necessary to take out tours personally. Anywhere else in the world people trying to run a small company would probably be more involved. Would not recommend this agency.

Bhutan

Plan a Bhutan vacation with reviews, tips and photos posted by real travelers and Bhutan locals

Popular Destinations in Bhutan

  1. Thimphu
  2. Paro
  1. Phuntsholing
  2. Himalayas

More Cities in Bhutan