Any thoughts on Travel to Bhutan?

[Guest fountainhall]

I am planning a trip later this year (hopefully November when the weather is supposed to be really good). I know tours are regulated and far from cheap. Has anyone done such a trip? Which are the must-see places/sights? I am thinking of about 5 days, but would you recommend longer? Many thanks in advance.

[fedssocr]

That's one of the places that I am also fascinated by. I started to doing some research a couple of years ago and as you say it is not cheap, but I think the tours charge a daily fee that includes pretty much everything. There are several tour agents out there. Go to www.tourismbhutan.com and you should get a good idea as far as what there is to see. See the photo of the boy with a penis on his head... www.tourismbhutan.com/aaa.htm

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5 days seems short to me, but I like to be in a place for a while. There are 5 day tours available though. www.tourisminbhutan.com has tours listed. I think that Druk Air has a limited flight schedule so I am not sure how often their flights to BKK operate.

 

I would also guess that November is probably pretty cold up there in the mountains. I would probably go during summer if it was me.

 

Just Google "Bhutan tour" and you will get lots of info.

[Guest fountainhall]

Thanks for your suggestions Fedssocr. I'll check all the sites. Re time of year, I think November is actually one of the best months because it is after the monsoon rains have ended, is usually sunny and the air is particularly clear. In the summer, it's always much more humid, wet and visibility can be poor. I went to Nepal many years ago in late November. Whilst the nights were certainly cold, the temperature in the daytime was around 25 centigrade. Hopefully Bhutan will be something similar.

[fedssocr]

That's good to know about the weather. I will have to keep that in mind if I ever get a chance to venture there. I have to say I am intrigued by the beautiful boy with the wooden penis on his head. Apparently the faux penises are very important in their ceremonies and festivals.

[Guest kenrfc]

Can't add anything to the travel ideas but I can suggest a good movie.

"Travelers and Magicians"

came out last year and it's a real charming look at this country. My understanding is that it's the ONLY movie about Bhutan that has been made.

 

For some reason it looks a lot like "The Man Who Would Be King".

[Guest fountainhall]

Having opened this thread, I hope it might be of interest to provide a few tips for potential travellers to this fascinating country. It is going to be in the news a lot in the next few months because this is the year when it makes the voluntary transition from a constitutional monarchy to democracy - a unique experiment.

 

As is generally known, you can only visit Bhutan through a registered travel agent and take a tour. This does mean paying a fee of around US$200 per day in advance (about $240 if you are travelling on your own). However, the fee covers just about all your expenses in the country - transport, services of a guide, hotels, all meals, entrance to dzongs (temples) and historical sites etc. The tourism infrastructure in the country is still not very developed and with visitor numbers having doubled in about 3 years to around 20,000, the payment in advance system helps control numbers to almost manageable levels.

 

But if you want to do a proper trek over several days, you must also factor in the cost of specialist guides, cooks and horses.

 

Agents will offer you an itinerary but you can always suggest changes. Mine allowed for 3 days in Thimphu, 1 in Punakha (with the most stunning of many stunning dzongs), 3 in Bumthang (the furthest east point on most tours), 1 in Wangdue and 2 in Paro. Hard to explain what each is like if you have not been there. Let me just say I loved most of the trip, but the journey from Punakha to Bumthang is a very long 10 hour trip over 2 mountain passes, and once there I found Bumthang really only merited one night. I wish I had cancelled 2 of those nights and instead broken that journey by spending 1 night at the village of Trongsa where there is another lovely dzong.

 

For a shorter itinerary, you must have 2 nights in Paro where you HAVE to do the trek up to the Tiger's Nest monastery, Bhutan's most famous landmark. This is built into a sheer cliff-face 3,200 meters up. The trek starts about 600 meters below, but because of the lack of oxygen in the air, it took me 3 hours and almost killed my thighs! Thimphu being the capital is also worth a good 2 days, and Punakha definitely 1. Wangdue can probably be squeezed into the Punakha day.

 

Communications in Bhutan are quite good. My mobile worked in many places. Each little town has its own internet cafe, although the connection can be very slow.

 

Is the trip worth it? Definitely. I went in mid-November when the weather was warm, sunny and clear in the daytime, and cool and crisp at night. Friends who went a month later said it was much colder at night. The benefit of travelling late in the year is that the monsoon has cleared the dust from the air and you can see the Himalayas clearly. Not that they are as close as in, say, Nepal - but they are certainly impressive when you cross the many mountain passes.

 

The people are absolutely charming and friendly, English is spoken almost everywhere, and the food, whilst palatable, was a bit bland - unless you add in some of the fiery Bhutanese chillis. I saw no evidence of a gay scene, and doubt if there is anywhere to meet Bhutanese guys unless by casual contact. On the other hand, there is a lot of penis worship and you will see many penis images on house fronts, There is even a temple near Punakha where you can get blessed with a monster wooden penis!

[dapitt]

Excellent report, fountainhall !

Thank you so much !!

[Guest fountainhall]

Many thanks, dapitt. I am happy to answer specific questions any readers may have.

[fedssocr]

I am happy that you went. I definitely plan to go there in the next couple of years. Glad to hear the weather was good in November. You say it was cool at night...exactly how cool? Light jacket cool? fleece jacket cool? heavier coat? That's probably around the time I would go...late October or November.

[Guest fountainhall]

My trip was between Nov 9 and 18 and I covered the main towns in the west and centre of the country. During the day, it was generally warm - light sweater for general walking around is fine, and just a regular medium weight shirt if trekking up a bit. At night, I did need a heavier sweater and a lightweight jacket/anorak and a scarf - except in Bumthang where it started to get pretty cold around 4:00pm and was freezing overnight. That was the only place where thicker underwear and gloves helped! Even with a heater, the bedroom in my guesthouse (the Leki) was really cold, but they did give me 2 hot water bottles.

 

Generally, if you go a few weeks earlier, it should be considerably warmer overall - but then you are unlikely to have such spectacular views. And going later, the temperature drops accordingly.

 

Since you will have to travel around quite a bit, I definitely would not bother with a coat.I just took a lightish jacket, but layered by adding warmer underwear and an additional thick sweater for the cold nights. In fact, take 2 thick and 1 thin sweater, plus some warm long trousers if you are visiting Bumthang.

 

Two more tips - you will definitely be doing some light trekking (even if it is just up to the Tiger's Nest), so invest in an extendable hiking stick. I thought I could get one there but in every shop I tried they were all sold out. And since the air is so incredibly dry, make sure you take plenty of moisturisers - skin creams, eye drops, gum to keep your mouth moist, etc. - plus high factor sun screen lotion.