My Third Trip to Bhutan
In March 2016, Sherin and I visited Bhutan for the first time and we fell in love with the country. It's an amazing country with such clean air - zero polution. Bhutan is carbon sink by the way.
Our first two trips (both in 2016 - March and November), we stayed with Amankora which is amazing but we decided that our third trip shouldn't be the same. Staying at Amankora means doing the same thing... knowing us, we like to stick to the same guide and driver too.. so we will probably experience the same thing. So Sherin decided that we should push ourselves, stay in monasteries, farmhouse, cheaper accommodation since we need to see Bhutan outside the "Amankora view"plus it's not in our budget this trip to send USD1,550++ per person per night with the weak Ringgit but of course it's inclusive of breakfast, lunch, dinner and alcohol. They even wash your laundry for you and it's all inclusive.
A little bit about Bhutan since before my first trip I was not sure where the country was situated even. It's a small country that consists of 700,000 people and it's south of Tibet, shares border with Indian states and China states. It's near Nepal. If I'm not wrong Kathmandu to Bhutan (Paro International Airport) is around 40minutes by flight.
So to get to Bhutan from Kuala Lumpur, we have to either fly from Bangkok (stayed a night at Novotel Airport Hotel in Bangkok to take the free shuttle that is 2-3minutes from Suvarnabhumi(Bangkok Airport) since the flight from Bangkok to Bhutan (Paro International Airport) is quite early. We flew from Bangkok during our first 2 trips.
Our recent trip however, we flew from Singapore. Drukair (Bhutan Airlines) flies from Singapore every Sundays, Tuedays and Thursdays.
To visit Bhutan, it is compulsory for foreigners (except Indian nationalities) to book everything and prepay everything with an authorised travel agent in Bhutan. Basically how it works is, all authorised travel agent based in Bhutan has an account with Tourism Government in Bhutan. Travel agent will come up with different packages that includes food, drinks, accommodation, entry tickets, personal tour guide, driver and car rental and the minimum that a tourist has to pay is USD250 per person per night. All these payment will be paid directly to the tour agent's account with tourism government of Bhutan and without that payment, no visitor visa can be issued. So, if you are checking if it's hard to get a visitor visa to Bhutan, it isnt, you just need to prepay everything before you arrive. As a tourist, it is compulsory for you to get a driver and a personal tour guide with you as well. Our third trip we used this travel agent which has offices in Paro and Melbourne called Ancient Path Holiday.
Bhutan has only one international airport which is called Paro International Airport. Tourists that visit Bhutan will definitely visit a few towns/district other than Paro. Top three must visit places are Paro town, Thimphu city (also the capital city of Bhutan) and Punakha town. When we land in Paro we usually drive straight to Thimphu city which is about an hour drive from Paro Airport and stay a few days and proceed to Punakha (which is about 2 hours from Thimphu city) and back to Paro and spend a few nights before we leave for airpot in Paro.
Our second trip in November 2016 we were more adventurous we visited Paro, Thimphu, Punakha and even Gangtey (which is 3 hours from Punakha) and Bumthang (around 5-7hours from Gangtey by road since they are still constructing the roads). But Bumthang has a domestic airport that we flew from Bumthang to Paro (1 hour).
Why did we choose Ancient Path Holiday as compared to the other travel agents? I think all agents are about the same but the difference for us is Ancient Path Holiday can help us organise stays at monasteries and the guide Phuntso is a cousin of a Tulku so his knowledge about Buddhism is very deep and wide. Plus our journey this time around is more of a spiritual journey and to get away from the usual 'noise' in our life.
I'll continue in my next blog about our day to day itinerary. Feel free to email Sherab at sherab@ancientpathholiday.com.au about any enquiries.
Our first two trips (both in 2016 - March and November), we stayed with Amankora which is amazing but we decided that our third trip shouldn't be the same. Staying at Amankora means doing the same thing... knowing us, we like to stick to the same guide and driver too.. so we will probably experience the same thing. So Sherin decided that we should push ourselves, stay in monasteries, farmhouse, cheaper accommodation since we need to see Bhutan outside the "Amankora view"plus it's not in our budget this trip to send USD1,550++ per person per night with the weak Ringgit but of course it's inclusive of breakfast, lunch, dinner and alcohol. They even wash your laundry for you and it's all inclusive.
A little bit about Bhutan since before my first trip I was not sure where the country was situated even. It's a small country that consists of 700,000 people and it's south of Tibet, shares border with Indian states and China states. It's near Nepal. If I'm not wrong Kathmandu to Bhutan (Paro International Airport) is around 40minutes by flight.
So to get to Bhutan from Kuala Lumpur, we have to either fly from Bangkok (stayed a night at Novotel Airport Hotel in Bangkok to take the free shuttle that is 2-3minutes from Suvarnabhumi(Bangkok Airport) since the flight from Bangkok to Bhutan (Paro International Airport) is quite early. We flew from Bangkok during our first 2 trips.
Our recent trip however, we flew from Singapore. Drukair (Bhutan Airlines) flies from Singapore every Sundays, Tuedays and Thursdays.
To visit Bhutan, it is compulsory for foreigners (except Indian nationalities) to book everything and prepay everything with an authorised travel agent in Bhutan. Basically how it works is, all authorised travel agent based in Bhutan has an account with Tourism Government in Bhutan. Travel agent will come up with different packages that includes food, drinks, accommodation, entry tickets, personal tour guide, driver and car rental and the minimum that a tourist has to pay is USD250 per person per night. All these payment will be paid directly to the tour agent's account with tourism government of Bhutan and without that payment, no visitor visa can be issued. So, if you are checking if it's hard to get a visitor visa to Bhutan, it isnt, you just need to prepay everything before you arrive. As a tourist, it is compulsory for you to get a driver and a personal tour guide with you as well. Our third trip we used this travel agent which has offices in Paro and Melbourne called Ancient Path Holiday.
Bhutan has only one international airport which is called Paro International Airport. Tourists that visit Bhutan will definitely visit a few towns/district other than Paro. Top three must visit places are Paro town, Thimphu city (also the capital city of Bhutan) and Punakha town. When we land in Paro we usually drive straight to Thimphu city which is about an hour drive from Paro Airport and stay a few days and proceed to Punakha (which is about 2 hours from Thimphu city) and back to Paro and spend a few nights before we leave for airpot in Paro.
Our second trip in November 2016 we were more adventurous we visited Paro, Thimphu, Punakha and even Gangtey (which is 3 hours from Punakha) and Bumthang (around 5-7hours from Gangtey by road since they are still constructing the roads). But Bumthang has a domestic airport that we flew from Bumthang to Paro (1 hour).
Why did we choose Ancient Path Holiday as compared to the other travel agents? I think all agents are about the same but the difference for us is Ancient Path Holiday can help us organise stays at monasteries and the guide Phuntso is a cousin of a Tulku so his knowledge about Buddhism is very deep and wide. Plus our journey this time around is more of a spiritual journey and to get away from the usual 'noise' in our life.
I'll continue in my next blog about our day to day itinerary. Feel free to email Sherab at sherab@ancientpathholiday.com.au about any enquiries.
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