The land of dragons
Bhutan has been like a fairytale destination- snowclad mountains, colorful flags, picture perfect buildings with dragon designs, kind and happy people. It is a landlocked kingdom with only the curvy roads being feasible options for travel within the country
The country has taken a pledge to protect forests, ensuring 70% cover all the time. It is one of the few places in the earth which is net carbon negative. You feel the drastic different compared to Indian metros with pure air and trees all around
Best time to visit
December is good for clear skies and view of snow-capped mountains and black necked cranes. Around April is good for rhododendrons and Jacaranda flowers. Post January is winter with potential road closures. Although a beautiful sight under snow, we wanted to avoid disruptions
We had seen rhododendrons in Meghalaya, so decided to go in December to see the mountains and cranes. We were lucky on this front, got to see mountains at Dochu-La, Chela-la with clear skies. Phobijha was full of cranes with their chatter!
Visa and permits
Indians need a permit to enter Bhutan. Passport is not required; voter id will also suffice. In addition, a daily Sustainable Development fee is levied at Rs 1200 per person per night for nationals of India, Bangladesh, Maldives ($100 per night for other foreign nationals). The first night at Phuentsholing is not counted towards a night, but a second night is counted. You can choose to stay across India border during the return or in Bagdogra to reduce a night count
Insurance is mandatory, typically INR 700 for a week
Your agency in Bhutan will process the permits and fees
Currency
Ngultrum pegged to Indian Rupee. Indian rupee was accepted everywhere
Getting In
Bagdogra and Paro are two entry airports. Flights to Paro are only on few days of the week from cities like Delhi, Kolkata and more expensive. We took a flight to Bagdogra and travelled by road into Bhutan. On clear days, you can see Mt. Everest and Kanchenjunga from your flight from Delhi to Bagdogra
Paro is one of the toughest airports to land with hilly approach and shar turns required before landing. Only trained pilots from Druk Air are allowed to land here
We entered and returned from Bagdogra airport staying a night during return at Voyage Hotel
Phuentsholing was 4-4.5 hours away from Bagdogra airport. You pass by Jaldapara National Park which has elephant corridors- we didn’t see any though. Our guide met us at Phuentsholing where we had to change vehicles, and helped us with immigration formalities. He had to come in the next day to complete some other process (we did not go again)
Getting around
We decided to go with an agency Bhutan INC (website seems to be broken) who could help us with permits, SDF fees, insurance, guide and transport. We found them on Travel Triangle with good reviews. They were extremely friendly, professional, not too pushy on follow ups and reasonably prices
Bhutan mandates a guide to accompany you around. We always travel without guides and were a bit apprehensive about having one throughout all places. We were luckily proven wrong- The assigned guide Sagar was knowledgeable, friendly, professional, always willing to help and to the point. He gave us space when required and never intruded
Places to visit in Bhutan
- Thimphu
- Dochu-La
- Punakaha
- Phobjikha
- Paro
- Chele-La
We cover this in detail in a separate post here
Things to know
- Adding “La” is a way of paying respect. You might encounter this during your conversations many times
- The King is genuinely revered. Our guide mentioned so many stories of how he has protected his people during tough times like Covid. It felt nice to see the respect from common people
- Black necked cranes migrate from Tibet during winter months. Phobjikha hosts a festival early November to welcome them. They circle around Gangtey Gompa while entering and settle down in the region
- Ema Datshi- Chilies with cheese is the national food. You can find variants with spinach, potatoes which are less spicy
- It is mandatory for a guide to accompany you everywhere. Although we were a little apprehensive in the beginning, we got to know a lot more about the region, culture and the people from our guide
- It is hard to find hotels to book on popular sites like Booking.com (another reason why agency is helpful here). They are either not listed or have too less reviews. We looked at a combination of Tripadvisor, Google and individual travel aggregator reviews to get a sense of quality. When we were not convinced, we asked the agency to change hotels to other alternates
How much does it cost
We spent around $850 per person
- Flights: $150 (Domestic to Bagdogra)
- Hotel + Tour including hotels, permits, SDF, insurance, breakfast, dinner and transport from – to Bagdogra: $600
- Food: $35 (We carry our own food/ shop at supermarkets)
- Entry fee: $50