In Love With Bhutan: Bhutan travel guide

Showing posts with label Bhutan travel guide. Show all posts

Friday, November 2, 2012

Bhutan Visa

BHUTAN STUNNING TOURS

Toughest Trek in the World - Snowman Trek
Bhutan Festival Dates 2013
Map of Bhutan
Bhutan weather
Gross National Happiness
Flights to Bhutan
Visa
Recommended 3 Star Hotels
Classic Treks of Bhutan
11 Days Enchanting Bhutan itinerary
7 Days Bhutan Festival Tour Itinerary

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Need a Bhutan Visa?

Bhutan is a country , whereby all tourists are required to engage the services of a local tour agency to take care of all the arrangements, so there is no backpacking travel in this Himalayan kingdom.

Other than Indian tourists, the rest of the visitors will need a visa to enter the country, and they have to apply for such visa before the arrival. So, there is no visa upon arrival arrangement as well.

However, the process is actually very simple. You can contact
Bhutan Stunning Tours
bhutanstunningtours@gmail.com
for all visitors.

For Singapore tourists, please contact
EU Holidays Pte Ltd,
(+65) 6535 8535

Make all your travel arrangement through the company, and then the visa application process will be handled for you.

The visa fees will be added to your total tour fare, and then you only need to submit a colour scanned passport copy to the agency, and they will handle everything for you.

This is actually a PAPER DOCUMENT, so after it has been approved (after the payment of your tour fees), the agency will forward you the copy by email, and you have to print, and bring along with you for your trip to Bhutan.

See you soon in Bhutan.

kuzuzangpo la (HELLO / General Greeting in Bhutanese language - dzongkha)

Monday, October 22, 2012

Bhutan weather

I have included the table for the Bhutan weather, so it helps you in planning for your visit.

BHUTAN STUNNING TOURS

Toughest Trek in the World - Snowman Trek
Bhutan Festival Dates 2013
Map of Bhutan
Bhutan weather
Gross National Happiness
Flights to Bhutan
Visa
Recommended 3 Star Hotels
Classic Treks of Bhutan
11 Days Enchanting Bhutan itinerary
7 Days Bhutan Festival Tour Itinerary

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Peak season:
Mar-May - SPRING
Sep-Nov - AUTUMN

In Spring, you will get to see flowers all over the places. If you go hiking on the Druk Path Trek, you will see rhododendrons up in the mountains. There are a great varieties and many different colours. In Punakha, you will see jacaranda trees and the flowers in bloom.

In Autumn, this is always one of the best times of the year to travel. Do note that in Thimphu, temperature could be as high as 27 degree in the day, with bright sunshine. And due to the strong UV rays at the altitude of more than 2300m, it is highly recommended that you apply sunblock lotion to your face, and body. During the autumn months, there are many festivals happening all over the kingdom. In September, you will find the Thimphu festivals, along with Wangduephodrang, Tangbi, and etc. This is the month of the most tourists in the country, thus you need to try to book at least six months ahead to be able to get good hotels, and even flight tickets.

During the summer months, this is the period of the monsoon rain in the Himalayas. However, Bhutan is spared of too much of a heavy rainfall as compared to the Indian Himalayas. There might be intermittent rain, but in the day, you might get lovely sunshune still on certain days. This is definitely not the time for trekking, as you would like to avoid the muddy trails. But then again, you will find lush green fields everywhere. And you will be able to book hotel, and flight tickets very easily at short notice.

In winter, Paro and Thimphu still enjoy favourable weather in the day, as you can see from the table. Only in the night, that temperature drops. Go for the Semtengang Trek or Phobjikha Valley Trek to see the black-necked cranes which migrate to Bhutan starting from late November till March the following year. These are low altitude treks, which will be enjoyable during the winter season.

See you in Bhutan soon!
Feb - Punakha Drubchen, Punakha Tsechu
Dep - 11Feb (12D Nepal & Bhutan wonders) Specially timed to coincide with the Punakha Drubchen

Contact Olevia Cheong
olevia@gmail.com

Friday, October 19, 2012

7D Bhutan Festival Tour Itinerary

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The peak seasons in Bhutan are in Spring (Mar-May), and Autumn (Sep-Nov). Do note that the hotels/lodges are mostly quite small with not more than 20 rooms. Due to the many festivals that are being held in September, Thimphu, being the most festival, most of the hotels were fully booked a few months ahead. I had problem trying to get the hotel room, and in the end, had to settle for staying only in two places, in order to go ahead with our travel plan.

From Singapore, we have only two flights in a week, every Sunday, and Thursday, and then two returning flights - every Saturday, and Wednesday. But the tickets are not cheap, as it is a monopoly by DrukAir. Simply there is no competition, and hence, we have to pay $1,600 + including taxes, just to fly to Bhutan. Yes, the ticket costs more than flying to Europe!!!! So, many people were wondering why would a package to Bhutan costs so much!
I had checked for other alternatives from flying into the country, but again the tickets were fully sold, about three months prior to our departure. There are many International Tour Agencies that organise Bhutan holiday packages into the country, and most of them have to fly into Bhutan from Kathmandu or Delhi.

So, there are actually a few flights into Paro, the airport city.
Bangkok, Thailand
Kathmandu, Nepal
Delhi, India
Kolkatta, India
(In fact, the flight from Singapore make one stop at Kolkatta before flying into Paro)
Bear in mind that you need to apply for visa for entry into Nepal, and India. For Nepal, you could easily get the visa upon arrival for USD25 (up to 14 days stay, multiply entry). However, the visa for India is much more tricky. The India High Commission in Singapore actually grants a multiple entry for up to 6 months, but there is a catch. After the departure from India, you need to be away for two months before re-entering the country. So if you fly to Kolkatta, and transit (one night stay required due to the early morning flight from Kolkatta to Paro), you will need to apply for Re-entry visa, in order to be able to enter the country again on your returning leg. Yes, you would need to stay overnight again, as there are no daily flights from Kolkatta back to Singapore. So, you can see, that is quite a hassle, to apply not only for Indian visa, but also the need to apply for re-entry visa thereafter. This applies to Singaporeans.

Anyway, enough said of the flight into Paro. So, here is the itinerary that I covered Bhutan - with the main highlight , being the Thimphu Festival, and then the other, the excursion to Haa Valley, on the road to the most western part of the country.

To Achieve Massive Success

Festival Tour
08Feb, 11Feb - 12D Nepal & Bhutan

Do feel free to email me should you have any question regarding the planning of your trip to Bhutan.
Olevia Cheong
olevia@gmail.com

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

11D Enchanting Bhutan itinerary

This is the itinerary that I covered in Oct 2011.

BHUTAN STUNNING TOURS

Toughest Trek in the World - Snowman Trek
Bhutan Festival Dates 2013
Map of Bhutan
Bhutan weather
Gross National Happiness
Flights to Bhutan
Visa
Recommended 3 Star Hotels
Classic Treks of Bhutan
11 Days Enchanting Bhutan itinerary
7 Days Bhutan Festival Tour Itinerary

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It was my first trip to Bhutan, and prior to that, I have read a lot about Bumthang, the Central Valley. Thus, I was very eager to include this on my itinerary. With a duration of 11 days, it was at a comfortable pace for me to travel to Trongsa, Bumthang and Gangtey.

Do note the travel time below:
Paro - Thimphu, 1 hour
Thimphu - Punakha, 3 hours (over Dorchu La Pass)
Punakha - Gangtey, 3 hours
Punakha - Trongsa, 3 hours
Trongsa - Bumthang, 5 hours
Bumthang - Punakha, 8 hours

TIGER'S NEST / TAKTSANG MONASTERY HIKE

For the winter months, you could go on a winter trek in Phojika Valley to see the black-necked cranes which migrates there from Tibet starting from late November till March the following year. Otherwise, consider a Semtengang Trek, which is also a low altitude trek, that is suitable for the winter season. Winter is from November till February, just like in the Northern Hemisphere.

If you have any question regarding your planning to Bhutan, the Last Shangrila, do feel free to write to me Olevia Cheong
olevia@gmail.com

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