Travellers' reviews about Bhutan

We packed a huge amount into 30 days and it`s difficult to condense that into a brief summary - we hiked, drove, ate, talked, danced, laughed across a country travelling from west to east discovering wonderful treasures on the way. I can`t thank you all enough, including the wonderful team in Bhutan, for enabling me to have such a wonderful experience.

I had planned to travel west to east and leave for India at the border but had a change of plan and retraced east to west to fly from Paro and that worked out even better. By moving across I gig to see the main cities of Paro and Thimphu as well as the small villages in the east where the way if life is totally different. The homestay was a great chance to see a real working Bhutanese home so I'd recommend that to anyone.

We had a wonderful trip and Bhutan delivered everything we wanted. The hikes were really good going up to remote monasteries.

Bhutan is a phenomenal place to visit which means it has a list of popular tourist attractions. Our guides put together a trip that was so we'll timed and tailored to our interests. We went to smaller temples with interesting stories that required a hike, my wife got to try some cooking at a homestay, we were allowed to get local food, rather than the non-spicy food served in the restaurants. When we did go to the big attractions like Tigers Nest our guide made sure we were approaching it a different way than everyone else. Our interactions with our guide and driver were the most rewarding part of the trip.

this was a long trip in a small country and I saw a lot. gasa was the very best due to the outstanding scenery and the wonderful family we stayed with and should be heavily promoted despite being a bit out of the way. merak and sakteng were very nice and so where all the farm stays. and again, it was the rinschen's and tshering's efforts to show me the country, people and explain the culture that made all the difference.

Destination____ enchanting is the only word. Favorite moments, photographing a pair of male Himalayan Monals which were fighting, at 7 o'clock in the morning above a monastery at 3500 m, well above the clouds in the beautiful sunshine. I also enjoyed reaching the Tiger's Nest after 600 steps down and then 600 steps up into the monastery, never mind the 2 and a half hour climb to get there.

Paro, Timphu, Punakha, Phobjikha

It was structured exactly as we requested with a mix of culture, sight-seeing, bird watching, hiking and trekking. We had asked for driving to be kept to a minimum as we wanted to do as much as possible; given the current state of some of the roads this was a doubly wise choice. It meant that we did not see most of the country but it is easy to forget this is a country the size of Switzerland with difficult terrain and poor communication so don't we too ambitious on one trip. With hindsight we would have liked a couple of days homestay but that was our doing not the Agency's.

The trip was very well organized. After meeting my tour guide, we hiked up to Tigers Nest. The guide had cookies, chocolate and toffee for the long walk, which was very helpfull. After the long walk, he took me to the hotel where i could rest and get a massage. The second day led us to a local nunnery and then a hike up to Chelela Pass at 3988m. We had a small box lunch on the way down to Haa. In Haa, we did another nice walk along the river, through the town and back to the hotel. The hotel was wonderfull with a lovely room and meal in the evening. The third day took us to Thimpu by driving through the Haa Valley. In the maintown, we had lunch at a great restaurant and visited all the main sites.

I have a blog at www.mytb.org/rockingsouthamerica where I have put all my experience in Bhutan. Feel free to use this. I can also write you something altogether, when I get home. Also feel free to use the pictures there.