{"id":3691,"date":"2012-05-13T08:33:33","date_gmt":"2012-05-13T00:33:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/le-mckernan.com\/?p=3691"},"modified":"2014-03-01T12:57:01","modified_gmt":"2014-03-01T04:57:01","slug":"travel-blog-bhutan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/le-mckernan.com\/?p=3691","title":{"rendered":"Travel Blog – Bhutan"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Paro Airport in the distance. Only one runway needed as there is usually a max of two flights per day!<\/p><\/div>\n

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The screaming headline aside, travel to Bhutan is very safe and is fairly straight forward provided that you are organized.\u00a0 But as this blog is based on our travels in 2008, please check with the Bhutan Tourism Board<\/a> for the latest guidelines as these might have changed.<\/p>\n

At the time, we (i.e. all foreign travellers) were required to use a Bhutanese tour company to organize the itinerary and to spend a minimum of US$200 per person per day.\u00a0 To ensure that foreign travellers comply with these rules, the Royal Bhutanese government devised a prepay system.\u00a0 The net effect is that the tourism dollar stay inside the country and help drive the local economy.<\/p>\n

The mechanism is simple: find a local travel company; agree on an itinerary with the travel company; get an invoice for the trip based on the agreed plans; wire money to the Royal Bhutanese National Bank in New York; upon receipt of the money, the Bhutan government issues a ‘visa clearance’ confirmation; tour company contacts Druk Airline (the sole airline with flying rights into Bhutan) with the visa clearance confirmation details; Druk Airline issues tickets; traveller gets an eticket and fly into the country; and finally, at the immigration counter, immigration team cross-checks the traveller’s details against a list of approved (read: prepaid) travellers.\u00a0 Enter and enjoy!<\/p>\n

Although connecting the dots before the start of the trip was cumbersome, once we entered Bhutan, the overall experience was carefree.\u00a0 All of our costs were covered by the minimum spend of US$200 per person per day.\u00a0 As such, our lodging, food, driver, 4×4 with fuel, and tour guide costs were already covered.\u00a0 Furthermore, as we not were travelling with a group, we had the freedom to stop and go as we pleased. We were masters of our own schedule!<\/p>\n

But the freedom of a private tour was a double-edged sword for us as we made a BIG MISTAKE with the inital itinerary.\u00a0 As we had total freedom to devise the itinerary, we were originally overly ambitious.\u00a0\u00a0 Using the Lonely Planet book as our guide, we started planning one year in advance. Our imagination resulted in us going deep into Bhutan.\u00a0 On paper, it looked do-able.\u00a0 But, in reality, it wasn’t.\u00a0 Whilst Bhutan is a small country, the mountain roads were somewhat patchy and do not always follow the shortest route.\u00a0 Fortunately, a friend who visited Bhutan previously saw our itinerary and recommended that we scale it down, otherwise, we spend too much time inside a car.\u00a0 Fortunately, we had enough time to work with the travel company to rearrange the itinerary.\u00a0 But, the last minute change (i.e. 3 months before the trip) meant that all the good hotels were fully booked.\u00a0 As such, we ended up with places that were definitely questionable <\/em>(see appendix for details).\u00a0 One place had a live electrical wire near the shower, and in another place, we had just a trickle of cold water for the shower.\u00a0 Unfortunately, as we were subjected to a daily minimum spend, we didn’t “save” any money by staying in a lower quality hotel.\u00a0 Any excess is kept by the government to reinvest in local tourism schemes.<\/p>\n

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Sufficiently scaled back, our new itinerary would take us only as far as Bumthang.\u00a0 Over 14 days, we would hit the festivals along the Paro-Bumthang route. The updated route was: Paro to Haa Valley to Thimphu (the capital city) to Punakha to Wangdue to Bumthang.\u00a0 From there, turn back to Punakha and then to Paro before flying to Bangkok for our connecting flight home.<\/p>\n

But, before hitting the festival trails, we had to visit the famed Tiger’s Nest Monastary<\/strong> in Paro.\u00a0 To not see it would have been deeply criminal.<\/p>\n

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The hike to Tiger’s Nest was not a difficult hike — but, it was a long hike up.\u00a0 There was only 1 way up (hike) and 2 ways down (hike or mule).\u00a0 The mules bring up supplies and they are only used to bring down injured tourists.\u00a0 Our local guide mentioned that one hardcore endurance hiker once managed to do the hike up in 45 minutes.\u00a0 But, for most people, 2-3 hours is the norm.\u00a0 On the day we went up the path, it was muddy by the morning rain and as the mules shared the same path as us, the trail was ripped up by the hooves. Fortunately, we were prepared and had walking sticks with us.\u00a0 These were useful to go up, but moreso for heading down as the path was steep and slippery from the mud (and mule dung)!<\/p>\n

( CAVEAT to animal lovers:\u00a0 mules are work animals in Bhutan.\u00a0 They are not accustomed to being touched\/petted.\u00a0 As such, they will kick. )<\/p>\n

Bhutan is such an incredible country that I think pictures will do this country far better justice than my words.\u00a0 As such, I encourage you to view the picture diary which is available using the image link below.\u00a0 For the remainder of this blog, I will instead concentrate on lasting memories of the country and on sharing some tips to anyone planning a trip to Bhutan.<\/p>\n

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Photo Diary of Bhutan<\/p><\/div>\n

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Fire Festival<\/strong> video– it is said that running underneath the burning arches will erase one’s sin (from the previous year). Nonetheless, some of these boys felt compelled to run under the arches multiple times!\u00a0 (Note:\u00a0 external link to Facebook)<\/p><\/div>\n

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MEMORIES of BHUTAN:<\/strong><\/p>\n