Bhutan Tours

The voltage is 220/240 volts, using round-hole two-phase or three-phase sockets. If you take an appliance, please prepare the appropriate conversion plug. Conversion plugs can be bought in Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, electronics store, but may not be available except Thimphu. Tourists are suggested to prepare a conversion plug before traveling to Bhutan, especially those who like photography should prepare it in advance.

China Mobile has no signal in Bhutan and China Unicom can make and receive calls. 3G Internet access in some major towns. The main communication operators in Bhutan are Bhutan Telecom and Trashi Telecom. China Unicom can use the network of Trashi Telecom. 3G services are currently only available in Paro, Thimphu, Punakha and some other regions.

Traditional Bhutanese food is hot and spicy. However, for tourists, they will provide us with Chinese, Indian food and ect. Those who are adventurous and thrill seekers can try the local cuisine, Bhutan's hot local dishes; Emma Datshi is made with pepper and local cheese. In hotels, buffet is always provided.

Toothpaste, toothbrush and slippers are not provided in the hotel. Please bring your own. The hotel does not provide hot water for drinking or boiling water. If you prefer drinking hot water, please bring your own transformer, electric spoon, and steel cup container.

In Bhutan, it has strong sunlight in daytime, you'd better to wear long sleeves and trousers. In summer, the maximum temperature during the day is about 30 degrees, and the coldest place at night is between 10 and 15 degrees (in city), especially the weather during road through the mountains can be four seasons within a day.

1. Clothes: Be sure to bring warm clothes and jackets. Ladies are advised not to wear short skirts for climbing stairs when visiting temples.
2. Shoes: You'd better to wear casual shoes or cloth shoes, ladies should avoid wearing high heels. It is best to wear hiking shoes.
3. Daily items: This trip is relatively dry, please bring lotion care, sunglasses, hats, sunshade and rain gear, water pot, flashlight; please also take some snacks (because sometimes you can not eat on time).

Bhutanese festivals have different dates on the Gregorian calendar each year. Tshechus is the most important religious holiday in Bhutan in honor of the Buddhist sage monk, the Master of Lotus. It is lasting 4 to 5 days and held at specific times of the year in the different regions.

In Bhutan, the local currency is Nultrum and abbreviated as Nu. Tourists can bring U.S. dollars, pounds, euros and other currencies to exchange local Bhutanese currency Nu. India played a leading role in establishing Bhutan's economic system, so in 1974, when the Bhutanese government began to issue Nultrum, the economic sector stipulated that the currencies of the two countries are of equal value and the exchange rate remains unchanged at 1: 1. Before 1974, Bhutan did not have its own currency. In Bhutan, the Indian rupee and Nultrum have been used in parallel until now. Unused Nu can be exchanged into U.S. dollars when departure at the airport.

Winter is from December to February, around 15 degrees in daytime and dropping to minus at night. Summer is from June to September with rainy season, around 23 degrees in daytime and 15 degrees at night. The best season to travel is from March to November, especially the beautiful scene in early spring.

Bhutan does not have diplomatic relations with China, so it is not allow to travel overland to Bhutan from China, and it can only be passed through India.
There are two land ports in Bhutan. One is Phuntsholing in the southwest connecting with West Bengal, India. Kolkata and Darjeeling are famous cities in West Bengal. From these two cities, you can drive to Jaigon, an Indian border town that borders Phuntsholing, Bhutan. However, you must contact the Bhutan travel agency in advance to obtain a visa permit, otherwise Indian guard at the Jaigon border will not give you the departure stamp.
The other land port is Samdrup Jongkhar in the southeast connecting with Assam in India rich of black tea. This is the gateway to eastern Bhutan. Usually, tourists fly to Guwahati, the capital of Assam, and then take a three-hour drive to Samdrup Jongkhar.

If economic conditions allows, it is recommended to fly into Bhutan instead of overland. Not only for saving energy and time, the most important thing is that the great shore of Himalayas can be seen on the plane. Taking off from Kathmandu or Delhi, make sure you take the seat on the left side of the window, then you will see Mt. Everest, Gancheng Zhangjia and other snow mountains over 8000 meters. If flying from Bangkok, you need to seat the right window.

1) From China to Kathmandu:Except overland from Lhasa to Kathmandu, the flights from China to Kathmandu are Air China via Chengdu (outbound every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and return on Friday and Sunday), China Eastern via Kunming (outbound every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday) , China Southern Airlines via Guangzhou (every day back and forth). If you consider the transit time, the most convenient way is that fly from Guangzhou and stay overnight in Kathmandu and for the return you can be back to Guangzhou at the same night.
2) From Kathmandu to Bhutan:
There are round-trip flights every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from Kathmandu to Paro Airport, Bhutan. (You can browse and learn more on website: www.drukair.com.bt ).
Advantage: Air ticket fares are cheaper than via Delhi and Bangkok. It is easy to get Nepal visa.
Disadvantage: Except transit in Guangzhou, other flights to China cannot be seamlessly connected. They need to stop over in Kathmandu and take up to two days, which is not suitable for tourists with tight schedule.

1) From China to Bangkok:
You can fly to Bangkok from many cities in China, such as Beijing, Guangzhou, Kunming and ect.
2) From Bangkok to Bhutan
There are round-trip flights everyday from Bangkok to Bhutan. It is the most convenient routing for transfer.
Advantage: There are flights to Bhutan every day and it is convenient for flight connection, which is suitable for tourists with tight schedule. It is easy to get Thailand visa.
Disadvantage: Air ticket fares are more expensive than via Delhi.

1) From China to Delhi:Air China direct flights from Beijing to Delhi every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. The return trip is every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday.
Air India direct flights from Shanghai to Delhi back and forth every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
China Eastern direct flights from Shanghai to Delhi every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. The return trip is every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.
China Southern direct flights from Guangzhou to Delhi every day.
2) From Delhi to Bhutan:
There are flights from Delhi to Paro Airport every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday. There are flights from Bhutan to Delhi every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday ( You can browse and learn more on website: www.drukair.com.bt ).
Advantage: The ticket price is moderate. You can enjoy the view of snow mountain scenery all the way, starting from Annapurna to Gancheng Zhangjia, which covering over 8,000 meters snow hills along the Himalayas.
Disadvantages: Flight connections from Beijing or Shanghai to Delhi, and from Delhi to Paro must be carefully scheduled. It is not easy to get Indian visa.
*** Please remember to print out all flight itineraries when transfer via Delhi, because the departure airport of Delhi Airport can only be accessed by the ticket on that day.

In Bhutan, August is the monsoon season, and heavy rain can break down the road and is not suitable for travel. Although the rainy season is from June to July, the weather will be intermittent with sunny days. Winter, January and February, is relatively cold (you can refer to the weather in Lijiang in winter), but there are few tourists and you can still consider traveling.
The best time to travel in Bhutan is from March to May. When spring comes, the peach and alpine azaleas are in full bloom. When September to November, especially October to November, autumn comes, high sky and light clouds with shinning sun anywhere. Please kindly avoid traveling in National holiday, as there are too many tourists and lots of pressure on air tickets and hotels. If the holidays are flexibl

Each year, there are many Buddhist festivals in Bhutan. Most are all Tibetan festivals (usually in February, March, September, October and November of the Tibetan calendar). If you are interested in participating, you’d better to check the holiday with the travel agency in advance. The most important festival is Parochai, usually in early April. There are also festivals in Punakha and Thimphu, usually in early October. In this way, the peak seasons for tourism in Bhutan are in early April and early October . If you plan to travel during these two periods, you must make arrangements in advance.

It is often said that Bhutan allows up to 6,000 foreigners to enter the country every year, but this is actually drumbeated by many domestic travel agencies to emphasize the scarcity of Bhutan travel. As far as I know, Bhutan has no limitation to the number of inbound tourists per year, but due to the limited accommodation reception capacity of Bhutan and the limited number of fixed flight that fly to Bhutan every day, tourists those who visit Bhutan are about 30,000 each year.However, it is really tip of the iceberg compared with China's 120 million outbound trips each year.
The tourists from worldwide mainly visit Bhutan in peak season, so it is very difficult to reserve accommodation and air tickets during the high season (March, April, May, September, October, November. It must be booked at least 2-3 months in advance if stay in top-level hotel.

In fact, Bhutan's visa is not difficult to obtain, but it cannot be applied by tourist herself/himself. It can only be gotten through the Bhutanese travel agency authorized by the Bhutanese government.

Because Bhutan does not have diplomatic relations with China (Bhutan only has diplomatic relations with 22 countries, mainly with South Asian countries), it can not apply for Bhutan visa in China. If you decide to travel to Bhutan within one to two weeks, the travel agency can help you get a visa, and you don't need neither proof of property, work nor bank flow.

Although it has become a trend currently, it is impossible to go to Bhutan freely unless you marry / marry a local Bhutanese. The Bhutanese government requires all tourists who travel to Bhutan must be a join in tour or private tour via local travel agency, which makes it easy to manage.

Although Bhutan is located at the southern of the Himalaya, the first impression is that it is as high as Tibet. However, actually Bhutan's altitude is not high. From latitude, temperature, and altitude, it can be compared with Lijiang, Yunnan. The climate is mild throughout the year and the temperature difference day and night is large.
Although Bhutan's altitude is not high, it can overlook the Himalayas from certain passes. In this way, Bhutan's trekking routes are also very famous. If you have plenty of time, you can choose a three-to-four-day trekking route when travelling in Bhutan. The scenery here is very good. Of course, this must be set in advance.

Because there is no diplomatic relations between China and Bhutan, it can only be transferred through a third country instead of direct flight. Currently, cities that open Bhutan flight routing are Bangkok, Kathmandu, Delhi, Singapore, and Caltutta. Tourists from Shanghai to Bhutan prefer to transfer in Bangkok, because this is the most nearest voyage, as long as you take two flight segments. Tourists from Guangzhou, Chengdu, Kunming prefer to choose the Kathmandu route, because a 19-seater twin-helix plane can be taken to overlook the entire Himalaya Mountains. Basically 80% of tourists fly from Bangkok to Bhutan, since there are daily flights and the airplane is relatively large, mostly Airbus 319 or Airbus 320.

Bhutanese eat rice, corn, and buckwheat as their main food, and they prefer ghee, coriander, and chili. It is extremely spicy in Bhutanese cooking. Peppers are used as vegetables instead of spices. A large amount of dried peppers are added in any dish.

Meat is the main food in Bhutan. Since Bhutan belongs to the alpine cold region, there is not much land on the plains, poor vegetable cultivation, and difficult vegetable supply. Most of the vegetables supplied are beans and potatoes. You need to bring your own can.

There are many taboos in Bhutan's family life and everyone should pay attention to them. For example, before eating, drinking, and drinking tea, they need to throw a little food, tea and wine into air to ask for blessing; they cannot eat meat on the day of pig killing; If the family members are far away from home, they cannot sweep the floor on that day; if the family member is ill, they must plant branches at the door to avoid visitors entering the house.

It is underdeveloped of air traffic in Bhutan. There are totally three airports, namely Paro Airport, Gelepu Airport, and Thimphu Airport. Paro Airport (PHB) is the only international airport in Bhutan, about 6 kilometers away from downtown, at an altitude of 2200 meters. It is the only airport in and out of Bhutan.