Bhutan

[mama squeak!]

^Thanks, sis! Peak season pa rin kasi ang November and times two kami. Tumataginting na $280/day/person yun pag peak!  And if we choose to upgrade our hotel, additional pa. We're looking at Uma by Como hotels. Do you still remember the hotels where you stayed? How was your experience? We prefer kasi quiet hotels.

Thanks for recommending Gangtey and the travel agency. I'll look into it kung hindi pa hectic yung itinerary. We prefer relaxed and easy DIY tours pero di pwede DIY dun so we'll go with the easy, take-our- time tour. How I wish we can visit longer seeing how beautiful the place is. Kaya lang out of budget na.

[paulavalerie]

^ hi mama squeak, oo nga dito ako  . pero dream destination ko lang to, di pa kaya ng time and budget hehe. di ko pa carry ang 280 usd pax per day.

[caterpillar-girl]

^^ On the whole, Bhutan has good hotels. Clean with all the amenities. I was rather surprised. Most, if not all, the hotels I stayed in had cable, wifi, hot shower, etc. Will go over my notes again.

You can customize your trip, but that's as far as DYI-ng goes. I just chose the places I liked and the tour operator helped me tweak my itinerary the tour operator also chose my hotels, and I'm glad she gave me the good ones.

If you can, go when there's a festival. I wasn't able to do that but I heard it was a fantastic experience.

[mama squeak!]

^Thanks again!  I just sent an email inquiry to Snow White Tours. I also looked over their sample itinerary quickly and ang hectic!    It's a good thing pwede customize yung tours at marami ako tatanggalin para relaxed lang.

Re festivals, I read that it's Visit Bhutan 2015 this year since their king is celebrating his 60th birthday so celebration all-year round. I hope we can experience one!

[caterpillar-girl]

Hi mama squeak, here are the hotels I stayed in:

Ro-Chog Pel Hotel, Thimpu - first hotel I stayed in, and it set the tone for my entire Bhutan trip. Room is spacious and clean. Free wifi, and the food is good. Staff is polite and helpful. It's not the Fairmont, hehe, pero for Bhutan, I thought it was a good, solid hotel. 

Zangto Pelri Guesthouse, Punakha - Err... can't say I totally recommend this one. The room was a bit musty, and there were insects inside the room. Phone didn't work so I couldn't really ask for help from housekeeping, unless I walk all the way back to the reception area. There was one dead insect on the ceiling, and beside it was a print of a shoe!!! So funny. They didn't even clean it. Food is ok, very basic. Bathroom amenities sparse, but at least there's hot water. I'm glad I only stayed one night.

Yoloki Lodge, Gangtey - err really small, and didn't feel comfortable, as I was the ONLY ONE in the ENTIRE lodge during my stay. Kinda freaky. It really felt like a lodge, very basic, no tv, but there was wifi, and t had some heating. Would definitely stay at the bigger hotel if I were you. The only reason I didn't was because it was fully booked.

Metta Resort and Spa, Paro-  Clean and spacious, and the decor was really charming.  Some issues though: water heater was erratic! So during my showers I would get hot water, then cold, then hot again. Weird. Also, I experienced a blackout. Thankfully the power came back on kagad. Food is ok naman, and the staff is really nice. Got a massage after my trek at the Tiger's Nest and it was heavenly. Or siguro kasi my whole body was aching after the climb haha. The owner joined me for breakfast one time. He told me that's where the Filipino TV show Princess and I, stayed in during filming. He didn't mention the  name, but he said of La Greta, "that girl, she's so beautiful, but so snobby!" Hahaha. Sabi ko, well I hope you don't think all Filipinas are like that! We are actually very friendly folks!

So there you have it. Overall, their hotels are good naman, they're really trying to reach Western standards I guess, so they have the basic amenities, pero at that time mejo  marami pa sila kelangan iimprove.  Next time I go back I would definitely choose hotels over guesthouses and lodges as much as possible. There are some places though, where there's only 1 or two hotels in the entire area, so best to book early to get the good rooms. The staff's really friendly and polite, and speak good English. Food is okay, but their national dish is ema datse, chili and cheese. They also don't eat a whole lot of pork and beef, since they have to import livestock and poultry from neighboring India and Thailand. Not a huge fan of spicy food, so I ate mostly veggies and some curries.

Hope this helps! 

[mama squeak!]

^Wow caterpillar-girl this is great! Thanks for the hotel report. Kausap ko na rin si Kencho of Snow White Tours and she seems to be nice. Even without my committing na sya kukunin ko very helpful sya with all my Qs. Hehe ako na ang nahihiya sa dami kong tanong. I'm corresponding with another company to compare prices but I'm leaning towards Snow White maski medyo mataas ng konti. I feel mas personalized yung kay SW which I appreciate very much.

Looks like she changed their default hotels/guest houses kasi iba yung na-mention nya na hotels except for the one in Paro. I guess her clients gave their feedback to her about the earlier hotels. The ones she'll be booking us have good reviews in TA so medyo kampante na ko. We're also upgrading our hotels in Gangtey and Paro which is towards the end of our itinerary.

By the way, if you don't mind my asking how much yung range ng tipping for the guide and driver? I'm trying to budget this trip na. I'm still tweaking our itinerary and will post it here for comments and/or suggestions.

TIA!

[caterpillar-girl]

Hi mama squeak, I gave about US$10 per day to my guide, and $5 to the driver.

[alexandrea]

mama_squeak, we were in Bhutan until Dec. 1 lang so I can't really tell how cloudy it gets pag December, pero even in late November, we got sunny days naman. Sa Dochula Pass, medyo naging cloudy ng konti, though.

Based on Instagram pics I saw under the #Bhutan tag, December days are still bright. But snow can happen na in daytime. May mga users kasi na nag-post ng pics ng Tiger's Nest and Dochula Pass covered in snow.

I highly recommend Little Bhutan! Grabeng pag-customize ng itinerary ang hiniling namin ng kasama ko, pero super accommodating nila. Maliit lang silang agency kaya tutok talaga sila sa needs ng guests nila. And kahit standard rates lang bayad namin, nilagay nila kami sa 4-star hotels, eh pwedeng sa 3-star lang kami.

Pero anyway, mukhang positive naman ang reviews for most agencies sa Bhutan. We choose Little Bhutan lang kasi sila ang pinakamabilis mag-reply sa amin, and bawat tanong ko ay sinasagot nila. Ang kulit kulit ko pa naman.

As for tipping, we ended up giving 30 USD sa guide and 20 USD sa driver for our short four-day stay. Mas mataas pa sana bigay namin kasi super satisfied kami sa service, kaso wala na kaming smaller dollar bills.

caterpillar-girl, yes ang ganda ganda talaga! Ang tagal ko inakyat ang Tiger's Nest (3.5 hours) but each time I felt like quitting, I would look up to see the majestic monastery and feel my determination building hahaha.

Ganda rin ng Punakha Dzong! Haaay Bhutan is so, so beautiful talaga. And the people are so lovely din. Helpful, friendly, polite, and most importantly, walang hidden agenda. When they help you, their intention is to really help you lang talaga na walang kapalit.

[mama squeak!]

^Thanks for the recommendation, sis! I actually sent them an email together with the rest of the travel agents mentioned in this thread pero ang mahal ng quote nila sa akin. 

^^Thanks, caterpillar-girl! By the way, I let go na of SW since I received a better offer from another agent. Sobrang laki din kasi ng difference nila at $1.5K! The agent that we got kasi ki-nonsider nya ang November as low season unlike SW and Little Bhutan na nasa peak rates pa rin.

And since we plan to visit for more than 8 days, binigay ng agent sa amin yung 50% off sa government royalty after the 8th night. I later found out na if you spend pala more than 8 days there you get 50% off on the government royalty ($65/day) on days 9-14 and 100% off after day 14 onwards. So malaki talaga ang matitipid namin!


Some questions lang please for both caterpillar-girl and alexandrea:

Re Thimpu, we plan to spend 3 nights there. I know it's a bit bitin (especially with our style of travel) but is that enough time to see the must-sees at a somewhat leisurely pace? I already have a general idea of places we want to visit but what were the must-not miss attractions there for you?

Re Punakha Dzong, question lang. How long did it take you to see the place? Is 4 hours enough or dapat whole day?

Re Tiger's Nest, we plan to go up first thing in the morning probably around 6AM? Is there breakfast available at the cafe/resto near the top? How long did it take you to visit from the hike, temple to going down? We plan to do last minute souvenir-shopping kasi if time permits after the hike.

Thanks in advance for your feedback! 

 

[caterpillar-girl]

Wow that's a really good deal nga. Congratulations!

Re Thimpu, yes 3 nights should be enough time. Ordinarily I tend to skip the usual tourist traps like the factories, schools, etc, but since Bhutan is unlike any other place, I went to all those. There's the textile factory, the postage stamp factory, paper factory, the hospital, art school, etc.

I really enjoyed my time at the dzongs, the Dochula Pass (where you get a spectacular view of the Himalaya mountain range) and the Tango Buddhist Institute (I went there on a holiday, so all the locals were going up with me. It's a bit of a walk, but there were men and women carrying babies on their backs, just to get all the way up, so I mustered the strength to finish the trek haha).

My guide also brought me to a farmhouse. They served me buttermilk

Punakha Dzong, 4 hours should be enough. It's a huge complex, and personally it's my 2nd favorite spot in Bhutan, after Tiger's Nest.

Tiger's Nest, I'm not sure about going up there that early, but that should be fine. I went around 8. When I went, there were "stops" during the climb, although I'm not sure if they served breakfast. I did have lunch in a resto there, after the trek. I remember being back at the hotel early afternoon. So yes that should give you enough time to do last minute souvenir shopping.

[london]

daphne has entries on her blog about her bhutan trip

http://daphne.ph/our-hotels-in-bhutan
http://daphne.ph/the-kingdom-of-happiness-bhutan

[mama squeak!]

@caterpillar-girl, I sent you a PM    Thanks for your reply! Basically, the places you mentioned are in our itinerary except for the hospital (not a big fan of hospitals). At the post office did you get those personalized stamps?

My hubby and I are trying to get in shape for this trip because of a lot of trekking involved. I hope to lose weight on this trip for a change. LOL! If the short treks in the itinerary isn't enough we've also signed up for a 3-day Bumthang Owl Trek. Good luck to us!

@london, yup I read Daphne's blog and it's making us more excited for our upcoming trip. Sarap nga nya and her husband since it was a sponsored trip. We also plan to stay at some of the hotels she wrote about. 

[alexandrea]

mama squeak, sa post office you can get personalized stamps, but be sure to be there before 4 pm kasi they close shop at that time.

Postcards are cheap and pretty, so enjoy sending as many as you want!

[mama squeak!]

^Noted on that, sis! Thanks! 

We just bought our tickets on Drukair via Bangkok for November! Getting really excited for the trip. We've extended our visit to two weeks since we were thinking baka this is a once in a lifetime trip since medyo pricey so might as well maximize our time there. Can't wait!

[caterpillar-girl]

^Wow! Enjoy your trip mama squeak! Looking forward to reading your blog posts about Bhutan!

[chianti]

@mama squeak, which travel agency did you end up with? I've only contacted Amala Destinations and Snow white tours so far. I'm still checking for other options. I've seen Como's packages pero I find them too pricey na. 

[mama squeak!]

^sis, we'll be going with Bhutan Swallowtail. Among the travel agencies I've canvassed sila yung nag-offer ng November as non-peak and they gave us additional discounts without our asking (travel agent and royalty discounts). I later learned na if you book direct with a Bhutanese agency they can offer the travel agency discount normally given to a third party travel agency, for example if you booked via a Philippine travel agent. Kasi if you booked via a third party company meron ng patong yun.

The royalty fee discount naman is the flat rate $65/person levied by the Bhutanese government on all visitors. Now if you will be staying beyond 8 nights, you automatically get 50% off while beyond the 14th night 100% off naman. Government mandated yang discounts na yan which some Bhutanese travel companies don't extend to their clients unless you know about it and demand the discount. Kaya importante din to visit the official tourism website ng Bhutan since everything you need to know as a visitor is there. Dun din nakalagay all the government accredited travel companies ng Bhutan.

Re travel agencies, only transact with accredited ones so if anything goes wrong protected ka by their government. Another thing I found out is after you pay for the tour (you don't pay direct to the agent but via the government's bank), the payment is held by the government and only released to the agent after your tour. So if there are any disputes e.g. the agent didn't provide the agreed hotel, tour , etc. you can make a claim. The agent is compelled to provide whatever has been agreed with the clients otherwise he won't get his payment.

When are you planning to go?

[chianti]

^ Thank you sis. Your inputs are very helpful. We're planning to do a 7-day trip in spring or fall next year.

Btw, on top of the 65 USD tax, there is a surcharge of 30 USD per person per night if traveling party is less than 3 people. Ang mahal pala talaga mag visit sa Bhutan.

[mama squeak!]

^yup meron surcharge pag less than 3 travelers. It really is pricey to travel to Bhutan but as what others have mentioned it really is worth the visit. Plus we like their country's policy of high value/impact, low volume tourism. That means you don't get the crowd of visitors normally experienced in other places.

Good luck on your trip!

[chianti]

Thanks sis. I'm still checking which season would have a better experience for a first-time visitor. Leaning towards the fall season since I've never experienced fall in any country.