About Bhutan, Bhutan Tour packages

About Bhutan  : Bhutan, the Land of the Thunder Dragon, is no ordinary place. This is a country where buying cigarettes is illegal, where the rice is red and where chillies aren’t just a seasoning but the entire dish. It’s also a deeply Buddhist land, where men wear a tunic to work, where giant protective penises are painted on the walls of most houses, and where Gross National Happiness is deemed more important than Gross National Product. Tourism in Bhutan is also unique. Visitors famously have to pay a minimum of US$200 per day, making it one of the world’s most expensive countries to visit, but this fee is all-inclusive, you don’t have to travel in a group and you can arrange your own itinerary. What you won’t find in Bhutan is backpacker-style independent travel. This is Nepal for the jet set.


If you do visit Bhutan, you will become one of the few who have experienced the charm and magic of one of the world’s most enigmatic countries – the ‘last Shangri La’ – and you’ll be playing your part in this medieval kingdom’s efforts to join the modern world, while steadfastly maintaining its distinct and amazing cultural identity. So why spend all your money to come here? Because most of all, Bhutan offers an opportunity to glimpse another way of living, an alternative vision of what is truly important in life.


Bhutan Tour Packages - Across the Kingdom:  7 nights- 8 days Bhutan Tour

Itinerary.
Day 1
Fly to Paro from Kathmandu./ Drive to Thimpu / tour briefing / overnight hotel.
  
Day 2
a.m.-Drive to Drukgyel Dzong, 18 kms.
On your return visit a typical Bhutanese farm and local temples. After lunch visit Ta-Dzong which houses the National Museum of Bhutan followed by a short walk to Paro Rimpung Dzong / evening at leisure / overnight hotel.

Day 3
a.m..Drive to Satsam Chorten / Two hour pony trek to Taksang cafeteria for lunch a short walk back to Satsam Chorten for the 2 hour drive to Thimphu / overnight hotel.
  
Day 4
Sightseeing to view the Memorial Chorten, National Library, Nuns Monastery, Changlimithang Monastery, Indigenous Hospital. lunch there / after lunch, at leisure /  evening a visit to the
Tashichdzong (Thimphu Dzong) / overnight hotel.
  
Day 5
3-hour drive to Punkha across the Dochula Pass for lunch / after lunch visit the Punkha Dzong. overnight hotel.
  
Day 6
In the morning, drive 3 hours to Gantay Gompa. a packed lunch will be served / after lunch drive back to Thimphu / overnight hotel.
  
Day 7
In the morning, a performance of the famous folk and mask dance performed by the Royal Dance Academy /  lunch at hotel / after lunch at leisure / overnight hotel.
  
Day 8
Early morning dive to Paro for your flight to Kathmandu /  transfer hotel.


Getting a Bhutan Visa

Application for a Bhutan visa can be processs by a travel/tour agent through the Tourism Authority of Bhutan. Once the visa has been processed you will be sent a visa number (automatically forwarded to all Bhutan's National Air Carrier: Druk Air). Without a visa number, you may be denied boarding Druk Air's planes. A visa is then granted on arrival at Paro Airport for a total of US $30 (with US $10 tax, subject to revision by the Bhutanese government) for 14 days. You can apply for a visa extension for an additional fee.

In order to get a visa for Bhutan, you need to forward your passport details 4 weeks in advance to a local agent. Supply Name (exactly as it appears on your passport), Passport Number, Date of issue, Validity, Occupation, Nationality, Date of Birth and Home Address.

Note: Bhutan's National Tourism organization has embarked on a protection campaign to preserve Bhutan's as the Forbidden Kingdom of lore. The unofficial word is that yearly tourist numbers are limited to 6,000. Agents serving Bhutan are required to qualify tourists by charging a minimum of $200.00 per day for services offered.

Tourist Season: From March through November, December and February are very cold and itineraries change because of road blocks, due heavy snow, on the way to some parts of Bhutan.

How to enter Bhutan from Nepal: There are two flights a week between Kathmandu and Paro sector on every Monday and Thursday by Druk Air. The fare is US $190 per person for one way, US $380 return. The fare and schedule are subject to change by Druk Air, Bhutan's National Airline.You can also enter Bhutan by road. From Kathmandu, take a day/night coach to Kakarvitta in about 14 hrs, ugh! Or... fly from Kathmandu to Bhadrapur/Biratnagar (far east Nepal) and drive to Phunsoling at the Bhutan/India Border in approximately 5 to 6 hrs. The next day, you'll drive to Bhutan's capital city, Thimphu, in about 6 hrs.