LANGUAGE

Dzongkha

CURRENCY

Bhutanese Ngultrum

BEST TIME TO VISIT

March to May

NEAREST AIRPORT

Paro Airport (PBH)

EMERGENCY HELPLINE NUMBER

Ambulance     112

Fire                 110

Police              113

INTERNET ACCESS

There are very few internet cafes in towns. Bhutan Telecom and Tashi Cell offer 3G and 4G networks that are constantly expanding, and most tourist hotels offer free wi-fi (though this may be limited to the lobby and restaurant and not the rooms).

VISA

Visas are arranged by your tour company and issued on arrival only to those on a prepaid all-inclusive tour.

Obtaining a Bhutan Visa

Unlike in most countries, where visas are issued from embassies abroad and stamped into your passport before you travel, visas for Bhutan are issued only when you arrive in the country, either at Paro airport or (if entering by road) at Phuentsholing, Gelephu or Samdrup Jongkhar. You must apply in advance through a tour operator and receive visa approval before you travel to Bhutan.

All applications for tourist visas must be initialised by a Bhutanese tour operator and are approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Thimphu. The operator submits an online visa application with a copy of the photo page of your passport to the Tourism Council of Bhutan in Thimphu. It, in turn, checks that you have completely paid for your trip (including the US$40 visa fee) and then issues an approval letter to the tour operator. With this approval in hand, the tour operator then makes a final application to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which takes up to three days to process the visa.

It’s not necessary to fill in a special visa application form. Just send a scan of your passport photo and your passport information pages to your tour operator/local travel agent. You may also need to provide your permanent address and occupation. When the visa clearance is issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it sends a visa confirmation number to the tour operator and to Druk Air/Bhutan Airlines. The airline will not issue your tickets to Paro until it receives this confirmation number and then rechecks the visa information when you check in for the flight. The actual visa endorsement is stamped in your passport when you arrive at one of the ports of entry for tourists. You will receive a visa for the exact period you have arranged to be in Bhutan. You will normally have already paid the visa fee of US$40 directly to your tour company. If some unusual event requires that you obtain a visa extension, your tour operator will arrange it.

It’s surprisingly efficient considering all the time, distance and various levels of bureaucracy involved. When you arrive in Bhutan, the visa officer will invariably be able to produce your approval form from the file and the visa will be issued on the spot. It’s very helpful to have a printout of the scanned visa authority to aid the immigration officials and airline to find your information quickly.

Indian Travellers in Bhutan

Indian nationals are allowed to travel on their own in Bhutan, with or without the services of a tour operator. If they choose to liaise with an operator, they are currently charged a minimum daily fee of US$135 per person (US$175 for teams of three people or less).

Indians don’t require a visa to enter Bhutan, and are given a seven-day entry-cum-stay permit at the immigration offices upon presentation of a passport or government-issued ID such as a voter’s registration card. This permit allows travel only within Phuentsholing, Thimphu and Paro, and can be extended at the Immigration Office in Thimphu for successive periods of three weeks each. Bring at least one passport photo. One can also request a route permit here to travel beyond the three above-mentioned towns. If you are driving yourself, you will need a route permit from the Royal Safety Transport Authority (RSTA) at the bus station at Phuentsholing.

Indians without stay permits can wander freely in Phuentsholing and go five kilometres into Bhutan during the day, but must return to India before 10pm.

HOTEL

Tour operators will book you into hotels approved by the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB). Since most visitors effectively pay the same rate across the category, it makes sense to ask for information about the various options when you make your travel arrangements.

Tourist-quality hotels range from simple but comfortable pine-clad rooms included in the daily fee to luxurious five-star resorts attracting a premium tariff.

Local Hotels:

These hotels tend to be noisier and with firm mattresses and are a last resort only.

Homestays:

The only accommodation in some parts of the east and providing unparalleled immersion into local culture.

Our top picks for accommodation in Bhutan are:

• Taj Tashi
• Gangtey Palace
• Uma Punakha
• Mountain Resort
• Lingkhar Lodge

COST OF LIVING

The Bhutanese government has set a non-negotiable minimum daily tariff. The daily tariff includes all of your accommodation, food, land transport within Bhutan, services of guides and porters, supply of pack animals on treks and cultural programs as appropriate. It also includes a US$ 65 tax, which is used by the government to fund infrastructure, education, health and other programs. The rate is the same for all tours and trekking. Your tour operator will take care all of the arrangement for visas, Druk Air reservation, hotel booking, and obtaning permits to visit restricted places. These rates can be higher, depending on the nature of services.

Mandated costs:

High season US 200 US$ per person per night

Low season tariff 165 US$ per person per night (July and August are low season)

Surchage for individual travellers: 40 US$ per night

Surchage for groups of two persons: 30 US$ per person per night

Trekkers who make long treks, get a 10% discount on days 11 to 20 and 20% from day 21 on.

Most tour operators expect you to pay separately for all drinks, including liquor, beer, mineral water and bottled soft drinks. You’ll also have to pay extra for laundry, horseback riding and extras like massages or a Bhutanese hot-stone bath.

If you want to individualise your itinerary, there are several options, varying from expert guides, special permits and luxury vehicles to cultural shows and courses, special food and premium accommodation. This is added to the daily tariff you have to pay.