Planning A Trip To Bhutan – For Indians

Yes, I do believe that unplanned trips are fun. But there’s a fine line of difference exists between planning and gathering information. Well, to tell you the truth, I’m planning a trip to Bhutan ever since I returned from my Sikkim Trip. Previously I planned it with my family but then various things happened and finally, my marriage was fixed with the love of my life.

Ahhh…I just couldn’t describe the dilemma I was in. Should I plan it as Honeymoon or a Family Trip as my parents are avid travellers and from a very long time they had this urge to visit Bhutan. And to tell you the truth, I have been planning this trip to Bhutan with them from a very long time. Finally, after discussing with her, I got the green signal and took the most dangerous decision that anyone would never think of, A Family-moon (Family Trip cum Honeymoon). Yes, you are welcome to go ahead and criticize my decision in comments 😛 I shared this decision of mine with many friends, colleagues and family members, and yes they all laughed on this idea of mine and gradually I stopped feeling awkward and started hiding the truth about my planning.

But I must mention, that my girlfriend (Sorry, she’s my wife now 😛 ) supported me a lot on this. With around 3 years of courtship, we both knew each other and our family very well. I still remember the day I shared my plan with her, she nodded and said “Eksonge ghurte na gele moja hoy na” (There’s no fun if you go alone). Yes…I got the best life partner. No girl (at least whom I know) would ever agree for such plan.

Various short trips were planned in between with friends, but ultimately none happened as I had to back out due to financial issue. At one hand marriage was getting nearer and on the other, I was planning for a long 2 weeks trip. Yes, you heard it right. I managed to take 3 weeks leave from my office. And all my Bengali readers would know how a Bengali marriage is. So I kept 1 week for the marriage ceremony and “Ashtamangala” and 2 weeks for Honeymoon Oops Familymoon!!

It was around May and I started gathering information regarding how should I proceed and all. The first site I came upon is Tourism Council of Bhutan and the first link under Trip Planner is Minimum Daily Package.

Let me jot down the things I came upon while planning for a trip to Bhutan. Well, I have one bad news and one good news for citizens of specific countries.

For Foreigners (Except Citizens of India / Bangladesh / Maldives) :
Like visiting any other countries, Tourism to Bhutan is not that simple. Unlike other countries, you just can’t buy tickets, get your visa done, pack your bags and land up there. There are a few more steps involved to get into Bhutan.

First of all, tourism to Bhutan is not open like other countries. The tourism sector is controlled by Tourism Council of Bhutan referred as TCB. TCB has set a minimum daily package. It’s $200 per person per night for the off-season (January, February, June, July, August & December) and $250 per person per night for high season (March, April, May, September, October & November).

What the F***?? Yes, all tourist going to Bhutan have to go through TCB Approved Agents and have to pay this price. Wait, the story doesn’t ends here. This $200 / $250 per person per night is applicable only if you are travelling in a group of 3 or more. Otherwise, you have to pay a surcharge of $40 per night if you are travelling alone and $30 per person per night if you are travelling in a group of 2.

Are you F****** kidding me? Not at all, read about the surcharges at Surcharge.

Don’t get disheartened. TCB has done this to make your travel experience in Bhutan smooth and keep away any unwanted tourists. For the price that you pay i.e. $200 / $250 you’ll get

• A minimum of 3 star accommodation (4 & 5 star will require an additional premium)
• All meals
• A licensed Bhutanese tour guide for the extent of your stay
• All internal transport (excluding internal flights)
• Camping equipment and haulage for trekking tours
• All internal taxes and charges
• A sustainable tourism Royalty of $65. This Royalty goes towards free education, free healthcare, poverty alleviation, along with the building of infrastructure.

If you are travelling with a child, then you are entitled to some discounts. Which are…

• The minimum daily fee is not applicable for children below 5 Years. They only need to pay $40 Visa Fee.
• However for Children between 5 – 12 Years, a 50% discount is provided on a minimum daily fee

If you are a student, or a large group or planning a long trip, then there are some more discounts applicable…

• You’ll get a 25% discount if you are a full-time student and below the age of 25 years.
• One member will get a 50% discount on the daily package if you are travelling in a group of 11 members.
• One member will get a 100% discount on the daily package if you are travelling in a group of more than 16 members.
• You’ll get a 50% discount on Royalty Fee (i.e. $65) after 8th night. i.e. if you stay more than 8 days, you’ll get a 50% discount on Royalty Fee from 9th day.
• And finally, you’ll be exempted from paying the $65 Royalty fee from 15th night.

And the final part of the story is, before landing in Bhutan, you have to wire transfer the full amount along with $40 as visa fee. Your Visa will be processed by TCB once they get full payment of your trip. At your point of entry, you will be required to show your visa clearance letter, the visa will then be stamped into your passport.

Ohh wait, let me warn you, this is the price that you pay to Bhutanese Agent. So if you contact a Bhutanese Agent directly, then it’s fine. But if you go through some local agent then the price will be increased as this so-called local agent is there to do business and of course, he’ll keep his cut. Only TCB approved agents are permitted to conduct tourism in Bhutan. So if you involve any local agent, he/she will finally have to contact a Bhutanese agent to conduct your tour and thus the price gets increased. Thus I’d highly suggest if you are planning for a trip to Bhutan, try not to involve any local agents in between and directly contact TCB Approved Agents.

But, any normal people will worry about trusting a foreign agent. TCB has designed this by keeping these things in mind. The amount you transfer is kept with TCB on Bhutanese National Bank. After your tour is over it’s transferred to the respective agency. So everything highly depends on your experience of your trip to Bhutan. And let me inform you that TCB has very strict policies regarding tourism. One complaint of yours can make the agent out of approved registered agent and thus agencies do their best to please you.

Final Verdict: Well, if you think wisely, this price set by TCB is justified if you notice what they offer you for that price. In fact, you’ll have to shell out the same amount if you had planned it on your own. And I see many people complaining about that $65 Royalty Fee. But let me tell you, they use that fee specially for Hospitals. Any kind of Medical treatment in Bhutan is free for all citizens and tourists visiting Bhutan. Isn’t that amazing? Even most developed countries than Bhutan doesn’t have this facility.

But yes, these rules and prices keep off any backpackers. As backpackers would not go for 3* hotels and exclusive vehicles. And TCB has clearly mentioned that they do not want any backpackers or ex-pats in Bhutan. But being a backpacker and budget traveller myself, I feel sad for such a decision.

You can read all these details at Tourism Council of Bhutan and can comment below if you have any queries. I’d be glad to help you out and clear out any queries that you may have.

Regional Tourists (Only Applicable For Citizens of India / Bangladesh / Maldives) :
Visitors from India, Bangladesh and Maldives are commonly referred to as Regional Tourists and are exempted from this whole set of rules I have discussed above. Yes, that means, you can pack your bags and land up there without any visa and preliminary bookings and most importantly without the involvement of any travel agent.

Ahhh…being an Indian and keeping in mind the political relation with India, we Indians are relieved from paying this minimum daily tariff. Although Indians / Bangladeshis / Maldivians do not need Visa to visit Bhutan but need various permits to visit Bhutan. When you’ll cross the border you’ll be issued an Entry Permit at Phuentsholing, which is valid for 7 days and for visiting Thimphu and Paro only. That means with that permit you can go to Thimphu and Paro and stay upto 7 days. If you want to visit any other destinations other than Thimphu and Paro (such as Punakha & beyond), you’ll have to get Inner Line Permit from Thimphu Immigration Office for those destinations. And if you are planning to stay more than 7 days then additionally you’ll have to apply and get extension permit for the same from Thimphu Immigration Office. The good news is all the permits are free of cost.

How To Reach :

Phuentsholing is the border town on Bhutan side whereas Jaigaon being the border town at Indian side. If you are entering from West Bengal, the nearest Railway Station is Hasimara and the nearest Airport is Bagdogra. Shared cabs, Buses and private vehicles are available from Hasimara and Siliguri to Jaigaon. There are other border towns as well such as Samdrup Jongkhar and Gelephu in the east which is connected to Assam in India. But the Jaigaon / Phuentsholing border in West Bengal is most convenient and mainly used to enter Bhutan by road. Or you may plan to directly fly at Paro Airport in Bhutan. Another important thing, that I’d like to mention here is, if you want to enter through Phuentsholing and exist via Samdrup Jonkhar then you have to purposefully mention that at the time of getting your permit. Generally, you’ll have to exit from the same border from where you entered unless specified exclusively.

And if you choose to fly,  then at present, there are only two carriers that fly to Paro. One is Drukair and another one is Bhutan Airlines. Both being Bhutanese carriers are not available at Online Flight Booking websites such as MakeMyTrip / Goibibo etc. These can only be booked from their official websites only. Otherwise, you may fly to Bagdogra and travel to Jaigaon – Phuentsholing to enter Bhutan.

Documents Required For Permit :

There are 2 kinds of Permit – (a) Entry Permit and (b) Inner Line Permit (ILP). Entry Permit is issued at the time of entry at Phuentsholing / Paro Airport. This document is only valid for travel up to or within Thimphu and Paro district. If you wish you visit beyond Thimphu and Paro such as Haa, Punakha etc then you need to apply for Inner Line Permit (ILP) at Thimphu Immigration Office. If you wish to stay longer than originally allowed number of days at Entry Permit, then you have to apply for Extension Permit at Thimphu Immigration Office.

Passport or Voter ID is mandatory and only accepted documents for Adults (i.e. > 18 Yrs age) whereas for Childs (i.e. < 18 Yrs age) Birth Certificate in English is the only acceptable document. Along with the documents you’d also need 2 copies of colour passport size photo.

Please note that documents except Voter ID Card / Passport (for Adults) and Birth Certificate (for children), other documents such as Adhaar Card / PAN Card / Driving License / Ration Card etc. are not valid documents. If you don’t have Voter ID Card / Passport, then you have to apply for Identification Slip at Indian Consulate in Phuentsholing. There you have to produce any two documents from Ration Card / PAN Card / Driving License / Aadhar Card along with passport size photo. Once you acquire the Identification Slip from Indian Consulate you may approach the Immigration Office for Entry Permit.

With the above-mentioned documents and Entry Permit form duly filled, you need to approach Phuentsholing / Paro Airport Immigration Office for applying for Entry Permit. On a normal day, you’ll be done within 15-20 mins or else if there’s a rush due to holiday period then it can be a long tiring day. Try to get there as early as possible to avoid any delays. The Immigration Office at Phuentsholing is open on all days, i.e. you don’t have to worry if your plan is to reach there on Saturday or Sunday. In case it’s closed, they issue permits from a small room alongside a gate.

Bhutan Permit System has changed a lot since the article was written. And it has become impossible to track down and highlight all the changes here. So I have come up with a more specific post focusing on the Permit system. You may please check the same at Bhutan Entry Permit – All You Need To Know

UPDATE (April 2017) : Phuentsholing Immigration Office is closed on Saturdays & Sundays and Govt. Holidays. From now on they will only issue permits from Monday to Friday (except Govt. Holidays) from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. So any tourists reaching Phuentsholing on Saturday or Sunday or on Govt. Holidays will have to wait till Monday / next working day. And due to this reason, they have started facing huge rush on the next working day (mostly Monday) which has lead to a lot of chaos out there. So if possible, try to avoid landing there on Mondays during the holiday season.

UPDATE (April 2017) : Only exception to the above is Paro Airport. Irrespective of Saturday / Sunday / Govt. Holidays, you’ll be issued Entry Permit on your arrival at Paro Airport. So if your plan is to arrive there on a Weekend or Govt. Holiday, you can consider flying to Paro instead of crossing the border via Road through Jaigaon – P/Soling border.

But note that, Thimphu Immigration Office works only from Monday to Friday. So if you plan to extend your stay or visit other destinations than Thimphu and Paro, make sure you plan to have a working day at Thimphu for applying ILP.

If you are from Kolkata, you can get your permit done from Kolkata Bhutan Consulate. The address mentioned there in the link is not valid as they have shifted from 6, Mall Road, Kolkata – 700080 to 48, Tivoli Court, 1A, Ballygunge Circular Road, Ballygunge, Kolkata – 700019

NOTE : Even though there’s a Bhutan Consulate too at Delhi, but as of now, they don’t issue entry permit like Kolkata Bhutan Consulate.

UPDATE (June 2017) : Kolkata Consulate has stopped issuing permits as per order by Bhutan Govt. So now tourists visiting Bhutan have only 3 options. (1) Paro Airport (if you are flying to Paro), (2) Land Borders (if you are crossing the border by land, such as P/Soling) and (3) Online Permit (only accessible to authorized Bhutanese Tour Operators)

UPDATE (April 2017) : The process of getting entry permits from Kolkata Bhutan Consulate has been changed a bit. Same as like earlier, even now too, one can submit the forms on others behalf (i.e. their family members), but as they have introduced Biometrics here like at P/Soling Immigration Office, all the members needs to be present for the Biometrics process on the given date. The permits will then be issued on another date which can again be collected by one member on other’s behalf.

UPDATE (April 2017) : Bhutan Govt. has introduced Online Permit System which is not open to the public as of now and is only accessible by local Bhutanese Tour Operators. If you are planning to cross the land border on a weekend or govt. holiday and not planning to fly to Paro, you need to book the whole tour through the authorized Bhutanese Tour Operators and they can apply for your permit online. However, please keep in mind that, due to restrictions of TCB, authorized Bhutanese Tour Operators need to maintain certain quality standards such as they are not allowed to deal with hotels below 3* hotels and must offer you a full-time tour guide, a private vehicle at your disposal. So if you are planning for a budget tour, this is certainly not your option.

UPDATE (April 2017) : From 1st April 2017, A new rule has been introduced by Bhutan Govt. with immediate effect, is that hotel booking is mandatory for regional tourists (i.e. citizens of India / Bangladesh / Maldives) in order to get permits. You need to produce your hotel booking receipt (if you have booked directly with the hotel, they would provide your booking confirmation on hotel’s official letterhead) for at least Thimphu and Paro wherever you are moving from P/Soling. However, it’s best to book your hotels for throughout the trip, as during huge rush, consulate officers check these things more strictly.

Bhutan Permit System has changed a lot since the article was written. And it has become impossible to track down and highlight all the changes here. So I have come up with a more specific post focusing on the Permit system. You may please check the same at Bhutan Entry Permit – All You Need To Know

UPDATE (Jan 2020) : Entry Fees to various monuments and Dzongs have been revised.

Now that the information gathering phase was over it was time for planning. In the beginning, I thought of covering whole Bhutan including Thimphu, Paro, Punakha, Wangdue, Phobjika / Gangtey, Trongsa, Bumthang / Jakar, Mongar, Luthnse, Trashigang and Samdrup Jonkhar. But soon, various searches of mine revealed that Mongar, Luthnse, Trashigang are very remote and there’s no point in going there unless one wants to visit the Dzong there. So I limited this of my trip to remaining places.

I was getting anxious day by day as I couldn’t wait more and things were getting very monotonous gradually. Finally, the day came when booking period opened for January 31st. The very first task I did in the morning is booking the tickets up to Hasimara. Only a single train from Sealdah, i.e. Kanchankanya Express goes up to Hasimara, and I didn’t want to take any chance of getting into Waiting List by leaving it for later. I have to wait for another 12 days to book return tickets 🙁

I believe this is the time when I always kept searching about Bhutan whenever I used to get time. And surprisingly I never used to get bored. I kept searching and reading various travelogues of Bhutan.

By taking help of various threads from Trip Advisor Forums and India Mike Forums I chalked out a rough itinerary.

1st Feb : Day 1 : Hasimara – P/Soling via Jaigon
2nd Feb : Day 2 : P/Soling – Thimphu
3rd Feb : Day 3 : Thimphu SS
4th Feb : Day 4 : Thimphu – Phobjika via Punakha
5th Feb : Day 5 : Phobjika – Bumthang via Trongsa
6th Feb : Day 6 : Bumthang SS
7th Feb : Day 7 : Bumthang – Punakha via Wangdue
8th Feb : Day 8 : Punakha – Thimphu
9th Feb : Day 9 : Thimphu – Paro SS
10th Feb : Day 10 : Paro – Day Trip To Haa
11th Feb : Day 11 : Paro – Hike to Tiger’s Nest
12th Feb : Day 12 : Paro – Hasimara via P/Soling & Jaigaon

Trip To Bhutan Series :
Part 1: Planning A Trip To Bhutan – For Indians
Part 2: Entering Bhutan – The Land of Thunder Dragon
Part 3: Capital of Bhutan – Thimphu In & Around
Part 4: Journey To Phobjika via Dochula
Part 5: The Most Historic Dzongkhag – Bumthang
Part 6: The Old Capital – Punakha
Part 7: Exploring Paro, Haa and Chele La Pass
Part 8: Hike to Tiger’s Nest – Paro Taktsang
Part 9: Tashi Delek Bhutan – The Himalayan Kingdom

Though it was winter season and Hotel bookings were not necessary as it was low season anyway, but I thought of pre-booking hotels due to Familymoon 😛 Finally I started calling hotels by filtering out by my budget. You can find the list of hotels at https://www.hotel.bt/. Another great site to look for accommodation is TCB.

In the meantime, I also started mailing few TCB Approved Agents around September. While going through my planning phase, I must mention that of all the agents I mailed, the most responsive was Heavenly Bhutan and Bhutan TravelRouters. In fact, many agents do not cater to Indian Tourists and quotes price in USD which is not valid for Indians. Out of all the agents I mailed, only these two operators quoted a price in INR. But none of them deals in Budget Hotels. Actually TCB Approved Agents are not allowed to deal with Budget Hotels, they are allowed to only deal with Standard Hotels / Luxury Hotels, keeping in mind your experience of your trip to Bhutan, and thus the price gets increased.

Though finally, I didn’t go with anyone of them. I always like to travel on my own. But one can get a fair idea of cost involved by speaking to some agents. You can easily lower down 20% – 30% cost from what’s quoted by the agents if you travel on your own. Another thing that I came across while planning for my trip to Bhutan is, if you hire a car from Bhutan side it’ll cost more whereas if hired from Jaigaon (India Side) it’s much cheaper.

Primarily I thought of travelling by Bus. But then my plan was to visit up to Bumthang, Phobjika, Haa etc. And Buses in Bhutan is regular for Thimphu and Paro but for Bumthang, Phobjika and other remote places it runs thrice weekly. Though I’m not 100% sure about this information, but this is what I came up after googling various blogs and sites. But then I thought, well I already made my Honeymoon a Familymoon, let’s not hit the extreme point.

So, I started contacting various agents from Jaigaon. Mostly I have contacted with Mr. Sujit Goswami from Maruti Tour & Travels and Mr. B. K. Prasad from BK Tour & Travels. Both of them quoted 3000/- for Innova exclusively. And then I thought of asking for the tariff of Hotels from them. And surprisingly I found that both of them quoting lower rates from what’s quoted by the hotels. This is the case specially in Bumthang, Phobjika and Punakha. Generally, there are lots of Hotels and Budget Hotels at Thimphu and Paro. Even in high season, one can land up there and can find a room easily at peak time or at time of Tshechu (Festivals). But Bumthang and Phobjika being a remote destination, very fewer hotels exists and that also in high range.

I tried getting reviews of both Mr. Sujit Goswami from Maruti Tour & Travels and Mr. B. K. Prasad from BK Tour & Travels. I found few members from India Mike Forums have travelled with both Maruti Tour & Travels and BK Tour & Travels. Both of them almost quoted the same price but the main difference was in the payment terms. Mr. Sujit Goswami from Maruti Tour & Travels asked for 25% advance and 50% when we’ll reach and meet him at Jaigaon and remaining 25% at the end of our tour. But Mr. B. K. Prasad from BK Tour & Travels said we’ll have to deposit 20% Advance and will have to pay remaining 80% at Jaigaon before starting the tour.

Well, I was highly hesitating for going with BK Tour & Travels after this. So I was thoroughly searching for review about both of them. And then I came up with this and this. Both of them are the same review posted by the same person and after reading this I really got scared. But then at India Mike Forums I got some good reviews about him. And luckily I came in touch with one friend of my cousin who recently travelled to Bhutan on December 2015 and he did the whole trip through BK Tour & Travels. So finally I came to know that he’s the first one to start tourism to Bhutan based on Jaigaon and he’s very reputed. Ahhh… I breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, after exchanging lots of emails with both of them, I decided to go with BK Tour & Travels. There was no point in booking hotels on my own as BK was offering better price than what they quoted over phone. So without hesitating anymore, I transferred the advance amount to his bank a/c.

Now that hotel booking was done, it’s time to get the permits arranged. Though one can easily get permits at the point of Entry but as I belong from Kolkata, I took the extra step to get it done from here to save my precious time there. I carried all the required documents along with their photocopies and photographs and filled up the form on December 28th. The lady at reception told me that the permits will only be issued after January 15th. I agreed, as my travel date was January 31st.

At this point let me tell you that, if you have Passport then you do not need to submit anything else, but if you don’t then you have to submit another supporting document such as PAN Card, Aadhar Card or Ration Card along with your Voter ID Card.

Now that all preliminary task was over, I could finally see my hard planned trip being a success. It’s a different kind of enjoyment that you feel inside.

Contacts :
B. K. Prasad of BK Tour & Travels : +91-9593837520 (India), +975-17601325 (Bhutan). You can also mail him at bktourandtravels@gmail.com.

Mr. Sujit Goswami of Maruti Tour & Travels : +91-9609791522 (India). Otherwise you can mail him at sujitgoswami22@gmail.com.

Mr. Thinley Dorji of Bhutan TravelRouters : +975-17814514. You may also email him at btravelrouters@gmail.com. You may also contact him at Facebook or his Facebook Company Page.

Mr. Raju & Miss Menuka from Heavenly Bhutan : +975-17617107 / +975-517661700. You can mail them at heavenlybhutan@gmail.com. You can also contact them via their Facebook Page. They are very reputed. You can read about their reviews at Trip Advisor Forums

The next part of my trip report is continued at Entering Bhutan – The Land of Thunder Dragon

Trip To Bhutan Series :
Part 1: Planning A Trip To Bhutan – For Indians
Part 2: Entering Bhutan – The Land of Thunder Dragon
Part 3: Capital of Bhutan – Thimphu In & Around
Part 4: Journey To Phobjika via Dochula
Part 5: The Most Historic Dzongkhag – Bumthang
Part 6: The Old Capital – Punakha
Part 7: Exploring Paro, Haa and Chele La Pass
Part 8: Hike to Tiger’s Nest – Paro Taktsang
Part 9: Tashi Delek Bhutan – The Himalayan Kingdom