Travel Articles

2023 More Rule Changes!

Yes, it is not been that long but there was a change again from the government regarding the the sustainable development fee (SDF) for people visiting Bhutan. With an unexpected press release yesterday, Bhutan has not modified their SDF rate to be $100/day per person. The previous 4+4, 7+7, and 12+18 incentives are all revoked […]

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2023 Rule Changes

It seems that each time I write a new article, it is about how tourism rules are changing. Just about 1 year ago, the government approved a change in the SDF (sustainable development fee) from $65/day, including several long term incentives, to $200/day with no incentives. This change resulted in prices of the snowman trek […]

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New Rules for Bhutan Tourism

September 23, 2022 is the official day of the resumption of tourism in after the pandemic. The country just removed the 5-day quarantine period and citizens can now enter with just a test at the airport. The rules however completely change how tourism works in Bhutan.  The Previous Model had Problems From 1974 until 2021, […]

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Combining India and Bhutan into a Trip

We are often selling combination packages to Bhutan with Kathmandu and/or Dehli-Agra-Jaipur.  Although we have a lot of experience with Kathmandu having visited many times in the past we decided that this year we needed to get ourselves to Agra to help us better plan the trips for our guests.   I won’t be going into […]

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Six Senses Thimphu

The Six Senses Thimphu property is yet another new 5-star luxury hotel that has just opened up in Bhutan.  After visiting the Punakha property and being blown away by the property I was thinking that Thimphu had a lot to live up to but wow….they did it! The palace in the sky is the theme […]

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Review of Amankora Hotel in Thimphu

TL;DR; A rather dull property that I don’t recommend. For the same price, the Six Senses hotels are considerably more inviting and for considerably less money you can stay at the UMA properties which area also more inviting. Introduction This week’s article is a review of a hotel property in Thimphu that I just haven’t […]

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Book Bhutan Tour Infographic

Booking a trip to Bhutan is a bit different than most other places. If you do some research, you will find that you need to purchase an all-inclusive package tour from a local tour operator. Just because you need to purchase a tour package doesn’t mean that you have to just do whatever some tour […]

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Bhutan Bird Festival 2019

Page Updates August 2, 2019: Added descriptions of each of the events. August 4, 2019: Added a map of the options for the bird-a-thon. August 7, 2019: Added an expected map of the white water rafting. Each year in the summer towards the end of July, the Association of Bhutan Tour Operators (ABTO) holds their […]

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Bhutan Minimum Price Calculator

If you want to get an idea of how much money it would “officially cost” to visit Bhutan, you can fill in your travel dates and the number of people that will be traveling. Please see the notes section below for some important information. This calculator does not apply to regional tourists (from India, Bangladesh, […]

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Six Senses Punakha

Six Senses Punakha

Over the past year a new hotel brand has made an appearance in Bhutan with the introduction of five new hotels strategically placed into some of the most amazing locations in the popular destinations. Six Senses has been voted as being the World’s No. 1 Hotel brand and visiting the currently opened properties in Bhutan, […]

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