Accommodation, Transportation, Food & Language in Bhutan

Accommodations in Bhutan for Indian tourist

Unlike for international tariff paying tourist, whose logistic arrangements are maintained at 3 star rated hotels and above, Indian tourist to Bhutan have the luxury to choose any kind of hotels, including budget hotels.

Tourist standard and luxury (4 & 5 star) hotels in Bhutan are concentrated in few districts such as Paro, Thimphu, Punakha and Wangduephodrang in the west and Bumthang in the central. As you proceed further eastward from western Bhutan the number of tourist standard hotels drops down drastically and there are no luxury hotels (4 & 5 Star) at the moment in eastern and southern parts of the country.

The hotel rates can vary from INR 500 in budget hotels to INR 100,000 plus in some of Bhutan’s finest luxury hotels (Amankora).

For booking hotels, you can either contact us or visit www.hotel.bt for details.

How to arrange transportation in Bhutan?

For Indians visiting Bhutan has three options to arrange their transportation within Bhutan as follows:

1. Drive your own car:

For driving your own car into Bhutan, you need to apply for a permit from Road Safety and Transport Authority (RSTA) of Bhutan. You must write an application letter, addressed to Regional License Officer (RLO), requesting for a permission to allow you to drive your car into Bhutan and submit the copy of following documents:

• Valid Indian Driving License
• Original Registration Certificates
• Original insurance papers
• Pollution under control certificate (PUC).

Remember to bring all the original copies of the above mentioned documents.

Regional Road Safety and Transport Authority office (RSTA) for both Phuntsholing and Samdrup Jongkhar are located within 5 minutes drive from border gates. It is advisable not to drive your own car in Bhutan, if you are not an experienced driver on mountain roads.

2. Arrange your transportation through a licensed Bhutanese Tour Operator.

The best option to arrange transportation while touring Bhutan will be to arrange through a licensed Tour Operator in Bhutan. One might feel little expensive but considering comfort and safety, it is always a best option. Depending on the types of vehicle you hire, the charges may vary from INR 1500 to INR 3000 per day. If you have friends travelling together, you can share the hiring charges.

3. Using public transports services.

It is one way of saving money but travelling by public transport will consume lots of time in Bhutan. There are very few numbers of public buses in Bhutan and the tickets have to be booked few days earlier as it’s booked out most of the time. If you travel by shared taxis, you have to wait for hours to get the fellow passengers. Taxis have a drop off point and to travel further; let’s say to hotel, you have to bear the extra charges. Using public transport services within western Bhutan is fairly easy but to travel beyond western regions towards central and east gets very difficult due to very limited numbers of buses and taxis plying between.

Indian foods and its cost in Bhutan

Indian should not worry about food while visiting Bhutan because all the restaurants in Bhutan serve Indian dishes.

However do not miss a chance to taste typical Bhutanese cuisines and one amongst it, is a hot and spicy; Ema Datshi, a curry made from a mixture of Chili (Ema) and Cheese (Datshi). Credit to its uniqueness, Bhutanese people considers it as their national dish.

Bhutanese diet consists mainly of rice and curry. Curries are prepared from both vegetables and meats. The meat items that are available in Bhutan are Chicken, Pork, Beef and Lamp. Fish items and eggs are also included in Bhutanese diets.

Meals will be cheaper in small local restaurants compared to that of tourist standard hotels and restaurants. The average cost ranges from INR 200 to 350 in local restaurants and from INR 400 to 700 in tourist standard restaurants.

Languages spoken in Bhutan

Thanks to the Indian television channels; majority of Bhutanese can speak fluent Hindi. With two languages, Hindi and English you will never get lost in Bhutan.