Your Travel Information to Bhutan

How to get in

Visa is needed for all the citizens except for the Indians and Bangladesh nationals. You have to apply one month in advance before your proposed date of entry in the country. One has to contact your local travel agents and they will apply the visa for you. To obtain the visa, you have to wire the money in advance to your local travel agent who will in turn send the money to the Tourism Council of Bhutan and upon receiving the payment your visa will be issued. You have to pay US$ 200 plus the surcharge of US$ 40 per person for nine days and after that a discount of US$ 10 per day. If the there are more than four people in a group, you do not have to pay surcharges.

The traffic is inclusive of all the facilities like hotels, guides, transportations, drivers and foods. The tourism policy is designed to control the number of tourists coming to Bhutan.

There are four legal entry points into Bhutan, by air at Paro airport, by road at the border with west Bengal at Phuntsholing, by road at the border with Assam at Gelephug in the centre and Samdrup Jongkhar

How to apply travel permit for Indians and Bangladeshis

You can apply for visa at any one of the entry points at the borders. You need one passport size photograph and identification document (passport, ration cards, Election ID) is needed along with the photocopy. You will take few hours to process the permit. The immigrations offices are located at the gates of the borders.

Climate

Climatic conditions on the mountains are always unpredictable, so it is useful to be prepared in case of difficult climatic conditions. For most of the regions the best seasons are in spring and autumn. In spring it is the season for flowers, most of the forest will be covered with different colored rhododendron flowers. It is little bit hot in lower altitude with some clouds on the mountains by afternoon.

The monsoon last from June to august. The autumn from September to December is the best time of the year with the sky always clear, it is little cold at night at higher altitude.

It can some time snow at the higher altitude and departure in the morning can get very cold. The temperature can be sometimes -5 to -10

Health

It is wise to get health insurance. Bhutan is categorized in the second zone when it comes to the risk of getting Malaria especially in the lower regions. It is more risky in summer i.e. from June to September. So if you are travelling in this period make it a point to take precaution.

But most of the visits and trekking are above 1400m so there are less chances of getting bitten by mosquitoes even in summer.

There is more risk of getting infected during the transit in Delhi, Katmandu and at borders with India.

It is advisable to carry anti- mosquitoes, like spray or some carry lemon grass oil.

When trekking, there are risk associated with altitude sickness and accidents. In case of emergencies there are dispensaries and hospitals in the districts.Food

Bhutanese food can be very spicy with chilies mixed in most of the dishes, but in most of restaurants and hotels the food are prepared suitable for foreigners, less spicy with the Bhutanese touch. Rice is served in all the meals and you can get all kinds of fresh vegetables and fruits.

Vaccination

Vaccination is not compulsory. But if you want, you can get vaccinated against typhoid and hepatitis A and B. A is caused because of the contaminated water and B is caused by sexual relationship and also by saliva.

Currency

Cash

It is advisable to carry cash, like dollars, euro, yen etc as it can be changed at any banks in the country. You can pay in dollars and in euro in any handicraft shops in Bhutan. The Bhutanese currency has the same value with the Indian currency and it is excepted all over the country.

Traveler chaques

It can be only changed in banks. So you can keep during emergency

Banking cards

Master cards are not accepted for the movement. Visa cards are accepted in most of the handicraft shops but bank will take 5% commissions from your purchase.

Communications

The telecommunications in Bhutan is well advanced. You can call from most of the places even during the trek. We can call to any parts of the world from any place in Bhutan.

To call from any hotels to any country other than India will cost about $ 4 per minute.

Internet

Some hotels are connected with wireless and some towns have internet café.

Mobile phones

You can use your cell phone from lot of places but sometimes it may not work as you are in a different zone with the different network.

Postal services

There are postal services in all the districts and sub districts. It cost Nu.20 to send a postcard from Bhutan to any countries other than India.

Shopping

There are some handmade objects like masks, bowls, wood carvings and religious painting of high qualities. Bhutan is known for its beautiful textiles. So you can find textiles made out of cotton, wool, silk, raw silk and even from yak hairs. There are some bamboo products like basket, tea strainer, mats and hats.

Some of the antiques are not allowed to take out of the country.

Drinks

Like most of the places in Asia Bhutanese drink lots of tea, like in India we mix milk and sugar or in a Tibetan style where we add butter and salt depending on ones choices.

In most of the places you can get mineral water, beers and juices.

Wines are sold in some restaurants and hotels at a price quite high. Bhutanese generally drink ara, alcohol distilled from different cereals.

Water

In general, we must consider water as not 100% safe to drink. It has to be treated systematically. In the hotels it is advisable to buy mineral water. Avoid washing your mouth with water from tap.

During the trek boiled water will be used but treatment is advisable.