TID:147: Complete Bhutan Travese into India (Oct 6-21,2008)
Dear Ugen, We had a marvellous time! Both Jambay Dorji and Mr Baliman, our driver, could not have been more helpful; please convey our thanks once again to them. The hotels were not all as advertised to us but were better. We had been prepared to ‘rough it’ a little, especially in the east, but the level of accommodation, washing facilities and food was excellent throughout. The car was very comfortable and we were able to visit more places than a larger group would have been able to do.

We were very pleased to be invited by Windhorse for an enjoyable evening in Thimpu. Vivienne, my wife, has commented on this on the form for feedback which we gave to Jambay in Samdrup Jonkhar.
Overall, we would have no hesitation in recommending Windhorse to others. The only comment we have which you might like to consider is that it is no longer true that the Indian rupee is accepted alongside the ngultrum. We came through Delhi and changed pounds sterling into rupees at the airport there. As usual, such exchanges like to give out high denomination notes. Fortunately we asked for a large number of Rs.100 notes but still had several Rs.500 notes. As we approached the end of the trip, we happened to ask Jambay about using these notes and he told us that they are no longer accepted as legal tender in Bhutan. We managed to negotiate an exchange of these notes but others may have some difficulty in doing this. You might like to warn other tourists about this so that they ask only for Rs.100 notes at the currency exchange. Regards, Chris