TID 720 Nithya & group tour to Bhutan and Nepal (6.10.13-21.10.13)

Thank you for your email. We had a great time in both locations (although all of us felt that 8 days in Bhutan was beyond what was necessary- perhaps 4 or 5 days was closer to what we needed). The tour was well organized and our guides and drivers were all great! High Asia Tours in Nepal had mentioned that we were going to ‘settle the money ‘issue re: flight from KTM to Pokhara (which we did not take b/c of closure of the Pokhara airport). I believe we are owed some money since we used a driver and car vs. flying. We did not hear from them and I forgot to follow up with them as we were leaving. Do you have any news about that? When organizing people to travel in Bhutan, I would recommend inquiring about tendency for motion sickness. The roads in Bhutan were worse than I imagined.

While I expected windy roads because of mountainous territory, I did not expect extreme bumpiness for extended periods of time. This affected the health of my mother even though she took Gravol to prevent nauseousness. People with back problems would also find the driving difficult and even painful. In the event a group (or a few people in the group) are sensitive to these issues, I would modify the trip to include as much flying as possible and include a warning about long stretches of bumpy roads. We thought Paro, Thimpu and the Do Cha La Pass were well worth seeing, but could have skipped Trongsa and Wangde. We also liked the festival in Bhumtang. This would have minimized the driving. Additionally, I would warn travelers about heating in hotels.

I had asked Ugen about heating in all the hotel rooms before we left and he assured me there was heat in all hotels. While this was technically true, I think it’s important to let travelers know that some hotels have wood stove heat only requiring hourly refueling even in the night. I would advise travelers to ask the front desk for heaters that are electric (not all have enough for the number of people staying in the hotel). If you could provide feedback to the hotels, I would ask them to purchase more heaters for rooms. Nepal was fabulous and our guide was amazing! Highly recommend Vishnu for all travelers. The drivers were also very good here. We enjoyed all the places we stayed and visited. Thank you again for your followup questions and I look forward to hearing from you re: our flight refund for Nepal (KTM to Pokhara).