We planned a trip with Wind Horse for Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan, traveling for approximately 2.5 weeks, with a local guide and driver in each of the three destinations. We opted for the Three Kingdoms Tour. Wind Horse has many different pre-packaged tours to choose from, from challenging, lengthy treks, to horseback riding adventures, to culture tours with mostly easy walks. They can also customize the trip for you depending on your preferences.
We planned this trip from the comfort of our homes in the U.S. Communications/email was fast and easy during the entire planning process. They helped us book flights to/from Bhutan and helped us obtain Bhutan visas and Tibet permits. (The Nepal visa you can get at the Kathmandu airport on your own.) They also provided us in advance with a detailed and comprehensive itinerary, along with descriptions of each region and attraction.
I will focus this review on the Bhutan portion of the trip (we love Bhutan!):
In Bhutan, we had the pleasure of having Sonam Loday as our guide and Dawa as our driver. Both are very experienced in what they do. Big thank you to Dawa as he got us everywhere safely, despite the often very narrow and bumpy roads. Also big thanks to Sonam for providing rich and detailed descriptions at every attraction so we could learn the history, custom, and culture of Bhutan. Sonam was a great pleasure to be around, personable, very funny, outgoing, and a tremendous help when we hiked Tiger’s Nest (he had to help me descend and carry our bag).
We upgraded to the 4-star hotels in all regions which was well-worth it, if that’s your cup of tea. Sonam also made sure that we got the best rooms possible.
Wind Horse is also great because even though we opted for the cultural tour of Bhutan, Wind Horse planned a few easy/moderate hikes for us so we got to see lots of nature and unbeatable sceneries (in addition to lots of temples, stupas, and monasteries).
They also provide tours in central Bhutan and eastern Bhutan, if you’d like to see the villages and more rural ways of living. This requires more trekking.
The other big plus is that they take credit cards (with an extra charge), PayPal, or you can also mail checks to their office in Minneapolis when you need to pay your fees. We thought this was safer than wiring money to some strangers overseas.
We could not have asked for a greater vacation/tour in Bhutan and I’d highly recommend Wind Horse should you decide to visit Bhutan, Tibet, or Nepal (or India).
Three Himalayan Kingdom May, 2017
- Person Name Jennifer Wei
- From San Francisco, California, USA
- Trip Name Three Himalayan Kingdom May, 2017
- Travelled Date May 14 - 28,2017
- Destination Bhutan
- Guide Hem Raj Bastola
- Hotels Beijing - Citic Hotel, Beijing Airport
Lhasa - Kyichu Hotel
Gyantse - Gyantse Hotel
Lhasa - Kyichu Hotel
Kathmandu - Hotel Shambala
Paro - Tashi Namgay Resort
Punakha - Meri Phuensum Resort
Thimphu - Hotel Druk
Paro - Tashi Namgay Resort - Ratings