Trip includes
- Nine nights of hotel accommodation on a double occupancy basis.
- Three meals a day.
- English speaking local expert tour leader
- All transfers and sightseeing by a private vehicle
- Bhutan visa and government royalty
- Sightseeing admission tickets.
- Daily bottled water (2 each)
- Service of airfare booking
The trip does not include
- Services in the gateway cities.
- Airfare
- Drinks, tipping, laundry, phone and other expenses of personal nature.
- Travel insurance
- Extra expenses caused due to nature and unforeseen events
- Optional items as indicated in the itinerary
The trip difficulty, road, and transport
Anyone with a reasonable health condition can sign up for this trip, as this is mostly a motor vehicle-based tour with some optional hikes. You attain the highest altitude of Youtongla pass (3425m/11234 ft) where you have a brief stop only and as our accommodations are in lower elevation.
There are a few hiking excursions on this trip. If you are not into hiking, you can stay back with the driver. Traveling from one city to another requires 3-7 hours driving, and some parts of the road may be under paved or damaged due to monsoon erosion. Roads are often carved into hills and follow rivers. If you are traveling during monsoon, there can be temporary blockade due to monsoon rain. Currently, the repair works are underway and so; we can expect some travel delays.
The transport will be a mini-van or a Japanese coaster bus, depending on the final group size. Our driver will be a skillful person with years of experience in driving in Bhutan roadways. The driver may speak little or no English. The guide and driver are not the same people.
Accommodations
In Bhutan, the majority of the hotels are small properties, rated as three-stars by local standard and are adequately comfortable. They are built and decorated traditionally. You will have an en suite bathroom with running hot and cold water. Most of the hotels provide free Wi-Fi, and some may charge a nominal fee. The lobbies and receptions are cozy. During the winter, they provide space heaters to keep the rooms warm. Some hotels use traditional style Bukhari firewood stove. We do not expect our hotel to have a gift shop for "sundry" items.
Meals
Our tour features three meals a day, and we expect to eat most meals at our hotel. They serve meals in a buffet or set menu and include rice dishes, curried or stir-fried vegetables, noodles, bread, one or two meat dishes, etc. All meats are imported, and so they tend to be chewy. Local style meat sauces can contain bones. While in Paro or Thimphu, we will arrange some meals outside the hotel. During a long road trip or a hiking excursion, your guide will bring prepared meals. Note: There are limited choices for food, and the chefs lack skill in cooking western style dishes. Bhutan is not a destination for fine dining.
Guide
Our guides are college educated locals, proficient in English and trained and licensed by local tourism authorities. Most importantly they are friendly and committed to delivering the best services.
International and internal airfares
The trip cost does not include the airfares. You need to buy your return airfare from your home country to a gateway city, such as Bangkok (or Kathmandu or Delhi or Kolkatta). Unless you are traveling to India or Nepal first, the most popular gateway to Bhutan is Bangkok as there are at least two flights a day from here. The flights from Kathmandu or Delhi operate only a few days of the week. We will book your return airfare from Bangkok to Bhutan and bill you separately. Please, allow a minimum of one night stay in the gateway city before and after your trip for a safe connection with your international flight.
Passport and Visa
Your passport must be valid for at least six months beyond the last day of your trip, and there must be a minimum of two blank visa pages for the visa sticker, entry and exit seals. We apply for the Bhutan visa in advance for you, and we will email you the approval 3 to 4 weeks before the trip. Your passport gets actual visa seal upon arrival at the Paro airport. If you are traveling via Indian cities, you need to obtain an Indian visa before your travel begins. If you are going via Kathmandu, Nepal, you can get a Nepal visa upon arrival.
Travel agent eligibility
You must be an active and full-time travel agent with IATA/CLIA/TRUE Code certified. You are allowed to bring one companion with you who could be your friend or family or a client.
Group Size
We guarantee a departure with a minimum of four participants. The maximum group size will not exceed sixteen people.
Booking/Deposit
We request an initial deposit of US$ 300 along with a completed booking form and a passport scan. The second payment will be for the internal airfare when it's due. The balance payment is due 90 days before departure. Credit card payment attracts an additional fee which ranges from 3 to 4%. We accept the payment from the traveler's account only. We reserve the right to refuse credit card payment in some cases.
Cancellation and Refund
If you need to withdraw from a trip, you need to notify us in writing by email or fax. The cancellation fee structure will be as follows.
One hundred eighty days before departure: No penalty.
Ninety days before departure: US$ 150 (Administrative Fee)
60-89 day's prior departure: US$ 300 or 25% of the land cost whichever is higher.
Forty-five days to 59 days prior departure: US$ 450 or 50% of the land cost whichever is higher.
Thirty days to 44 days before departure: US$ 600 or 75% of the land cost whichever is higher.
Less than 30 days: 100%
An airfare cancellation fee will be as per respective airlines policy. Some hotels may ask a nonrefundable deposit which will be communicated to you accordingly.
Travel Protection Plan
We do our best to ensure that your trip goes as smoothly as planned. However, there may be a chance of unforeseen events and conditions such as illness, accident, inclement weather, flight cancellation, missed-connection, or loss of baggage, etc that may cause interruption, delay or total cancellation of your trip putting your hard earned travel investment in jeopardy. It’s also possible that you may need medical assistance, emergency evacuation or medical transportation when you get ill or involve in an accident when you are traveling in remote areas. Far & High's trip cost does not cover any of these expenses or losses, and so we strongly recommend you that you should protect yourself and your travel investment against those unfavorable conditions.