Kuzu Zangpola! Went on a 7-day trip with my family to beautiful Bhutan with Druk Asia Bhutan Travel Specialist. The country was amazing as expected and the people were genuinely nice. Our guide Kinley Wangdi was experienced and extremely knowledgeable about the local culture, cuisines, history and even the shopping needs of us tourists. Our driver Dhorghi was skillful at the wheel and kept us safe throughout.

The itinerary prepared gave first timer visitors to Bhutan an insightful experience of not only the sights and sounds, but also the way of live of Bhutanese, particularly Homestay food and lodging. The nature walk and stay at Gangtey valley was lovely and authentic. Taktsang Monastery was the highlight of the trip. The impressive views aside, being at the sacred monastery was worth the hike up.

Beautiful Bhutan, great trip thanks to Druk Asia Bhutan Travel Specialist.

We enjoyed very much last week in Bhutan, we like the greenery, the mountains and really admired the architecture of your Lhakhangs, Dzongs and Chortens and your rich cultures.

We took our daughters' graduation photos at your beautiful Punakha Dzong. We would like to mention our tour guide Mr Kinley Wangdi, he is helpful, responsible, knowledgeable, friendly and sensitive to our requests and needs. The gradation photos are all taken by him.

Last but not least is the driver Mr Thinley Dorji, he is a skillful driver and made us feel safe on the bumpy road. He too is humorous.
 

We must point out their exceptional good work as our tour guide and driver.

Regards
Tan

Kuzuzangpo la!

My Bhutan's 7-day tour come to an end the moment Druk airlines touched down at Singapore airport. 7 days is definitely not enough as there are still many places not been to and many experiences not encounter yet.

The wonderful people I met during this trip, whether it's fellow travelers like me, the locals, guides or drivers, all made this trip so memorable. The experiences we share shall remain with me for a long time infinitely, the hospitality and warm kindness from the Bhutanese touch my heart and soul and definitely taught me a lot about life and make me a better person along the way.

I might have been a Bhutanese in my previous life, because I simply love Bhutanese food! I must have ema datshi in my every meal, I drank a lot of tea and just can't get enough of butter tea! Momo, hentey, kewa datshi, organic vegetables etc are also my favorite. In addition, I tasted the best ara at "Simply Bhutan" folk museum, and even tried almost all the alcoholic drinks recommended by Druk Asia e.g Druk 11000, K-5, Red Panda and more like Druk Supreme or Druk Lager!

Bhutan is a photogenic place as no matter which angle you try taking photos, it'll turn out picturesque. I have many good photos which I shared some on my Facebook and have received a lot of praises and even inquiry about Bhutan travel, which I will definitely recommend Druk Asia to my friends.

The extra bonus of this trip was meeting the 4th King and his family at close distance at Thimpu Dzong on First Sermon of Buddha. I have always admire him as he not only introduce the National Gross Happiness, he also made many good changes and decision which change and develop Bhutan to become a better and known country to the outside world.

Compliments to Kinley Wangdi and driver Tshering which I fondly addressed him as Arnold Schwazerneger of Bhutan because he look so cool in his sunglasses! Although Kinley did not meet me at arrival as he was held up by his group, he proves to be a knowledgeable and responsible guide as he knows his facts and figures about Bhutan very well no matter what question I pose to him. He can improve by being a little more proactive and attentive e.g I've made known to him many times I prefer not to get caught in rain as I always fall sick if caught in rain and many times he did not have umbrella ready at hand when sky was dark and we were walking to our destination. Other than that, I enjoyed my trip with Kinley as he also take good photos for me since I'm a solo traveler and having good photos for this trip is even more valueable.

Tshering the driver is a very good and responsible driver. He always clean his vehicle (inside and outside) whenever after a muddy road drive to make sure I always travel comfortably in clean car. In addition, he also take good photos (even better than Kinley!) and had helped me taken a lot of candid photos which I love it very much. He is also very humorous and together with Kinley, we laugh so much that my experience traveling with them is so far the best trip I ever had.

I also like to compliment Manbir Rai who on behalf of Kinley, met me at Paro airport. Although my name was spelt wrongly on banner, he was also knowledgeable and attentive to me and pay great details to what I've requested. My request to general post office and visit to night scene (we went karaoke) were met and he even managed to help me save time queueing to change money at bank next to post office as there were so many people.

Regarding points to improve:

1. Itinerary not updated - due to summer holidays, painting school and Chhundu Primary School are closed. I was very disappointed as I really look forward to visit the painting school to learn about the 13 traditional arts and crafts, and to visit the primary school to understand about the education in Bhutan. Although itinerary is flexible and Kinley offered great alternative, since we are aware that my trip is during summer it'll be great if Druk Asia can pay attention to this obvious details as I was a travel agent myself for many years and know that details like this can either enhance or destroy guest's experience.

2. Information about money changing on travel tips incorrect - As mentioned in travel tips provided by Druk Asia, there is supposed to be a currency exchange counter at arrival hall after custom check and luggage scan which there isn't any. I've also checked with other travelers who also confirm that currency exchange counter was nowhere to be seen. We did see a very small sign "Bank of Bhutan" before immigration but because the flight was delayed for about 2 hours, we thought we can change money after immigration as we want to meet our guide and driver asap.

3. Namgay Heritage Hotel's shower - As already mentioned by many travelers on your Facebook review, the shower in Namgay Heritage is still having problem with the alternate hot and cold shower. This problem might be something beyond Druk Asia's control, Druk Asia as a popular travel agent should persistently feedback to hotel to get them to either fix the problem or change to use another hotel totally if hotel still doesn't resolve the issue. In addition, the food at Namgay Heritage is the least appealing and taste mediocre among all my dining experience in Bhutan.

I can go on talking about my Bhutan experience which I can even write a book! (just kidding!) I will stop here and hopefully my two pence worth of feedback above is useful to Druk Asia. I will share some of my stories in your Facebook and attached are some photos for your perusal.

Hopefully my next trip to Bhutan will coincide with tsechuu and to other parts of Bhutan to get a totally different experience.

Till then,
Tashi delek!

Vivian

The trip has been absolutely amazing. Bhutan is a very breathtaking and mesmerizing place . All the people are very friendly. I made few friends while I was there too.

I still have not had the chance to upload my photos. Hopefully I can do this over the weekend and I will be more than happy to share the photos

I will go to the facebook page and write a review this coming weekend !

Thanks again for checking on me and arranging this trip for me

It has been an awesome trip and I am very satisfied

Best regards

Linda

I would like to say a big Kaadinchey la!!! The trip was fantastic. The service from your team amazing.

I would like to send special recognition to Kinley Wangdi and Thinley Dorji. From the time we landed to departed, it felt like they went above and beyond what would be expected. Please help make sure they get the credit for a really great job. I'd also like to thank you for your great service as well. You were very supportive and accommodating with our requests with fast response times. Everything felt easy and we felt warmly welcomed.

Kind regards,

Steve, Michelle, Jorge, Jeffrey

Hi Sonam

Sorry for the delayed reply, had been tied up upon my return from Bhutan that I nearly overlooked in replying your email.

Had a wonderful trip in Bhutan with great extraordinary experience.

Kinley and Pema, both the guide and driver were very accommodating and helpful throughout my trip.

Last but not least, you had done a great job too in making all the prompt and organized arrangements on my behalf for that wonderful trip.

Would definitely recommend your personalized and Druk Asia service to any of friends or relatives who are keen on visiting Bhutan.

Once again, a great thank you.

Regards

Canny Tan

Hi Sonam,

I just wanted to drop you a line to say thank you very much for helping us to organise our recent trip to Bhutan.

I think I can speak for all of us when I say that the trip far exceeded our expectations and we have all fallen in love with the people and places we saw in Bhutan.

Kinley and our driver were nothing but helpful and friendly throughout and were extremely accommodating when it came to organising a birthday cake for Declan or changing hotel plans on the last night of the trip. We were very appreciative of these things.

We will not hesitate to recommend Dru kAsia to friends and family who are interested in a trip to Bhutan.

Many thanks again to yourself and the team at Druk Asia that helped make our holiday an unforgettable one. Definitely a trip of a lifetime. Thank you.

Kindest regards
Kim

Hi Sonam,

Just to echo Kim's words - we truly had the most wonderful time and for us Bhutan will always be an incredibly special place with very fond memories.

We'd be more than happy to contribute to the testimonial pages... here's a couple of pics of us on our magical holiday.

Please pass our sincere thanks on to Kinley and our driver for making our experience so fantastic - they are a credit to your team and to the country!

Rebecca Craig

Dear Mr Sangay,

Thank you so much, we really had a good trip to Bhutan and is a one of the life time holiday, if by chance, we will travel to other part of Bhutan again and will see you then, we really enjoy the beautiful and spiritual of your country, the friendliness of people, the comfortable of the hotels and staffs, the foods and the cultures, the only disappointment is wrong time of the year as most of the days was cloudy, we love the amazing view of the Himalaya, but only manage to see little of it.

We wanted to compliment the excellent driving of our driver, with the condition of the road, he done very well at all we really have a wonderful holiday. 

Regards,

Howard Hor and David Hudson

Dear Sonam,

This is indeed an excellent and memorable trip. The places are awesome with pleasant people whom we met along the way. Our driver, Sangay is fantastic and takes good care of us while our guide, Kinley is witty and helpful who caters to our needs. The farmhouse Bhutanese food is sumptuous and the traditional stone bath is a rare experience.

Thanks & Regards,
Evelyn Yong & PM Chua

Dear Sonam,

Kuzuzangpo La! Thank you for your mail.

Bhutan is indeed beautiful and we fall in love with the country. What really touched our heart is really how the government care for the people and the environment.

Our trip was really awesome, great scenic places, nice weather, nice meals & most of all we have a great company; our guide Kinley Wangdi & driver Gampo. Kinley, excellent jovial guide cum GOOD photographer. Gampo, super skilled attentive driver, we are fortunate to have both of them.

One main complaint is that we have missed our stay at Dewachen where we could have missed some great scenic & experience instead we had spent a night at Hotel Vara for this last minutes changes. Also, 2 nights stay at Metta Resort was changed to 1 night at last minutes as well. Fortunately it was only 1 night stay at Tenzin as it wasn't very pleasant, the environment is a bit too noisy.

Choice of food is almost the same for all hotel but our guide Kinley is so kind to provide us a western meal for a change.

Here I would like to share few pictures taken which I feel are memorable piece.

Last but not least, we really appreciate you for organizing our trip & A big Thank You to Kinley & Gampo for their patience (as we are always behind timing) during our stay and making our trip a memorable and pleasant one.

Cheers,
Tan Wenny

Hi Sangay,

It is nice to hear from you. We had a great time in Bhutan and an equally good experience with Druk Asia.

I would like to take the time to provide you with some feedback, as requested.

1) Hotels and Food: The accommodations provided were excellent. Very comfortable with quality guest service, which we appreciated. The food was plentiful and varied. Most dishes were delicious and we enjoyed the wide selection.

2) The Sites/Pacing: For 4 full days tour we felt the pacing was fine. There were at least 2 sites to see each day (some days more). No day ever seemed rushed. For the most part the amount of time we spent at each site was adequate, however, we could have spent more time at The Tiger's Nest as it's one of the highlights of the tour. We felt a little bit rushed and would have enjoyed spending more time there, specifically inside the Monastery itself. The hike was very nice and we spent sufficient time outside but only about 5 minutes inside, which was not enough time.

3) Service Provided by Guide and Driver: Our driver Karma was excellent. Very polite and courteous. He happily provided us with his input when asked.
Our guide Kinley Wangdi also provided good service. He was equally polite, courteous, attentive and patient. He also seemed quite knowledgeable and promptly answered all our questions. In terms of suggestions for improvement for Kinley, we felt he could have been more enthusiastic during the tour. Often there were times where he would walk far ahead and maintain his distance while we were at the sites. We noticed that other tour guides stayed with the clients. Guides provided guests with information without having to be asked. Kinley did a great job and we were very satisfied with him as our guide, however, more passion and enthusiasm would take his service to the next level.

Overall, we felt that Bhutan was a beautiful, exotic and peaceful country. We had an excellent experience and hope to return someday in the future.

Thank you so much for your wonderful help and service.

Best Regards,

Hi Mindu,

Thanks for getting in touch. I had an amazing time in Bhutan - it's a beautiful country with a very interesting culture, and both my guide and driver were very kind as well as helpful. I'm working on a feature at the moment, so I'll keep you updated on its progress. I do have some photos that you can have. I've attached a few of them - let me know if you want any more.

All the best,
Lauren Hill

Dear Sonam,

Hello there again. How are you doing? Assume all is well with you. We just came back from Bangkok yesterday night and am feeling very very tired hahaha as usual working holidays are always tiring but fun..

Our Bhutan trip is excellent and fantastic compare to our previous trip last year.. Thanks a million for giving us a very good driver who cleans the bus everyday and is a very careful driver and not to forget he always have a warm smile too. Had a fantastic tour guide, Kinley Wangdi... tries his very best to giving us what we wanted and always check with me if he is not sure.. He even changed the food to suit our taste upon request, which is very impressive... I have been a tour leader for 31 years, and can say that Kinley make a very good tour guide, he can make quick decisions. For any of our future trip we would really like to use both the same driver and tour guide...

Am sure Kinley also have something to say about us hahaha because this is the first time he have all female paxs and also the first time our luggage came a day after we arrived. Am sure its also the first time he meet tour leader like me hahaha very demanding and straight to the point.

We all enjoy ourselves and wish that we can spent more time in Bhutan.. On our way back my paxs talk about going back to Bhutan in future which to me is very surprising hahaha because they mentioned that they love the natural environment.. If all works our well we will make another trip to Bhutan either in October or November..

The only complain I have is our stay in Rinchenling Lodge, Bumthang... I have to take cool shower because the hot water was used up. I showered half way and there were no hot water hahaha so had to take cold shower which to me is not impressive because it was really very cold that night. The Rinchenling Lodge overall is good and the food there is good too... the only complain is hot shower... They have to do something about the hot water... They told one of my paxs (which also have no hot water to shower) that when the hot water is used up we have to wait few hours before we can have hot water again which is not right.... Will not recommend this hotel for our future trip especially during the cold weather.

Will forward some nice photos to Kinley soon and ask him to forward to you. Once again we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all that you have done for us.

Take care and God bless.
Cheers!

Kuzuzangpo La Sonam,

We hope everything is fine with you and your staff.

The Tour was well organized and we appreciated to be guided by Kinley and Thinley (our very skilled driver) and to stay with them all the time. It was a very impressive experience discovering new and unforgettable places and people. We were able to enjoy and relax at the same time, and this made our trip full of real satisfaction.

I can't say if it was in line with the expectations, but for sure we were in the condition to appreciate everything with no hurry , in a calm and relaxing atmosphere. Very impressed by the luxury nature experience. We were able to stay at Jambhay Lhakhang Festival , first experience were you try to understand the meaning of dances, costumes, musics.

The second experience was with Prakhar Drubchen Festival where we were really part of the stenography with an unforgettable experience, I don't know how many shots we got , really living the event.

Thanks to you all we have realized our dream.

Ciao Ciao
Kadin-Chhey

Hi Joni, 

I had an incredibly wonderful experience in Bhutan ... I love its mountainous landscape, its spectacular architecture - from the home of villagers to the dzongs, each is embellished with amazing details, I love the way Buddhism comes across (very unlike Thailand), I love the Bhutanese people most ... never have I enjoyed photographing people as much as I did in Bhutan ... ok, the food in Bhutan wasn't very great (but that perhaps is also I don't like cheese) but I get by and this did not at all affect my enjoyment of the remaining 99.5% of the trip. I also love the cool, dry and sunny climate ... Love also the day on the ramp at Paro Airport and the next day spent outside it photographing planes landing.

On the last day, I heard about Haa from the photo-journalist from Business Times ... and wish I had learnt of it earlier. Seems like the place to visit Bhutanese in their elements.

This has been a trip of many "highs" ... Bhutan is a more amazing destination and I also had two great meetings - with Tshering Penjore of Drukair and Damcho Rinzin of Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB). 

Thanks for all the arrangements and I am still processing tons of pictures and when this is done, I will burn some of them on a DVD to bring to your office.  I also need to return a book on Bhutanese food that I borrowed from Cipto a week before the trip.
 

Dear Sonam,

Kuzuzangpo la!

Thank you for you for your e-mail. We enjoyed ourselves very much during our trip. We wish we could stay longer and had a chance to watch one of the many festivals. Even though it was summer, we didn’t feel the heat and it only rained two days during the whole trip. We are really appreciative to Sangay, our driver, he took good care of us and very helpful throughout. Though we didn’t hit it off immediately with Kinley but as we became more familiar with him, we found him to be very knowledgeable and fun loving.

Kadin chhey for the wonderful arrangement for our trip and we will definitely use your service when we go back for a visit to Bhutan. I understand Wendy has contacted you for her parents’ upcoming trip in September. Have a great weekend.
 

Hi Cipto,

Having arrived back in the UK last week, I can say that after 3 months of travelling, our visit to Bhutan was the highlight of the trip. An excellent start to our journey and very magical experience with Kinley and Ogyen for the 10 days. I’ll have a think about any suggestions which Sara and I think of but we had a fantastic time. Many thanks
 

We are on the way back from Bhutan and would like to say that we had a great trip with Druk Asia and Kinley, this was a fantastic holiday. Everything was well taken care of. We also appreciated the customization of the trip with the walk from the Chelela pass and the picnic, that’s a great option for people who like walks. We’ll be sure to let our friends know about Druk Asia if they are planning a holiday to bhutan.
 

Kuzuzangpo La....

First of all, my friends and I would like to extend our gratitude to you guys for all the arrangement (and your patience in answering all our questions before the trip) to make our trip a wonderful one. Thanks Sonam to call us and check on us when you were climbing the Tiger’s Nest. We really enjoyed our stay in Bhutan, and we really love this country, the people and surprisingly the food - especially the chilli cheese. We also want to mention how much we appreciated our guide, Kinley. It.It was nice of Kinley to arrange a farm house dinner on our last night where we can get to know the locals better, and experience their lifestyle. Kinley is also nice to share with us lots of stories about Bhutan, about his life, etc.

Other than him, we would also like to thank our driver, Dorji (or is it Toji). We appreciate him for our safe journey throughout Bhutan, and his attentiveness to always shut the window of our van after we have alighted. He played nice and popular current hit songs in the van from his thumb-drive, making our journey an enjoyable one, too. There was this day when we were at the tea-house from Paro to Thimphu (or is it Thimphu to Paro?) there were about 3 wild dogs trying to attack a japanese tourist’s little dog, and without second thoughts, he just ran over to help to chase these dogs away - so nice of him! - All in all, we felt that Bhutanese are nice people - At the Tiger’s Nest, we were offered some snacks by other Bhutanese tour guides, although we are not their customers :)

Lastly, a big Kadinchhey to you guys!