Ugen
We arrived back safely from our trip this week.  We loved Bhutan!  We had beautiful weather every day.  Our guide and driver were wonderful.  The country was really magical.  Thanks to you and Wind Horse – everything was perfect.  I am attaching a picture for you.  It is of my daughter Giovanna and the King’s brother-cousin.  We had the pleasure of meeting him in Paro when we stopped to watch a group of men doing archery at a local club.  It seems our guide knew him and he came over and offered us tea. 
For us – it was like going to England and meeting a brother of Prince Charles – we Americans love royalty!  Actually, he mentioned something about offering us three places in his official quota for returning to Bhutan at some discount!!  Do you know what that means?
We had dinner one night in Thimphu with your partner Renzin,  who was great company.  All in all, the trip exceeded our expectations and I want to thank you for working with us to make it all possible.  Hopefully we will be able to return again and see other parts of the country – my husband really wants to visit.  Please feel free to use me as a reference in the future.
Thanks
Chris

Master, Salucci Family from 18-25 May'09

James Weiss from 11-15 April
Dear Kinga + Pema                                                                                                                         
Thank you for the excellent trip that we had in Bhutan. First, let me say to Mr. Kinga that you found the correct balance between showing us your beautiful country and meeting our individual personalities and likes.
Mr. Pema, Thank you on your excellent driving skills around those sharp curves along the mountain roads.
Your travel customers + Friends
Jim Weiss + Gail Hochfeld

James Weiss

Farrell & Su Bhutan Paro Festival Tour from 30 Mar-09 apr
Dear Ugen
We just wanted to send an email to say that we had a great time in Bhutan. We both found the country fascinating and the places we visited excellent.
We had a superb guide in Mr Tashi and he gave us much insight into Bhutan and explained with great enthusiasm the places we visited, the customs and traditions we observed. He always had time for us and we were able to go at the pace that we wished and were able to spend as much or as little time as we wanted in our sightseeing. Mr Tashi was always very accommodating, extremely punctual and a very good ambassador for the country.
I always think that good service should be rewarded, which is the reason I mention this. We hope to be able to return to Bhutan and would certainly use the services of Mr Tashi and would recommend both him and your agency to any friends that may consider a trip.
The only issue I would mention relates to some of the hotels, which were not so good.
Kind regards
Mark

Mark Farrell

Dear Amit,
We were very happy with the Complete Bhutan tour.  A good guide can make such a difference in one’s enjoyment of a tour and Sonam was wonderful.  He’s very open and friendly and we learned a lot about Bhutan from him, not only about the places we visited, but also the food and customs and religion.  Gudu was an excellent driver and also a pleasant traveling companion.  We were very fortunate to have good weather almost the whole time.  We found the Bhutanese to be friendly, particularly the children.  We were happy with the accommodations; we were prepared for a different standard in the eastern part of the country, so that was okay, too.   The least interesting part of the trip is the drive from Trashigang to Samdrup Jonghar, but that should change when the road work is completed. 
 
Bhutan is a beautiful country made more so by the art, architecture and customs of its people.  We have many great pictures to ensure we wont forget our visit.  We highly recommend this tour.  (In fact, we met a Canadian couple in Lachung and gave them the Windhorse website and phone number since they were interested in Bhutan).
 
Our visit to Sikkim was not so successful, but weather is unpredictable.  I think March is not the best time to tour there.  Our guide, Naresh, was excellent – amazingly, he was our guide in Darjeeling for 2 days in 2006 and he and I remembered each other right away.   Driving the terrible roads is less tedious when you have good weather and great views of the mountains, which we never did.  It was especially disappointing to drive all the way to Lachung and then be prevented from reaching the Yumthang Valley by snow at the pass!  However, we did see some beautiful monasteries and we could appreciate the lower parts of the mountains with rivers, waterfalls and terraced fields. The accommodations were always good, as was the food.   Our drivers (mostly Santosh, but also our driver for northern Sikkim) did a great job navigating the difficult roads.   We would like to take this tour again some day, but definitely would come in October or November!  
 
Finally, we really appreciated your efforts on our behalf when our flights were canceled in Guwahati.  We also have to praise the Jet Airways people there, who were amazingly helpful, from taking us to a guesthouse the first day, getting our train tickets the second day, and then driving us from the airport into town.  You all made a bad situation so much better than it would have been if we’d been left on our own.
 
We want to thank all of you at Windhorse for an enjoyable and memorable vacation.
 
Lindsay & John


Lindsay Holgrem & John Anderson

Rajasthan and north India Tour ( 10 Feb- 04 March 2009)
Dear Amit, Things have been very busy since we have returned. Today is really the first change I've had to write to you.
I promised to provide you with feedback about our trip. In short, the trip was sensational! Every detail was planned and executed to perfection.
Windhorse: Windhorse Tours did an outstanding job of planning our trip every step of the way. We travel internationally annually. This was the best planned of any trip we have ever taken. Ugen Tshering was a wonderful help to us as we began putting the details for the trip together. It certainly was an asset for us to be able to deal with someone in the US who we could talk to on the phone.
Our hotels: All 13 of our hotels were pleasant, clean and well appointed. Check-in and check-out was always smooth and obviously well planned. We do have some favorites -
The Lalit in Delhi was a beautiful and welcoming spot after a grueling trip. It refreshed us and was very beautiful
The Laxmi Niwas Palace in Bikaner is fantastic. Our room was out of a fairy tale.
Khimsar Fort was probably our favorite. The setting is so fantastic and every detail makes you believe you are living the life of a maharajah.
Shiv Niwas Palace in Udaipur was fabulous. Our room was very large, well located and lovely.
Taj Hai Mahal in Jodpur. Thank you for recommending this change to our plan. We thought the hotel was first rate.
Transfers and and city guides: Flawless. We never had a moment's concern. We were always aware that Windhorse was looking after us.
Vikas Chauhan. Vikas had been recommended to us by our friends Dick and Joan Keiser who had traveled with Windhores in September 2007. Vikas was our guide and companion for 17 wonderful days. He enriched the trip immeasurably. He provided us with so much incredible information, not only about the sites, but also about Indian history, society and culture. Every long car ride was an opportunity for learning. Each day had a specific theme. One day the caste system; another marriage customs; Hindu deities; Jainism.... I could go on and on.
We enjoyed every day we spent with Vikas. He took extremely good care of us. He also surprised us with several unanticipated and interesting stops along the way such as the Karni Mata Temple, Osian, Chittorgarh Fort, Akbrar's Tomb and Itmad-ud-Daulah's Tomb among others. We were surprised and delighted when Vikas picked us up at the airport upon our return from Varanasi and had more treats in store for us as we awaited our late night flight home. We feel extremely lucky to have had him as our guide and would recommend him highly to anyone interested in travel in India. Our driver for the Rajasthan portion, Budh Ram, was very accomplished and professional. We knew we were in good hands. Dr. Shailesh Tripalthi was our guide in Varanasi. Also recommended to us by the Keisers. We appreciate your efforts in arranging for him to guide us. He is an archaeologist, a priest, a palm reader and an astrologer. A very interesting character who has guided celebrities in the past. He enriched our trip to Varanasi a great deal.
Thanks again for your wonderful work. Please feel free to use our names as references. We'd be happy to talk to anyone who has an interest.

Linda and Mark Luftig
Ancramdale, New York

Windhorse Team - My journey in Bhutan started with a photo of Taksang on a calendar hanging in my kitchen in 1992. It was the December photo and I left it in the kitchen for many years. It drew me in ways that were then unexplainable. As time passed, I found myself in the kitchen of a friend and saw the same photo displayed on a postcard on the refrigerator. My thought was ‘I can go there?’ It turns out the postcard was from someone who later became another good friend. Without even setting foot in Bhutan, the magic of connection had begun. I have spent many wonderful days with both of the friends responsible, in a way, for my desire to visit your country. When Taksang burned in 1998, I was crushed. And then another traveler said it had been rebuilt and the desire to see it in person was renewed. There have been countless articles about Bhutan in magazines and travel books as well as testimonials from other travelers. At first look, the daily fee might seem to restrictive, but in reality it is not.

I still remember the day I sat at my computer and emailed you about my trip. It was to be my gift to myself to celebrate my 60th birthday. There were other trips available, but I was strong headed about my itinerary. The wonderful thing about Windhorse is that you not only acknowledged and encouraged my wishes, but went beyond any written message in your website to create for me an individual experience in Bhutan. I encountered many tourists while I was there and I am sure that the experience you created for me was beyond any other.

We all saw the dzongs and the countryside and had similar hotels and foods. The difference is the extra care and personal service that Windhorse provided that made me feel like this experience was certainly beyond anything else.

The highlight of my experience was camping above Taksang at Ugyen Tsemo. Since I had dreamed of the Taksang experience for more than 15 years, I did not want my experience there to be merely and afternoon hike to the monastery and back to the village in time for dinner. After seeing Taksang and having a monk there bless me, receive a blessed charm and a fortune reading for a friend, we continued to hike above the monastery to another temple. I was tired. My guides were beyond patient and encouraging. We kept climbing. The cook, donkeys and 3rd guide had gone ahead. When we arrived at Ugyen Tsemo, my personal tent was set up and the cook was making what was truly the most delicious food that I had the whole time I was there. The experience could not have been more memorable and special. I felt like I was on top of the world even though there are other temples even further up the mountain. I was able to warm up in the home of the caretaker of the temple. It was a simple place, heated with a wood stove. His niece, a student in school in Paro, was there to study for her school exam. They could not have been more gracious.

I learned on my trip the rituals of walking around the temples three times, of walking (or driving) around the stupas in a clockwise direction. And so here, I walked many times around this small temple. Many of the others we had visited had been freshly painted in honor of the new king’s coronation. This one had not. Yet, it was, perhaps, even more reverent than the others. We were allowed inside and slept on the lawn there only a few feet from the edge of the world. The pack mules were allowed to wander here. The night was very cold. (I had been warned, of course) We stayed only one night instead of the two that were planned. The cook made a wonderful breakfast that I ate at a small table set up just for me on the grounds of the temple not far from my tent. Everyone there making sure that I was comfortable, had enough to eat, got to see and experience everything. We hung prayer flags that had been blessed earlier from the trees on the temple grounds. The cook prepared a pack lunch for us to take on the trail back to Paro.

Again, I was given an experience that was not in the books, one that other tourist did not have. Windhorse created a memory for me that was beyond my expectations. As we took another trail back to the valley, I was able to view Taksang from its backside. We took the time to take a narrow trail, seldom used by anyone but locals around the other side of the famous sanctuary. Was the sky bluer from here? Were the woods quieter? I also enjoyed the banter between my guide and the trail guide. The trail was steep in some places and one grabbed my hand and the other held onto my backpack so that I was safe. We enjoyed a delightful lunch on the trail under Taksang of boiled eggs and cheese sandwiches, fruits, juice, cookies. Absolutely delicious because I know the cook was worried about giving us something good, something special. He had planned another meal for the campsite and had created this lunch from what he had brought up. It couldn’t have been better. Again, a perfect example of the ability of the Windhorse team to adapt and give me a unique experience.

The young student that I met has written me a letter. We enjoyed our talks. Meeting her was a surprise to everyone, but I know that I will continue to correspond with her. This experience could not have happened if I had not been at Ugyen Tsemo in the first place. I firmly believe that this is the type of opportunity that one gets when you are able to step outside the boundaries of a published itinerary and have a travel company who is willing to assist you in creating a memory that is unique to you.

Another unique meeting I had the opportunity to experience involved having tea with the manager of the hydropower authority. My driver had once been his driver and when we passed by the office, we were able to stop and have tea. It is a perfect example of the thoughtfulness of the team assigned to me to give me an experience that I will always remember. It is impossible to list all of the opportunities that might be available to a person traveling in Bhutan. The important piece to this testimonial is that as an individual person with individual interest, Windhorse listened. They heard my hopes and wishes and created a trip for me that was above and beyond anything listed on any webpage for any travel company anywhere. I recommend them to everyone I meet.

There are many connections that are a result of the trip. I will always feel a connection with Ugen who endured hundreds of questions before my journey. I’m hopeful of sending more travelers to Windhorse. I will continue my connection with the young student I met at Ugyen Tsemo. I have so much. I hope to share some of that. I have a great appreciation for my driver, because even though we weren’t able to chat due to the language barrier, I believe his influence brought me to scenes that I wouldn’t have otherwise known like stopping on the road for special holy water that helps you sing sweeter and having tea with the hydropower official. I met a wonderful couple who live in California. We don’t yet know how this connection will continue, but I believe it will. I think the biggest connection may be, after all, the one within myself. I went looking for adventure and found parts of myself that were buried and almost forgotten. A quote by Mary Anne m.b.l. Radmacher that I like says: “I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” True.

Thank you so much for becoming a part of my life tapestry. It matters more than you know.

Nancy Bove


Nancy B
Burlington, Vermont.

TID196: Bhutan Tour from 15-21 Nov, 2008
Hello Ugen, Wanted to let you know that we had a wonderful journey to Bhutan. We were given a great tour by Jambay and Kinga and his associate took us for a delicious meal in Thimphu. If you like I can send you a website to see pictures from the trip. Take care of yourself. It was a terrific experience. Sincerely, Gloria S.

Jeff & Gloria S
San Rafael, California

Frank M. Bhutan Tour December 8-12, 2008

Dear Fellow Travelers,

I just came back from a five days tour through Bhutan, organised by Wind Horse Tours. It was one of the best experiences I’ve made in the past twenty years of traveling in Asia which I have mostly done alone without any organised tours or guides. I can only recommend Bhutan as a destination and Wind Horse Tours as operator. The company provided me a guide who was so well informed about virtually every instance in Bhutan’s history and each feature of Buddhism and at the same time well accustomed to the needs of Western travelers. Even the exhausting five hour hike to the Tiger’s Nest in Paro was always interesting and entertaining. For my taste less important aspects of the tour like accommodation and food were also perfect. The hotels were very comfortable and the three daily meals a delight.

Many travelers argue that Bhutan’s daily fees are too expensive for a visit. I think they are certainly a good instrument to keep the country protected from tourism as you find it for example in Bangkok’s Khao San Road. Bhutan is worth every penny.

Frank M
Hamburg, Germany

Dear Kinga, You have beaten me to the email. We returned from Cambodia 6 days ago and  I was planning to write today and tell you that I posted a CD to you 2 days ago with just over a hundred pictures. I have included some portrait shots of you and of Tashi as well as some of LB and the camping crew.  I would be grateful if you could show them the photos and arrange for them to have copies if they so wish.
The rest of the photos are mostly scenery as you requested with a few of the people we met along the way which give an idea of the country as well. You are welcome to use any of my photos on your website or in your advertising material if you wish. I have sent 2 versions of the pictures, one as a slide show using Google's Picasa and one as individual pictures which I think will be technically easier to copy without getting tangled up in Picasa. I expect that the parcel will take 3-4 weeks to get to you as my postcards appear to have taken almost 3  weeks to get to Australia. If you do not receive the CDs please let me know and I can either resend them or send you some pictures via email.  I have included a couple of you with this email  and a photo of a head that I saw at the National Museum in Bangkok. I had a feeling that I had seen your face before and half way through Bhutan I remembered where!Thank you, I thoroughly enjoyed trip to Bhutan, as did Mark. I found your country fascinating from many angles: the natural beauty, the people, the religion and history and not least your kings and your government's attempts to rule benevolently and wisely in a rapidly changing and dangerous world. I know that no society is perfect and  that yours has challenges and problems but I am vastly impressed by your leaders' attempts to set a good and even handed example for your people.  I was also impressed by your own palpable pride in your country and this reminded me of a trip we did in Botswana last year where our African guide was also hugely proud of his government which sets an almost lone example of good governance in the region. Botswana of course has also  adopted the same successful policy that Bhutan has of  low volume, high end, (attempted) low impact tourism to a very rural country. This sense of pride in the country could not have been more different to the next phase of our holiday after Bhutan, 8 fascinating days in Cambodia at Siam Reap. Here we saw many beautiful temples and fabulous stone artwork but our guides told us many stories of the corruption of the country's "elite". This of course permeates every level of the poorly paid bureaucracy and Mark and I had to pay a small "fine" or "tax" to get into the country because we had left our photos for our visas in the backpack. We weren't  photographed, the tax went into an open briefcase on the counter in front of a bank of customs officials, the proper money into a drawer and the visas were eventually produced.Siem Reap has had an apparently uncontrolled  increase of 35% per annum in visitors over the last few years and everywhere one looks new western style developments are going up, some 5 star hotels  with price tags of $1200 per night while Mark and I had a $30 air-conditioned room in a clean well run guest house. A traumatised poor country with very few old people to be seen, chaotic roads, children drinking filthy river water, ox carts next to Hummers and someone (always with government or army connections) making a lot of money.  Our tour guides or tuk-tuk drivers would explain that this  or that new development used to be a government site until sold to developers and that the government services had been moved out of town. Interesting.
Kinga thank you for your wonderful tour of your country. I thought that the tour was very well thought out and arranged and included a wide range of interesting things to see and do. I enjoyed the opportunities to walk. There was so much competing for my attention that I barely had time to look at the birds and I am pleased that I did not go on an exclusively bird watching tour as I would have been very frustrated wanting to see everything else. I thoroughly enjoyed your calm  company and your teaching which I found fascinating. We were all very sorry to see you go and I had tears in my  eyes. I hope that your explorations in the east were successful and I am pleased that I  could be of some assistance to you in matters of your health.
Tashi did a good job. He does not yet  have the breadth of knowledge that you have but he is a kind hearted young man and I  had some very interesting conversations with him about his childhood in the monastery. LB is a masterly driver and your camping crew were good. Under Tashi's leadership they danced and sang  for us the last night in the HAA valley which we all enjoyed. I thought your cook managed to produce very good food under difficult circumstances. So all in all it was definitely worth travelling to Bhutan and we are finding widespread interest in your country amongst our friends and acquaintances. We have told friends about it at a meal last night and will be telling other friends about our trip and your country at meals tonight and tomorrow night. My parents have already booked me to give a 2 hour talk to  over a hundred people at their "School for Seniors" next year. I don't think that there are any as fit as Nixie and Gwen so I don't think you'll get any customers from this group but I'll have fun talking to  them and telling them about the integration of elderly people into Bhutanese society.
My best wishes to you, your wife and family and every success to you and your partners.
Vivien (and best wishes from Mark too who is gardening and who I am about to join)


Dr. Vivien Helen & Mark W
Sidney, Australia

Pour un futur voyageur au Bhutan.
Je recommande vivement Kinga Dechen et son agence WINDHORSETOURS. En janvier 2006, j'ai passé 12 jours au Bhutan et ai visité Thimphu, Punakka, Paro et environs avec un guide épatant, KINGA DECHEN. Grâce à sa connaissance remarquable de l'histoire, de la religion, de la nature du Bhutan ( et des régions avoisinantes) , grâce aussi à sa présence toujours pleine d'attention, à son intelligence et à son excellent sens de l'humour, j'y ai fait un séjour inoubliable.
je m'étais promis de revenir et c'est chose faite. En novembre (2008), j'e suis venue de Gauhati, dans l'Assam, en Inde, et j'ai traversé le pays d'Est en Ouest, un voyage passionnant de 1200 km à travers une région beaucoup moins connue et visitée. Dans chaque hôtel où nous descendions, Kinga Dechen était acceuilli chaleureusement car il est connu comme étant un agent de voyage particulièrement honnête et un homme toujours prêt à aider et des plus aimables.  Ces contacts personnels m'ont toujours fait offrir la meilleure chambre !
On dit : "Jamais deux sans trois"
et déjà je contemple un nouveau voyage que je ferai organiser par Windhorsetours, la très sérieuse agence de Kinga Dechen que je recommande chaleureusement.

Pasé 12 dias en Enero del 2006 visitando Thimpu, Punakka y Paro con un guía maravilloso. KINGA DECHEN  con el que tuve la suerte que me acompañara. El hizo de mi viaje una experiencia inolvidable con su conocimientos de historia, religión, naturaleza de la región de Bhutan, con su inteligencia y gran sentido del humor.
Me prometí a mi mismna volver y esto es lo que he hecho viniendo desde Gauhati en India, y viajando del Oeste al Este a través de Bhutan. Un viaje fascinante de 1.200 km que disfruté en todo momento. En cada hotel donde nos alojábamos, con Kinga Dechen era un contacto con el que siempre tenía un recibimiento caluroso, al conocérsele como a un agente de viajes honesto , cariñoso y muy valioso. Gracias a sus contactos personales siempre tuve la mejor habitación!!!
En francés se dice : No hay nunca dos sin tres.
 Ya estoy pensando en mi próximo viaje, con la organización " Windhorsetours ",  la agencia seria y capaz de Kinga Dechen, a la que puedo recomendar de todo corazón.
-- Marie Lippens, Astridlaan 4, 8300 Knokke Heist, Belgique. N'imprimez ce message que si vous en avez vraiment besoin

Aan alle belangstellenden
Aan de toekomstige reizigers die het "echte" bergkoninkrijkje Bhutan (Bhoetan) wensen te ontdekken
Gedurende 12 dagen in januari 2006 heb ik het geluk gehad Thimphu, Punakka en Paro onder de deskundige leiding van een uitstekende gids KINGA DECHEN te bezoeken. Door zijn kennis over de geschiedenis, godsdienst en natuur van Bhutan (en omgeving), zijn vriendelijkheid en behulpzaamheid, zijn intelligentie en goede zin voor humor werd mijn verblijf aldaar onvergetelijk.
Ik had mezelf beloofd om naar Bhutan terug te keren en dat heb ik net gedaan. Vanuit Gauhati in India, van oost naar west doorheen Bhutan, heb ik ten zeerste van deze fascinerende reis van 1200 km genoten. In alle hotels waar wij verbleven werd Kinga Dechen met open armen ontvangen, daar hij als eerlijke, vriendelijke en behulpzame reisagent alom bekend is. Dankzij deze persoonlijke contacten heb ik altijd in de beste kamers mogen logeren.
In het Frans zegt men : Nooit twee zonder drie. Ik denk nu al aan de organisatie van een derde reis bij Windhorsetours, het zeer betrouwbare reisagenschap van Kinga Dechen dat ik hartelijk kan aanbevelen.
--Marie Lippens.  Heist, Belgique. N'imprimez ce message que si vous en avez vraiment besoin -




Marie Lippens
Astridlaan XXXX Knokke Heist, Belgique.

Petchprapa Family Tour of 4 from US & Thailand April 2009

Dear Ugen,  We had an absolutely wonderful trip. Your guide was very accommodating and made our trip very pleasant!

Catherine P.
New City, USA

Snow Leopard Trek Mar-April 2009

Thank you very much.FYI, i have discussed bhutan and our trip on my blog at  http://julesfredrick.wordpress.com/  if you scoll down, i have several entries under bhutan, and will be adding more. It has recieved a lot of interest, and i have passed your name along.  The trip was wonderful. - Julie

 

Julie & Jeff F
Atlanta, Georgia