Wind Horse in Bhutan
Our own office, guides and vehicles in Thimphu since 1998.
Licence No. 121132112
When you book Bhutan with Wind Horse, the company that meets you at Paro airport is the same company you booked with.
We are a Bhutanese tour operator, licensed and bonded by the Government of Bhutan, running from our own office in Thimphu with our own guides, our own drivers and our own vehicles.
That sounds obvious. It often isn’t. A good number of the Bhutan itineraries sold abroad are passed to a local operator the traveller never hears of, chosen on price. Nothing on this page is outsourced.
We have been doing it this way since 1998, which makes us one of the longer-established licensed operators in the country of bhutajn.
At a glance
- Licensed by
- Dept. of Tourism, Bhutan
- Licence No. 121132112
- Founded
- 1998, in Thimphu
- One of the longer-established operators
- Ownership
- Bhutanese-owned
- 5 partners, all working in the business
- Guides
- 10 full-time, 15 contracted
- All licensed, all Bhutanese
- Average guide tenure
- 10 years
- Salaried year-round, not seasonal
- Fleet
- 4 coaches · 6 vans · 12 SUVs
- All owned, not hired
- Trek equipment
- Our own
- Tents, kitchen and camp kit
- Horse ranches
- Two
- Tang (Bumthang) and Gangtey (Phobjikha)
- Member
- ABTO & Travelife
- Association of Bhutanese Tour Operators
Started by two guides. Still run by guides.
Wind Horse began in 1998 with two Bhutanese tour guides who had spent years leading other people’s trips and thought the work could be done better. There are now five partners, and every one of them still works in the business — Rinzin runs Thimphu, Kinga is deputy, Yonten runs operations, Jambay handles sales and support for our US guests, and Ugen runs the Minneapolis office.
Beyond the partners, a share of each year’s profit is paid to staff as bonuses. It is not a large gesture dressed up as a philosophy; it is simply why people stay.
In an industry where most guides freelance from one operator to the next each season, this is the single most useful thing we can tell you about your trip. The person walking you through Punakha Dzong has explained it several hundred times, and knows which courtyard is quiet at eleven in the morning.
Our guides
We employ ten guides on full-time salaries, year-round, and work with fifteen more on contract for peak season. All are licensed by the Department of Tourism and all are Bhutanese.
Full-time employment matters more in Bhutan than it might elsewhere. Guides paid only in season take whatever work appears, from whichever operator calls first. Ours are paid through the winter, which means we can train them, send them on familiarisation trips, and turn down work that doesn’t suit them.
We also match guides to trips rather than assigning whoever is free. Tell us what you care about and we will pair you with the guide best placed to show it to you — and you will have their name right after you book, not on arrival at Paro.
Our own horses, at Tang and Gangtey
Most operators hire pack horses village by village, taking whatever is available on the day. We keep two ranches of our own — one in the Tang Valley of Bumthang, one at Gangtey in the Phobjikha Valley — with trained riding horses as well as pack animals, managed year-round by our own staff.
On treks, our pack animals are conditioned, properly loaded and handled by people we employ. And for guests who would rather ride than walk, we can offer real riding in two of the most beautiful valleys in Bhutan.
It is also, for what it’s worth, where the company’s name comes from.
Our vehicles
We own our entire fleet, and our drivers are employed by us — several for more than a decade. Owning rather than hiring means we know the service history of the vehicle you will spend a week in.
If you don’t use it, you get it back
A Bhutan trip is paid for in advance, in full, before you arrive. That puts a lot of trust in the operator holding it — and it is why the quiet parts of how a company behaves with money matter more here than almost anywhere else.
Plans change. Someone falls ill and skips a day. Weather closes a pass. A guest decides to leave early. Whatever can be recovered comes back to you, without being asked for.
We are straight about the limit: we refund what is recoverable, not what has already been spent on your behalf. A room held on a night you cancelled that morning may not come back. We will tell you which is which, and show you the arithmetic.
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Settled before you fly home
A hotel night not slept in, a monument fee not paid, trek days cut short. We work it out at the end of your trip and refund you in ngultrum there and then — or, if you would rather not carry local currency home, our Minneapolis office sends it on.
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No commission stops
Our guides are salaried and take nothing from shops. Our code of conduct forbids steering guests to businesses that pay commission, and we do not build shopping stops into a day to fill it.
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Quoted in full, up front
You see what is included and what is not before you pay. No surcharges appear once you are in the country and in no position to argue.
Our Bhutan team
See the full team, all offices →Our Thimphu office handles your itinerary, permits and hotels; our guides and drivers take it from there.
- Kinga DechenPartner & Jt. General ManagerThimphu, Bhutan
- Rinzin JamtshoPartner & General ManagerThimphu, Bhutan
- Jambay DorjiPartner & Director, Sales & Support (US)Thimphu, Bhutan
- Yonten JamtshoOperations Manager & PartnerThimphu, Bhutan
- Anand ThapaDirector, Sales & Support USJaigaon, Bhutan border
- Dechen WangdiAccountantThimphu Office
- MejurTrekking In-charge & CookThimphu Office
- Sonam ChodenVisa ReservationThimphu Office
- Dungjay LhamoOffice Secretary Thimphu Office
- TshomoTicketing ReservationThimphu Office
- Tashi WangchukOperation ManagerBhutan
- Pema ChodenReservationsThimphu, Bhutan
- Pema WangdiCulture, Trekking, TextileThimphu Office
- Tenzin ChophelCulture,Trekking & Buddhist Thimphu Office
- Sonam JamtshoCultural & Buddhism (iconographic) specialised guideThimphu Office
- Sonam LodaySenior Guide & Ranch ManagerBhutan
- Yonten PhuntshoSenior Guide – Trek & BikingBhutan
- NamgayGuide – Culture, Trek & NatureThimphu, Bhutan
- Sonam PeldenGuide & Tour LeaderUra, Bumthang
- Subash RaiGuide – Culture & BirdingBhutan
- KuenzangGuide – Culture & TrekParo, Bhutan
- Kencho TsheringGuideBhutan
- Karma Dorji KardoGuide – Culture & NatureBhutan
- Kezang NorbuBuddhist Specialist GuideBhutan
- Pema NamgayGuide – TrekkingThimphu, Bhutan
- Pema DhendupGuide – Culture & BirdingBhutan
- Tashi GyeltshenGuide – Culture & TrekParo, Bhutan
- Yeshi PenjorGuide – Culture & TrekMongar, Bhutan
Visit our Thimphu office
You are welcome to call in. We are on Thori Lam in Motithang, a ten-minute drive from the centre of Thimphu.
Thimphu, Bhutan Open in Google Maps →
Saturday, 10am – 1pm
Outside office hours we are on our mobiles. Guests travelling with us are given direct numbers for their guide and a manager right after they book — not a switchboard.
Now the country itself
You have met the people. These are the three places most guests go next.
- Trekking
- Culture
- Tours
- Walking
- Wildlife
- Cycling
- Festivals
- 1–5 days
- 6–10
- 11–14
- 15+
Responsible tourism
Fair treatment and pay for our guides, drivers, cooks and horsemen; respect for the monasteries and villages we bring guests into; and camps left as we found them.