TID 698 Central Bhutan Tour (Oct 26 – Nov 06, 2013)

Hello Ugen.
Namgay had given me a form to complete evaluating our experience with Wind Horse Tours. I seem to have misplaced it although I do recall some of the questions. I hope that the evaluation which follows is of benefit and apologize for the different format.

Bhutan trip from October 26 to November 6

Guide
Namgay is an excellent guide and we thank you for pairing us with him. He is extremely knowledgeable about the country, its culture and way of life, its religion, its topography and plant life. In fact I don’t think that we managed to stump him in the twelve days we were together.
He balanced the amount of information he shared with our interest levels, and was very patient in explaining things that were likely obvious to him but foreign to us.
We left Bhutan knowing so much more about Buddhism and especially the way in which the religion (or some would say way of life) impacted the country. We felt that we had learned a lot about life in the countryside as well and especially enjoyed our time visiting the farmhouse. Namgay’s support in preparing and encouraging me for the Tiger’s Nest climb was especially appreciated. Namgay’s resourcefulness was apparent as well, particularly when the car broke down far from a sizeable town. He was able to obtain a ride for the three of us (and our luggage) to our lunch spot and by the time we had finished eating, a new car and driver had arrived. Excellent!

Driver
We had two drivers, both of whom were very good. They kept us safe, treated us with courtesy and were greatly appreciated.

Food
As you said in one of our earlier emails, a person doesn’t go to Bhutan for the food. Overall the places where we ate were clean and the service satisfactory. However the food did leave a lot to be desired, especially by North American standards. I think that the biggest deficiency was satisfactory meat, chicken or fish.

Accommodations
All of the hotels were clean and the personnel were polite.
The hotel in Gangtey was more basic than the others – the rooms didn’t seem to be heated, there was no water in the room nor was there soap. However the staff was extremely friendly and kind and kept a woodstove going most of the time in the main dining hall so we could always find a place to warm up.