TID-692 Drukyul Walking Tour (12Nov – 25 Nov,2013)
Hi Anand,The trip went wonderfully, I couldn’t have asked for a better tour! I want to thank Wind Horse for setting us up with a fantastic guide Sonam and driver Barlemon.

Positives:
I liked how the tour incorporated walks and hikes, yet gave us enough time to relax at the hotel in the evening. Time management was efficient, our days were packed with enough activities.

Excellent tour guide, driver, and tour mates.Small group, 4 people seemed like the perfect size. I saw some other groups with 10 plus people and I thought that was too many.I enjoyed Hotel YT and it’s staff. The staff and the owner YT were very friendly. I also liked Dochula Resort because it had the warmest rooms! The heater in the room, bathroom, and electric blankets were a nice touch.

Negatives:
Not many, just little things. Hotels did not have constant stream of hot water. It may have been just me as my other tour mates did not have as many problems with the hot water as I have. Mountain Lodge is a beautiful hotel, but where I experienced the most problems with hot showers, I couldn’t only take a hot shower for a few minutes before the water ran ice cold. After an hour or so the hot water would start again but still only a few minutes.
Food was plenty and very good, but became redundant, all hotels and restaurants pretty much served the same food.Altitude was a factor for some people. Maybe the final document should emphasize this more, or have the tour leader have some extra diamox or altitude medication as an emergency as the pharmacies there will not administer it without a prescription. But this was only around Dochula.Once we went back to Paro everything was ok.A suggestion that was brought up by another person on the tour: Water bottles. I brought my own diamox and was drinking a lot of water, I ended up buying large water bottles in the hotels and general stores because the small water bottles provided daily were not enough for me. Although the free tea at the hotels were sufficient, I needed more fresh water. The small water bottles I thought added to waste. Maybe Windhorse can provide large water bottles (like a nalgene or camelback) with the Windhorse logo for sale , and can just refill that from filtered water or large bottles.
Overall, it was a trip of a lifetime and I will always cherish my time in Bhutan.