Bhutanese regard the environment as a very important part in the continuation of this human race and the relation between humans and nature or the environment. So, the government and the people of Bhutan take care to ensure that their beautiful and clean environment and nature is not polluted and spoilt.

In a regular year, upto 100,000 tourists visit Bhutan. As unique as it may sound, the government of Bhutan has a restriction or ceiling placed on the number of tourists visiting Bhutan. Though the revenue from Bhutam tourism would increase if there was no ceiling on the number of tourists traveling to Bhutan, to most, the government had made a wise decision on the ceiling. With the increase in Bhutan tourism numbers, there will be a similar increase on the impact of environment.

Despite the ceiling and the relatively less number of tourists who travel to Bhutan, Bhutan tourism industry is flourishing with several of new Bhutan Tourism tour companies starting each year. An even unique thing about Bhutan tourism is that, no matter which tour company you travel to Bhutan through, you will have to pay the same cost of travel, i.e the Bhutan government set Bhutan Tourism Tarriff. And, you are to travel to Bhutan only through a registered Bhutan tour company.

Recommended and Top tour companies in Bhutan

From the hundreds of tourism companies in Bhutan, check out our list of recommended Bhutan tour companies before you embark on your travel to Bhutan.

1. Bhutan Tourism Corporation Ltd. (BTCL)

This is the largest tour company in Bhutan in terms of the number of tourists visiting the country. It is owned by shareholders and the Bhutan government has a considerable amount of shares in the country. They have their own fleet of transport buses, cars and their own hotels in Thimphu - capital of Bhutan and most of the dzongkhags in Bhutan.

2. Etho Metho Tours and Treks

After Bhutan Tourism Corporation Ltd.(BTCL), comes Etho Metho tours & treks (in terms of number of tourists traveling to Bhutan). They have their own fleet of buses, their permanent seasoned tour guides, but no hotels of their own.

3. Yangphel Tours

Yangphel is also a big tourism company in the Bhutan tourism industry. They also own a five star resort called the “Zhiwaling” in Paro.
4. The rest….
After the three top tour companies, during peak tourist season in Bhutan, it would be advisable if you travel to Bhutan through a lesser known tour company, as the big companies would be busy with large number of tourist, and they might not be able to render the same courteous service to every tourist they receive.

There is no difference when it comes to chosing which tour company to travel with, as the tarriff remains same with all the travel companies, and every travel company will do their best to render the same quality service to every tourist visiting the country.

The only thing to take note is, when you book your Bhutan tour with a Bhutan travel company, please make sure the company is a Government Registered one. You can check if the company is listed in the Association for Bhutanese Tour Operators website.(www.abto.org.bt).

Some of our recommended tour companies are :

Xplore Bhutan Trekking and Rafting
Namdra Adventures Tours & Treks
Bhutan Mountain Holiday
Bhutan Neoly Travels
Dragon Tours
Windhorse tours

2.Email
You can access all your emails no matter where you are. You don’t have to be confined to your desk to get your office emails, gmail, hotmail, yahoo mail or any other email on your B-Mobile 3G/GPRS/EDGE enable phone. If your phone supports it you can configure your druknet, or office emails to be retrieved on your phone.

3.Instant Messaging
You can stay in touch with family and friends on MSn, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk, Skype or any other IM wherever you go on the B-Mobile 3G/GPRS/EDGE network.

4.Mobile Broadband
You can enjoy broadband without cables/wires. Connect to Broadband internet where you go, from your PC or your phone using B-Mobile 3G service.
Difference between B-Mobile 3G and GPRS/EDGE service

All the services available on GPRS and EDGE are available on 3G, however the user experience on 3G is more fun because of the high speed of connection. Video call service is only available with B-Mobile 3G network. Video call will not work on the GPRS/EDGE network nor will it work if you have 3G but not a 3G capable mobile phone.

Mobile Phone Settings to enable B-Mobile 3G and GPRS/EDGE

1.Ensure that the phone is GPRS compatible.
2.Go to GPRS connection setting and give appropriate connection name: Example B-Mobile GPRS
3.Set the Access Point Name: set it to “internet” (small letters)
4.Select GPRS or packet data as the data bearer.
5.Authentication Field: set it as normal
6.Username and password are not needed and can be left blank as it is.
7.DNS and IP address should be set to automatic or left as it is.
8.In the web setting select appropriate home address: For example “www.druknet.bt/m”
9.Make your settings as default.
10.Contact Bhutan Telecom or B-Mobile for GPRS/3G activation.
11.After your phone number has been activated for GPRS, switch off your mobile phone and switch it back on. After that you can browse the internet and use the services of B-Mobile 3G.

The average speed of 3G/GPRS/EDGE are as follows:
1.For GPRS data service, the data speed range is from 30kbps to 40kbps.
2.For EDGE data service, the data speed range is from 100kbps to 130kbps.
3.For 3G data service, the data speed range is from 550kbps to 1mbps.

For more information you can contact B-Mobile 3G call centre at telephone no. 17001700.

The tarriff of Tashi Infocomm’s cellular service branded “Tashi Cell” are as follows:

Tashi Cell Prepaid: MyTime

Promotional Scheme (Till end of September 2008)

Activation - Nu. 100

Free Talk Time - Nu. 100 (One month)

SIM validity - 4 months

Normal Scheme (Post September 2008)

Activation - Nu. 50

Free Talk Time - Nu. 25

SIM Validity - 4 months

Add on services: Missed call notification(MCN); Caller Ring Back Tone (CRBT)(Coming soon) Friends & Family(F&F), and national roaming; MCA : Nu. 30 monthly subscription fee with no retrieval charges. CRBT: Nu. 30 monthly subscription fee; download charges based on the content of the song and the song will be valid for six months. F&F: 5 Nos; subscription fee Nu. 35 per month.

Unit = 30 seconds remains same for all packages.

Tashi Cell Prepaid: TalkMore

Promotional and normal schemes, CRBT, and add on services remains same like that of Tashi Cell Prepaid MyTime, but SIM validity is SIX months, MCN Free, and F&F number is increased to 10.

Tashi Infocomm Tashi Cell Postpaid

Activation - Nu. 500

Security deposit(International Roaming) - Nu. 10,000

Monthly Rental - Nu. 300

SMS (National) - 100 Free monthly

CRBT & F&F same as Prepaid(TalkMore) but has volume based discount as follows:

Usage more than Nu. 1,000 and less than Nu. 3,000 (20%)

Usage more than Nu. 3,000 and less than Nu. 5,000 (25%)

Usage more than Nu. 5,000 (30%)

Tashi Infocomm Tashi cell Closed User Group (CUG)

CUG has been designed to suit the needs of companies. The rates are cheaper compared to normal packages; however to avail the services, the number of users needs to be more than ten.

Package 1

Minimum of 10 users

2.20/1st minute; thereafter 1.00/unit (Within the group in Nu.)

Package 2

Minimum of 50 users

2.00/1st minute; thereafter 1.00/unit (Within the group in Nu.)

Tashi Cell Recharge Vouchers

Recharge vouchers are available from our distributers and from Tashi Infocomm limited customer care centres. Tashi cell provides FULL TALKTIME value ( NO Processing FEE) to its customers.

Tashi Cell has the following recharge voucher denominations:

Nu. 50 call value - Nu. 50 validity - 15 days

Nu. 100 call value - Nu. 100 validity - 30 days

Nu. 300 call value - Nu. 300 validity - 45 days

Nu. 500 call value - Nu. 500 validity - 75 days

Nu. 1000 call value - Nu. 1000 validity - 90 days

Tashi Cell service coverage:

Tashi Infocomm cellular services are available in Punakha, Wangdiphodrang, Thimphu, Paro, haa and Chukha Dzongkhags.

Tashi Cell special numbers:

Special numbers will be provided on first come first served basis starting from 28 March and continue till 6th April 2008.

Special numbers

Yxxxxx - Nu. 20,000

Yyxxxx - Nu. 10,000

Yyyxxx - Nu. 5,000

 Tashi mobile plans to introduce more various plans in the future.

Bhutan National emblem

The national emblem of Bhutan, contained in a circle, comprises a double diamond thunderbolt paced above a lotus, surmounted by a jewel framed by two dragons. The double diamond thunderbolt represents the harmony between secular and religious power. which results from the Buddhist religion in its Vajrayana form. The lotus symbolises purity; the jewel - sovereign power; and the two dragons - a male and female stand for the name of the country - the thunder dragon ( Druk Yul).

Sensing potential growth in the luxury Bhutan hotel niche, foreign investments have poured in, in terms of joint ventures with Bhutanese hotel firms. The Aman group of resorts are a Singapore based company. They started construction of luxury hotel resorts in Bhutan. In total they have more than 7 resorts located in various parts of Bhutan. Their headoffice being in Paro, they have resorts in places like Thimphu, Punakha, Phobjikha, Bumthang and they plan to open some more.

While Uma resorts, in the Bhutan hotel segment, they have only one luxury resort in Paro.

The Tashi Taj Hotel in Thimphu was constructed in 2007 and they have started operations in early 2008. This particular hotel is a joint venture with the Taj Group of Hotels in India and Tashi Group of Companies, the owner of Druk Hotels.

Bhutan luxury hotels and resorts like the ones above charge anywhere between US $700 to US $1500 per night.

Bhutan hotels are all not luxury ones like the above, but Bhutan also has many hotels which are affordable, conveniently located, and which have comfortable rooms. Some of the better known hotels are Motithang Hotel, Bhutan Hotel, Hotel Riverview, Druk Hotel and Hotel Jumolhari in Thimphu.

Hotel Phuntsho Pelri, Hotel Olathang, in Paro. Hotel Zangdopelri in Punakha. Zhiwaling in Paro is also a luxury hotel owned by the Yangphen Group.  Hotel Dewachen in Phobjikha, Mountain Lodge and Swiss Guest house in Bumthang.

Apart from the well known Bhutan Hotels given above, there are more hotels which are coming up. As far things seem right now, the Bhutan Hotel industry will only grow with time.