Category: Testimonials

We highly recommend Bhutan Green Travel, a local Bhutanese travel company. The company was efficient and always prompt in replying to our email enquiries.

We undertook a 14-day cultural tour in November 2013 that included two festivals in central Bhutan as well as a number of significant sites. Transport was by a newish, comfortable SUV that handled the winding and sometimes rocky roads very well. Our driver Birkha Gurung was an older, very experienced and careful person who had good mechanical knowledge and experience, which he used to assist another tour group encountering mechanical problems.

We were flexible with our itinerary, which proved beneficial as we were able to include some ‘extras’ which Checkey organised along the way. One was a visit to his auntie’s house in Thimpu where about 10 monks were performing a blessing ceremony and where we were able to taste butter tea and some local snack foods. Another was a visit to a farmhouse in Bumthang where we tried archery and darts followed by a hot stone bath, a great traditional home-cooked meal and local ‘wine’.

All of our 3-star hotels were fine and Checkey managed to upgrade our room on a few occasions due to his wide network of contacts. His choice of places to eat was very good, along with the picnics he organised in the countryside. Checkey was also sensitive to my need for a helping hand on many occasions due to my slight disability in one leg. He also supplied formal traditional dress of his own for my partner to wear to one of the festivals we attended.

Payment for the tour, visas and Druk Air flights was easily made by way of international money transfer from our Australian bank account to the Bhutan Central Bank which holds payment to the tour companies until after satisfactory completion of travel by their clients.

In summary, we were extremely happy with Bhutan Green Travel (BGT). Our bottom line is if you want to have a great time in Bhutan CHECK OUT BGT!

Maree & Ian, Brisbane, Australia

We are totally surprised at quality of accommodation and even more surprised at the quality of the 4 guides/drivers – extremely knowledgeable about the sites + what gifts shops are good & whole country. Excellent ability to be aware of our needs – even before we are! The car was very comfortable & clean. The guides happy to answer all of our questions. The country very spectacular. We appreciate the pace that we were allowed to go & really hope this did not upset/inconvenience the ‘program’. The food was generally great with great choice of lunch restaurants. Red rice, tomatoes, mushrooms, honeys, Bhutanese thingay (pepper) were all some of the best ever eaten – and we’ve eaten a lot! Twice (that I know off) something had to be shuffled around – Hotels – Punakha – Wangdue & Thimphu to another hotels that had 2 consecutive nights, which we appreciate – all handled very professionally. My mother & I both felt safe & “in good hands” with the driving. The last thing you need is to feel anxious, so happy that we were able to be squeezed on to the Bhutan Green Travel schedule.

Excellent craft shop in Thimphu – after lunch – Lungta Handicraft – great range prices.
We have both enjoyed our holiday very much. Bhutan has been a lovely country to visit. Thank you for all your thoughtful help.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

Robyn and Rebecca, Nannup, Australia

This has truly been the trip of a lifetime – one that we will never forget. We feel very privileged and grateful that you and Kota have shared with us so much about this wonderful country – the culture, the people, the environment and more. We have learnt so much over the past 12 days and are very sad this is our last day. Thank you for looking after us so fantastically, and for making even the long & bumpy road trips fun and jolly! Everything was just terrific, thanks to your excellent organisation, knowledge, warmth, and kindness & of course, humour! Nothing was too difficult for your from finding us a USD stick to organising the best mushroom and chili pizza ever! Bhutan is a beautiful country with beautiful people & we would love to come to see you again next time for a trek, to find a yeti, and to east more & more chilies! Wishing you health & happiness always.

We hugely recommend Bhutan Green Travel for anyone contemplating a trip to Bhutan.

Angela and Mark, Sydney & Canberra, Australia

It was wonderful to meet Ugyen in person in Thimphu.

Dan and I returned safely to our home in Scotland yesterday and we are now reflecting on a fantastic holiday. It was truly a wonderful experience. We loved Bhutan and are already thinking about when we can return. Next time we would like to explore the Eastern part of the country.

Thank you so much for all of your support and help in creating the perfect itinerary for us. We loved the mix of trekking, camping, festival, cultural experience and staying in all of the lovely local guest houses and hotels. Tenzin was the best guide and I would request to have him as our guide on our next trip to Bhutan! He was knowledgeable, easy to spend time with and cared that we were having a good time.

Dan had kept the bottle of K5 whisky to try when we got home and he had his first dram (Scottish word for a drink of whisky) last night. He really enjoyed it. It was a lovely gift and one we both appreciated.

I will certainly promote BGT to friends and family who might like to visit Bhutan and I will certainly get in touch with you in the future when Dan and I have saved up enough money to come back to your beautiful country again.

If you are in Scotland please let me know. Dan and I would love to host you in our beautiful country.

Warmest wishes and thank you again

Susan & Dan, Scotland, UK

“In March 2020 we spent a week in Bhutan with Bhutan Green Travel. We found the whole experience from start to finish seamless, with everything taken care of as expected and felt looked after both before departure and while we were in the country. We met Ugyen at the Travel Show and despite there being other Bhutanese tour operators there, Ugyen was the most informative giving us comfort that what we would be getting is a truly unique, and truly personal tour in the Kingdom of Bhutan. This couldn’t have turned out to be more true as the itinerary he helped us put together was tailored exactly around what we wanted to see, with his recommendations, and we were free to choose what level of accommodation we wanted in each place to suit our budget and needs. Ugyen was always very responsive on email coming back often within 24 hours and answering all our (many) questions and various itinerary requests until we were completely happy with it. All the internal flight arrangements, travel and food were all taken care of so once the booking was made all we had to worry about was our international flights to Kathmandu.

Once we arrived we were greeted at the airport by our guide Kuenzang and driver Kinga who both went out of their way to look after us and ensure we had an incredible time until the moment we departed. Kuenzang had a deep knowledge of the country, its history and traditions and there was no question we challenged him with that he didn’t know the answer to. He was a very welcoming and warm host who became a good friend to us on our trip. Kinga was an excellent (and safe) driver, always on hand to help us. The food from start to end was excellent and often an experience in itself sometimes being served as a picnic at the edge of a river overlooking a magnificent Dzong, other times more traditional cuisine eaten within a historic site – we were able to try a whole range of foods and were invited to try a number of local delicacies. The hotels were all excellent though we found the boutique offerings much more personal and intimate than the big-name brands (which should probably have been expected) – the Gangtey Lodge in particular was an accommodation we will not forget and experience that should not be missed! All the historic and religious sites we visited were very well kept, and while Tiger’s Nest was the main one we were keen to see we were treated to some very delightful surprises along the way. We will definitely be back and will certainly look to Ugyen and the BGT team to help with our travel arrangements then too.”

Jake & Naomi, England, UK

Thanks so much.

It was great experience , the guide and the driver
Did everything to make our trip the best.

Ronen and Michal, Kfar Daniel, Israel

Thanks for a very good arrangement and a very good driver and guide

Both were excellent 5 star with very good knowledge and safe driving

I will always remember your beautiful country and all the nice and friendly people we met

The mix between basic stays and excellent hotels gave us the possibilities to see both sides and increased our knowledge about your culture and the country

Thanks again

Best regards

Roger and Group, Gysinge, Sweden

Dear Ugyen,

Thanks for your mail and sorry for the late response – the busy daily live in germany had us back quicker than we wanted 😀

Anyway, the experience was beyond words. We had great expectations towards the trip and Bhutan which where by far exceeded. The kindness of the people, the beauty of the landscapes, the power of the dzongs – we are just amazed and grateful we were able to experience all of that.

Tenzin and Kinga were the best team we could have imagined, so nice and helpful always. It almost felt like we were just travelling with friends. Also thank you so much again for all your patience and flexibility regarding the passport issue and ensuring the old price before the STF for us. Otherwise we could not have made the trip. I hope the STF gets lifted so more people can afford to go to Bhutan and the tourism comes back to help the economy grow. If the chance ever arises, we would most happily come once more.

Gladly we will leave a review on TripAdvisor and recommend BGT to anyone that is interested in visiting your beautiful country.

Best wishes and hope to see you soon again.

Patrick and Bárbara, Sylt, Germany

Hello Ugyen,

I hope you are well. Thank you for your e-mail and I am sorry it is taken me some time to reply.

I really enjoyed my time to Bhutan and I have told a few people about Bhutan Green Travel – so who knows they may sign up…?

Please give my warmest regards to Peema and Pallau who really looked after me in Bhutan, and I am very grateful for their generous and lovely hospitality.

Best wishes,

Michael, London, UK

Dear Ugyen,

I hope that this email finds you, your family & team all very well.

This is a quick note of thanks to you and your team for making our trip to Bhutan so amazing, I personally had such a great time and have no hesitation in recommending Bhutan as a place to visit & to use your company to do so.

I would also like to take this opportunity to ask you to pass on my personal thanks to both Pema & Pala who made the trip even more special with their care, consideration, understanding and knowledge in making everything run smoothly.

Once again thank you all

Shane, Suffolk, England, UK

Hi Ugyen,

Thanks for your email, both myself and Naomi had an amazing time.
Both guys were amazing and we literally wouldn’t change a thing.
We appreciate the effort the hotels went to to make our stay special also.

Just to reiterate Tenzing was superb and the driver (sorry I didn’t know how to spell his name) was great.

We have already been recommending yourselves and will do so at every opportunity.
Will also leave a review in the near future and I wish you the best for the future.

Thanks

Stuart and Naomi, Middlesex, England, UK

Good morning Ugyen

Sorry for the delay. I just want to say that l had a wonderful time in Bhutan. It was such a wonderful experience and you have a beautiful country.

Pema and Sunam are a credit to your company and could not have been more helpful to me, especially on my trip to Tiger’s Nest. I could not have done it without Sunam.

I have told everyone about my trip. Hopefully you will get a lot of business in the next few years.

Kind regards

Susan, London, UK

We’ve been meaning to send you a note for ages but life keeps getting in the way.

We both just wanted to say a huge thank you for all you did to make our holiday in Bhutan last October/November so memorable and enjoyable. Could you also pass on our thanks to Kinley who was a wonderful guide. Thanks in large part to him I’m sure our trip went very smoothly. I’m sure there were issues along the way (there’s bound to be on such a long trip) but if there were he handled them with great professionalism and without causing us any stress at all. Thanks also to our drivers, particularly Sonam who was with us for a long time and handled the difficult drive on the East/West road (which was being widened) with such calmness – we even had a wonderful lunch at Sonam’s auntie’s house.

Bhutan is a beautiful country and you are right to be proud of it and your people – who were friendly and welcoming without exception. We have talked about our holiday in Bhutan to all our friends and family and have told them to contact Bhutan Green Travel if they want to visit.

We would love to return to Bhutan one day (if we do then rest assured that we will contact you in the first instance), but if we don’t then the memory of this trip will remain with us forever.

Best wishes and regards.

Hilary and Andrew, London, UK

Dear Ugyen,

Bhutan Green Travel have been great to deal with, any queries (lots from me!) answered expertly and quickly. Any anxieties I had were alleviated and meant I could really relax during my 10 day solo trip. Met Ugyen Rinzin at Travel Show in London and immediately felt confident enough to use BGT for my long awaited trip of a lifetime: I was definitely not disappointed!

My guide, Kins, and driver, Yeshi, were brilliant, knowledgeable, personable and really made the trip so enjoyable. Both of them spoke fluent English. There were some longish drives, but we stopped a good number of times for photos, comfort stops etc. and every time I asked! In fact the drives turned out to be some of the highlights. Kins knowledge of Buddhism was second to none and was so very interesting. Having been to a number of Buddhist countries, in my opinion Bhutan is by far the most Buddhist and generally spiritual country.

The Hotels I stayed at were very high quality and at most of them had amazing views. The food at the Hotels was so good, lots of vegetable dishes, perfect for a vegetarian like me. Choice of Bhutanese dishes, Indian dishes and more international too. Recommend datshi and fiddlehead ferns particularly. Enjoyed the Zumzin, peach wine and the Bhutanese beers. Lunches were eaten out and about and were always really good quality, again with lots of veg dishes.

Pace of trip was just right for me, majority of days we left Hotel at 9am, and arrived at next one by about 4.30, so plenty of time to sort things out, eat, sleep and relax.

Bhutan is stunning: the scenery is like nowhere else I’ve ever been or could imagine going. The mountains, the valleys, the rivers and the phenomenal backdrop of the Himalayas. The flowers, the spring ‘greenery’ (went in May) and the ‘freshness’ of it all. The air is so clear resulting in great photos…. I found the entire experience so very uplifting and spiritual. Everyone I met was so friendly and helpful and everyone speaks great English.

Would wholeheartedly recommend Bhutan Green Travel for a trip to this Special Country.

Hope this is OK Ugyen, am happy to amend or add to it if there is anything specific you think appropriate

Kind regards and massive thanks to you and your company

Stephanie, Bull, Lymington, England, UK

Bhutan is a place with ever-changing panoramic views of mountains, rivers, and valleys. I have always been fascinated by the culture and the people. In February 2023 I met Ugyen at the travel show in London, he was friendly and took the time to listen to me. A few weeks later I received an itinerary with exactly what I wanted. What I appreciated the most was the amount of communication we had, which was very reassuring.
Moreover, a few days before the start of my trip he was in London in October for the World Travel Market and made sure he had time to meet up and gave me the last tips for my trip.
My trip consisted of a 9-day tailor-made tour, a mix of trekking, festivals, homestays, and very comfortable hotels. It started from Jaigaon at the Indian Border. I met up with my guide Pema Wangda and driver Dorji Wangchuck the day before. Early the next day once all the paper was done we crossed into Phuentsholling- Both Pema and Dorji were fantastic-

As a mature solo female traveler, they made me feel comfortable, nothing was too much, between them a vast amount of knowledge that they happily shared. They encouraged me all the time. Both Pema and Dorji worked as a team. They always laughed and sang, and had a great sense of humor, which made the long drive very interesting.

There are so many great moments to share, many memories, the drive, the black-necked crane festival, the homestay, the butter tea, and much more….

The most idyllic part of the trip was the Bumdra Trek and of course, Tiger’s Nest Monastery. Pema was great, always checking if I was okay and he was the perfect photographer.

Thank you for looking after me and creating such an amazing trip. The organization was perfect, nothing was missing.

PS : As I was travelling through India Pema regularly checked on me with a text message and this until I traveled back to London. This is what I call good customer service.
PS : the chili cheese was delicious.

I would definitely come back to Bhutan hopefully with my family and let Bhutan Green Travel take care of everything.

Agathe, London, UK

I can highly recommend Bhutan Green Travel after having a wonderful trip organised by them in October 2023 – delayed from 2020!

The itinerary was perfect – nothing was too much trouble for them to organise and our super efficient guide, Pema, was a delight. He was thoughtful and caring and played a significant part in the enjoyment of the trip – as did our experienced driver.

All hotels were comfortable, conveniently situated and at mealtimes there was ‘something for everyone’.

Bhutan is a delight to visit with so much to see and enjoy and being able to meet Ugyen, both before our trip and while I was there, just confirms his total commitment to his travellers in Bhutan.

Bhutan Green Travel deserves a successful future and I would certainly encourage anyone with an interest in Bhutan to book with them for an unforgettable experience of travelling in an amazing and special country.

Eileen, Worcestershire, England, UK

“Everything was perfectly organised, even to the point of Bhutan Green Travel’s owner, Ugyen, kindly organising the seats on the flight which allowed a view of mighty Everest as we flew towards Paro. We were delighted with both Tenzin our knowledgeable and interesting tour guide and also Tandin our excellent driver. Before we traveled I was concerned my husband might struggle to do the Bumdra trek, having broken his foot only 6 weeks before. I need not have worried, Tenzin took great care to let us practise on gentler trails and looked after him every step of the way. I was escorted gently up the meeting point for Tigers Nest by the very patient Tandin and we were delighted that we were both able to complete the pilgrimage to this special place.

The suggested itinerary was beautifully balanced with enough activity, sightseeing and relaxation in lovely hotels. We were also able to vary it to include rafting on the Monchu river near Punaka and spontaneously watching an archery contest and visiting the sanctuary near Thimphu to see the extraordinary national animal – the mighty Takin. We would love to return to Bhutan and would ask Bhutan Green Travel to organise a future trip for us and also will recommend the to our friends who are inspired by our journey to such a unique and lovely country.”

Sharon and Joseph, Lymington, England, UK

Dear Ugyen,

I hope this email finds you feeling better.

I wanted to write to you to you on behalf of myself and the group to thank you and Pema and Pala for all you did to make this a wonderful trip.

Every day was well organised and full of experiences for us all . We enjoyed the company of Pema and Pala , and being able to see so much of Bhutan and to meet local people along the way.

All of our accommodation was a pleasure , including the homestay, and the food went down very well !

Thank you for listening to those things we asked to experience , like the archery , and making sure we did that . Pema did very well in the choice of the venue for our massages and the Hot Stone Baths.

The festival and the Tigers Nest were our two main aims , but the other days were just as much a memorable time.

Thank you for lending me the traditional costume for the festival . It was a privilege to try this and I found the outfit very comfortable as well . We really enjoyed that day and I think the choice of that location worked very well for us . It was pleasing we were with so many local people.

Thank you for my football kit and also for having the meal with us ( especially when you weren’t feeling well ).

Several of us posted photographs we took on Facebook throughout the trip . I referred to Bhutan Green Travel in my posts , so those looking knew who had organised this for us . I have now done a final post offering anyone interested in visiting Bhutan to contact me and I can pass on their interest to you . I know of people who would like to visit and I think others looking at the pictures may now think of a trip.

Of course Covid made organising this trip even more work for you than normal . The passing of Linda , Barry dropping out , Matt and Shirley having to postpone and then Alison’s difficulties only added to the challenges you faced and the changes you had to make . l thank you for doing that so readily and with understanding .I am meeting Matt and Shirley tomorrow as they prepare for their trip.

I know one or two of the group would like me to mention how much they appreciated the care and attention Pema and Pala gave on some of the more challenging walks and climbs . It meant they were able to take part with confidence and experience as much as possible.

Visiting Bhutan had been a personal wish of mine for several years now , so to finally get there has made it that much more special.

I wish you and your family and all those who work with you the very best for the future . I hope it’s a long , happy and healthy one.

Charles and Group, Chester, England, UK

We have wanted to travel to Bhutan for many years but it was meeting Ugyen at the travel show who explained to us the “all inclusive pricing” system and reassured us that you can choose an itinerary to suit your requirements that eventually enticed us into booking.

We have just returned from an 18 day trip which exceeded all our expectations.
Bhutan is a unique, beautiful, colourful, wonderful Kingdom which really does seem to have a balance between protecting their country and people and encouraging tourism. High quality, low impact tourism really makes sense once you have visited.

We are normally independent travellers so had some concerns about always having a guide with us. However we quickly realised that the guide was there to facilitate the trip and our Guide Kins and driver Sanga were a fantastic team.
Kins, made changes as required once he knew what we wanted, what our interests were, what food we liked, our walking capabilities etc and gave us as much space as we required.

Kins’s in-depth knowledge of just about everything in his country, nature, Buddhism, history, politics, art etc really added to our enjoyment of the trip. He organised meals to our liking ( we don’t eat much meat) made sure we were comfortable, in fact he dealt with just about everything smoothly and efficiently. We took a slower trip than most people, adding in an extra day in some areas which enabled Kins to take us to less visited places which we really enjoyed.

Sanga was a wonderful driver, reliable and careful. The twisty mountainous roads were smoothly driven and he always appeared at a good time with our picnic. Very important.

Everyone we met along the way were so friendly and helpful.
If Bhutan is on your list of places to visit I suggest you move it to the top, it is a unique experience. Please don’t book through a third party company, book directly with a Bhutanese company and we highly recommend Bhutan Green Travel. We can’t thank them enough for our wonderful experience,

Things we learned on our trip

Things we learned on our trip

Spring is a good time for the flowers but November has beautiful blue skies, warm weather (t shirt warm) in the day and colder at night. Great for photography and walking.

Stay as long as you can, it won’t be long enough! It is cheaper to stay longer then have to return ( which we will do)

Having a Guide really enhances your trip.

The three star hotels were much better than we expected. Ranged from nice to really nice.

Despite all my research I didn’t realise that English is the common language.

Do try and see a festival, the atmosphere and colour is beyond description .

If you can, try and to add a few days into the suggested itinerary so not to rush from one place to another. We enjoyed some more remote places / temples or walks by having an extra day in an area.

Unexpected experience we hadn’t read about. Staying at Ogyen Choling Heritage Hotel.

This certainly was one of the best trips we have ever done, a unique wonderful experience. We hope to return in the future.

Tashi Delek.

Moira and Graeme, Salisbury, England, UK