TRAVELANDLEISUREASIA.COM / APRIL 2018 83
HOW TO EXPLORE BHUTAN
Writer Tony Perrottet highlights the top hotels and activities from his trip.GETTING THERE
There are direct flights to
Paro, Bhutan’s only international
airport, from Bangkok, Singapore
and various Indian cities including
New Dehli. The state-owned
Drukair Royal Bhutan Airlines
(drukair.com) and the private
Bhutan Airlines (bhutan airlines.
bt) serve these three cities. The
landing in the Himalayan airport
was spectacular—and just as hair-
raising as reputed.TOUR OPERATORS &
LODGING
Independent travel is all but
impossible in Bhutan. You must
go through a government-licensed
tour operator (they obtain your
US$40 visa) and pay the minimum
daily t ar if f of U S $ 2 5 0 in high
season (September–November
and March–May) or US$200 in
other months. Most itineraries are
about nine days, and can be
booked through seasoned, high-
end companies such as Remote
Lands (remotelands.com) and
Absolute Travel (absolutetravel.
com). Carole Cambata
(ccambata@ greavestvl.com), a
member of T+L’s A-List, our
network of editor-approved travel
agents, also specializes in Bhutan.
I stayed at Amankora (aman.
com; doubles from US$1,550, all-
inclusive), a s er ie s of f ive lu xur y
lodge s in valleys around the
country. You don’t have to stay at
all five—but many visitors make
the circuit to get the full
experience. One of my favorites
was Amankora Gangtey Lodge,
an opulent eight-suite hotel on a
hilltop in the remote Phobjikha
Valley. It is within hiking distance
of the vibrant Gangtey village and
its ancient monastery, and each
suite has its own wood-fired stove.
Ask for a hot-stone bath to unwind
at dusk. Another standout,
Amankora Punakha Lodge, can
be reached only by walking over a
suspension bridge swaying above
a roaring river. Hiking trails from
its doorway lead across an orange
orchard to small farms that seem
lost in the Middle Ages, with prayer
wheels placed at strategic points.If staying in Thimphu,
Le Méridien Thimphu
(lemeridien thimphu.com; doubles
from US$380) has a traditional
Bhutanese façade to fit in with the
Himalayan aesthetic, but its rooms
are surprisingly contemporary.
Como Hotels (comohotels.com;
doubles from US$580) has
proper tie s in Paro and, w ith only
11 rooms, Punakha.
By year’s end, Six Senses
(sixsenses.com) plans to open
its own circuit of five lodges.EXPERIENCES
Your tour operator can work any
of these sights into your itinerary.
At the top of many a bucket list
is the Tiger’s Nest, a Buddhist
monastery that sits on the side
of a cliff. The structure was built
beside a cave where the Guru
Rimpoche lived after flying here
on a tiger, as legend has it. The
hike up was as memorable as
promised: the steep 3.5-kilometer
trail, swathed in prayer flags,
became more astonishing with
every step.
The National Museum of
Bhutan (nationalmuseum.gov.bt)
was another highlight. Although
still being restored after an
earthquake in 2011, the circular
17th-century watchtower, or ta
dzong, above Paro is an impressive
attraction in itself. The exhibits on
display offer a primer on Bhutanese
culture, with information on holy
men, relics in glass cases, and a
natural-history gallery.
Not everything worth seeing
makes it into the scheduled tour
circuit. In Thimphu, the Bhutan
Postal Museum (bhutan.travel),
which is dedicated to the humble
s t amp, per fec tly sums up the
country’s quirkiness. Visitors can
have their own images reproduced
on legal stamps and use them on
postcards to send home—the
ultimate Bhutanese souvenir.BHUTANThimphu
Paroskin was either that of a large monkey or a
Himalayan brown bear. Even so, seeing it must
have been a powerful experience: Messner’s
photographer fell ill with blood poisoning not
long a f ter, a nd was conv inced t hat he had fa l len
under a curse for sneaking a flash shot. He
event ua l ly had to be helicoptered out of Bhuta n.
But Messner surely missed the point. It
matters less to me whether it was a real yeti skin
than that the monks and my new friend Max
believed it was. There is little enough wonder left
in the world. Personally, I still prefer to suspend
my disbelief. On chi l ly evenings in Ma n hatta n,
as I hustle for the subway or rush through the
crowds, I like to imagine that in faraway Bhutan
the yetis are still in the mountain forests,
invisible, feet on backward, making ghostly
footprints in the snow. My own Gross Personal
Happiness is much higher for it.
OPPOSITE: Paro Dzong and its cantilever bridge
alight at nightfall. BELOW: A serious and playful
monk, typical around Bhutan. Punakha