About 10 years ago I saw a trip report about Bhutan and I’ve been fascinated ever since. With remote monasteries, mountain vistas, and lots of wildlife, it ticked a lot of photogenic boxes. Visiting has long been pricey since the country charges a per-day SDF (sustainable development fee), but after raising this price in 2022, the country saw a dip in tourism and temporarily halved the fee. Figuring now was our chance I started planning a trip. Flights into Bhutan generally arrive from Nepal, India, or Thailand, and about a year ago I found Qatar business class seats in and out of Kathmandu for May 2025.

With the positioning flights in hand we then turned to planning for Bhutan. While it is possible to explore parts of the country without a guide, it is far easier to book a guided trip through an agency. After emailing several agencies we choose Raven Tours Bhutan, who took care of all our arrangements: visa paperwork, flights into/inter Bhutan, hotels, meals, etc. Our package included a guide and a driver for the 9 days we were in country, and saw us fly across Bhutan and then drive back to where we started.

Our three nights in Kathmandu were enough for some insights:

• Traffic is crazy! Sidewalks are narrow or non-existent depending on part of the city, always best to check both ways all the time!
• Air quality is low, lots of exhaust.
• While the air is dusty things were cleaner than expected – lots of people cleaning in front of their shops. Open lots were a different story, often full with trash and rubble.
• Lots of street dogs, all of whom were remarkably chill.
• Electric wires as expected – big tangles.
• Many restaurants are open to outdoors, and most had wifi with a QR code.
• Perhaps the most important takeaway, the Nepali people were exceptionally friendly in a way that reminded us of Thailand. They were inquisitive about where we were from and what we were planning to see.

Based on our experience we are definitely interested in seeing the more rural, mountainous parts of Nepal in the future.

Bhutan notes and insights:

• When in doubt, go clockwise (expected at many religious sites)
• So many cows! and lots of sleeping dogs
• Lots of personalized freight trucks – tassels and phrases
• Slow roads, usually 2nd gear and 20-30km/hour until we got to Thimphu. Many rural roads were single lane.
• Surprisingly few motorcycles / mopeds, even in larger towns
• People are generally quiet
• Pine smoke as incense is lovely
• Many stacks of drying wood laid out in ‘A’ frames and criss cross blocks. Most seemed milled locally, thick.
• So many flags – fluttering pennants everywhere
• Many buildings feature ornate painting and roof details.

A note on Raven Tours experience:
Our guide was changed twice in the two weeks leading up to our arrival, so we were hoping for the best when we landed. And while we don’t normally take guided trips, we quickly realized our new guide was inexperienced, creating a learning curve for everyone. For example, though we had a rough itinerary with daily sights and accommodations, our guide often asked us to make decisions on activities and restaurants without giving us much information to work with. We couldn’t exactly google these remote locations! She lacked the confidence or knowledge to help us make informed decisions and spent considerable car time speaking Dzongkha with our driver instead of engaging with us. That said, her temple commentary and historical knowledge were solid, and she did improve as the trip progressed, but we would have preferred someone more interactive and helpful from day one.

Pre-trip communication was great, as they were very responsive via email, and suggested several sights that we would not have known to ask about. We also had a Whatsapp group chat in-country. Organization was also good, as all our paperwork went smoothly.

Would we book with Raven Tours again? Yes, I think we would, but I would know to advocate for ourselves more.

us with our guide, Thuji, and driver, Namgay, on our last full day