Bhutan, A Bucket List Destination You Can’t Miss

BY Pritish Shah, Founder & CEO, 20th February 2023

With its stunning natural beauty, rich cultural heritage, and commitment to sustainable tourism, Bhutan is THE bucket list destination this year, and here’s what our CEO has to say about it.

All major travel and lifestyle publications have put Bhutan as one of the bucket list destinations to visit in 2023. With the Kingdom’s philosophy around Gross National Happiness (GNH) over Gross Domestic Product (GDP) it is one of the few countries in the world worth visiting for its culture, spiritualism, landscape, and hospitality. Post the pandemic Bhutan opened to the world in Sep 2022 with its rebranded philosophy “Believe” and focus on high-end tourism. While International passport holders are expected to shell out 200 USD per day per person as SDF fees, Indian nationals only need to pay 1200 Rs per day per person.

My wife and I visited Bhutan this month to celebrate our anniversary. Our 7 night stay with Amankora and Six Senses was nothing but exceptional. We decided to give Paro and Thimphu a skip and headed to more of the inland within the country to the valleys of Punakha, Gangtey, and Bumthang, the last two often compared with the beauty of Switzerland.

We were blown away by how authentic the destination is and the hospitality was second to none. Our favourite stay was Amankora Gangtey and we were able to see the endangered Black-necked cranes that migrate from Tibet to Bhutan in October and it’s possible to see them until March. Waking up in the morning to the views of the valley in the shades of sepia tone made Gangtey a place straight out of the movies.

Some of our favourite experiences from the trip were traditional hot stone baths at an old farm with sunset views of Gangtey Valley, getting a Bhutanese name along with blessings from the monks, having lunch and local alcohol (Ara) with a local family in Bumthang, experiencing the energy around 100+ monks chanting and going on hikes almost every second day to soak in the nature and beauty the country has to offer.

Also, not to mention both the hospitality brands blew us away with their gastronomy. Being vegetarian and vegan our dietary preferences were well catered to. On our final night at Six Sense Paro, head chef Isa (Australian American) blew us away with his culinary art. His focus is on plant-based, vegetarian cuisine while trying to source local produce as much as possible. We decided to be his guinea pigs and taste some of the dishes he was planning on incorporating. We are so glad we didn’t opt for the standard menu. Some of his highlights were Grilled eggplant glazed with hibiscus sauce, saffron honey, and Bhutanese cheese-based ravioli made in Bumthang butter sauce topped with dried tomatoes and masala chai flan to finish it off.