Sikkim Bhutan Custom Trip Mar 21- April 03, 2010
Our guide in Sikkim and Darjeeling was also very good.  We gained a lot of information about the country.  The driver was very adept at handling the car in a difficult driving situation.  He was very patient and a safe driver. The only problem we had was on arrival from Dubai into Delhi.  There was no one to meet us at the airport.  I was able to reach the agent on his cell and he apologized and had us take a taxi to the Ashok Country Resort.  The hotel was fair. He did come early the next morning to take us to the Druk flight. The Norkhill Hotel was very good but its sister hotel the Elgin was fair.
Overall, however, we had an enjoyable and informative time.
Bhutan Part. We are on our way back home having completed the arrangements with you.  Just wanted you to know that the Bhutan portion of our trip was teriffic!
 Our tour guide, Tshewang Rinchen was outstanding.  His years of experience professionalism, knowledge, pleasant personality and timeliness were just great.  He took real good 
care of us and was always there prior to meals and tour times ready to go.  We learned a lot and thouroughly enjoyed the experience. Our driver was also excellent.  Very patient in his driving and extremely polite with us. The hotels all worked out ok.  In terms of service the Taj Tashi and the Punatsangchhu Cottages were both excellent.  The Tenzling Hotel was good.  The Druk Hotel in Phuentsholing, however, had problems.  We were the only customers.  There was noise of construction, toilet didn't work properly, hot water required special effort to get them to turn on the flow from the main water heater.  The next morning it was off again.  The staff wasn't very friendly especially as compared to the other hotels where they tried hard to smile and be helpful. Regards.
Haig Bazoian
 

Farrell & Su Bhutan Paro Festival Tour from 30 Mar-09 apr
Dear Ugen
We just wanted to send an email to say that we had a great time in Bhutan. We both found the country fascinating and the places we visited excellent. We had a superb guide in Mr Tashi and he gave us much insight into Bhutan and explained with great enthusiasm the places we visited, the customs and traditions we observed. He always had time for us and we were able to go at the pace that we wished and were able to spend as much or as little time as we wanted in our sightseeing. Mr Tashi was always very accommodating, extremely punctual and a very good ambassador for the country. I always think that good service should be rewarded, which is the reason I mention this. We hope to be able to return to Bhutan and would certainly use the services of Mr Tashi and would recommend both him and your agency to any friends that may consider a trip.The only issue I would mention relates to some of the hotels, which were not so good.
Kind regards
Mark

Dear Amit,
We were very happy with the Complete Bhutan tour.  A good guide can make such a difference in one’s enjoyment of a tour and Sonam was wonderful.  He’s very open and friendly and we learned a lot about Bhutan from him, not only about the places we visited, but also the food and customs and religion.  Gudu was an excellent driver and also a pleasant traveling companion.  We were very fortunate to have good weather almost the whole time.  We found the Bhutanese to be friendly, particularly the children.  We were happy with the accommodations; we were prepared for a different standard in the eastern part of the country, so that was okay, too.   The least interesting part of the trip is the drive from Trashigang to Samdrup Jonghar, but that should change when the road work is completed.  

Bhutan is a beautiful country made more so by the art, architecture and customs of its people.  We have many great pictures to ensure we wont forget our visit.  We highly recommend this tour.  (In fact, we met a Canadian couple in Lachung and gave them the Windhorse website and phone number since they were interested in Bhutan).

Our visit to Sikkim was not so successful, but weather is unpredictable.  I think March is not the best time to tour there.  Our guide, Naresh, was excellent – amazingly, he was our guide in Darjeeling for 2 days in 2006 and he and I remembered each other right away.   Driving the terrible roads is less tedious when you have good weather and great views of the mountains, which we never did.  It was especially disappointing to drive all the way to Lachung and then be prevented from reaching the Yumthang Valley by snow at the pass!  However, we did see some beautiful monasteries and we could appreciate the lower parts of the mountains with rivers, waterfalls and terraced fields. The accommodations were always good, as was the food.   Our drivers (mostly Santosh, but also our driver for northern Sikkim) did a great job navigating the difficult roads.   We would like to take this tour again some day, but definitely would come in October or November!   

Finally, we really appreciated your efforts on our behalf when our flights were canceled in Guwahati.  We also have to praise the Jet Airways people there, who were amazingly helpful, from taking us to a guesthouse the first day, getting our train tickets the second day, and then driving us from the airport into town.  You all made a bad situation so much better than it would have been if we’d been left on our own.

We want to thank all of you at Windhorse for an enjoyable and memorable vacation.

Lindsay & John

Fleming & Zabala Tour of Sikkim & Bhutan 26Mar till 08April 2009
Ugen, Just wanted to let you know that Teresa and I had a wonderful trip to Darjeeling, Sikikim and Bhutan. I am glad that my thought about leaving Bhutan to the end of the trip, was a good one. Bhutan was definitely the highlight of our trip.The drivers and tour guides were very good and accomodating to our wishes and needs. I suppose that you have heard about the night we slept in the car.Because of the rockslide on the road to Thimpu, we decided to take a chance and try to get to Bhutan on another road. It was something that we decided to do and we have no regrets about that. Matter of fact, it allowed us to visit a very beautiful monastery where our guide used to be a young monk. We also were lucky to come across a very nice festival in a small town, where we were the only tourists. We were surrounded by children who wanted to speak english with us. And the dancers were very good with wonderful costumes. Also the road was less busy and made traveling a bit easier. So I am very happy that both the driver and guide took a chance with us and rearranged the tour making the Best of an unfortunate accident.
Thank you for arranging a great trip and we are grateful for the wonderful experience of seeing a beautyful country and meeting interesting people. -Gail Fleming