Despite being practically on India’s doorstep, I never felt the pull to visit Bhutan throughout all my years of travel. Maybe it was the classic habit of taking your own backyard for granted, or simply wondering if the destination offered enough to justify limited vacation days and hard-earned travel savings.
But cut to summer this year when I desperately wanted to travel and no other option seemed forthcoming. Bhutan, the easy country to “check off”, rose up to occasion.
At first, the transition is startling. How does a tiny, landlocked nation nestled between giants like India and China feel like an entirely different planet? Walk just a few meters past the border, and the chaotic, littered frenzy of the Indian side gives way to quiet, immaculate, and orderly Bhutanese streets.
Yet in hindsight, I find myself somewhat conflicted about Bhutan as a travel destination.
Let’s be fair: Bhutan is beautiful. It lives up to its reputation as a pristine Himalayan haven, and as an independent nation, its commitment to conservation and community-first development is admirable.
Where it falters, at least for an independent traveler, is the journey itself.
Bhutan: An independent backpacker’s nightmare
At a Sustainable Development Fee (SDF) of $100 USD per person per day for international travelers, it remains one of the world’s priciest destinations. To have backpacked India is a rite of passage; to have visited Bhutan feels like a luxury badge of honor.
For an Indian passport holder however, entering isn’t difficult. No visa is needed, and our daily SDF of ₹1,200 (around $14–$15) is a fraction of the international rate. But how you are permitted to travel once inside changes everything.
Bhutan mandates a licensed guide and a dedicated vehicle for the duration of your stay. Public transit isn’t viable for tourists, and budget backpacker hostels or cheap roadside rooms simply do not exis. With daily government fees, mandatory drivers, and guides ticking away on the meter, slow travel is ruled out. You end up in a race against the clock to justify the daily overheads. For someone who prefers slow travel, impromptu activities, improvised route plans, and getting lost on local buses, Bhutan strips away spontaneity. In its place is a manicured, predictable corridor designed for well-heeled tour groups.
So, this isn’t going to be the usual ’10 Things to Do in Bhutan’ or a structured solo itinerary, the kind of posts you’d typically find on my blog. Instead, it’s a stream-of-consciousness reflection dissecting the Bhutan of marketing lore and familiar tropes, while still appreciating the quiet details of a tiny nation.
The 6-day, guide-led itinerary for a group trip to Bhutan
There is little point in outlining a detailed day-by-day Bhutan itinerary here because the system forces almost everyone into structured group travel. In my case, it was a 7-day group trip, the operator chosen based purely being one of the cheapest. (comment to know the name)
The group consisted of 30ish travellers, mostly Indians, from around the world. The itinerary was watertight. Meet the team at the Siliguri airport where a 5-hour drive would take us to Jaigao, border town on the Indian side and then a 10-minute walk to Phuntsholing, the Bhutanese border. This is where the first shock hits you as the stark contrast between the dirty, littered and noisy Indian side transforms into a peaceful, clean and organized street just about 30 minutes after immigration formalities.
Next 5 days would be in a loop: Get into the 30-seat tour bus, enjoy the stunning scenary from the comfort of the bus and then make pitstops at predetermined, timed stops. (Ideal for the backpacker in me! NOT). Day one would see us travel from Phuntsholing to Thimphu, the Bhutanese capital, and spending the evening there. Day 2 is taking a day trip to the beautiful Punakha dzong, enroute visiting a curious temple that worships female fertility with some…interesting rituals one of which involves the woman wanting to be blessed circumambulating the temple with a giant wooden phallus! We’d then linger a bit at the Punakha Dzong, a majestic fortress straddling the Po Chu and Mo Chu rivers, and get upsold the the $25 rafting trip on a very demure Mo Chu (which we could for quarter the price back home in Rishikesh), and come back to Thimphu the same night. Then another day sightseeing in Thimphu, including visiting a unique female nunnery, a giant Buddha statue overlooking the Thimphu town and the valley, and then travel another few hours, south to Paro, Bhutan’s second biggest city and home to its only airport. On day 5 in Paro, we’d do the hike to the magnificent cliff-perched Tiger’s Monastery, soothe aching limbs with a unique $10 hot stone bath ritual and soak in an evening of Bhutanese culture through dance and song performances put up hurriedly by a group of young locals for the appreciating audience, semi intoxicated on aara – the Bhutanese liquor. The rest of the evening would be spent at a karaoke bar, making it the third one in a row, and then the next day, heading back to Phuntsholing, completing 6 days.
The tour operator does one of these trips every week, making the whole experience feel a bit contrived and the adorable tour guide’s words, less heartfelt travel guide, more rehearsed script.
The After-Hours Antidote: Bhutan’s Obsessive Karaoke Scene
If daytime Bhutan feels choreographed, the after-hours tell a completely different story. Bhutan has an intense, deeply ingrained karaoke culture that nobody really talks about!
Calling out to tourists and locals through neon-LED signs across Phuentsholing, Thimphu and a few in Paro is a slew of karaoke lounges. These aren’t flashy commercial clubs; they’re intimate, carpeted spaces with plush sofas and dim ambient lighting that feel more like someone’s private living room. It is unequivocally the local crowd’s favorite way to wind down after dark.
It’s also one of the few places where the invisible wall between tourist and local completely dissolves. On any given weeknight, you’ll find Bhutanese locals and Indian travelers huddled around the same screens, trading the mic between Bhutanese ballads and full-throated 90s Bollywood anthems over mugs of cheap Druk 11000 beer. Easily one of the rare, raw cultural experiences of the entire trip that allowed for a moment of pause amidst the Amazing Race-like pace, and a real chance at interaction with the locals.
What does Bhutan offer that India doesn’t?
Even though Bhutan is a sovereign country, Indian travelers make up over 70% of its visitors, the Bhutanese Ngultrum is pegged 1:1 with the Indian Rupee, and local store shelves are packed with Indian goods.
Sikkim shares an almost identical ecological landscape. The ancient gompas of Spiti and Ladakh rival anything found in the Paro or Punakha valleys. The high peaks of Bhutan remain entirely off-limits to mountaineering out of reverence for local spirits, a cultural choice worth respecting, but one that limits raw thrill of trekking through some of the highest mountains in the world, unlike a Himachal Pradesh or Uttarakhand.
Including domestic flights to get to the border town, I spent around $550 for the 6 days – which is amongst the lowest you can spend on a Bhutan trip. If you’re flying directly to Paro, that figure can double. Another operator and another couple of days on the itinerary and costs multiply. That’s money that can fund a raw, deeply authentic expedition through comparable Indian landscapes, or an immersive week somewhere else entirely. (For perspective, I did a 10-day Egypt trip for about $700) and just a few months later, a one-week trip through the other-worldly Spiti valley for $100.
With so much overlap between India and Bhutan landscapes, it naturally raises the question: What does Bhutan offer that India doesn’t and is traveling there worth it?
Bhutan’s clean and cares about the environment
The cleanliness, the order, the structure, thats where Bhutan’s similarities with India end. Littering is almost non existent in Bhutan, except for likely by Indian tourists themselves. Bhutan’s commitment to the environment is embodied in its electric vehicles, including the tour bus we were on, awareness signs highlighting waste management and energy saving best practices at public spaces, and its humane treatment of its stray dogs amongst others.
But again this comparison needs context too. India has a population of 1.4 bn people. Bhutan is about 800K – the size of an Indian town. In places that India has a lower population density, like Sikkim, Nagaland, or even Ladakh, the order and cleanliness are similar to Bhutan’s. Chaos and cleanliness are more a factor of economic, less culture. India just doesn’t have the marketing of a Bhutan. Or the daily sustainable fees to fund any meaningful environmental projects.
Gross Happiness Index – A glorious gimmick
Then there is the mythology of Gross National Happiness (GNH). While popular reels claim Bhutan threw out GDP in favor of joy, the reality is far more grounded: Bhutan still measures standard GDP, anchored by hydropower sales to India and cross-border trade. GNH serves as a philosophical framework, but in daily life, the economic strains are visible. Bhutan produces next to nothing and most of Bhutan’s products are imported from either India or China, including the local souvenirs! The prices, in accordance, are high and budget-conscious locals do runs to the Indian border to source the same items at mcuh more favourable prices, even including the travel.
The tourism revenue funds vital services like free education and healthcare. But the oft-cited narrative of an untouched Shangri-La glosses over the economic reality of a developing nation grappling with brain drain.
High paying company jobs are almost non existent. Most Bhutanese young folks seek jobs in India, in countries like Australia and Singapore. So much so that elderly parents come to see off their kids’ taking off on their first flights at the scenic Paro airstrip, as they fly offshore for jobs that’d sustain the family back home.
The benevolent, handsome king and his gorgeous wife are well-educated, sophisticated monarchs and well-liked by the Bhutanese, a fact testified by their curated family photos put up in almost every establishment, from small roadside dhabas to big showrooms.
Is Bhutan really meat free?
Another slightly jarring aspect of Bhutan’s marketing is the much advertised “there’s no commercial slaughterhouses in Bhutan” claim. It’s disingenuous to say that when most of the local cuisine is meat-based. (And you’d be hard pressed to find a vegan dish amidst the cheese-based national dish Ema datshi!) Bhutan imports massive quantities of poultry, pork, and beef directly from West Bengal while touting its no-commercial-slaughter Buddhist ethics. Convenient.
Where Bhutan scores big: Architecture
Yet, there is one area where Bhutan deserves unqualified praise: its architecture and cityscape. To me, the part that struck out the most was Bhutan’s striking architecture and curiously is its least talked-about feature. Governed by traditional architectural standards, rooted in Zorig Chusum, the nation’s historic arts and crafts codes, every building – from a roadside petrol pump to a cafe to a major administrative dzong adheres to specific proportions, ornate wooden cornices, multi-colored lintels, and mythical motifs. Nestled amidst snow-clad Himalayan peaks in the distance and framed by bursts of seasonal cherry blossoms, Thimphu’s small but orderly, ornately-beautiful cityscape makes for an otherworldly sight.
Check out my reel on Bhutan’s architecture here
And the silence! Can we take a minute to appreciate how quiet Bhutan is? Honking is almost non-existent, and strict traffic discipline makes for whisper-quiet streets. To my Indian-wired ears, this level of calm in a capital city was a delicious shock.
In summary, go to Bhutan if you absolutely must check off every country in the world. If you appreciate an orderly, low-friction taste of the eastern Himalayas, or if you want to see a small nation stubbornly protect its architectural identity and forest cover. If you have the travel funds and prefer a guided, comfortable holiday where logistics are taken care of end-to-end, it delivers.
Just don’t arrive expecting a wild, open-ended Himalayan adventure. The Bhutanese landscape may be clean and green, but the spirit of discovery stays buried under the guided group trip.
One comment
Bhutan is a perfect example how can a wall divide two different world where one side chaotic, loud, vivid and other side peace, serene, calm with beauty.