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About Village Tours and Treks
We at Village Tours and Treks feel that travel is an important part of life. To us traveling is a quest to understand the world and our place in it. It's not about checking sites off a list. Exploring new ideas, examining diverse cultures, and meeting different people leads to a deeper education that enriches your life. Only through travel and exploring the unknown do we truly open our eyes, hearts, and minds to the beauty the world has to offer.
Village Tours and Treks offers personalized services for your trip to Bhutan, the world’s last Shangrila. With over twenty-five years of experience, we will create an authentic visit featuring local foods, interaction with the people and tours that are off the beaten path. Whether you choose a predetermined itinerary or allow us to create a custom journey, you can be assured that we will meet your every need to ensure the trip of a lifetime.
Our guides are highly experienced locals who speak up to seven languages including English, German, Japanese and Spanish. They have an intimate knowledge of the landscape and people and are passionate about sharing their majestic country.
You may choose to select a tour through our main office in Thimphu, Bhutan or through one of our travel partners located in your country. Either way, you will receive service beyond your expectations. We hold ourselves to the highest of standards to ensure that you will have an encounter that is free of worry and filled with fun, beauty and inspiration.
To the Tourism Council of Bhutan:
In March 2009 we visited Bhutan with Village Tours and Treks. During seven days we had a fascinating trip under the guidance of Chimmi Dorji. We visited Paro, Thimpu, Punakha and Wangdue Podrang. During our email conversation before the trip Mr. Dorji had indicated that the second week of March was an excellent time to visit because of the Punakha festival. This indeed turned out to be the highlight of our tour. We were very happy with the hotels and restaurants selected, they were all of high quality and we didn't have a single problem. We were also very pleased with the driver who was careful and very capable. All together we had a great trip and would not hesitate to recommend Village Tours and Treks to friends and family planning to visit Bhutan.
- Aysen and Sanne
We didn’t do a lot of research when we selected Village Tours & Treks to arrange our trip to Bhutan. The May/June 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine listed them in their 50 Tours of a Lifetime article. Despite, the lack of research, our decision to book our trip to Bhutan through Village Tours and Treks could not have turned out better. Our guide and driver were fantastic, the company was organized and responsive, and our trip was absolutely amazing.
After reading the article in National Geographic Traveler, I immediately contacted VT&T about arranging a tour. I heard back very quickly from the woman who represents them in the United States. She was extremely helpful in deciding on an itinerary and making suggestions. I told her what our main interests were (photography, animals, short hikes, archaeology), and she came up with a schedule incorporating these things. It was very quick and easy and she was great to work with.
Once we arrived in Bhutan, we were met at the airport by Pema, our guide, and Ugyen, our driver. I don’t know if we are just lucky, but we have always had great guides on vacation. However, Pema was even better than the best guides we have had – by the end of the trip, he felt like a friend. Obviously, he was extremely knowledgeable about all the things tourists might be interested in, or he wouldn’t be a guide. But what I liked he that he was very flexible, making adjustments to our schedule based on his knowledge and upon circumstances (such as torrential rains, or my upset stomach). He brought me cough syrup for my cold and a mask so I wouldn’t ingest dust and further inflame my throat. He made sure we didn’t make any cultural faux pas (ones which I did see other tourists make). One of the best parts was that we had so many interesting conversations about a wide variety of topics. Instead of us just asking him questions, he asked us questions too, and that made it as much a cultural exchange as a tour, which is much more interesting in my opinion.
Our driver, Ugyen, was pretty quiet, which is a necessity for concentrating on narrow, winding roads. He turned out to be a really nice guy too. I was pleased when he ended up hiking to the Tiger’s Nest with us near the end of our trip, so we got to talk to him a little bit more. Most importantly, he was an excellent driver in sometimes poor road conditions. He also won extra points with me for spotting monkeys on our drive back from Phobjikha Valley. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have gotten to see a whole family of monkeys leaping through the trees.
If we have the chance to return to Bhutan, we would definitely book through Village Tours & Treks again. Thanks to them, we really did have the trip of a lifetime, and I would recommend them without hesitation to anyone planning a trip to Bhutan.
- Kara and Stephen
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