Amazing Bhutan From East To West

Customer Reviews

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  Berthe

  · June 18th, 2024
  What an incredible experience ! This year I realised my more than 30 years old dream, which was to visit Bhutan once in my life, and I must say that thanks to Acorn Tours and Travel, and Karma’s perfect organisation, my dream was more than fulfilled. According to our wishes and with quick responsiveness, Karma organised for my friend and me a tailor-made 20 days tour through the country from East to West, with entry by road into the country from the Jaigaon (India) border. It included a 2 days stay with the Brokpas people in Merak, a stay in Ura to take part to the Ura Yakchoe Festival, with its colourful and spectacular dances, a 2 days excursion to the beautiful off the beaten tracks Haa valley with impressing view of the Himalayan snow covered summits viewed in the far north from the Chelela pass. Lodging choice was a good balance between typical bhutanese homestays/farmstays and conventional hotels of good level, mainly with lovely character. Food was good and abundant, a special mention to the tasty food in the homestays/farmstays where we appreciated the « not too low spiced and occidental tourists adapted » food ! Thank you to Norbu our wonderful, interesting, helpful and lovely guide, giving me a hand whenever the path was too steep or slippery, and very generous with all kind of informations regarding culture, religion, bird- and wildlife, and a pro-photographer on top. Thank you to Nidrup for your good and safe driving, your kind help and great sense of humour. Congratulations Bhutan Acorn T and T, we can only recommend you ! JC + D
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  Bhutan Acorn Tours & Travel commented on this review

  Dear JC and Daniele, I am so glad you chose Bhutan Acorn to help plan your dream trip to Bhutan; it was a pleasure working with you! Thank you for your review, and I wish you the best. -Karma and Team Bhutan Acorn Tours
  Trip date: April 2024
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  nancy

  · December 31st, 2023
  Amazing bhutan tour by bhutan acorn. I am rating this tour 10/10. It was an amazing tour from east to west bhutan and many thanks to the staff for making this trip so unforgettable. First of all, i'd like to say thanks to mr karma for making it possible. His effort was greatly appreciated. His time to respond, ideas, suggestions, honesty, and friendliness were very much appreciated. He made everything so smoothly. I didnt have to worry about a thing. He designed the perfect itineraries for me and he made sure that i was in good hands. Yes, i really was. Mr karma, you are the best. He ordered me cake for my birthday and greeted me on my birthday during celebration with his staff and mandala resort staff. He checked in on me every so often and kept me posted if there was a delay or slight change with the schedule. The schedule was right on. The itineraries were perfect. I covered half of bhutan for 16d/15n. It was mr karma's input to save the best for last ( the highlight of this trip on my birthday- hike to tiger's nest). He gave me the perfect tandem- norbu (guide) and nedup (driver). These two compliment each other. I couldnt ask for more. From day one, i was greeted with a smile by these gents, and on last day, i left bhutan with a heavy heart because of them. Mr karma guaranteed the best guides for me and he was very accurate. Norbu's knowledge was impressive. Nedup's driving skills were exceptionally good. They both took good care of me. Norbu is a great photographer and that was just a bonus. Now i have nice photos to look back to. Their professionalism, ideas, knowledge, concern, skills, and friendliness were beyond my expectations. I shared meals with them, hiked with them, celebrated birthday with them, laughed with them, sang with them, took selfies with them, window shopped with them, and witnessed several festivals with them. It was so memorable that on their 116th national day, we had a scheduled flight back to paro from bhumtang. Norbu and i had an awesome time during our flight with druk air. As for the tour itself, i covered half of bhutan for 16 days. Out of 20 districts, ive ticked off 10. Food was perfect. Hotel accommodations were great with mountain views for the most part. The schedule was right on. There was a delay and cancelation, but it turned out to be perfect because as i said earlier, we flew on their national day and it was so much fun. The highlight was the hike to tiger's nest. The temples, dzong, home stay, merak village, monasteries, and overnight stay at the heritage house were amazing. Everything about this tour was perfect, from day one to last day (day 16). I enjoyed merak village the most, but everything was pleasurable. Norbu and nedup were the best guides you could ask for. Thanks to these guys for making me safe and happy. I am very happy with bhutan acorn, and once again thanks to all the staff especially mr karma, norbu gyeltshen, and nedup wangchuk. Many thanks for this once in a lifetime adventure. I will take it to my grave. I will definitely book with bhutan acorn in the future, sooner rather than later, and will definitely recommend to all my friends and family who are interested in touring this beautiful country. Without a doubt, this company is highly recommended and trusted. Thank you!
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  Bhutan Acorn Tours & Travel commented on this review

  Dear Nancy, thank you for your review! I am glad you enjoyed your trip to Bhutan, and that the cake I arranged was to your liking. Bhutan Acorn strives to seamlessly organize your trip and to create memorable experiences for our guests, so your feedback... Show more
  Trip date: December 2023
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  Gerry

  · May 30th, 2023
  I have been interested in visiting Bhutan for many years now. I was particularly interested in visiting a number of Buddhist pilgrimage sites that are important within the context of Tibetan Buddhism. My wife and I are also interested in hiking, and Bhutan has a number of beautiful hiking trails. We knew that finding a tour was required in visiting Bhutan so began looking into the various tour operators in Bhutan. We emailed a few of the operators and were impressed with the honesty and responsiveness of Bhutan Acorn Tours so decided to go with them. The price of our custom tour was quite reasonable and all the tour details were explained carefully in our email exchanges. Acorn Tours was also quite flexible regarding the itinerary and allowed us to easily make changes regarding the places we were interested in visiting and the hotels we wanted to stay at. We felt well-taken care of by our tour guide Tashi and our driver, Bumpa. Both spoke good English, and it was easy to converse with them. They were in constant touch with the owner of Acorn Tours, Karma Sangay Phuntsho. This was reassuring. Our guide, Tashi, also was quite good at relaying our various concerns regarding lodging and food to the proprietors. In our journey, we visited Haa Valley, Paro, Bumtang, and Thimpu. In Haa Valley we stayed at a traditional Bhutanese lodge called the Soednam Zingkha Heritage Lodge. The lodging and food were quite good, and the staff were extremely friendly and responsive. We also enjoyed visiting the main monastery called Lhakang Karpo and doing a hike in the mountains of Haa Valley. In Paro, we visited Kyichu Lhakang, This is an important and awe inspiring temple built by the King Songtsen Gampo in the 7th century. The great saint, Guru Padmasambhava, visited here. More recently, this was Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche's residence in Bhutan. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was one of the greatest meditation masters of Tibet. We also enjoyed a day's hike up to Tiger's Nest, one of the must-see locations in Bhutan associated with Guru Padmasambhava and other great saints. The hike was beautiful and extremely special. Halfway up the mountain is a cafeteria. It's a nice resting place to get a cup of coffee, some food, and recharge. The Tiger's Nest Hermitage itself is extremely special. It's amazing to think that spiritual practitioners came here to practice in seclusion on the side of a cliff! After Tiger's Nest, we flew on an airplane to Bumthang in Central Bhutan. Bumthang had many interesting places to visit including many monasteries connected with Guru Padmasambhava, the Ogyen Choling Museum and Guest House, the Thowa Drak Hermitage, Mebar Tso, and the Tharpa Ling Monastery. We particularly enjoyed the Ogyen Choling Museum and staying at the Guest House and wished we could have stayed longer there. We also enjoyed the hike up to Thowa Drak Hermitage. This site is somewhat similar to Tiger's Nest in terms of the hike. The hermitage itself is also on a cliff, but it's different in character from Tiger's Nest. The Thowa Drak Hermitage is also more off the beaten track, and there weren't many tourists there. Another noteworthy stay in Bumthang was the Dekyil Guest House. There the proprietors were particularly friendly, attentive, and kind. There's much more we could say about Bhutan and have simply relayed the highlights of our journey. All in all, we had a great time in Bhutan and established long lasting memories of a peaceful and beautiful country where the people are extremely friendly and accommodating. We would definitely recommend considering Bhutan Acorn Tours and Travel for your journey to Bhutan!
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  Bhutan Acorn Tours & Travel commented on this review

  Dear Gerry, Thank you so much for taking the time to share your extraordinary journey through Bhutan with us. Your detailed account of your experiences at the Buddhist pilgrimage sites and hiking adventures is truly inspiring, and we're thrilled to... Show more
  
  Trip date: April 2023