Changes in Bhutan travel coming soon

The Bhutan Government plans to open two new airports, in Trashigang in Eastern Bhutan and Bumthang in Central Bhutan. The airports should be fully operational by October though we can only hope the air service will begin as planned. It seems likely that the Bhutanese government will start with helicopter service only.

As Bhutan only has one road from west to east, tourists visiting Central and Eastern Bhutan had to backtrack to Paro, where the international airport is located. Now with the airport in Trashigang you will be able to tour overland all the way east and return by flight, or fly from Paro to Trashigang and begin your Bhutan tour in the Eastern Bhutan and finish back in Paro, the Western Bhutan.

This constitutes a much needed improvement to the travel logistics as it will save time and do away with former time consuming backtracking and repetition.

Additionally, tourists can now entertain an option of beginning their trips to Bhutan in the south-east of Bhutan, in the Bhutanese border town of Samdrup Jongkhar on Assam border of India. That opens up some new possibilities how you can travel to Bhutan from India.

One of the best options is where one can to fly from Bangkok via Kolkata to Guwahati in Assam, travel further east to see the renown Kaziranga National Park, then enter Bhutan at Samdrup Jongkhar and begin a tour of Bhutan from there, proceeding in westerly direction all the way to Paro.

Entry to Bhutan or exit via Bhutan’s south-western entry point of Phuentsholing is still a viable option if you like tour Darjeeling and Sikkim either before or after your Bhutan tour. You can structure your tour to fly to Bagdogra either from Delhi or Kolkata, and from there proceed to Darjeeling and Sikkim, then connect to your Bhutan tour at Phentsholing.

The sooner you can visit Bhutan the better, as the above changes constitute a significant evidence that Bhutan, too, is in the process of entering 21st century.