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Mixed culture and trek
Beautiful experience of hiking, visiting and living the every day and
festive habits of a smiling nation. To start with, we attended 2 days of
a tsechu in Paro what give us the peace and the religious mood to
understand the natural kindness of all the people we were to meet during
our stay.
We had then a one week trekking uphill with mules to carry our bags and
accompanied with very friendly and careful guides: we had nothing to
worry about, when we arrived at the campsites, the tents were already
set, tea was ready and we only had to wait for a nice meal, different
every day (even with fresh fish from the lakes we were passing around)
without forgetting the desserts (pancakes, puddings...). At night we
used
to talk together around a nice fire with a cup of tea. The best moment
of the day was the wake-up with hot water for washing and the
traditional cup of tea when daylight was still starting and dew all
around. When walking we could see lots of rhododendrons but ... missed
the snow-leopard!
The stages of the trekking were well proportioned and we arrived in
Thimphu without any trouble. We had a few days visiting the dzongs in
and outside Thimphu and had a first experience of the roads in this
mountain-country.
The major event of our trip was our meeting with the Prime Minister who
explained us the policy of Bhutan progressively opened to modernity in
order to keep the people busy and happy in their remote countries and
not to gather them all in the cities. We have been
very impressed by the understanding and the wisdom of that man who had
been living in Europe and was preserving his people of the failings of
the too industrialized and wealthy countries. The way back along a very
steep road to the Indian border in a minivan and Kencho'a own car, was
extraordinary. We went down from the mountains to the
flat country and didn't know where to look around all the kinds of
trees and flowers, the steepness of the precipices, the rivers and
waterfalls, and everywhere green, green and green. Fortunately we didn’t
have to drive ourselves and to look at the narrow and sometimes very bad
road and not to worry about the huge trucks we were crossing coming from
India with all kinds of goods and material along the only road climbing
through the valley.
To end with the organization was perfect, the guides so friendly that we
couldn't leave them and had a last meal all together in a restaurant in
Phuntsoling, and Kencho on top of all this, managing her business with
competence and smile.
I wish her a great success in her travel agency!
Marcelle Delacroix, Brussels, Belgium
email:
marcelledlx@yahoo.fr
(the picture was shot during the snow fall on the trek )
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Snow White Treks and Tours gave me one
of the best travel experiences of my life--the perfect introduction to
beautiful Bhutan. Kencho provided attentive, personal service and made
certain that the trip was tailored to my interests. My guide, Dorje, was
a wonderful travel companion who served as driver, naturalist,
historian, teacher, and friend. If I am lucky enough to return to
Bhutan, I will use Snow White again, and I highly recommend this
exceptional travel service to others.
John Herzfeld, Louisville, KY USA. email:
jherz@loucol.com
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"We could come to Bhutan in last autumn 2003 to perform a photographic
report, and we decided to choose Snow white Trek and Tours of Ms. Kencho
Wangmo Dorji to fulfill our purpose. We have to say that we enjoyed very
much our stay with Kencho, the guide that she kindly provided, and all
the staff of people who accompanied us during the treks. Our tour was a
combination of both a cultural trip and a succession of treks in the
mountains. Despite our rather fussy requirements for that photographic
reporting, we were always able to do what we wanted to do and see.
Kencho and her guide were very flexible, helpful, and extremely
friendly. We had the pleasure to share and exchange many thoughts,
gifts, and many other tokens of friendship. It was a wonderful
experience from a human perspective, and of course also because Bhutan
is a lovely country to visit.
Not only were the people of Snow white very close and attentive to us,
but everything was perfectly professionally organised, whether it was
during the treks (with excellent food and cooking!), or during our road
tour, where we stayed in very nice and excellent hotels. Such a
demanding trip (more than five thousand pictures accumulated in a little
more than two weeks) would probably have been extremely difficult in
other circumstances, but again the people of Snow white did everything
they could to help us, and we must grant them our deepest acknowledgment
for having made 100% successful such an unusual experience.
Susanna and Yves Finet, Geneva, Switzerland. email:
yves.finet@mhn.ville-ge.ch /
info@actionnature.org
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A complete immersion into another
world, where kindness, good humour, magnificent scenery
carries one far away from the every day stress of our normal
European lives. A wonderful breath of fresh air in every
sense of the term. Snow White organized a very interesting
and well prepared tour, everything ran according to plan and
we were taken care of from the minute we arrived till the
minute we left. Very difficult to re-adapt upon return!
Wendy
O’Ferrall & Sybil Inglin, Geneva, Switzerland 2004. email:
wof@tele2.ch
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Back from the trip. Ended up doing
Darjeeling to Sikkim (6 day trek) to Bhutan (8 days), ending
at the Taj Majal. A great honeymoon all around. In Bhutan,
we used Snow White Treks and Tours. Recommend them
very highly. Great attention from the gal who ran the
outfit; terrific guide. We had a fabulous time, though it
sounded like we missed out by not doing our trek in Bhutan
(thought the trek in Sikkim was fabulous).
Stayed at the Windamere in Darjeeling. A very nice hotel.
quite charming. Unfortunatly we were fogged in the whole
time we were there, but we were so zonked from the jet lag
that it didn't really matter.
More on the trek in Sikkim: we attempted to go Yuksom to
Goeche La in 6 days (against the advise of our tour
operator), but didn't make it. The elevation gain is just
too much; you really have to take more time to aclimatize.
We knew we were pushing it, and were perfectly happy to just
get to Dzongri (which we made it to by the second day
without much trouble). It is a steep climb, though. Not for
the out of shape. To make it in two days, you are climbing
1,000 meters (3,000 feet) per day. No wonder we both got
headaches. But we stopped ascending before it got bad. We
were on our honeymoon after all! And the views from Dzongri
and in the valley up to Simiti (sp?) lake were
extraordinary...
Write me if you have specific questions...and we should
have photos up shortly at
www.fitzandchristina.com
Ladakh is next!
Fitz & Christina USA |
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