Problems ? food/altitude/walking

Hi All

We are thinking of a Bhutan holiday in 2010. We are independant travellers, so would like a tour for just us 2. I have been reading the trip reports here. There has only been one I have found that mention the food - nothing special ! esp the meat. So could you please comment on what you were eating, is it all spicy ? I have found that I suffer a lot in altitude (Colorado and Ecuador) so extensive walking up steps and hills would be a problem for me. Also my husband (62) has knee trouble, walking on the flat is no problem for him but stairs/hills would be a problem for him too. So can you do a tour without too much walking ?? We love to see the art/culture, traditional medicine, local handicrafts and markets. I await your comments , thanks

Ann

Problems ? food/altitude/walking

First---tell whatever tour agency you are working with about your concerns and needs regarding walking. Most of the dzongs (temples) have stairs. Seeing the famous dzongs is usually part of most tours, hence the need to advise your agency of your abilities. Yes, there is plenty to see without steps and hills, as long as you and the agency plan accordingly. There are many festivals, and places like National Textile Museum (only has some stairs up to second floor) etc. Your tour will be specifically what you ask it to be.

I wrote a recent post about the food. No, most of it is NOT spicy unless you eat the ema datse--chilies and cheese sauce, which we loved. Actually we thought most of the food was much better than expected, but we mostly ate in restaurants, not hotel buffets. See my post for recommendations. I can still taste the yummy beef prepared with rosemary, mustard and vinegar at the Swiss Guest House. So, yes, there was beef, pork, some chicken, and my husband had some great lamb at Swiss Guest House. Every meal came with plenty of vegetable dishes and rice as well. Sonam%26#39;s Trophel had great asparagus. Gongkhor Guest House in Bumthang had wonderful spring rolls, and ginger carrots!

We did not find the food to be a problem at all! Ate too much actually.

Problems ? food/altitude/walking

Thanks for that Jeanie. Since you are from Colorado did you have any problems with the altitude ? In Colorado I had a constant headache and up in the mountains from Denver I got short of breath. But in Ecuador when we went up the mountains from Quito I turned blue and needed oxygen ! Some parts of Bhutan are even higher that quito ! So the altitude has me worried a bit.

Hi Ann,

I agree with Jeanie, that all your wishes and concerns should be known to your tour operator,and he can arrange the more easily reached sights.

I%26#39;d advise you to stay a few days without any physical effort. You%26#39;ll land in Paro at 2200 meters, Thimphu is a bit higher even, so just do some vey easy walking. If you pass, by car, the Dochu LA (pass), at 3050 meters,you%26#39;ll descend to Punakha at 1300 meters. Bumthang is 2600 meters, and Gangtey-Phobjikha,2800-3000 meters.

Most people are o.k. after a few days of acclimatisation.

As for knees: I%26#39;ve them too, the problems, and use knee- braces, adn two walking sticks. With them, I can do every trek without pain or problems.

But try to ask for easy walks, there is almost no flat part of Bhutan, walking on the road might be rather easy. Ther is very little traffic on the roads after Wangdi, and we did it to strech our legs.

As for food: for tourists they make it without spices, rather dull, most rice, potato%26#39;s and cooked vegetables. You can ask for spicy Ema Datse, or just Chillies. As meat is difficult to obtain-in a Buddhist country no slaughter is allowed-it is mostly imported and I%26#39;m not sure of the quality. There is some beef , pork or chicken, but I preferred to refrain from it.Fried rice is a nice and non-spicy dish.Especially in Thimphu you can go to Indian restaurants too. And in Paro Sonam%26#39;s Trophel is very special, with dumplings of cheese, and meat, and all vegetables they can find in the market.

The Thimphu market on weekends is worth a visit too.

If you have more questions, I%26#39;ll be happy to help.

Hi Ann:

1. Altitude - We really didn%26#39;t have any problems. We did the Tiger Temple at the end of the trip. It was tiring but we made it. It sounds like with your husband%26#39;s knees that you may have to skip this one. The other walks we took were quite gentle. We were in Tibet two years earlier and altitude was definately an issue there though we managed it OK. We didn%26#39;t think the altitude in Bhutan was an issue for us at all. As Jeanie and Bhutan Traveller have said, work with your guide. My wife took along trekking poles and found then useful.

2. Food - We didn%26#39;t have any real issues with the food. Usually there were three fresh vegetable choices with each meal and they were excellent as was the red rice. As previous posters have noted the quality of the meat dishes varied as all of their meat is imported. We did have a great yak dish when we were in Paro. We also had fresh trout a couple of times. We usually had beer (Druk 11,000)with our lunch and dinner meals. Most of the hotel breakfast buffets were nothing to write home about but the bread was excellent. I wasn%26#39;t a great fan of the chilies and cheese, but ate enough to be polite. My wife enjoyed it. Bottom line: food isn%26#39;t an issue.

3. We thought Tibet was an amazing place, but Bhutan topped it. Kind of like visiting London - you really have to totally screw up to have a bad time. We%26#39;re already plotting on how to get back there. Go ahead and make your reservations!!

Hi Ann....we%26#39;ve been living in California for about 7 months now, but since I spent all my life in Colorado, my lungs must still be acclimated to higher altitude because we didn%26#39;t have any problem.

Since you won%26#39;t be doing any strnuous hikes or treks, you should be fine. In Paro we did a nice walk on a flat dirt road, up in the Paro Valley. Also in Bumthang there was a nice walk on a flat dirt road, and we saw another road that could have been walked had we the time.

Thanks for all that ! Looks like Bhutan is on for 2010, now spring or fall ?

;-) Ann

If you go in spring, go later than we did. We were just there March 6-18, and everything was incredibly dry and brown. Trees and flowers just starting to pop out. Weather was warm and sunny, which was good. Skies were blue, but just a tinge of haze made it impossible to see some of the famous white peaks of Himalayas, so if I had it to do over, I would go in fall if possible. But Bhutan is forever and always beautiful, at any time.

Hi Ann,

As I%26#39;ve been twice in Autumn and once in Spring, I%26#39;d advise about Autumn. The colours are great, weather nice, not too warm, not too much rain.And most festivals are then.

Spring was nice with the flowers, but hazy, almost every day rain. The mountains are clearer too in autumn.