Mary Lawrence

This travel company’s mission is that their clients “experience destinations rather than visiting them,” and certainly our tour was rich in personal experiences that made us feel a true connection with Bhutanese culture.  The excellent guides and drivers are essential to this experience.  All the guides were fluent in English and very knowledgeable about history, culture, and current events.  We felt we were able to get to know them personally, and we were particularly fascinated by the variety of people who served as our guides.  They represented a range of ages, ethnicity, educational and professional backgrounds, political and philosophical viewpoints, and even genders (one guide was female).  Getting their takes on people, places, and events offered a real cross-section of society.  And we had the feeling that most of our guides enjoyed getting to know us as well.  We didn’t get to know most of our drivers so well, since they generally spoke less English.  On two extended segments of our tour, however, our drivers served as guides as we traveled around a region.  This worked well, and we developed a special bond with them.  The guides and drivers were consistently attentive to our needs and adapted readily to our interests and touring style (frequent stops for photo ops was a must!).  It was always easy to fine-tune the daily plan (to include a particular site, activity, or restaurant, for instance).