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During the spring
and fall, daytime temperatures will
be between 50F-70F.Night time
temperatures will be between
35-40F.At 8000' (Paro, Thimpu and
Bumthang) temperatures vary greatly.
It will be quite chilly in the
mornings - you will want to have a
sweater and light jacket available.
By 10:00AM to noon, It will be warm
enough to be comfortable in a light
long sleeve or short sleeve shirt.
Time and Electricity : Bhutan is 14
hours ahead of US Pacific Standard
Time and 6 hours ahead of G.M.T.
Current is 220 Volts A/c50 hertz.
Wall plugs are normally round, two
prongeed European type. It is
important to bring adapter plugs.
Photography : Film is quite
expensive (when available) in
Bhutan, so bring too much rater too
little. You are permitted to bring
in as many rolls of film as you wish
duty free.
Tipping : You may often like to
reward good service with a small tip
for the guide and drivers. One of
the best things to give are items of
clothing that you may want to leave
in Bhutan since it is at the end of
your trip. Therefore sweaters, down
vests, jackets, etc that you no
longer need and don't mind parting
with are the best gifts as these
allow the local guide to use them in
the better completion of their jobs
(often they wear T-Shirts or shirts
under their National dress - the GHO)
Insurance : The purchase of medical
baggage and trip cancellation
insurance is strong recommended in
your home country before the
commencement of your journey.
Besides reimbursement of
non-refundable air tickets. it
should also cover the cost to rescue
operations by helicopters in the
event of and evacuation However, all
local charges must be paid by the
client before leaving Bhutan.
Food & Water Precautions
Avoid:
Water which has not been boiled (eg
tap water in hotels). Boiled water is
provide in hotel rooms and you can
take extra precaution of adding
Iodines. Uncooked Vegetables, Street
Food.
Safe to Eat & Drink
Beer, Bottled Soft Drinks (Coke, Fanta
and Limca etc.), Bottled Water
Hot Tea or
coffee ,Cheese, Fruits, Cooked
Vegetables.
Money Matters
You may exchange currency at Paro
Airport, hotels and banks, Either
notes or traveler's cheques are
accepted but we recommend you that
you take the majority of your funds
in the form of traveler's cheuqes
for saftey's sake. US Dollars can be
used for purchase occasionally of
course, if cash is lost, you have no
recourse for refund as with
traveler''s chequest. Credit cards
are seldom accepted. Please make sure
you carry your travelers cheques of
major varieties like (American
Express, Master Card and Visa) One
important thing to keep in mind is
that money exchange is not an easily
accomplished task in
Bhutan. Therefore if you have the
chance to exchange do it!. You may
not have change to do later. Once
you leave Thimpu, It is almost
impossible.
On Departure your entitled to change
back into foreign currency remaining
Bhutanese currency but remember that
you must show your stamped exchange
certificates to do this.
The exchange rate varies weekly and
is roughly 41.55 Bhutanese Ngultrums
to 1 US dollar. The units of
Bhutanese currency are Ngultrums and
Chetrums, with 100 Chetrums equaling
1 Ngultrum. The Ngultrum is tried to
the value fothe Indian rupee and
although there has been a converted
efforted on the government behalf it
discourage the use of Indian rupees.
They are still acceptable currency
in most areas of Bhutan,
Credit Card. At this time only
American Express cards are accepted
at very limited number of hotels and
stores which cater to foreigners.
Shopping
There are wonderful thing to buy in
Bhutan-hand woven textiles, some
jewelry (gold, silver, coral and
turquoise) .Thangkas, and
woodcarving o name just a few.
There will me many opportunities to
purchase items throughout Bhutan. The
hotels have gift shops which
actually have a good selections of
handicrafts and jewelry. There are
several shops in Thimpu and also
offer a variety of goods from
everyday ready made textiles to some
older pieces. Finally you may have
the opportunity to purchase textiles
from weavers in their homes (for
example in Bumthang valley) Look
around compare quality and prices
before make in purchases. There are
few places where bargaining is not
appropriate but for the most part in
the shops it is the way of life..
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