Our itinerary for the 12-day journey includes 2 nights Thimpu, 2 nights Punakha, 3 nights Gangtey, 3 nights Bumthang and 2 nights Paro. The Amankora Journey is inclusive of all meals & drinks (excluding premium beverages), a private car with guide and driver and most activities. Additional activities such as astrology readings, spa treatments, private dinners in special locations, and Rimdo blessing ceremonies can be arranged at an additional cost. Since you have your own dedicated driver and guide, you itinerary can be completely customized based on your interests. They start with a list of planned activities and give you many options to choose from.
We were met outside the door of the airport – (only passengers are allowed in the baggage claim area) by our Aman guide Ugyen and driver Gyelthen. They loaded our bags into a small SUV (maybe Korean make- not sure) – with seats covered in traditional Bhutanese fabric. It is a bit of a tight squeeze with four people and luggage blocking the back window - but comfortable enough for us. Some guests that are used to large Western sized SUVs may find the car too small. As expected the car is stocked with all the Aman extras – canisters with snacks, bottled water, cold cloths, hand sanitizer, motion sickness inhaler and sunscreen. Ugyen provides us with a folder that has contains our preliminary itinerary, spa menu and lodge contacts all personalized and printed on traditional Bhutanese paper. I am including a picture of the SUV so you can see the size.
The Thimpu lodge is about an 1.5 hour drive from Paro. The road from Paro to Thimpu is the best you will encounter in Bhutan – it is fully paved 2 lane highway – still very curvy but not bumpy. About halfway through the drive we stop to visit the Iron Chain Bridge. It is very scenic suspension footbridge that crosses a small gorge with a stream below made entirely from iron chains. The walking surface is covered with something like chain link fence so you can see the steep drop below. The bridge sways and bobs greatly as you make your way across – very fun. After crossing the bridge we take a few minutes to tour the bridge tower – which has colorful painting and many “Tsa-tsa’s” which are mini-stupas left as an offering. A tiny scroll containing an ancient prayer is inserted inside each tsa-tsa. I was fascinated by the tiny size of tsa-tsa’s and really enjoyed finding them in various nooks and crannies throughout our visit.
You arrive in city of Thimpu through the main gate which brings you to the downtown area. The Thimpu lodge, is located about 15 minutes, up a winding hilltop road, from downtown. The lodge has a long driveway and a staircase leads up to the main plaza. We are greeted on the stairs by the Amankora team with cold towels and we are each presented with a “Khata”, which is a traditional white silk ceremonial scarf. We are then escorted to the main dining room/lounge area for a nice cold welcome drink. This gives us the chance to meet and chat with Norbu the Lodge Manager and Trayl Aitken-Cade the visiting massage & fitness specialist. Unfortunately I start to feel a headache coming on and Norbu suspects that it might be the altitude or motion sickness. I pop a few Advil and hope for a quick resolution.
Our room is #14 on the second floor of the farther lodge building. The room is comfortable and furnished in typical Aman style. There is a king size bed immediately to the right with a day bed window seat on the far wall beneath a large picture window overlooking the woods. To the left is a double vanity area, soaking tub and shower with separate rooms for the toilet and closet. The room is comfortable but a bit dark and the lights switches are a bit tricky to figure out at first.
After quickly settling in to our room, we head down for lunch prior to our first outing. The dining room is basically deserted with only one other couple seated. Despite being empty, the service is a bit slow. The young lady who waits on our table has a very dour expression and doesn’t seem to like her job – strange for an Aman. Lunch is perfectly good but nothing remarkable. I have the asparagus soup (the menu is featuring many special asparagus dishes because it is the height of Bhutanese Asparagus season) and a local rice dish while my husband has Tom Kha Gai soup and tuna tartar.
