Bhutan

Travel tips for Bhutan: safety advisories, currency and cash vs. card, tap water, plugs, local phrases, food, and advice from travelers.

Cash and cards

Carry some cash. While hotels and larger stores in Thimphu and Paro accept international cards, travelers report that cash remains king for daily spending. You will need local Ngultrum or Indian Rupees for small vendors and any travel outside the main cities.

Try the food

  • Ema Datshi (ཨེ་མ་དར་ཚི།): A fiery and comforting stew made entirely of spicy green or red chilies cooked in a rich, savory local cheese sauce.
  • Phaksha Paa (ཕག་ཤ་པ།): Slices of pork boiled and stir-fried with whole red chilies, mountain vegetables, and sometimes radishes or spinach.
  • Jasha Maroo (བྱ་ཤ་མརུ།): A spicy Bhutanese chicken stew heavily flavored with fresh ginger, garlic, onions, and diced chilies, usually served over red rice.

Say it in Dzongkha

  • Hello: ཀུ་ཟུགས་བཟང་པོ། (Kuzuzangpo la)
  • Thank you: ཀ་དྲིན་ཆེ། (Kadrin chhey)
  • Please: སྐུ་ཅིག (Kuchi)
  • Excuse me: དགོངསམ་མ་ཁྲེལ། (Gong ma threl)
  • How much is this?: འདི་གི་གོང་ག་དེམ་ཅིག་སྨོ? (Di gi gong gademchi mo?)
  • Yes: ཨིན། (In)
  • No: མེན། (Men)
  • Goodbye: ལེགས་ཤོམ་སྦེ་བྱོན་ནི། (Lekshom be joen ni)

Essentials

Voltage
230V, 50Hz
Driving
Left side
SIM tip
Pick up a tourist SIM card from Bhutan Telecom or TashiCell at Paro International Airport upon arrival by presenting your passport and visa.

Etiquette

Always walk clockwise around chortens (stupas) and prayer wheels, and ensure you wear long pants and long sleeves when visiting dzongs or temples.

Airports in Bhutan