What People Are Saying About Bhutan Travel

“For the past 35 years I have been a world traveler. In June, 2008 I made my first trip to Bhutan with my friend Mollie and her daughter Hanley. Our tour was simply one of my best travel experiences. Our guide, Kelzang, was a gracious and knowledgeable cultural ambassador, making our visit special and intriguing. Kelzang customized our trip to include adventurous day hikes into the Himalayas, where we trekked to secluded dzongs and monasteries.

Our tour was infused with an introduction to Buddhist philosophy and traditions. On the summit of sacred sites, we hung our prayer flags, carrying our intentions via wind horses to the heavens, we offered butter lamps at Tigers Nest and rolled dice to consult our future dreams with the head monk at a 13th century monastery.

It was simply a magical spiritual sojourn that exceeded my expectations! Thank you Kelzang for making our visit to Bhutan an exciting and welcoming experience."

Maria Miller
Professor, Palomar College
email

A most beautiful experience... Our wonderful visit to Bhutan was greatly enhanced by having Kelzang with us. There is so much he provided - a thoughtful and customized itinerary, his warm and endearing personality, his best effort to meet our every need. What a blessing for us to have gotten to know him - if only a little.

Thank you, Kelzang, for creating a trip that exceeded even our imaginations.

Kevin and Lisa - email

Kelzang, Susanne and Barry, above Paro

"With our deep interest in Buddhism, my wife and I were planning to make a spiritual pilgrimage to Bhutan and were looking for a tour company that would be able to focus on this aspect of the country. We found Kelzang's website, and after a couple of email exchanges, we knew that Kelzang would listen to our interests and put the most suitable trip together. From hiking to sacred sites, to hanging prayer flags, to visiting a festival in Bumthang, to arranging a personal puja, Kelzang planned it all with deep compassion and from his heart. Kelzang is an absolute jewel whose caring attention to our every wish was very much appreciated. His very comfortable and solid 4 wheel drive vehicle was matched by his careful and professional driving skills. We always felt save and in good hands. What really made our trip, however, was Kelzang's anticipation of our needs and his unmatched access to sacred places including monasteries, temples, and religious sites. Our trip far exceeded all our expectations and we returned with unforgettable memories. We want to go back soon and when we do, we will be traveling with Kelzang and Amitabha Tours.

Susanne and Barry - email

"Why join a prepackaged tour when you can customize your own personal journey of discovery in Bhutan? I brought an eclectic group of interests to my own Bhutan trip-specific historic sites I wanted to see, research questions I hoped to have answered, a desire to mountain bike, and so forth. Kelzang was always quick to respond to e-mail inquiries in the 6 months leading up to my arrival in Bhutan, so when I arrived, all arrangements were organized and even in the "monsoon" season of July, the weather was perfectly pleasant, even summer warm, and I was able to accomplish everything I had hoped to during my 9-day visit. Accommodations were always pleasant, and transport was in a meticulously maintained, comfortable Toyota Land Cruiser. I cannot recommend Kelzang Rinchen and Amitabha Tours & Treks highly enough. If you want a personal, first hand experience in Bhutan with a great team of professionals who will happily go the extra mile to make your visit a memorable one, look no further."

Bryan Phillips, Ph.D. - email
Himalayan Religions, University of Virginia

Amitabha Tours is a fantastic company to work with, especially for customized trips to Bhutan. Amitabha was very responsive to our requests, from itinerary to food, and provided an experience of a lifetime. We cannot recommend them higher.

Kevin and Lisa - email

Pedro and his travel friends hang prayer flags at Dochu La pass. Photo by Kelzang Rinchen

"Everybody knows it, but one has to see it and live it: Bhutan is a singular country in the world. After the trip one brings the tranquility and Buddhist chants of Bhutan back home. Amitabha is the ideal agency for one to abstract from everything and enjoy the experience."

Pedro Brum - email

"We were absolutely charmed with the experience Kelzang helped to provide for us in Bhutan! He listened carefully to our interests and shaped the trip as much as possible around them. For example, we discovered a greater interest in birding than we expected - the birds in Bhutan are great! Kelzang was fantastic at spotting birds and stopping the Land Cruiser in a quick, but safe manner so that we might look more closely at them. In addition to the rare Black-Necked cranes and White-bellied herons, we saw many other odd and colorful feathered beauties. The birds, of course, were only a small part of what was great about traveling in Bhutan!"
Brenda Brieske, USA

"We went to Bhutan expecting to be awed by the Buddhist temples and picturesque villages and peoples. We knew there would be hours of driving slowly over very narrow and winding mountain roads, and thought this would be something to be endured, not enjoyed. Instead, the driving turned out to be an added treat and a compliment to the stops. Kelzang's driving skills are far above excellent, he has taken it to the level of art. It was easy to ride with him, and the comfort of the travel allowed us to fully enjoy the ever changing panorama of natural and man-made splendor that is Bhutan."
Mark Wiard, Colorado United States - email

“A mountain-wrapped city of 55,000 along the banks of a river, Thimphu is the only national capital on earth without a traffic light.”
Outside Magazine

Kelzang in the Tang Valley Bumthang

“Kelzang (founder of Amitabha tours) is one of the nicest people I've met.  His desire to show people the finer points of Bhutan, is unmatched.  He also has a great ability to explain the Buddhist aspects of the culture and make them easily understandable.” 
Nathan Ward, freelance writer, USA

“At our approach, a musk deer bolted in front of our car before disappearing into the thick brush. Minutes later, a Himalayan black bear cub sprinted across the road in hot pursuit of its mother.  In the next two weeks, we saw more unique animals than we thought possible:  spotted leopard, wild boar, rufous-necked hornbill, red panda, barking deer and black-necked cranes, nearly all of which are endangered throughout the Himalayas.” 
Lifestyle + Travel Magazine

“In 1972, concerned about the problems afflicting other developing countries that focused only on economic growth, Bhutan’s newly crowned leader, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, decided to make his nation’s priority not its G.D.P. but its G.N.H. or Gross National Happiness.” 
New York Times

Contact Amitabha for more information.