1. Who these terms come from
These terms are issued by Glide Into Happiness Tour & Travel, a tour operator licensed by the Department of Tourism, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Employment, Royal Government of Bhutan, under licence number 1054820. The licence record can be checked on the Bhutan Tourism Services Portal at services.bhutan.travel.
They follow the Tourism Rules and Regulations 2024 and the Tourism Levy Act of Bhutan 2022. Where a clause below conflicts with Bhutanese law, the law applies.
These terms, the itinerary we confirm in writing and the invoice we issue together form the agreement between you and us.
2. How a booking is formed
- You send an enquiry through this website, by email or on WhatsApp. An enquiry is not a booking and does not reserve lodges, guides or festival seating.
- We reply with a written day by day itinerary, the services included, the lodge tiers available and one fixed price per person.
- The agreement begins when you accept that written itinerary and we receive the first payment shown on the invoice.
- No payment is taken on this website. We never ask for card details by email or WhatsApp, and we never ask you to pay a personal account.
- Until we confirm in writing, no date, price or service is held.
3. Prices and government fees
- Published prices are per person, based on two people sharing a twin room, in United States dollars. Guests travelling on an Indian passport are quoted in Indian rupees where that is clearer.
- The price covers the services listed in the confirmed itinerary. It is fixed for that itinerary and does not move with exchange rates.
- The Sustainable Development Fee and the visa fee are government charges. They are shown separately on the invoice at the rate in force when we confirm your journey. They are paid to the Royal Government of Bhutan and are not our revenue.
- If the Royal Government changes the Sustainable Development Fee, the visa fee or a monument entry fee before you travel, we show the difference on a revised invoice at cost, with no mark-up.
- International flights, travel insurance, drinks, tips, laundry, personal spending, optional activities and anything marked as excluded on the itinerary are not included.
- A single supplement applies where you ask for a room to yourself. We confirm it in writing before you pay.
4. Paying us
- We invoice in United States dollars by bank transfer to the account named on the invoice, held in Bhutan in the company name. The Tourism Rules and Regulations 2024 require a licensed operator to receive payment into a current account, known locally as a CD account, held with a Bhutanese bank.
- We confirm the payment schedule in writing with your itinerary. It usually holds a first instalment to secure lodges and festival seating, with the balance, the Sustainable Development Fee and the visa fee due before we file your visa, because the Department of Immigration processes the visa once the fee is settled.
- Bank charges at your end and any correspondent bank charges are borne by the sender. Where we refund you, the transfer charge is deducted from the refund, as provided in section 44 of the Tourism Rules and Regulations 2024.
- We issue a receipt for every payment received.
5. Visas, permits and entry
- Most visitors need a visa. We apply on your behalf through the Department of Immigration once payment has cleared, and we send you the approval letter before you fly.
- Indian passport holders travel on an entry permit and pay the regional Sustainable Development Fee. We prepare the permit application with you.
- We need a clear passport scan valid for at least six months beyond your departure, a recent photograph, your arrival and departure flight details and the information the Department of Immigration requires.
- Restricted and prohibited areas, and trekking routes, need permits issued by the relevant agency. We arrange them where your itinerary includes those places, and we provide a licensed trekking guide and the safety equipment the rules require.
- Visa approval and entry rest with the Department of Immigration and the Royal Government of Bhutan. We cannot guarantee approval and we do not control processing times.
- You are responsible for holding a valid passport, any visa you need for a country you transit, and for meeting the health requirements that apply to you.
6. Guides, vehicles and accommodation
- One licensed Bhutanese guide travels with every vehicle. A second guide is added for groups above twelve guests, as the 2024 rules require.
- Accommodation is in hotels and lodges certified by the Department of Tourism. Where we promise a named lodge and it cannot take you, we move you to a property of equal or higher standard and tell you before you travel.
- Vehicles and drivers are licensed by the Bhutan Construction and Transport Authority.
- Trekking groups travel with a licensed trekking guide, camp at designated campsites and carry the safety and communication equipment the rules require.
7. Changes you ask for
- Before we confirm, changes are free. We revise the plan until the route fits.
- After confirmation, changes depend on lodge, guide and flight availability. We tell you the effect on price before we apply a change.
- If you move your dates rather than cancel, we carry payments already received to the new dates where the suppliers allow it, with no fee from us. Any supplier charge is shown to you first.
- A change of date within thirty days of arrival may be treated as a cancellation by a lodge or an airline. We tell you when that applies before you decide.
8. If you cancel
- Send cancellation in writing by email. The date we receive it is the date we apply.
- The cancellation windows published on our cancellation policy page form part of these terms.
- Unused Sustainable Development Fee nights are refunded under the government rules. The visa fee is not refundable once the visa has been processed.
- Refunds are paid to the account the payment came from, within fourteen working days of the cancellation being confirmed in writing.
- If you leave a journey after it has started, or do not use a service you booked, we refund only what we can recover from suppliers.
9. If we cancel, or a service falls short
- If we cancel your journey, you receive a full refund of the amounts you paid us, as section 39 of the 2024 rules requires.
- If a service is not delivered as agreed, tell your guide or our team at once so it can be put right the same day.
- If it is not put right, section 36 of the rules allows you to claim reimbursement of necessary expenses, to accept a fair reduction in price for the part not delivered, or to end the arrangement without paying a cancellation fee.
- We are not liable where the shortfall is caused by your own act, by a third party unconnected with the services, or by unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, as provided in section 37.
10. Force majeure
- Weather, road closure, landslide, domestic or international flight disruption, natural disaster, strike, civil order, government restriction or a public health emergency can change a journey at short notice.
- Where such an event occurs we offer one of the following, as section 42 of the rules provides: new dates without an additional charge, a full refund of the agreed service cost where the event happens four or more days before the service, or an eighty per cent refund where it happens within three days.
- Drukair and Bhutan Airlines are independent carriers. Their conditions of carriage apply to their flights, and we help you rebook and reprioritise the itinerary.
- We do not charge a fee of our own for a change forced by such an event.
11. Insurance, health and altitude
- Travel insurance is no longer a condition of entry to Bhutan, but we ask every guest to travel covered. Cover should include inpatient medical treatment, evacuation from above 3,000 metres and delay to a Paro flight.
- Tell us at enquiry stage about any medical condition, pregnancy, recent surgery, mobility requirement or dietary need that affects the plan. We plan around it and brief the guide.
- Valley floors sit between 1,200 and 2,600 metres and road passes reach 3,100 to 3,900 metres. Routes climb gradually, and your guide will adjust the day if altitude affects you.
- A guest under eighteen may trek only with a parent or guardian, or with that guardian's written permission, as section 51 of the rules requires.
12. Conduct, culture and the environment
- Bhutanese law applies to you during your stay. Smoking in public places, drugs and the export of protected antiques are offences.
- Remove shoes and hats in shrine rooms, walk clockwise around chortens, dress modestly in dzongs and ask before photographing people or rituals.
- Do not enter prohibited or restricted areas without the permit we have arranged. Your guide will not take a group into such an area.
- Trekking groups camp only at designated campsites and carry out non-biodegradable waste, as sections 52 to 54 of the rules require.
- Your guide may end an activity, or your participation in it, where it puts the group or the guide at risk or breaks Bhutanese law. Costs already committed in that case are not refundable.
13. Flights, luggage and independent services
- International flights are booked by you unless we agree otherwise in writing. Where we hold a ticket for you, the airline conditions apply.
- Luggage is carried within the capacity of the vehicle. Tell us in advance about excess luggage, bicycles, trekking duffels or equipment.
- Hotels, airlines, restaurants and activity providers are independent businesses. Their own terms apply to their services, and we pass on any claim you have against them.
14. Our liability
- We are responsible for the services we contract to provide. Our liability for a claim is limited to the total land price you paid us, except where Bhutanese law provides otherwise.
- We are not liable for loss of valuables left unattended, for a flight you miss for reasons outside our arrangements, or for services you book independently of us.
- Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or any liability that cannot be limited by law.
15. Complaints and dispute resolution
- Raise the issue with your guide or our team while you are in Bhutan. Most problems are settled the same day.
- If it is not settled, write to us within thirty days of your return with the dates, the services concerned and what you are asking for. We reply in writing within fourteen working days.
- If we cannot agree, you may refer the matter to the Department of Tourism, Thimphu, which regulates licensed operators and can facilitate resolution of a cancellation or refund dispute, as provided in section 41 of the 2024 rules.
- Nothing in these terms removes a right you have under the Consumer Protection Act of Bhutan 2012.
- These terms are governed by the laws of Bhutan, and the courts of Bhutan have jurisdiction.
16. Your data
- We handle your personal data as described in our privacy policy, which forms part of these terms.
- We share your data only with the suppliers and authorities needed to deliver the journey, and with no one else except where the law requires it.
17. Changes to these terms
- We may update these terms as regulations or our own practice change. The version in force on the date we confirm your journey is the one that applies to it.
- If a clause is found to be unenforceable, the remaining clauses continue to apply.
- The English version of these terms is the governing text.