Expedition - Rivers & Mountains of Bhutan

Travel insurance is compulsory for all our trips. We require that, at a minimum, you are covered for medical expenses including emergency repatriation. We strongly recommend that the policy also covers personal liability, cancellation, curtailment and loss of luggage and personal effects. When travelling on a trip, you won't be permitted to join the group until evidence of travel insurance and the insurance company's 24 hour emergency contact number has been seen by your leader. If you have credit card insurance your group leader will require details of the participating insurer/underwriter, the level of coverage, policy number and emergency contact number rather than the bank's name and credit card details. Please contact your bank for these details prior to arriving in-country. http://www.intrepidtravel.com/insurance.php

PLEASE NOTE: If you are flying in and out of Paro via India, please check what visa you need for India. If you plan to spend time travelling in India on your way to Bhutan (or vice versa), please be aware you will generally need a tourist visa (rather than a transit visa); and tourist visas currently need to have a gap of 2 months between visits. Please check the limitations on Indian visas if you plan to spend time in India on the way to Paro. Please also be aware that currently the maximum amount of time allowed for passenger transiting via an India airport for a connecting flight is 18 hours. Note that this information can change at any time and you will need to check this information for yourself. All nationalities require a visa for entry to Bhutan, except Indian nationals holding a valid Indian passport. Visas must be obtained in advance. We keep the following information up to date as much as possible, but rules do change. It is important that you check for yourself. You must provide Intrepid at the time of booking with your full name, sex, date of birth, nationality, passport number & date of issue / expiry, plus a scanned copy of your passport, your email address and a contact number for you when you are in Bhutan. If you have not booked flights to Bhutan with Intrepid, we will also require your flight details to finalise the visa process. Intrepid will then forward you the scanned copy of your Bhutan Group visa shortly prior to your trip start date. You must show the copy of your Bhutan Group visa at the check-in for your flight to Bhutan and on arrival at the immigration in Bhutan where you will have your Bhutan visa stamped into your passport. ADDITIONAL ACCOMMODATION Travel in Bhutan is strictly controlled and to do any independent travel outside of a group tour is extremely difficult and expensive to arrange. We provide a group visa for travellers on our tours in Bhutan, which stipulates that all travellers must arrive and depart on the same days that our tour program starts and finishes. For this reason we are generally not able to provide additional accommodation outside of our tour dates and advise all travellers to book flights in and out of Bhutan that correspond with the start and finish day of the tour. In the rare case that no flights are available and you need to arrive earlier or depart later we are only able to book additional accommodation for you in conjunction with a special individual visa which can add around AUD1000 to the cost of your tour, to be paid at the time of booking. All nationalities require a visa for Bhutan. Travellers can only enter Bhutan as part of a group visa. Independent visas are not issued. The cost of the visa is covered in our tour. At the time of booking, please provide Intrepid the following: - scanned colour copy of the photo page of your passport - full name - gender - date of birth - nationality  - passport number & date of issue / expiry, - travelling email address Intrepid can assist you with your flights into Bhutan. Please speak to your travel agent or reservations advisor. Alternatively both Druk Air and Air Bhutan take bookings directly on their websites. Please ensure that Peregrine has a copy of ALL your international flight details to assist with your booking and for your visa application.  Due to the nature of travel in Bhutan the group visa can only be submited once we have ALL travellers details. Failure to advise any of the information as above can slow the visa issue process and delay the group visa. Generally visas are issued within 5 days of departure and as close as 48 hours prior to travel into the country. If required we can send your group visa to your travelling email address. Please print this visa and carry with you at time of boarding your Bhutan flight. You must show the copy of your Bhutan Group visa at the check-in for your flight to Bhutan and on arrival at immigration in Bhutan where you will have your Bhutan visa stamped into your passport.