Do's & Don'ts in Bhutan
Home / Do’s & Don’ts in Bhutan
Let's start with the Do's.
Be mindful of religious practices while visiting temples and monasteries.
- Always wear appropriate clothes that cover your body. It is disrespectful to wear skimpy outfits while visiting religious sites. Also, takeoff your hat and sunglasses while visiting the inner sanctum of the temple or monastery.
- Always use your right hand while offering or accepting something. It’s better to use both hands while receiving something.
- Walk clockwise while circumambulating churches or religious structures. Keep to the right and use your right hand while spinning prayer wheels.
- Buy handicrafts, but not antiques. Bhutan prohibits the export of any antiques. Only buy items that have been certified for sale and export.
- Keep an open mind and be ready to try out new experiences and foods to make your trip more memorable.
- Do ask people for permission before photographing them.
- Carry medications for altitude sickness, common cold, diarrhea, etc. Also, carry medication for motion sickness if you feel nauseous while riding on winding roads with many twists and turns.
- Inform your tour guide if you have any serious health issues or allergies so that he or she will know exactly what to do if there’s a medical emergency.
- Pack noise-cancellation earbuds with you. There are many stray dogs around Paro and Thimphuthat put up a ruckus during the night. The constant barking at night can disturb your sleep. Wearing noise-cancellation earbuds might ensure a quiet and relaxing sleep.
- Have an umbrella or raincoat with you if you are traveling during the rainy season. Not only during the monsoon season, you can expect scattered rainfall and thundershowers, even during the spring and autumn seasons.
- If you are planning to use your debit or credit card while traveling, make sure that the international transactions are activated on your bank card. But do keep in mind not all business establishments in Bhutan accept card payments. So you should always have some local currency with you while traveling.
- In remote towns and villages, there are hardly any ATMs or banks. So make sure you have local currency while traveling away from the cities.
Let's start with the Don'ts.
Do not try to explore the country on your own. Independent travel is banned in the country, and the government of Bhutan mandates that all tourists should travel with a government-licensed guide. This has been done to preserve the country’s fragile culture and ecosystem.
- Do not indulge in things or activities that could disturb the local setting or the cultural values of the Bhutanese people.
- Never use your finger to point at a religious structure. Either use your palm or gesture with your chin.
- Do not climb, set foot, or sit on mani stones, chortens, or stupas. These are religious structures, and touching them with your feet or any lower part of the body is considered sacrilegious and disrespectful.
- Don’t try to pet stray dogs.
- Do not roam around in the streets at night. There are stray dogs that roam around in packs in the towns and cities at night, and they might try to bite you.
- Do not try to climb mountains. Climbing or setting foot on the mountains is strictly prohibited, as the locals worship the mountains and regard them as guardian deities.
- Don’t smoke in public. Bhutan is the only country that has banned the production and sale of tobacco. Even though tourists are allowed to bring two hundred cigarettes when they enter Bhutan, smoking is only permitted in some private areas and is strictly banned in public places. If you wish to smoke, do so in spaces where smoking is allowed. You can ask your guide where you can smoke and where you cannot.
- Do not make fun of the phallic symbols, sacred Tantric paintings, or statues that are sexually explicit. These are part of the Buddhist traditions in Bhutan, and locals don’t appreciate it when their religion is mocked.
- Do not take photographs where photography and filming are strictly prohibited. Most religious places forbid filming and photography inside their premises, and tourists should abide by the rules.
- Do not wash dirty objects or throw trash in water bodies.
