Where shall I take a break?
 

Hi,

I have made reservations for the OAT Nepal/India with pre trip to Bhutan.

The Jet Airways flight goes from JFK to Brussels to Delhi and finally to Paro and we will visit Paro Dzong in the afternoon.(This takes care of day 1-3 of the itinerary)

The next afternoon, we go to Tiger's Nest (a 90 minute climb)

Will it help if I stay overnight in Brussels? Or will it be better to stay an extra day in Delhi?

I need to rest before I tackle this itinerary.

Anybody with experience on this flight schedule?

Thanks

For your information,

I called OAT and they said we will spend the night in New Delhi before flying to Paro.

The flight from the US/Brussels arrives at 9:40 pm in Delhi and the flight to Paro leaves at 7 am the next day.

Yes, I was a little confused by your message. Also Jet does not fly to Bhutan. I believe you will be taking Druk Air from Delhi. I think your decision is kind of being made for you by the Druk Air schedule, see http://www.drukair.com.bt. I don’t see any point in staying overnight in Brussels as you will already have to stay overnight in Delhi. (I also don’t think that an overnight in Brussels is going to do anything but make you more tired.) Your option seems to be whether you want to arrive a day earlier and spend another night in Delhi to rest. That is not necessarily a bad idea, my suggestion would be that you stay at an airport hotel (preferably the Trident Gurgaon if you have the budget for it, see http://www.tridenthotels.com/gurgaon/index.asp
but there are a few others which are OK) and not try to stay in Delhi, which is quite far from the airport, nor do any sightseeing in Delhi which would interfere with the whole resting concept.

The other way to do this would be to <i>get to Paro a day early</i> and rest there. You still have to overnight in Delhi (an airport hotel), but you would have about a day and a half where you would not have to move, which may be a welcome thing. If this were my trip, that is how I would do it. (If your trip is before the end of March there is also a Druck Air flight which departs Delhi at 9 am which would give you a little bit more of a lie-in in Delhi. The 7 am departure means you have to be at the Delhi airport at about 5:30 am. Even staying at an airport hotel, this is an early morning indeed and esp after just arriving the night before).

I thought your Bhutan trip was departing from Bangkok?

Spend an EXTRA night in Delhi if you really want to sleep.

With your current schedule, you PLANE arrives at 9:40, but you might not get to your hotel until 11:30pm or so and then up a few hours later to make a 7am departure? You won't really sleep at all without a one day extension.

Don't stay over in Brussels. Waste of time and it won't help you to be rested for Bhutan.

Hi,

Thank you for your replies. I am still talking with OAT for two reasons: 1) I would like some representative to meet me at the Delhi airport if I arrive one night earlier and 2) this travel schedule must affect everybody taking the pre-trip extension. So, what were they thinking?

Of course, I always have the option to take the rest in Paro and skip some of the OAT planned activities. After all, how many dzongs can I see and then tell the difference 5 years later? Lol.

Thanks.

If you overnight in Delhi, you do not need an OAT rep to meet you, just arrange for an airport car to meet you. Even a pre-paid taxi is fine if you want to save a little money (which you can arrange at the counter at the airport just after baggage claim/Customs). Delhi is very safe, it is just easier overall to have the hotel car arranged (or use the pre-paid taxi) so you don’t have to charge out bleary-eyed with jet lag into the crowds and wait in a taxi line.

My wife and I are book for OAT Bhutan/India in October. We fly to London and then to Kolkata and have an overnight there. We fly Druk air, the only airline I have heard of that flies in to Paro. From what I have heard, the flight is pretty techinical manuvering around the mountains and Druk is the only one that can make the trip, at least that is my understanding.

Stainless

Druk, the national airline of Bhutan is the only airline allowed to fly into Bhutan.