Lunch at Karma's Coffee

Karma's Coffee
Lunch: $ included
Wifi: Yes
★★★☆☆

The first meal we had in Bhutan is at Karma's Coffee.  According to the comments at tripadvisor, many travellers recommend this Coffee Shop at Thimphu.  Therefore, I asked our guide to bring us there for lunch.  It was about 3 min walk from our hotel, Hotel Phuntsho Pelri.

  

Karma's Coffee offers different kinds of coffee: regular, espresso, latte, cappuccino.  I ordered Cafe Mocha and Spagetti Carbonara.  My friend ordered soup and Spagetti Bolognese. 

After waiting for about 15 minutes, the food was ready.  The Mocha was really good.   However, I think the Carbonara sauce was too thick and salty.  The spagetti was not hot enough. 

Oh!  By the way, my guide told me an interesting thing about Karma's Coffee.  The phone number of Karma's Coffee is 17-18-19-20.



Incredible Lunch at Amankora Punakha

Amankora Punakha
Lunch: US$30-45
★★★★★

Having lunch at Amankora Punakha is our special request.  Honestly, $1300 per night is way far from our budget.  So, the cheapest way to visit this hotel is to have lunch over there. Lunch is around US$35-40 per person.  Reasonable price for fresh organic vegetables and excellent food.

When we arrived the hotel building by golf cart from the bridge, we were greeted at the patio by the Chef, Ben.  Welcome drinks were served.  Then, we were led into restaurant.

Freshly made bread & welcome drink.

First, we have ordered a dish of green salad to share.

I ordered Fish Sandwich with fries.  I was so surprised with this dish.  The sauce was extremely good.  I couldnt feel any oily of the fried fish.

My friend ordered Burger with fries.  The burger is juicy and not over-cooked.

I was told that most of the vegetables and fruits are grown in the property.  I found an Avocado tree in the courtyard outside the main building.

Bhutan Nature

Beautiful Flowers in Summer

Copyright 2011 citrus b. All rights reserved.

Amankora Punakha

 Amankora Punakha

Golf Cart from Amankora

Amankora Twin Bedroom

Bathroom

Outdoor Patio

Yoga Room

Main Building

Gangtey Palace

Gangtey Palace
Paro
http://www.gangteypalace.net/

Wifi / Yes
Fridge/ No
Kettle/ No
Heater/ Yes
TV/ No
Hot Water/ OK

- 2 storeys stone building, every traditional
- spectacular view, look out of Paro city
- a beautiful deck for coffee/tea
- it has wifi signal everywhere, but no connection to Internet
- there is a computer room (3 desktop computers) with Internet Access
- dinner is OK (Indian, Chinese, Bhutanese, Continential => curry, vege, yak meat, fried potato)
- mattress is OK (not too hard, not too soft)
- hot water is just OK, water pressure is good
- a beautiful courtyard in the middle with 2 round tables for chatting or relaxing
- local newspaper @ the reception (Bhutan Today & Kunesel)
- could hear dog barks, but no need earplug when sleeping)

Dochu La Resort

Dochu La Resort
Punakha

Wifi / No
Fridge/ No
Kettle/ No
Heater/ Yes, 2
TV/ No
Hot Water/ Good

- spectacular view on the top of the mountain
- has binocular on 2/F to have a panoramic view the Himalayas
- rooms are spacious with all solid woods around (feel like sleeping in a sauna room :-p)
- mattress is soft (I prefer hard)
- shower & bath tub inside the bathroom
- towels are little bit dirty
- water pressure is good, lots of hot water supply
- there is a heater in the bathroom as well (feel cold even in summer as it's 3150m high)
- wonderful breakfast (omelette, Bhutan style congee, yak meat, honey)
- dinner is just OK (vege, yak meat, fried fish which is very hard to bite)
- service is excellent, staffs are friendly
- manger is very kind & helpful
- many bugs, flies, and moths coming into the room
- dogs bark at late night and early morning

** We are very lucky that the night we stayed there, we met a group of monks and lama (one of the 4 highest monks in Bhutan).  Coz on the next day, there is a purification ceremony of a very big tongkha at Dochula.

Meri Puensum Resort

Meri Puensum Resort

Punakha

Wifi /Yes (near restaurant / patio)

Fridge/ No

Kettle/ Yes

Heater/ No

TV/ Yes

Hot Water/ OK

- 2.5 stars hotel

- king size bed with very hard mattress (but I like hard mattress)

- bathroom is just OK

- no heat inside the room (maybe cold if you come in winter)

- have a great outdoor patio overlook terraced field

- hear dog barking at night and in the morning

- 32 TV channels (NHK world, Arirang Anime, National Geographic, ESPN, BBC World, HBO, etc)

- buffet style dinner at the restaurant (one dish is gone when we started our dinner at 7pm)

- Samsung Air Con in the restaurant