Terms & Conditions

These are the terms on which Evergreen Travels arranges and operates tours in Bhutan. They apply from the moment you confirm a booking with us. We have tried to write them the way we talk to you on WhatsApp, in plain sentences, because terms nobody can read protect nobody. Last updated September 2026.

1. Who we are

   Evergreen Travels is a licensed tour operator registered in India under Udyam UDYAM-WB-01-0036452, operating from Trevenitoll Main Road, NS Road, Jaigaon, Alipurduar, West Bengal 736182. In these terms “we” and “us” mean Evergreen Travels; “you” means the person making the booking and everyone travelling on it.

2. Enquiries and quotations

   Nothing you send us through the website, email or WhatsApp creates a booking. We reply with a written itinerary and a written cost. A quotation holds for fourteen days from the date we send it; after that we may need to re-quote, usually because hotel or airfare rates have moved.

   Quoted prices are per person and assume the group size stated in the quotation. If the number of travellers changes, the per-person cost changes with it.

3. What the price includes

   Unless your written itinerary says otherwise, your tour cost covers accommodation in 3-star and above hotel rooms on the stated sharing basis, meals as listed, a licensed English-speaking Bhutanese guide, private transport for the whole route with driver and fuel, entry fees to the monuments in the itinerary, and the Sustainable Development Fee and visa processing described below.

   It does not cover international or domestic airfare unless we have quoted it explicitly, travel insurance, personal expenses, alcohol, tips, laundry, anything of a personal nature, or costs arising from delays outside our control.

4. Sustainable Development Fee and permits

   The Royal Government of Bhutan levies a Sustainable Development Fee per person per night. Where we have quoted it as part of your package, the amount is shown separately on your itinerary so you can see exactly what goes to the government and what goes to the trip. If the Government revises the fee, the visa rules or the permit system after you have booked, the revised amount applies and we will pass it on at cost with the notification in writing.

   We apply for your Bhutan visa and route permits on your behalf. You are responsible for giving us accurate passport details in time; a permit refused because of incorrect or late information is not something we can refund.

5. Confirming your booking

   A booking is confirmed when you tell us in writing that you accept the itinerary and cost, and the first instalment reaches us. At that point we hold your hotels, guide and vehicle in your name, and this agreement takes effect.

6. How payment is spread

   Payment for your tour is made in advance, and we split it into three parts so that no single instalment lands heavily. It runs as follows:

   1. 60% upon confirmation of the tour plan.
   2. 25% one week before the start date of the tour.
   3. 15% on arrival.

   The first instalment is what lets us hold rooms and permits in your name, which is why it is the larger share. Bank charges and currency conversion costs on transfers to us are yours; please send the full invoiced amount net of them. Where an instalment is not received by its due date we may release the held services, and the cancellation terms below then apply.

7. Changing your tour after booking

   We would rather adjust a trip than have you travel on a plan that no longer suits you, so ask us early and we will do what we can.

   Changes to a tour package — lengthening or shortening the number of days — must be informed to us before the tour begins. Where days are shortened without that prior notice, the package remains charged at the cost of the original, longer duration, because the rooms, guide and vehicle for those days have already been committed on your behalf and cannot be released at that stage.

   Any lengthening or shortening is in every case subject to the availability of hotel accommodation, transport and permits on the revised dates. Where a change increases the cost, the difference is payable before the revised itinerary is confirmed.

8. If you need to cancel

   Cancellations must reach us in writing. What we can return depends on how much of your trip we have already paid out to hotels, transport operators and the Government, and we will always show you that breakdown rather than quote a flat figure.

   As a general guide: more than 30 days before departure, we retain what has already been committed and refund the balance; between 30 and 15 days, roughly half the tour cost is usually unrecoverable; inside 15 days, most of it is. Visa fees and the Sustainable Development Fee are refunded to the extent the Government refunds them to us, and no further. Refunds are made to the account the payment came from, within 21 working days of the amounts being confirmed.

   No-shows and unused services during the tour — a meal skipped, a night spent elsewhere, an excursion declined — are not refundable.

9. If we have to change or cancel

   Itineraries in Bhutan move for reasons nobody controls: weather closing a pass, a road block, a festival date shifting with the lunar calendar, a monastery closed for a ritual. Where a change is needed we will always offer an equivalent alternative of the same standard, arranged in country by your guide, at no extra cost to you.

   In the rare case that we must cancel a tour outright for a reason that is our doing, you receive a full refund of everything you have paid us. That refund is the limit of what we owe in those circumstances; it does not extend to your flights, visas for other countries, or other arrangements you made separately.

10. Circumstances beyond anyone's control

    We are not liable for failure to perform where the cause is outside our reasonable control: natural events, landslides and blocked roads, epidemics and public health orders, closure of borders or airspace, war or civil unrest, strikes, or acts of government including changes to Bhutan's entry rules. Where such an event stops a trip, we will pass back whatever our suppliers release to us and will not charge you a service fee on top.

11. Travel insurance

    Travel insurance is not included and we strongly recommend it. Cover should include medical treatment and emergency evacuation, which in Bhutan can mean a helicopter, along with cancellation and baggage. Some of the walks on our itineraries reach 3,000 to 4,000 metres, so check that your policy does not exclude them.

12. Health, fitness and altitude

    Most of our routes involve time above 2,000 metres, and several involve sustained walking — the Taktsang climb is roughly 900 metres of ascent. Tell us at the time of booking about any medical condition, mobility limit, dietary requirement or medication that affects how the trip should be built, and we will plan around it honestly, including telling you when something is not advisable. Your guide may modify or stop an activity where they judge it unsafe, and that judgement is final on the day.

13. Hotels, rooms and vehicles

    Hotels are Government-certified 3-star and above unless your itinerary names a different category. Where a named property becomes unavailable we substitute one of the same or better standard and tell you before you travel. Standard check-in and check-out times apply and early arrival does not guarantee an early room.

    Vehicles are allocated by group size — car, SUV or minibus — with a driver for the full route. Vehicles are not at your personal disposal outside the itinerary's running hours; extra use is arranged with your guide and charged at cost.

14. Conduct and local law

    Bhutan takes its dzongs, temples and dress codes seriously, and so do we. Shoulders and knees covered inside religious buildings, no photography where it is signed, no smoking in public places, and no removal of religious artefacts or plants. Where a traveller's behaviour puts others, our staff or our licence at risk, we may end their participation in the tour, and no refund is due in that case.

15. Photographs

    We occasionally use photographs taken during tours on our website and social media. If you would rather we did not use one you appear in, tell us and we will remove it, no explanation needed.

16. If something goes wrong

    Tell your guide at the time. Almost everything that can be fixed can only be fixed while you are still in the country. If it is not resolved there, write to us at Teamevergreentravels@gmail.com within 30 days of your return with the details and we will respond within 14 working days.

17. Your information

    What you send us is used to answer you and to run your booking, including passing passport details to the Tourism Council of Bhutan and to hotels as the permit process requires. It is not sold and it is not added to a mailing list you did not ask for. Our full privacy policy sets this out.

18. Governing law

    These terms are governed by the laws of India, and the courts at Alipurduar, West Bengal have jurisdiction over any dispute arising from them. Services delivered inside Bhutan remain subject to Bhutanese law and to the rules of the Department of Tourism.

19. Changes to these terms

    We may update this page as rules or our own practice change. The version that applies to your trip is the one in force on the day you confirmed your booking, and we will send it to you on request.

Questions about any of the above are welcome before you book, not after. Write to Teamevergreentravels@gmail.com or message us on WhatsApp.