We went on a tour with Firefox Tours in Bhutan in May 2019, took a program for four nights. The reality was high above our expectations! Everything was perfect. All the members of the firefoxtours team were so professional, friendly and helpful. The trip went really well, and I totally recommend this agency if you are planning your trip to Bhutan.
The long version:
As the only way to get to Bhutan is via a travel agency, we鈥檝e surfed the internet and randomly found Firefox Tours. I texted them, and Michael got in touch with me. He sent the description of the program, prices, terms, etc. There were few reviews about this company, so we were rather nervous about sending the prepayment and about how everything would be. So we鈥檝e made a prepayment around 4-5 months in advance. There were some problems with the bank (it turned out actually to be a problem on the side of our bank as they first sent the money through the wrong correspondence bank), but Michael was always in touch and helped to deal with the bank. Finally, the funds reached the account.
So after a few months we finally started our trip. We had a direct flight from Moscow to Dheli on Aeroflot and then supposed to take a flight to Paro. The second flight was booked via Firefox.
On the day of the departure it turned out that Aeroflot had changed the route (because of the war in Pakistan) and hence the timing of the flight, so instead of ~5 hours the flight took ~7, and instead of having 3,5 hours to make the transfer we had only around 1-1,5. We were missing our flight to Bhutan! Aeroflot just didn鈥檛 inform anyone about this, so many people knew this only when we already were in the air.
We learned it a few hours before the flight, so I鈥檝e called Michael. He replied right away, got in touch via WhatsApp, asked not to panic and started to offer the options. So there were no other flights the same day, and there were no seats available the next day for 2 of us either. I was scared that my dream to get to Bhutan will disappear!!! But Michael was so helpful!!! He said not to panic and found the best solution for us.
So, though we ran as fast as we could, we鈥檝e been waiting for the luggage for too long, and when we came to the counter of Drukair, it was already closed. We had had passed the online registration and had the boarding passes printed, but it turned out that they are not valid without authorization from the registration counter and you must be there no later than 1 hour before departure. We were late, maybe 5-10 minutes but late and they didn鈥檛 allow us to check in. Some people from our flight were actually lucky, and they let them in, but not us. But what to do!
Michael suggested a great option. We bought another ticket to the Indian town called Bagdogra (the flight was just in about 1,5 hours), took a taxi from there to the border (around 3,5-4 hours) where our guide was waiting for us with the driver. So they met us, helped to pass the border and took us to the hotel (the way from the border took around 3,5-4 hours also)
We arrived to Bhutan same day as planned, much later but still, very tired but so happy!
The next days went great. We had a thoroughly planned excursion in a few towns, visited all the main places of interest and made a couple of short treks. We didn鈥檛 miss anything from the program even though we came later: Firefox made all the necessary changes in terms of timing. The guide called Dawa was awesome! Such a nice person and a very professional guide, speaking fluent English.
I won鈥檛 tell all the details about the trip, in order not to spoil, but it was definitely one of the best in my life! Bhutan is amazing, and thanks to Firefox and its team our dream came true. The tour was full of wonderful and remarkable moments. I鈥檓 so thankful to Michael, Dawa (the guide), Dawa (the owner) and to the driver (sorry I forgot the name), and I really recommend this travel agency to everyone who is planning their trip to Bhutan!!!