Shopping
The stores only accept Ngultrum and maybe the Indian Rupee, so be sure to have some on hand if you want to go shopping anywhere in Bhutan, especially outside the capital city of Thimpu.
Shopping in Bhutan can be very simple if you can speak the English language or if you have your tour guide helping you. Most of the store keepers will have enough English to be able to tell you the prices of things when you ask and answer any simple questions. One difficult thing though, many of the shops do not have price tags attached to most of their items, which means in order to learn the price you either have to ask the store clerk or just purchase it and hope that it is not expensive.
There are many tourist shops that charge very high prices. We were lucky that our tour guide showed us some shops that were not "tourist traps" and so we were able to buy many souvenirs at good prices. If you are not sure if the shop you are looking through has good prices, ask your tour guide afterward to take you to a store that he would recommend to avoid paying tourist prices.
There are not any chain stores in Bhutan, so everything is unique and spread out. Sometimes you might find a book store nestled between a butchers shop and a video game arcade. You either have to explore the area yourself to find what you are looking for or ask around for whatever you need. The types of stores range greatly, from traditional Bhutanese clothing stores to internet cafes. Video games are available in Bhutan, but not usually for home use, instead they can be played in arcades where computers and game systems are available to play for low prices. We played a soccer game at an arcade for over an hour, and the cost came out to 40 Ngultrum.
Shopping in Bhutan can be very simple if you can speak the English language or if you have your tour guide helping you. Most of the store keepers will have enough English to be able to tell you the prices of things when you ask and answer any simple questions. One difficult thing though, many of the shops do not have price tags attached to most of their items, which means in order to learn the price you either have to ask the store clerk or just purchase it and hope that it is not expensive.
There are many tourist shops that charge very high prices. We were lucky that our tour guide showed us some shops that were not "tourist traps" and so we were able to buy many souvenirs at good prices. If you are not sure if the shop you are looking through has good prices, ask your tour guide afterward to take you to a store that he would recommend to avoid paying tourist prices.
There are not any chain stores in Bhutan, so everything is unique and spread out. Sometimes you might find a book store nestled between a butchers shop and a video game arcade. You either have to explore the area yourself to find what you are looking for or ask around for whatever you need. The types of stores range greatly, from traditional Bhutanese clothing stores to internet cafes. Video games are available in Bhutan, but not usually for home use, instead they can be played in arcades where computers and game systems are available to play for low prices. We played a soccer game at an arcade for over an hour, and the cost came out to 40 Ngultrum.