About RAYS VACATION
RAYS VACATION, LLC., was established in September 2014 by four individuals hailing from diverse professional backgrounds but unified by their shared passion for travel and leisure. During a gathering at a friend’s residence, they pooled their unique skill sets to breathe life into a vision that is reshaping the essence of vacationing. At RAYS, travel experiences are tailored, structured, and imbued with a sense of tranquility, redefining the essence of travel and vacationing.
Rays Vacation has earned renowned for its meticulously crafted tours and customized vacation packages tailored to individuals, couples, and groups of varying sizes. Our offerings showcase the breathtaking landscapes, rich cultures, distinctive customs, exhilarating treks, and adventures spanning Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Tibet.
With a plethora of options available, Rays Vacation caters to every budget and comfort level, ensuring an experience that resonates with each traveler’s preferences. Our commitment to flexibility allows travelers the freedom to veer off the beaten path and immerse themselves in local cultures and hidden gems. Our team of expert, nationally licensed tour guides go the extra mile to ensure that every tour is not just memorable but truly enriching.
The Rays Team: Meet the team that makes it possible.
Ram K Pradhan (Õser)
CEO & Founder
As an enthusiastic traveler and tour organizer, I have had extensive experience guiding both cultural and trekking tours at Wind Horse in Bhutan for over a decade. During that time, I have trekked almost all trek routes in Bhutan, including the ‘Snowman Trek’, regarded and listed as one of the most difficult treks in the Himalayas. At Rays Vacation, I oversee marketing opportunities, sales, policy, and planning.
As the founder of the company and a vivid photographer, I speak a few languages and have lived in California, USA, since 2014, where I am excited about a newly adopted life. Hiking, biking, camping, gardening, and sport fishing are my primary hobbies. I love oil painting and pencil sketching.
I travel often and have traveled to more than twenty countries worldwide. As a native of Bhutan, my passion, wealth of travel knowledge, and personal experience make me an invaluable resource when planning a trip to Bhutan, India, Nepal, or Tibet.
Bikash Rai
Software Architect, Engineer
Traveling isn’t just an activity for me; it’s an intrinsic part of who I am. I possess a profound passion for exploration and experiencing the beauty our world has to offer. While I haven’t traversed every corner of the globe yet, I eagerly anticipate doing so. My decades of experience and honed skills in travel inspire me to create a platform where fellow travelers can fulfill their desires with comfort and ease.
Software engineering is undeniably captivating; it begins with mere thoughts, imagination, or abstract concepts. From a blank canvas, we craft solutions that address users’ challenges, ultimately bringing about positive impacts on millions of lives. Witnessing the transformative effect of the code I write fuels my happiness. With Ray’s Vacation, I embark on a journey driven by these principles, laying down a robust technological roadmap for global travelers.
As a seasoned software architect and engineer, I’ve dedicated 17 years to the tech industry. While I oversee engineering teams, I remain deeply involved in coding—a source of immense satisfaction for me. Beyond technology, I find joy in biking, hiking, camping, and motorcycle riding. If you spot a fellow biker extending a friendly wave on the road, that could very well be me.
Phurba Dorji Tamang
CMO & Partner (Bhutan)
Throughout my career, I underwent rigorous training in tour and travel office management at a prestigious tour company in Bhutan, accumulating fifteen years of invaluable experience. I pride myself on extensive expertise in tour management, having guided esteemed travelers from around the globe through Bhutan, Nepal, India, and Tibet. During these journeys, I had the privilege of leading guests on field trips, unveiling Bhutan’s unspoiled natural beauty, rich cultural tapestry, vibrant festival rituals, and mesmerizing ceremonial dances.
I’ve traversed numerous treks, spanning from moderate to challenging routes, amidst rustic landscapes adorned with clear streams and rivers, offering trekkers and travelers rejuvenating, pure air to breathe. Additionally, Nepal and North-Eastern India feature prominently on my list of guided destinations, providing travelers with the option to explore multiple locales within a single tour or focus on a specific destination.
Designing, planning, and executing impeccably serene tour programs for our guests is both my responsibility and passion. My track record speaks volumes about my commitment to delivering exceptional experiences time and again. At Ray’s Vacation, I bring forth a wealth of knowledge and experience cultivated during my tenure with ‘Druk Peaceful Holidays,’ my own travel company. Tours organized by ‘Druk Peaceful Holidays’ fall under the umbrella of our parent company, Ray’s Vacation.
Equipped with the latest tour and travel information for Bhutan, Nepal, India, and Tibet, I leverage my extensive experience and knowledge to ensure that every vacation, holiday, and tour becomes a cherished memory for our esteemed guests.
Budha Gurung
COO & Partner (Bhutan)
Being passionate about culture, meeting people from all over the globe, and choosing to work in travel and tourism led me to choose my profession as well as it gets. I have been performing my passion for the last two decades, leading solo-to-small-to-large tour groups and showing our unique cultural sites and untrodden Himalayan trails and treks. My passion is where it got started.
Before joining as a managing partner at Rays Vacation, I had vast experience guiding and showing visitors from prior companies like Wind Horse, Inter Trek, Bhutan Tourism Corporation, and Mandala, to name a few. And, with Dragon Trekkers, I have gained a great deal of experience in operations and managing where I set up my base.
Then came Bhutan Depth Tours, which I own and have now officially merged with Rays Vacation as a parent travel company with a group of experts from the USA, Nepal, and Bhutan. Any tour operations that arise from Bhutan Depth Tours will be handled and operated by Rays Vacation.
Besides guiding in the English language, I was also trained in the Mandarin language in 2014–2015 and guided several Mandarin tour groups thereafter.
With Rays, I put my evergreen passion to work as a managing partner, am enthusiastic to work with my co-partners, and make Rays a successful entity. I am responsible for overseeing the company’s operations, leading tour groups, and making each client peacefully happy in the land of the Thunder Dragon.