Bhutan: Paro, Punakha, Phobjikha, Trongsa and Bumthang

Arrive in Paro, on to Thimphu

Paro International Airport to Tachog Lhakhang and Chuzom, then Thimphu

• Lunch and welcome dinner
• Nuit : Thimphu
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Matin

Flights operate in daylight only and most land in the morning. Paro's own sights wait for the end of the trip, when we come back to it for two nights, so today we drive about an hour and a half east along the Paro Chhu to Thimphu, the capital, at about 2,300 m. On the way we stop at Tachog Lhakhang, where an iron chain bridge in the style of the 15th-century bridge-builder Thangtong Gyalpo crosses the river to a small temple, and at Chuzom, where the Paro and Thimphu rivers meet below three chortens.

Après-midi

After lunch in Thimphu and time to settle in, we walk to the National Memorial Chorten, built in 1974 for the third king, where older residents circle it and turn the prayer wheels in the late afternoon.

Soir

The group meets for a briefing on the route, then a welcome dinner.

Compris

• Pick-up at Paro International Airport (PBH)
• Tachog Lhakhang and its iron chain bridge
• Chuzom, the confluence of the Paro and Thimphu rivers
• Lunch in Thimphu
• National Memorial Chorten
• Welcome briefing and dinner

Thimphu, the capital

Buddha Dordenma, the Takin Preserve, the Folk Heritage Museum, Zorig Chusum and Tashichho Dzong

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Thimphu
• Environ 30 min de route

Soir

A full day in the capital, with the evening free. We start at Buddha Dordenma, the giant gilded Buddha on the ridge south of the city, while the morning light is on the valley, then drive up to the Motithang Takin Preserve, a fenced forest where Bhutan's national animal grazes, and on to the Sangaygang viewpoint by the broadcasting tower. Back in town, the Folk Heritage Museum is a restored three-storey farmhouse of rammed earth and timber, a good lesson in the rural life we see later in Phobjikha and Bumthang. On weekdays, when classes run, we visit the National Institute for Zorig Chusum, where students train in the thirteen traditional arts, from thangka painting to wood carving; from Friday to Sunday we walk the Centenary Farmers Market by the river instead. Lunch is in town. Late in the afternoon we visit Tashichho Dzong, which opens to visitors after office hours, as the monks and civil servants who share it finish their day. Dinner is your choice tonight, in the town with the widest choice of restaurants on the route.

Compris

• Buddha Dordenma (Buddha Point)
• Motithang Takin Preserve and the Sangaygang viewpoint
• Folk Heritage Museum
• National Institute for Zorig Chusum (weekdays) or the Centenary Farmers Market (Friday to Sunday)
• Tashichho Dzong after office hours

Over the Dochula Pass to Punakha

Thimphu to the Dochula Pass, Sopsokha and Chimi Lhakhang, then Punakha

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Punakha
• Environ 3 h de route

Matin

Cloud usually builds over the pass by late morning, so we leave Thimphu at 8 am to reach Dochula, at about 3,100 m, while the northern horizon is clearest. On a good day, most often in autumn and winter, the snow peaks of the high Himalaya line up beyond the 108 Druk Wangyal chortens on the saddle. There is time for tea and a walk among the chortens before the road drops through forest, about 1,900 m in all, into the warm Punakha valley, where rice terraces line the rivers at about 1,200 m.

Après-midi

Lunch is at a farm restaurant near Sopsokha. Then we walk about 20 to 30 minutes through the village and between terraced paddies to the low hill of Chimi Lhakhang, the temple built in 1499 for Drukpa Kunley, the Divine Madman, where couples still come for fertility blessings. We reach the hotel by mid-afternoon, and the rest of the day is free. The drive is about 75 km and two and a half to three hours.

Compris

• Dochula Pass and the 108 Druk Wangyal chortens
• Lunch near Sopsokha
• Walk through the rice fields to Chimi Lhakhang

Punakha Dzong and the valley

Punakha Dzong, the Punakha Suspension Bridge and Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Punakha
• Environ 1 h de route

Matin

The light on Punakha Dzong's whitewashed walls is best in the morning, so we cross the wooden cantilever bridge over the Mo Chhu soon after it opens to visitors. Built in 1637 to 1638 by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal where the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu rivers meet, it was the seat of government until the capital moved to Thimphu in the 1950s, and the central monk body still spends the winter here. Inside, the courtyards open one after another, and your guides explain the murals in the assembly hall; we allow about two hours. Then a short drive upriver to the Punakha Suspension Bridge, strung with prayer flags high over the Pho Chhu. The active option climbs about 45 minutes through rice fields to Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten for the view up the valley; the easy option drives to the Sangchhen Dorji Lhuendrup Nunnery on its ridge.

Après-midi

A picnic lunch by the river, then a free afternoon, the first of the trip, before tomorrow's climb into the high valleys.

Compris

• Punakha Dzong with your guides
• Punakha Suspension Bridge
• Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten or the Sangchhen Dorji Lhuendrup Nunnery
• Picnic lunch by the river

Up to the Phobjikha valley

Punakha to Wangdue Phodrang Dzong and the Lawa La, then Phobjikha (Gangtey)

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Phobjikha
• Environ 3 h de route

Après-midi

The drive is about 80 km and three hours, and we arrive for lunch. In the afternoon we visit the Black-necked Crane Information Centre, run by the Royal Society for Protection of Nature, where telescopes look out over the marsh. From about late October to February the cranes winter here after flying in from the Tibetan plateau; outside those months the valley is quiet farmland and the centre explains their story.

Soir

The evening is free in a valley with no town to speak of; Phobjikha is cold at night for much of the year, so bring a warm layer.

Compris

• Wangdue Phodrang Dzong
• Lunch in Phobjikha
• Black-necked Crane Information Centre

Gangtey Goemba and on to Trongsa

Gangtey Goemba and the Gangtey Nature Trail, then the Pele La and Chendebji Chorten to Trongsa

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Trongsa
• Environ 4 h de route

Soir

A one-night stop in Phobjikha is the price of keeping every drive near four hours, so we make the morning count. After an early breakfast we visit Gangtey Goemba, the 17th-century monastery on the knoll above the valley and a seat of the Pema Lingpa tradition of the Nyingma school, then walk the Gangtey Nature Trail, about 1.5 to 2 hours downhill through pine and across the valley floor, past farmhouses and, in winter, the cranes feeding in the marsh. Our vehicle meets us at the end. The drive to Trongsa is about 110 km and four hours, the longest drive of the trip: we climb over the Pele La at about 3,400 m, the pass between western and central Bhutan, and stop for a sit-down lunch near Chendebji Chorten, an old chorten in the Nepali style beside the river. Then the road follows the Mangde Chhu valley until Trongsa Dzong appears across the gorge in the late light, its tiers of roofs stepping down the ridge.

Compris

• Gangtey Goemba
• Gangtey Nature Trail walk
• Pele La
• Lunch near Chendebji Chorten

Trongsa Dzong, then Bumthang

Trongsa Dzong and the Tower of Trongsa, then the Yotong La to Jakar in Bumthang

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Bumthang
• Environ 3 h de route

Matin

We visit it in the morning, then climb to the Ta Dzong watchtower above it, now the Tower of Trongsa museum on the royal family and the dzong's history.

Après-midi

After an early lunch in Trongsa we drive about 68 km and two and a half to three hours over the Yotong La, at about 3,400 m, through fir and rhododendron forest and down into Chumey, the first of Bumthang's valleys, where we stop at a yathra weaving workshop to see the woollen cloth the region is known for.

Soir

We reach Jakar, the main town of Bumthang at about 2,600 m, in the late afternoon, with time to walk its short main street before dinner. Bumthang gets two nights, so you unpack once for the central valleys.

Compris

• Trongsa Dzong
• Tower of Trongsa museum (Ta Dzong)
• Yathra weaving in Chumey

Bumthang's temples and a farmhouse evening

Jambay Lhakhang, Kurjey Lhakhang, Tamshing Lhakhang and Jakar Dzong, then a Bumthang farmhouse

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Bumthang
• Environ 30 min de route

Après-midi

Lunch is back in Jakar. In the afternoon, Jakar Dzong on the ridge above town, or free time.

Soir

In the evening a Bumthang farmhouse heats river stones for a traditional hot stone bath, then serves dinner with the family, buckwheat dishes included.

Compris

• Jambay Lhakhang
• Kurjey Lhakhang
• Walk across the river to Tamshing Lhakhang
• Jakar Dzong
• Hot stone bath and dinner at a Bumthang farmhouse

Fly to Paro

Jakar to Bathpalathang airport, a domestic flight to Paro, then Rinpung Dzong and the National Museum

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Paro
• Environ 30 min de route

Matin

The flight runs only on some days of the week, so departure dates are built around it, and its time sets the morning; if it leaves late, there is time for a last walk in Jakar.

Soir

Domestic flights depend on the weather, and if the flight cannot operate, we drive back west in two days with a night in Punakha or Wangdue and give up the second Paro night (ops plans this with each departure). In Paro, at about 2,200 m, we have lunch in town, then walk down to the Paro Chhu and over the covered wooden bridge below Rinpung Dzong, the fortress-monastery completed in 1646 that still houses the district's monks and offices. Above it, the round Ta Dzong watchtower holds the National Museum, with masks, thangka paintings and Bhutanese history. The evening is free in Paro's painted main street.

Compris

• Domestic flight from Bathpalathang (Bumthang) to Paro
• Lunch in Paro
• Rinpung Dzong and the covered bridge over the Paro Chhu
• Ta Dzong National Museum

The Tiger's Nest walk

Paro to the Taktsang trailhead, the cafeteria viewpoint and the monastery, then Kyichu Lhakhang

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Paro
• Environ 1 h de route

Après-midi

We all meet for a sit-down lunch at the cafeteria, walk down together and stop at Kyichu Lhakhang, one of Bhutan's oldest temples.

Soir

The farewell dinner is in Paro tonight.

Compris

• Guided walk to the Tiger's Nest (Paro Taktsang) cafeteria viewpoint, with the option to continue to the monastery
• Sit-down lunch at the Tiger's Nest cafeteria
• Kyichu Lhakhang
• Farewell dinner in Paro

Activités en option

• A pony from the trailhead to the cafeteria (uphill only, paid locally)

Leave from Paro

Your hotel in Paro to Paro International Airport

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 15 min de route

Matin

Breakfast at the hotel, then a transfer of about ten minutes to Paro International Airport. Flights out of Paro operate in daylight only and most leave in the morning, so plan to be at the airport about two hours before departure; your guides see you to the terminal and help with check-in before saying goodbye. If you fly to Kathmandu or Delhi, ask for a window on the right-hand side: on a clear morning the high Himalaya can run along the horizon, though the view depends on the weather and the route flown. If your flight leaves later in the day, the morning is free in Paro, and your guide can suggest a short walk in the valley or a last visit to the shops on the main street, with a later transfer.

Soir

If you would like to stay longer in Bhutan, ask us when you book and we can quote extra nights in Paro, though each extra night also carries the government's Sustainable Development Fee, which we would add to the quote.

Compris

• Drop-off at Paro International Airport (PBH)