Bhutan: the Paro and Thimphu festivals, with Punakha

Arrive in Paro

Paro International Airport to your hotel in Paro, then Rinpung Dzong and the National Museum

• Lunch and welcome dinner
• Nuit : Paro
• Environ 15 min de route

Matin

Flights operate in daylight only and most land in the morning, and the hotel is about ten minutes away.

Après-midi

Paro sits at about 2,200 m, so the first afternoon is slow on purpose. After lunch in town we walk over the covered wooden bridge on the Paro Chhu to Rinpung Dzong, the fortress-monastery completed in 1646 whose courtyard hosts the Paro Tshechu each spring, then up to the Ta Dzong watchtower and the National Museum, where the masks and thangka paintings are a first look at the characters you will see dance.

Soir

In the evening, before the welcome dinner, your Bhutanese guide gives the festival briefing: what a tshechu is, how the masked dances tell the stories of Guru Rinpoche, what to wear, where to sit and how to behave in the courtyard.

Compris

• Pick-up at Paro International Airport (PBH)
• Lunch in Paro
• Rinpung Dzong and the covered bridge over the Paro Chhu
• Ta Dzong National Museum
• Festival briefing with your Bhutanese guide
• Welcome dinner

Paro: festival morning or the valley

Paro: the Tshechu at Rinpung Dzong (spring) or the Paro valley (autumn), then Kyichu Lhakhang and a farmhouse

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

Matin

On spring departures this is the first festival morning. We leave at about 7:30 am to find a place on the steps before the Paro Tshechu courtyard fills with families in their best gho and kira. Our Bhutanese guide sits with you and names each dance as it starts: the black-hat dancers, the deer and the dogs, the stag-masked figures, and the atsara clowns who tease the crowd and keep order.

Après-midi

You stay through the morning, then we walk out for lunch in town. On autumn departures the morning is spent in the Paro valley instead: Dungtse Lhakhang, the chorten-shaped temple attributed to the bridge-builder Thangtong Gyalpo, and a walk through the old town.

Soir

In both seasons the afternoon takes us to Kyichu Lhakhang, one of Bhutan's oldest temples, and in the evening a Paro farmhouse heats river stones for a traditional hot stone bath, followed by dinner with the family.

Compris

• Spring departures: Paro Tshechu morning with your Bhutanese guide explaining the dances
• Autumn departures: Dungtse Lhakhang and a walk in Paro town
• Lunch in Paro
• Kyichu Lhakhang
• Hot stone bath and dinner at a Paro farmhouse

The Tiger's Nest walk

Paro to the Taktsang trailhead, the cafeteria viewpoint and the monastery, then back to Paro

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

Après-midi

We meet for a sit-down lunch at the cafeteria, walk down together, and the rest of the afternoon is free in Paro.

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

Activités en option

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

Paro to Thimphu

Paro (festival morning in spring) to Tachog Lhakhang and Chuzom, then Thimphu

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Thimphu
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Matin

On spring departures this is the second Paro Tshechu morning, back on the steps by about 8 am with our guide, so you can recognise dances you saw on day 2 and catch the ones you missed. If our dates include the last day of the festival, the giant thangka called a thongdrel is unrolled on the dzong wall before sunrise and taken down early in the morning; those who want to see it leave the hotel at about 4:30 am. On autumn departures we leave Paro after breakfast instead. In both seasons we drive about an hour and a half along the Paro Chhu to Thimphu, the capital, at about 2,300 m, stopping at Tachog Lhakhang, where an iron chain bridge crosses the river to a small temple, and at Chuzom, the meeting of the Paro and Thimphu rivers.

Soir

Autumn groups have time for Buddha Dordenma, the giant gilded Buddha above the city, and everyone ends the day at the National Memorial Chorten, where older residents walk and spin prayer wheels in the evening.

Compris

• Spring departures: second Paro Tshechu morning with your Bhutanese guide
• Tachog Lhakhang and its iron chain bridge, and Chuzom
• Autumn departures: Buddha Dordenma
• Lunch in Paro or Thimphu
• National Memorial Chorten in Thimphu

Thimphu: festival morning or the city

Thimphu: the Tshechu ground at Tashichho Dzong (autumn) or Buddha Dordenma and Tashichho Dzong (spring), then the Takin Preserve and the Folk Heritage Museum

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

Matin

On autumn departures this is the first Thimphu Tshechu morning. We are at the festival ground beside Tashichho Dzong by about 8 am, where thousands of Thimphu families gather in their finest clothes on the terraces around a stone-paved dance ground. Our Bhutanese guide explains each dance as it begins, and points out the atsara clowns and the blessings people queue for.

Après-midi

We leave at midday for lunch in town. On spring departures the morning is for the city: Buddha Dordenma, the giant gilded Buddha on the ridge south of Thimphu, and Changangkha Lhakhang above the town, with Tashichho Dzong at its after-office-hours visiting slot late in the day. In both seasons the afternoon takes in the Motithang Takin Preserve, where Bhutan's national animal grazes in fenced forest, and the Folk Heritage Museum, a restored rammed-earth farmhouse that shows how rural families lived.

Soir

Dinner together in Thimphu.

Compris

• Autumn departures: Thimphu Tshechu morning with your Bhutanese guide explaining the dances
• Spring departures: Buddha Dordenma, Changangkha Lhakhang and Tashichho Dzong after office hours
• Lunch in Thimphu
• Motithang Takin Preserve
• Folk Heritage Museum

Thimphu at your own pace

Thimphu: the Tshechu ground (autumn) or Sangaygang, Zorig Chusum and the market (spring), then a free afternoon

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

Matin

On autumn departures this is the second Thimphu Tshechu morning, back on the terraces by about 8 am with our guide for the dances you have not yet seen, and with time to walk around the edges of the ground where families picnic and stalls sell snacks and toys. On spring departures the morning is Thimphu's quieter sights: Sangaygang, the hillside viewpoint where prayer flags frame the whole valley; the National Institute for Zorig Chusum on weekdays, where students train in the thirteen traditional arts from thangka painting to wood carving; and, from Friday to Sunday, the Centenary Farmers Market by the river.

Après-midi

Autumn guests can reach Sangaygang on the afternoon walk with the guide.

Soir

After lunch together the afternoon and evening are free in both seasons: return to the festival, browse the craft shops, sit in a café or rest. Dinner tonight is your choice.

Compris

• Autumn departures: second Thimphu Tshechu morning with your Bhutanese guide
• Spring departures: Sangaygang viewpoint, the National Institute for Zorig Chusum (weekdays) and the Centenary Farmers Market (busiest Friday to Sunday)
• Lunch in Thimphu

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, 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 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, its house walls painted with protective phallus symbols, and between the 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.

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, and the central monk body still spends the winter here. Inside, the courtyards open one after another, and your guide links the murals in the assembly hall to the dances you watched at the festival. Then a short drive upriver to the Punakha Suspension Bridge, strung with prayer flags 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 visits the Sangchhen Dorji Lhuendrup Nunnery on its ridge, reached by road.

Après-midi

A picnic lunch by the river, then a free afternoon.

Compris

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

Back over the pass to Paro

Punakha to the Dochula Pass and Thimphu, then Paro

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Paro
• Environ 4.5 h de route

Matin

After breakfast we climb back up to Dochula for tea and a stretch among the chortens, with another look at the mountains if the sky is clear.

Après-midi

Then we carry on down to Thimphu, about halfway, for a sit-down lunch, and finish the last hour and a half along the Paro Chhu, reaching Paro by mid-afternoon. The rest of the afternoon is free on Paro's main street, two short rows of painted wooden shopfronts, for handicrafts, a coffee and a last walk. If there is a match on, the archery ground near town is worth a look.

Soir

In the evening we sit down together for a farewell dinner.

Compris

• Tea stop at the Dochula Pass
• Sit-down lunch in Thimphu
• Farewell dinner in Paro

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, 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.

Compris

• Drop-off at Paro International Airport (PBH)