Bhutan in Festival: Paro Tsechu

Paro Tsechu fills the dzong courtyard for five days each spring, and we take the last two: the day of the great cham dances, and the dawn when the Thongdrel is unrolled down the…

Length: 8 days, 7 nights
From: ₹3,45,000 per person
Pace: Balanced
Stops: 6
Best months: March to April

The route

6 stops over 8 days

Paro
Thimphu
Punakha
Chele La
Haa Valley
Paro

The Thongdrel unrolled in darkness, away before sunrise
Cham dances in the Rinpung Dzong courtyard, all day
Chele La at 3,988 metres, then Haa’s two temples
Hoentay: buckwheat dumplings stuffed with turnip greens, in a farmhouse
Taktsang climbed before the festival crowds reach Paro

Day by day

What actually happens

Length: 8 days
Stops: 6
Pace: Balanced
From: ₹3,45,000

1L D

Paro

Arrive Paro in tsechu week

You arrive in tsechu week and the valley knows it: rented cars, new ghos, families down from the hills. Your guide meets you at the terminal and has you settled by lunch. Afternoon at Rinpung Dzong, where the courtyards are being swept and the atsara masks aired for the week ahead. Cross Nyamai Zam on foot at dusk. Dinner is phaksha paa and red rice.

Night: Le Meridien Paro, Riverfront
2B L D

Thimphu

The capital and its thirteen crafts

North to Thimphu, an hour and a quarter down the Pa Chhu and up the Wang Chhu. The capital gives you Buddha Dordenma at Kuenselphodrang, the takin at Motithang, and the students at the Zorig Chusum school learning the thirteen crafts: thangka painting, wood turning, embroidery, slate carving. Tashichho Dzong at five, when the office day ends and visitors are let through the gate.

Night: Hotel Norkhil Boutique & Spa, Thimphu
3B L D

Punakha

Dochu La and the Divine Madman

Over Dochu La at 3,100 metres, where 108 chortens were raised for soldiers killed in 2003 and the Himalaya stands in a line behind them. Then down 1,800 metres into a hotter, greener valley. Walk from Sopsokha through the mustard fields to Chimi Lhakhang, and finish at Punakha Dzong on its spit of land: jacaranda in late April, butter lamps burning inside.

Night: Damchen Resort, Punakha
4B L D

Punakha to Paro

Pho Chhu bridge, then back west

Early: the 180-metre suspension bridge over the Pho Chhu, empty at seven, prayer flags going hard. Then either the paddy climb to Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten or an hour floating down the Mo Chhu, watching the shingle banks for ibisbill. Back over Dochu La after lunch and west to Paro, arriving in time for a walk along the river before dinner.

Night: Le Meridien Paro, Riverfront
5B L D

Paro

Taktsang before the crowds

Taktsang today, deliberately ahead of the festival days, when the trail is quieter. Leave at seven: 900 metres of climb through pine, tea at the cafeteria, then the steps down to the waterfall at Singye Pelphug and up again to the monastery. Afternoon free, for the archery ground at Ugyen Pelri or a hot-stone bath. Lay out warm layers for a six o’clock start.

Night: Le Meridien Paro, Riverfront
6B L D

Paro

Tsechu: a day of cham dances

Into the dzong courtyard early, to sit on the flagstones among families in their finest kira and gho. The cham unfolds through the day: Durdag, the lords of the cremation ground; Shinje Yab Yum in ox-headed masks; the eight manifestations of Guru Rinpoche. Atsara clowns work the crowd with wooden phalluses. Your guide translates the story behind each dance as it happens.

Night: Le Meridien Paro, Riverfront
7B L D

Paro and Haa

Thongdrel at dawn, Chele La, Haa

Up at half five. The Thongdrel, a vast appliqué of Guru Rinpoche stitched over decades, is unrolled down the dzong wall in darkness, blessing everyone who sees it, and rolled away before the sun touches the cloth. Later, climb Chele La at 3,988 metres into the Haa valley: Lhakhang Karpo and Lhakhang Nagpo, and hoentay dumplings in a farmhouse before driving back.

Night: Le Meridien Paro, Riverfront
8B

Paro

Departure from Paro

The last morning is short. Breakfast, a white khadar around your neck from your guide, and ten minutes to the terminal, which is the calmest international airport you will use. You fly out today; the aircraft turns tightly out of the valley between the ridges. Most services connect through Delhi, Kathmandu or Bangkok by the early afternoon.

Night: Departure day, no overnight