Bhutan Reverie: Sacred Valleys & Living Heritage

Seven days across western and central Bhutan, arranged so nothing is rushed. Taktsang early, while your legs are fresh; two nights in the warm rice country at Punakha; the stonemasons at Rinchengang; and then…

Length: 7 days, 6 nights
From: ₹2,82,000 per person
Pace: Balanced
Stops: 6
Best months: March to May, October to November

The route

6 stops over 7 days

Paro
Thimphu
Punakha
Wangdue Phodrang
Gangtey
Paro

Taktsang on the second morning, before the trail fills
Jacaranda and whitewash at Punakha Dzong, river on both sides
Rinchengang’s stonemasons, still cutting and setting by hand
Black-necked cranes circling Gangtey Goenpa three times on arrival
The Phobjikha nature trail down to Khewa Lhakhang

Day by day

What actually happens

Length: 7 days
Stops: 6
Pace: Balanced
From: ₹2,82,000

1L D

Paro

Arrive Paro, Kyichu Lhakhang

Paro at 2,235 metres: the air is thin and bright, and the flight in has already been the best part of the day. Your guide meets you outside the terminal. If you are up to it, drive fifteen minutes to Kyichu Lhakhang, built in 659 by Songtsen Gampo, one of a chain of temples pinning down a demoness. Then tea, an early dinner and an early night.

Night: Naksel Boutique Hotel & Spa, Paro
2B L D

Paro to Thimphu

The Tiger’s Nest, then the capital

Boots on at seven. Taktsang hangs 900 metres above the valley floor, and the path climbs through blue pine and lichen to the cafeteria in about two hours, then drops into the gorge on stone steps and climbs again to the monastery door. Inside: butter lamps, Guru Rinpoche’s cave, silence. Down by two, lunch in Paro town, and the hour’s drive east to Thimphu.

Night: Terma Linca Resort & Spa, Thimphu
3B L D

Thimphu to Punakha

Thimphu morning, Dochu La, Punakha

Thimphu is the only capital without a traffic light; a policeman in white gloves conducts the junction instead. Buddha Dordenma above the valley, the takin at Motithang, the students at the Zorig Chusum school learning slate carving and thangka painting, and the market’s dried chugo and matsutake. Then Dochu La at 3,100 metres, and down through orange groves and rice to Punakha.

Night: Zhingkham Resort, Punakha
4B L D

Punakha

Punakha Dzong and Khamsum Yulley

Punakha Dzong first, before the buses: whitewash and jacaranda at the meeting of the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu, and the great galleries where the Zhabdrung’s remains lie behind a sealed door. After lunch, an hour uphill through paddy to Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten. Come down as the light drops and cross the suspension bridge, all 180 flexing metres of it.

Night: Zhingkham Resort, Punakha
5B L D

Punakha to Gangtey

Chimi Lhakhang, Wangdue, Phobjikha

Stop at Sopsokha and walk the field path to Chimi Lhakhang, where Drukpa Kunley, the Divine Madman, subdued a demoness and left the valley its cheerful phallus paintings. Then Wangdue Phodrang, whose dzong burned in 2012 and was rebuilt stone by stone; at Rinchengang the masons still cut and set by hand. Over Lawa La and into Phobjikha by tea.

Night: Gangtey Lodge, Phobjikha
6B L D

Gangtey to Paro

Cranes at dawn, then west to Paro

Phobjikha is a glacial bowl of dwarf bamboo and potato fields with no overhead cables anywhere. From late October some five hundred black-necked cranes arrive from Tibet and circle Gangtey Goenpa three times before settling on the marsh. Walk the nature trail down to Khewa Lhakhang, then begin the long drive west, roughly six hours, with lunch at Dochu La.

Night: Naksel Boutique Hotel & Spa, Paro
7B

Paro

Departure from Paro

A slow last breakfast, then twenty minutes to the airport. Paro’s runway sits between ridges and the departure banks hard over the Pa Chhu; on a clear morning Jomolhari, 7,314 metres, holds the northern horizon. Your guide sees you into the check-in queue with a white khadar scarf, which is how Bhutan says goodbye. You fly out today for Delhi, Kathmandu or Bangkok.

Night: Departure day, no overnight