Travel style · Bhutan
Monasteries in Bhutan
Gompas, dzongs and the mornings they keep
Ladakh, Spiti, Sikkim, Bhutan, Arunachal and the Nepal Himalaya hold some of the oldest Buddhist monasteries still in use. We time visits to morning prayers and festival days, and explain the murals, masks and rules of each house.
Photo: PgyamtshoBT · CC0 · CommonsA monastery visit is best at its own hours. Most gompas hold morning prayers between 6 and 8 am, when lamps are lit and the hall fills with chant. Arrive then and you see a working house rather than a museum.
Bhutan is a Himalayan kingdom of about 38,394 sq km where every valley is run from a dzong and every tourist pays a nightly Sustainable Development Fee. Indians pay ₹1,200 a night and can drive in from Siliguri via Phuentsholing; most other visitors pay USD 100 and fly into Paro. Go March–May or late September–November.
Trips
Monasteries trips in Bhutan
Photo: Christopher J. Fynn · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Comfort
Central Bhutan to Bumthang, 12 nights
Private car with driver
Photo: Christopher J. Fynn · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Comfort
Paro, Thimphu and Punakha in comfort, 6 nights
Private car with driver
Photo: Afifa Afrin · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Saver
Bhutan saver with Phobjikha farmhouse, 7 nights
Shared jeep or bus to Jaigaon, then shared vehicle with licensed guide
Photo: Afifa Afrin · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Saver
Bhutan by road from Siliguri, 6 nights
Shared jeep or bus to Jaigaon, then shared vehicle with licensed guide
Photo: Christopher J. Fynn · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Signature
Bhutan by Amankora lodges, 8 nights
Private car with driver
Photo: Christopher J. Fynn · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Signature
Six Senses and COMO Uma Paro, 7 nights
Private car with driver
8 places
Where to go
Photo: PgyamtshoBT · CC0 · Commons
Bumthang (Jakar)
Four valleys of temples, buckwheat and yathra wool
Photo: Christopher J. Fynn · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Haa
Over Chele La to a quiet valley of white and black temples
Photo: xiquinhosilva · CC BY 4.0 · Commons
Paro
Bhutan's front door, with the Tiger's Nest on its cliff
Photo: Phuentsho · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Phobjikha (Gangtey)
A glacial bowl where black-necked cranes spend the winter
Photo: Afifa Afrin · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Phuentsholing
Bhutan's road door from India, a gate away from Jaigaon
Photo: Christopher J. Fynn · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Punakha
The old capital where two rivers meet below the dzong
Photo: Christopher J. Fynn · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Thimphu
A capital without traffic lights, run from a dzong
Photo: Thomas Wanhoff · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons
Trongsa
The dzong that could shut its gates and split the country
Experiences
Days that fit the style
Photo: Christopher J. Fynn · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Jambay to Kurjey: the temple walk of Choekhor
A gentle 3–4 km walk up the Choekhor valley linking Jambay Lhakhang, Kurjey Lhakhang and, across a footbridge, Tamshing…
Photo: Doctor 17 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Membartsho, the Burning Lake in Tang valley
A short drive and a five-minute walk lead to a deep pool in the Tang Chhu gorge, revered as the place where Pema Lingpa…
Photo: Prof Ranga Sai · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Buckwheat kitchen and yathra looms
Learn how Bumthang feeds and dresses itself: a farmhouse session making puta buckwheat noodles and khuli pancakes, then…
Photo: Mario Biondi writer · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Chele La ridge walk at sunrise
Stop at Bhutan's highest road pass, 3,988 m, and walk along the prayer-flag ridge for views of Jomolhari and the Paro a…
Photo: Leovdvxxx · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Lhakhang Karpo, Nagpo and the three brother hills
Visit the White and Black temples at the foot of Miri Punsum, the three brother hills that guard Haa, and hear how a lo…
Photo: Bhutanese_hemadatsi_and_rice.JPG: ShashiBellam… · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Make hoentoe in a Haa farmhouse
Spend an evening in a Haa farmhouse kitchen learning to fold hoentoe, buckwheat dumplings stuffed with turnip leaves, c…
Photo: Original: Nina R from Africa Derivative work: … · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Hike to Taktsang, the Tiger's Nest
The classic Bhutan day: a steady climb of about 500 m from the car park to the cafeteria viewpoint, then on to the mona…
Photo: Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Rinpung Dzong and the National Museum on foot
Walk from the town across the covered cantilever bridge, up through the dzong's courtyards and on to the round Ta Dzong…
Where to sleep
Stays in these places
Photo: Christopher J. Fynn · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Budget
Haa valley farmhouse homestays
Registered family homestays in the villages of the Haa valley, in traditional rammed-earth and timber farmhouses. …
Photo: Phuentsho · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Budget
Phobjikha valley farmhouse stays
Registered farmhouse stays scattered around the Phobjikha valley floor and Gangtey village, a short walk from the …
Photo: PgyamtshoBT · CC0 · Commons
Budget
Swiss Guest House, Jakar
A farmhouse-style guesthouse on a hillside a few minutes above Jakar, one of Bumthang's first places for foreign t…
Photo: Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Mid
Hotel Druk, Thimphu
A long-running city hotel on Clock Tower Square in central Thimphu, open since 1985. Spacious rooms, a restaurant,…
Photo: Xiaojun Deng · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Mid
Zhiwa Ling Heritage, Paro
A hand-built Bhutanese hotel at Satsam Chorten in the Paro valley, opened in 2005 after five years of work by Bhut…
Photo: Phuentsho · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Mid
Dewachen Hotel, Gangtey
A 16-room lodge in traditional Bhutanese style at the edge of the Phobjikha valley, near Gangtey village and the B…