Bhutan from East to West

We meet you at the airport and drive to Thimphu. After lunch we visit the Buddha Dordenma and the National Memorial Chorten, and go over the route ahead with you on a map at dinner.

A full day in the capital: the National Institute for Zorig Chusum, the Textile Museum, Changangkha Lhakhang and the Takin Preserve, ending at Tashichho Dzong. The Textile Museum is worth your attention today, because much of what it shows was woven in the villages you will reach next week.

We cross Dochu La and come down to Punakha. The afternoon is spent at Chimi Lhakhang and Punakha Dzong.

After the morning walk to Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten we drive up to Phobjikha, visit Gangtey Goenpa and walk the nature trail across the valley.

We cross Pele La and stop at Chendebji Chorten, then spend the middle of the day at Trongsa Dzong and its tower museum. Yotong La is the last pass before Bumthang.

We walk between Jambay Lhakhang, Kurjey Lhakhang and Tamshing Lhakhang in the Chokhor valley and visit Jakar Dzong. The afternoon is kept free: the next two days are long ones.

The road east leaves Bumthang through the Ura valley, where we stop to walk through the village and its temple. Beyond Ura it climbs to Thrumshing La, at about 3,780 m the highest point on the highway, and enters a national park. In April and May the rhododendrons here are in flower.

Then comes a remarkable descent: about 3,000 m down a road cut into cliffs, from fir forest to bamboo and cornfields, before a final climb to Mongar on its ridge.

A shorter day. We visit Mongar Dzong in the morning and drive on over a forested pass and down a long series of bends to the river. Trashigang appears above, its dzong on the edge of a cliff. We reach it in time to walk through the small bazaar, where people from the surrounding villages come to trade.

We drive north along the river. Gom Kora is a small temple beside a black rock where Guru Rinpoche is said to have meditated, and pilgrims test themselves by squeezing through a passage beneath it. Further on is Trashi Yangtse and the white dome of Chorten Kora, built in the 18th century.

Trashi Yangtse is known for its woodturners, who make the lacquered wooden bowls used across Bhutan. We visit a workshop before driving back.

East of Trashigang the road runs through Rangjung to Radhi, a village surrounded by rice terraces. The women here weave raw silk on backstrap looms and dye it with plants, and we call at one or two houses to watch.

Beyond Radhi the road climbs towards Merak and Sakteng, the highland home of the Brokpa, yak herders with their own language and dress. Merak is about 65 km from Trashigang, two to three hours each way, so a visit needs a full day of its own.

We visit Trashigang Dzong, built in 1659 on a spur with a sheer drop on three sides. Then we drive up to Kanglung, where Sherubtse, the country's first college, stands in gardens around a clock tower. The afternoon is free in Trashigang.

We start back west, climbing out of the valley to Mongar. The afternoon is free to rest before tomorrow's long drive. On the alternative ending, this is the day you would drive south to Samdrup Jongkhar instead.

Back over Thrumshing La. The road looks different in this direction, climbing from the warm valley floor into cloud forest and out onto the pass. We reach Bumthang in the late afternoon.

The flight to Paro takes about 25 minutes. At present it flies on Thursdays and Sundays. In the afternoon we visit the National Museum and Rinpung Dzong.

A day trip over Chele La at 3,988 m to the Haa valley. We walk on the ridge at the pass, visit Lhakhang Karpo and Lhakhang Nagpo, have lunch in Haa and return to Paro.

The walk to Taktsang, kept for the last full day. We go up in the morning, visit the monastery and come down for a late lunch. In the afternoon we stop at Kyichu Lhakhang, and dinner is a farewell meal together.

We take you to the airport after breakfast.