Bhutan Short Trip

Your guide meets you outside arrivals at Paro airport. The road to Thimphu follows the river downstream and then turns up the Thimphu valley. On the way we stop to look across at Tamchog Lhakhang and its iron chain bridge, the work of the 15th-century bridge builder Thangtong Gyalpo.

In Thimphu we go up to the Buddha Dordenma, a 51.5 m bronze statue that looks over the whole city. From there it is a short drive to Changangkha Lhakhang, a 12th-century temple where parents bring newborn children to be blessed, and to the Takin Preserve, home of Bhutan's national animal. The day ends at Tashichho Dzong, the seat of government, which opens to visitors once the offices close.

The morning belongs to Thimphu's crafts. At the National Institute for Zorig Chusum, students spend years learning the thirteen traditional arts, from thangka painting to woodcarving, and visitors can watch classes when they are in session. Close by are the National Postal Museum, where you can have your own photograph printed on a working stamp, and the craft bazaar of bamboo stalls along Norzin Lam.

After lunch we drive back to Paro. Ta Dzong, the round watchtower above the valley, holds the National Museum. A short walk downhill is Rinpung Dzong, built in 1646 and still both a monastery and the district's offices. We finish with tea at a farmhouse in the valley.

Taktsang, the Tiger's Nest, sits on a cliff about 900 m above the valley floor. The walk up takes most people two to three hours through blue pine hung with prayer flags, and a teahouse at the halfway point gives you a place to rest with the monastery in view. Inside, your guide shows you the cave where Guru Rinpoche is said to have meditated in the 8th century.

On the way back to town we stop at Kyichu Lhakhang, one of the oldest temples in Bhutan, and at Drukgyel Dzong at the head of the valley. On a clear day Mount Jomolhari shows beyond it.

After breakfast your guide and driver take you to the airport, a few minutes from town, and stay until you are checked in. If your flight leaves later in the day there is time for a last walk along Paro's main street.