Visit the Incredible Kingdom of Bhutan

Visit the Incredible Kingdom of Bhutan 8 Days

From $3255 USD

Trip URL: www.adventurelink.com/

Photos
Maps

Overview
Itinerary
Nuts & Bolts
Experts
Operator
Email to Friend

Overview

Highlights

Duration: 8 Days
Comfort: 66.6666666666667%
Language: English
Rating: 0%
Trip ID: 128014
Start Location: Tshalunang, Bhutan
End Location: Paro, Bhutan

Guaranteed:
Yes
Your Satisfaction is Guaranteed!
1. AdventureLink has carefully handpicked the tour operators in our portfolio to give you the best possible selection and experience
2. AdventureLink does not pay the operator until your trip completes in order to ensure the highest possible standard of care
Primary Activities: Local Culture & Cuisine
Other Activities: Museums & Expositions, Religious and Spiritual Sites, Temples & Shrines, sightseeing, Monasteries

Travel to Bhutan and visit this distinctive and remote pocket between India and China. Bhutan offers beauty, history and adventure by the bucketload. Travel to Bhutan's delightful Thimphu - the world's only capital city without traffic lights. Head out into Bhutan's countryside and marvel at the spectacular Himalayan scenery, visit imposing dzongs and learn the Buddhist traditions of the 'Land of the Thunder Dragon'. Meet the relaxed local people, see the extraordinary 'Tiger's Nest' monastery and soak up this unique travel experience.

Trip Information

Start: Thimphu, Bhutan

Finish: Paro, Bhutan

Group size: Min 4 , Max 12

Ages: Min 12

Included activities:

Chimmi Lhakhang, Dzong tour, Explore Phobjikha Valley region, Folk and Heritage Museum, Gangte gompa, Kyichu Lhakhang, National Library, Tour of Ta Dzong Paro Museum, Paro Rinpung Dzong and Drukgyal Dzong, Trek to Taktshang Monastery and lunch, Walk to Khamsum Yueling Temple and picnic lunch

Notes:

1. An airport arrival transfer is included. Please provide your flight details at the time of booking.

2. A single supplement is available on this trip. See under the Single Traveller section of your Trip Notes for more information.

3. Please provide Intrepid or your booking agent with a scanned copy of the personal details page from your passport at time of booking.

Itinerary

Days 1-2: Arrive in Thimphu: Kuzuzangpo La! Welcome to Bhutan.

You are met on arrival in Paro and transferred to our hotel in Thumpuh (approx 1 hour). Please note transfers cannot be arranged on arrival, so please advise flight arrival details at least 14 days prior to departure.

You can arrive at any time on day 1 as there are no activities planned until the important welcome meeting at 18:00. Your leader will leave a note at reception telling you where this important meeting will take place. Please ask a member of reception for this information. Our leader will run through a briefing of the trip with essential facts and practical information about Bhutan.

Should you wish to arrive earlier additional accommodation can be arranged when booking this trip. Thimphu contrasts sharply with just about every other capital city throughout the world. It is a town without traffic lights, where no cars existed until 1962 and where all stores on the upper lane are closed on a Tuesday and on the lower lane are closed on a Wednesday to give business people a rest from their capitalist pursuits. Although people have lived in and farmed the valley and hills bordering the Thimphu Chhu for many years, the town did not really develop until it became the capital city in 1961. Even then, population growth was not huge until it began to really increase in the 1990s.

Dominating the town is the majestic fortress of Tashichhodzong, seat of parliament and office of the king. It's sometimes possible to meet the nuns at the Drubthob Lhakhang and make a stop at the tiny zoo to see Bhutan's national animal, the takin.

Arrival at the Bhutanese city of Paro, our entry point, located in a beautiful valley, where a warm welcome awaits. Jovial faces, prayer flags and the cool, fresh air of this high Himalayan city are immediately noticeable. Your driver will be waiting for you at the airport exit holding a Intrepid placard to transfer you to the capital city of Thimpu (1.5hr approx.). The sights along the way will certainly ‘up’ your excitement levels about your visit which is soon to unfold. Rendezvous with your Tour Leader at the hotel. Remainder of the day free in Thimpu for self-exploration.

Full day tour to take in the highlights of Thimpu, which includes
National Memorial Chorten:
The building of this chorten was the idea of Bhutan's third King, H.M. Jigme Dorji Wangchuck ('the father of modern Bhutan'), who had wished to erect a monument to world peace and prosperity, but was unable to give shape to his idea in his lifetime due to pressures of state. After His Majesty’s premature death in 1972, the Royal Family and Cabinet resolved to fulfill his wishes and erect a memorial that would perpetuate his memory as well as serve as a monument to peace. The National Memorial Chorten was consecrated on July 28, 1974. The finely executed wall paintings and delicately fashioned statues within the monument provide a deep insight into Buddhist philosophy.

National Library:
The Library was established in the late 1960s, primarily to conserve the literary treasures which form a significant part of Bhutan’s cultural heritage. It now houses an extensive collection of Buddhist literature mostly in block-printed format, with some works several hundreds of years old. This collection, known as the Choekey Collection, mainly comprises Buddhist literature written in Choekey, the religious script of Northern Buddhism.

As well, it also includes works written in Tibetan and in Dzongkha, Bhutan’s national language.
There is a small Foreign Book Collection, mainly comprising of works written in English, on subjects such as Buddhist studies, Bhutan, the Himalayan region and Bhutan’s neighboring countries.

Institute for Zorig Chusum:
Commonly known as the Painting School, the Institute offers a six-year course on the 13 traditional arts and crafts of Bhutan. On a visit, one can see and often talk with students and learn a little of the various skills and disciplines taught.

Tashichhodzong:
The “fortress of the glorious religion”, was initially erected in 1641 and rebuilt by King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck in the 1960s. Tashichhodzong houses some ministries, the King’s secretariat, and a central group of monks. It is open to visitors during the Thimphu Tsechu (held in autumn) and whilst the monks are resident in their winter quarters in Punakha.

Not done with the Bhutanese capital yet, we drive to a vantage point above the city towards a tiny zoo to be bemused by the sight of an animal that seems more out of the pages of a mythical story book. Takin, the national animal of the Druk Kingdom, is as strange a creature as you’ll ever see – an interesting concoction of a goat and cattle.

We then head further to a nunnery, Drubthob Lhakhang. En route, you can capture a fascinating sight of the city from high above. Visit to the local vegetable market on return to the city centre.

Included Activities
Folk and Heritage Museum
National Library

Accommodation
Hotel (2 nts)
Days 3-4: Walking tour and picnic lunch in Punakha: We set off for Thimphu sightseeing including a visit to the National Library, containing a priceless collection of Buddhist manuscripts, and the fascinating Folk and Heritage Museum. We also visit the golden-spired Memorial Chorten, built in honour of late King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, father of the present monarch.

You can explore local handicrafts in a traditional handmade-paper factory and discover the sacred art of thangkas at the Painting School. The Women's Textile Museum houses numerous artistic works by Bhutanese women and you can't go past the National Handicrafts Emporium for a keepsake or two.

In the afternoon we drive from Thimphu to Punakha (approx. 3-4 hrs). After passing through the Honsho checkpoint, the road climbs up through maple and blue pine forests to the Dochu La Pass (3,100 m). Here, if the sky is clear, we catch spectacular views of the Bhutan Himalayas. According to Bhutanese myths, the area around the pass is holy and inhabited by a variety of spirits.

As we begin our descent from the pass, we can note the change in vegetation. Maples and pines give way to rhododendrons, cypress, hemlock and fir. Also prominent is the daphne, related to our laurel and used for paper-making. We will make stops along the way and stroll into the forests to identify the many regional plants.

Towards the evening we will visit the legendary Chimi Lhakhang, also known as the 'temple of the divine madman', after the Lama Drukpa Kunley who introduced a new way of Buddhist practice during his era and is associated with the phallic symbols used on Bhutanese houses as talismans.

After breakfast on day 4 we take a picnic lunch and set off to visit the Khamsum Yueling Temple, north of Punakha. We walk for an hour through a beautiful pastoral setting to reach this hillside temple. This is also a lovely opportunity for some farmhouse visits and to have our lunch by the riverside. After lunch we visit Punakha Dzong (fortress), built in 1637 by Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. This building was the second of Bhutan's dzongs and its creation was foretold by Guru Rimpoche. We explore the site and discover the story behind the tri-partitioned stairs.

Even today the monks of the central clergy, led by the Je Khanpo, still migrate from Thimphu to spend the six coldest months of the year at Punakha. The city is built at the confluence of the Mo Chhu (Mother River) and the Po Chhu (Father River) and is fertile enough to provide farmers with two rice crops a year.

Included Activities
Chimmi Lhakhang
Dzong tour
Walk to Khamsum Yueling Temple and picnic lunch

Accommodation
Hotel (2 nts)
Day 5: Explore Phobjikha Valley region and Gangte gompa: We make the beautiful drive to Gangte (approx. 2-3 hrs) and visit the extensive 450-year-old Gangte Goemba. We also take the opportunity to explore the Phobjikha Valley region on a nature walk (approx 2 hours).

Included Activities
Explore Phobjikha Valley region
Gangte gompa

Accommodation
Hotel (1 nt)
Days 6-8:Explore Paro. departure: We drive back to Paro (approx. 6 hrs), arriving in the late afternoon. Home to Bhutan's unusual red rice, the Paro Valley is also famous for its fruit - strawberries, apples, pears, plums and peaches. The main street of the town centre, built in 1985 and therefore quite new, runs parallel to the Paro Chhu River. If time permits, you can poke through the many handicraft shops, visit the archery field or simply roam around to get a sense of the place.

Among the sites we tour on day 7 is the Ta Dzong, a circular fortress that once protected the valley from Tibetan invaders. Currently this old watchtower is being used as the National Museum and is filled with a beautiful collection of antiquities. From the Ta Dzong we walk down the hill to Paro Rinpung Dzong, a magnificent 17th-century fortress-monastery that now houses the civil and religious offices of the Paro Valley.

Towards evening we drive up to the ruins of the Drugyal Dzong. The name commemorates the Bhutanese victory over Tibet in 1644. In those days, the dzong had a false entrance, designed to lure invaders into an enclosed courtyard. Although a butter lamp caught fire and destroyed the temple in 1951, the ruins are still fascinating.

Our trek to the Taktshang Monastery is a big highlight. The hike up to the viewing point on day 7 takes about one hour approx and the monastery that clings to the cliff face is awe-inspiring. Known as the 'Tiger's Nest Monastery', Taktsang is a sacred pilgrimage site where, legend has it, the great Tantric mystic, Padmasambhava, flew on the back of a tigress and brought the teachings of the Buddhist Dharma to Bhutan. The Monastery clings to a cliff soaring 900 metres above the valley floor. Taktsang was destroyed in a fire in 1998 but restoration works are now almost complete.

We take lunch at a cafeteria on the way and then proceed up to the monastery itself. Because the route is quite steep we return slowly, walking downhill for about one or two hours. Heading back into Paro, we stop at one of the oldest and most important of Bhutan's temples - the wonderful old Kyichu Lhakhang, with its magnificent statues and carvings. Kyichu is one of the few remaining temples built in the 8th century by the great King Songtsen Gampo.

Please note that entrance to the Taktshang Monastery is by permit only - we apply for this permit as part of the trip but on rare occasions the permit is not granted which means we will not be able to enter the Monastery.

There are no activities planned for the final day and you are able to depart our accommodation at any time. Please check the 'Finishing Point Hotel' section for checkout times and luggage storage possibilities.

Included Activities
Kyichu Lhakhang
Tour of Ta Dzong Paro Museum, Paro Rinpung Dzong and Drukgyal Dzong
Trek to Taktshang Monastery and lunch

Accommodation
Hotel (2 nts)

Nuts & Bolts

Trip Includes

7 Breakfasts, 6 Lunches, 7 Dinners

Trip Excludes

USD $200 for meals

Trip ID#: 128014

CANCELLATIONS: 20% cancellation fee applied if cancelled 60 days prior to departure. Cancellations within 60 days are 100% non-cancelable

Operator

For the specifics on this tour operator, please contact AdventureLink directly.

Can't find the right trip? Design your own!

Our tour operators are happy to assist you in creating just the right trip; fill out the form below and we'll give you a custom quote.

First Name

Last Name

Email address

Telephone number

Where would you like to go?

When would you like to go? month / day / year

How long do you want to go for?

How many people are going?

Is anyone in your party under 18? Yes No

If "Yes", please list their ages

What activities do you want to do?

Enter your price range (From and To price. Provide a departure city if you'd like to include airfare in your quote.)

If you don't want to indicate a price range, tell us how you like to travel

Best available accommodation Highest quality – not necessarily the most expensive Moderate Budget

Please provide us with any additional information you feel will help us design your trip.