Mystical Peaks & Sacred Monasteries of Western Bhutan

Breakfast at your hotel.

Travel to Punakha with a stopover at the Dochula pass (altitude 3140m). If the weather is clear, you will have spectacular views across the Himalayas.

Here you can also take a 3 hour trek to Lhuenchutse monastery several hundred meters above the Dochula pass. A late lunch or afternoon tea will be served at the Dochula Resort.

On the way to Punakha, visit Chimey Lhakhang located on a hillock in the centre of the valley below Metsina. Built in 1499 the temple is also known as “the Temple of Fertility”. A wooden effigy of the lama’s thunderbolt is preserved in the lhakhang, and childless women go to the temple to receive a blessing.

Dinner and overnight at your hotel in Punakha.

Breakfast at your hotel.

Take a 45 minute walk to a chorten or stupa at Nyizergang followed by a visit to the amazing Punakha Dzong which was built in 1637. This impressive dzong is situated between Pho Chu (Male River) and Mo Chu (Female River). The Punakha Dzong was the second of Bhutan’s dzongs and until the mid-1950s, it served as the seat of the government. It is also the winter residence of Je-Khenpo and the Central Monastic Body.

After lunch in Punakha, drive to Wangdue Phodrang and visit the Wangdiphodrang Dzong built in 1638. Legend relates that as the people were searching for the site of the Dzong, four ravens were seen flying away in four directions. This was considered an auspicious sign, representing the spread of religion to the four points of the compass. The dzong is situated at the confluence of Mo Chu and Tsang Chu rivers.

Later in the afternoon drive to Thimphu.

Dinner and overnight at your hotel in Thimphu.

After breakfast, drive through to Paro to visit Simtokha Dzong, built in 1627 and also to visit the ruins of Drukgyel Dzong which was built in 1644 to commemorate the victory over the Tibetan invaders. The Dzong was used as an administrative center until 1951 when a fire caused by butter lamp destroyed it. Then visit Kyichu Lhakhang, one of Bhutan’s oldest and most sacred monasteries dating from the introduction of Buddhism in the 8thcentury and also visit the Rimpung Dzong built in 1646.

Dinner and overnight at your hotel in Paro.

After breakfast, take a short drive to the base of the famous Taktshang Monastery or Tiger’s Nest, which clings to a sheer rock face at a height of 2600m above sea level. The climb is quite steep, but ponies are available for those who feel they cannot make the climb themselves.

The main temple was built around Guru Rimpoche’s meditation cave in 1684. This incredible monastery clings to the edge of a sheer rock face which plunges 900 meters into the valley below. Legend has it that Guru Padmasambhava, the tantric mystic who brought Buddhism to Bhutan in 747 AD, flew here on the back of a flying tiger, Dorje Drolo.

After lunch, visit Ta Dzong an ancient watchtower, which now houses the National Museum. Below the museum is the Rinpung Dzong (literally meaning “Heap of Jewels”), the centre of civil and religious authority in this valley, built in 1646.

Dinner and overnight at your hotel in Paro.

After breakfast drive to Paro International Airport for your departure from Bhutan.