Gentle Walking Bhutan

Day 1 - Fly London to Kathmandu

Depart London on your overnight flight to Kathmandu.

Overnight: In flight

Day 2 - Arrive Kathmandu. Transfer to hotel.

You will be met and transferred to the luxurious and stylish Dwarika's Hotel which is filled with Nepalese wooden carvings and statues and has a superb restaurant where you can eat in traditional style. It also has a cool, elegant courtyard and a swimming pool. After the long flight from London there's no better place to relax.

Overnight: Dwarika's Hotel, Kathmandu

Day 3 - Fly to Paro, 2,200m/7,218ft. Sightseeing as time permits.

After breakfast you will transfer to the airport for the short flight up to Bhutan. On a clear day the panoramic views of the Himalaya are sensational, including Everest and Kangchenjunga, but particularly exciting is the approach through the Bhutanese foothills and the landing, including a few steep turns to land at the tiny airstrip of Paro. Although you are at the mercy of the airline computer, if possible try to sit on the left hand side of the plane for the most spectacular views.

In Paro you will be met by your Bhutanese guide and transferred to your hotel. Depending on the flight schedule you may have time for a little sightseeing or exploration of the town on arrival.

Overnight: Hotel Olathang Or Similar, Paro

Day 4 - Sightseeing in Paro Valley. Drive to Thimphu and visit giant Buddha statue.

Today's sightseeing in Paro will begin at the ancient temple of Kyichu Lakhang which was one of 108 temples built by Songtsen Gampo an important early Tibetan king, to pin down the Bon demon who was thought to hover over the whole of Tibet. Afterwards you will visit Paro Dzong and

You will then visit the huge Paro Dzong, one of the most important in the kingdom. Above the dzong is the 17th century watchtower or Ta Dzong. This unusual, circular building houses Bhutan's National Museum and has recently been fully restored. The museum has a fantastic collection of Bhutanese national treasures with displays including depictions of a wide range of Bhutan's history and culture and an impressive collection of ancient thangkas featuring Bhutan's important saints and teachers. You will also find some fearsome festival masks, a collection of religious statues, some early stone carvings and the original iron links from the nearby Tamchhog Bridge.

In the afternoon you will drive to Thimphu - a journey of around 1½-2 hours. Thimphu has an attractive valley location and is relatively small for a capital city although it has grown greatly in recent years. When you arrive in Thimphu you will drive up to see the large Buddha statue, perched above the town, this will give you excellent views and is a good way to orientate yourself to Thimphu and its surrounds.

Overnight: Phuntso Pelri Hotel or Similar, Thimphu

Day 5 - In and around Thimphu - sightseeing and visit Wangditse Monastery.

This morning you will drive up to Sangaygang next to the Bhutan First Broadcasting Service tower, located in the North West of Thimphu. It is only about a mile drive up to the tower so if you feel like you would like to burn a bit more energy you can always walk up instead. From the tower you will have great views over Thimphu Dzong and the Thimphu valley as you start your walk contouring the beautiful hills to visit Wangditse Gompa. This walk should take around 1.5 hours. You will have time to visit the gompa before you walk down for another 30 minutes to reach Dechen Phodrang Monastery. This monastery houses around 450 student monks enrolled in a 8 year course. The monastery is also home to some fantastic UNESCO monitored 12th century paintings. You will then meet your vehicle and be driven back to Thimphu.

In the afternoon there will be time to enjoy some sightseeing. There are many places of interest to visit in Thimphu, including the Tashichhodzong (the main government buildings), the Textile Museum, the Heritage Museum, the late King's Memorial Chorten, the National Library, the School of Painting and the silversmiths and pottery workshops. The Government Handicrafts Emporium is possibly the best place to look for local handicraft. It is interesting to visit the handmade paper workshop to see the paper being made and there are some nice items made from handmade paper for sale there. You could also visit the Post Office to buy some of Bhutan's very attractive stamps, they will even print a valid stamp with your face on it while you wait! They also have good t-shirts on sale.

While in Thimphu you might also like to visit the 'zoo'. This is in fact a very large enclosure (several acres) just above the town, containing only Takin, the very rare animal found exclusively in Bhutan and parts of China and possibly one of the most quirky and strangest looking animals you will ever see.

Overnight: Phuntso Pelri Hotel or Similar, Thimphu

Day 6 - Drive to Punakha 1,242m/4,075ft, over the Dochu La. Visit Chimi Lakhang. Drive to Talo, walk through village and on to Nobgang.

Driving out of Thimphu you climb to cross the Dochu La Pass, 3,048m/10,000ft, a spot marked by 108 chortens. Here, weather permitting you may take in a magnificent mountain vista. On clear days there are fabulous views of the eastern Himalaya from here, but this is a beautiful and atmospheric spot even on misty days. You then drive down through varied forest into the lush Punakha Valley.

Firstly you will visit Chimi Lakhang, a temple built by Drukpa Kunley. Known as the 'The Divine Madman', Drukpa Kunley was a 15th Century Bhutanese Lama and is Bhutan's most popular Saint and one of the most important figures in Bhutanese folklore. Despite the apparent conservatism of the Bhutanese people, Drukpa Kunley with his unconventional views on sex is a great favourite throughout the country - the phallus symbols painted on the outside walls of many houses date back to his teachings. Chimi Lakhang is especially popular with women, who come here to make offerings and to pray for children. This charming lakhang is reached by a short walk across the paddy fields and the short excursion takes about 45 minutes each way.

Later you will drive up to the charming village of Talo (altitude 2,800m). This attractive village is famed for its pretty girls! First you will drive up to its fine gompa, built above the village and worth a visit for the spectacular views. After visiting the gompa you walk down through the village and will see traditional village life going on. It's all very pretty - the beautiful farm houses of the village have their own well-kept flower gardens and corn and vegetables are grown in abundance. There is an air of prosperity and contentment. You come out back onto the road below the village and then you may either walk down through woods and fields, or drive down, to visit the village of Nobgang, the birthplace of the four girls who in 1979 married King Jigme Singye Wangchuk to become his four queens. After the king's abdication they became Bhutan's Queen Mothers. The gompas in Nobgang are sponsored by their family. The two villages of Talo and Nobgang have a longstanding rivalry in archery. Once your walk is done you will be driven back to your Punakha hotel.

Overnight: Zhingkham Resort Or Similar, Punakha

Day 7 - Visit Punakha Dzong. Walk from the dzong to the village of Samdingkha - 3-4 hours. Drive to Gangtey.

You start your day at Punakha Dzong, one of the most spectacular and important in the kingdom as well as being one of the most picturesque. It is situated at the confluence of two rivers – the Mo Chu and the Pho Chu. Damaged by flooding in 1994, the dzong has now been beautifully renovated and is a real showcase for Bhutanese craftsmanship and painting. You are normally allowed into the dzong unless there are VIPs visiting.

After your visit you begin your walk which starts near the dzong and follows the left bank through forest. Sometimes the path is high above the river affording lovely views of hamlets, villages, lone houses, and the odd temple. You can see the extensive cultivation, and to the north the hills rise up and become dark hazy mountains. The languid river, braided sometimes into minor rushing rapids, has two or three bridges. The first of these is a huge, long suspension bridge that can accept brave horses in single file. As you walk further you will come across the ruins of a large old house. The walls, made in the traditional way of shuttered and packed earth, still survive. Further still there are ancient canyons whose walls and cliffs look like they are also made of fossilized mud. Finally, you can see the larger village of Samdingkha ahead which you reach by passing through cultivated fields that are fenced to protect the crops from wild animals. The village is a quiet, timeless place although it does have a couple of small shops. You’ll find a more substantial steel girder bridge here which you will cross to rendezvous with your vehicle.

If the weather is inclement you may do another longer walk which we call the ‘Three Temples walk’ - 12½ km, 4-5 hours. This starts at the village of Jibjokha which sits up in the hills above Samdingkha. is a circular walk that follows undulating paths and tracks through picturesque, open farmland, shady woods and vast rice terraces revealing traditional village life in rural Bhutan. You then return to your vehicle and drive up the valley of the Dang Chu river and turn off to arrive at the Gangtey Valley.

Gangtey (or Phobjikha as this area is also called) is a beautifull wide, unspoilt, glacial valley and is particularly famous as a major wintering ground for Black-necked cranes, which arrive here late October and stay until early spring before heading back to their breeding grounds in Siberia. These birds are particularly respected in local culture and feature in local tradition as 'heavenly birds'.

Overnight: Hotel Gakiling Or Yo Lo Koe Lodge or Similar, Gangtey

Day 8 - Visit the Black-necked Crane Information Centre and attend the Black-necked crane Festival. Drive to Trongsa.

Today you may see the Black Necked Cranes which should be in residence for your visit. It can be worthwhile arranging to go to see them before breakfast as they awake and before they fly off to their feeding grounds for the day. Speak to your guide about this. After seeing the cranes you will drive up to visit the Information Centre where you will find much interesting background information about the cranes.

Next you will attend the Black-necked Crane Festival which takes place every year in Phobjikha. Initiated by the Bhutan Royal Society for Protection of Nature, the festival is now organised by the local community and celebrates the annual arrival of the cranes. The festival has a full day's programme of traditional masked dances and plays, including the 'crane dance'. Whilst it is not one of the more traditional Tsechus, being of recent origin and more community based, the festival has the advantage of receiving relatively few western visitors and offers a real insight into the Bhutanese 'at play'. The festival takes place in the monastery courtyard and there are local food and handicraft stalls. A traditional archery competition is usually held nearby.

After lunch you will leave Gangtey and drive out to the main road and up to cross the Pele La Pass at 3,300m/10,827ft. You might like to stop to admire the views from here. You then descend from the pass and drive down, passing the large chorten at Chendebji and on to Trongsa. You will see Trongsa's splendid Dzong long before you reach it because the road takes you up a long side valley before eventually turning back to Trongsa town. Trongsa has an exceptionally dramatic dzong, the ancestral home of the royal family. Because of its important strategic location this was one of the most important dzongs in the country. Set above the dzong is the Ta Dzong, the watchtower, a lovely old building which has been recently really beautifully renovated and houses an excellent museum with several floors of royal memorabilia and sacred artefacts. The views from the roof are worth the climb.

Overnight: Yangkhil Resort Or Similar, Trongsa

Day 9 - Drive to Chumey and up to Tharpaling. Ridge walk 3-4 hours. Drive to Jakar, 2,580m/8,465ft.

From Trongsa you drive across the Yotong La and towards Bumthang. The Bumthang region encompasses four major valleys and Jakar town where you will stay is in the main valley called Chokhor. The other valleys are the Ura Valley which is to the east, Tang Valley which is slightly more off the beaten track and the Chumey Valley. Arriving in Chumey your first port of call is the Nyimalung Monastery. Founded in 1938, the monastery is home to over 100 musically talented monks. From here you can walk down in 10 minutes to visit Prakhar Monastery a quaint village temple. Then rejoining your vehicle you will visit Zugney, a famous centre for weaving, where you will see the industry that is an integral part of Bhutanese society. It's said that every Bhutanese home is equipped with a loom for weaving and young girls are proficient in the craft before they reach the age of twenty.

You then drive up to the cluster of temples at Tharpaling - a sacred spot and place of meditation, founded by Geluwa Lonchen Rabchampa (1308-1363) during his self-exile from Tibet for ten years. Several picturesque monasteries dot the hillside above the Chumey Valley with views over Domkhar (Chumey) and Domkhar Summer Palace. After a picnic lunch, you start the 4 hour walk along an old trail back towards Chumey. The path starts out beneath craggy cliffs, from where it climbs fairly gently up to the ridge top and reaches the Shutre Sae Pass at 3,700m/12,139ft. Sited on the pass in a glass case is a statue of the founder of Tharpaling. From here the views are phenomenal - looking south you can see over the Chumey/Domkhar Valley with the Black Mountains in the distance. The other way you get fabulous and unexpected views over Jakar town with the airport runway and the dzong clearly seen far below. Beyond and further north, you can see towards the high mountains - perhaps even Mount Gangkar Punsum on a clear day.

You descend from the pass in beautiful forest, nearly all downhill. On the higher reaches, you pass through pine, fir and rhododendron forest. Eventually you reach the road again at a huge area of prayer flags where you will meet your transport and head to your hotel in Jakar.

Overnight: Ugyenling Hotel Or Similar, Jakar

Day 10 - Fly to Paro. Drive over Cheli La pass, 3,990m/13,090ft, to Haa Valley with visit to Kila Nunnery on way.

Today you fly to Paro. (if your flight is delayed or cancelled you will drive back to Paro over two days).

Arriving in Paro, you will drive in about 1½ hours up to the Cheli La, a pass at 3,990m/13,090ft where in clear weather you will have wonderful views of the snow-capped mountains to the west which mark the border with Tibet. On the way you will call in at Kila Nunnery, a peaceful retreat for some 30 nuns who live a life of seclusion in an incredibly pretty spot set in lush forest beneath cliffs.

From the pass you descend on a long zig-zag road down into the Haa Valley. As you approach you will notice three almost identical conical hills in a line on the other side of the valley. These are believed by the locals to be the physical manifestations of three very important Buddhist saints. The left one is Manjushri (the god who holds the flaming sword which cuts the knot of ignorance), the middle one is Chenrizig (the Buddha of compassion of which the Dalai Lama is the human incarnation) and the right hand hill is Chana Dorji (this being the protector god of Bhutan). Collectively they are known as Rigsum (three hills). As you descend further you look down on the square yellow roof of Haa's monastery-fortress, the Namgay Dzong. Spread around the dzong are the buildings of the Indian Army dating from the visit of President Nehru - the Indian army has a presence in Bhutan ostensibly to protect the kingdom from possible invasion from China. Although part of the dzong is used by the Indian Army the central tower of the Dzong is still used by the local people. The old town itself is just to the north-west and is really quite attractive with traditional two storey shops and a post office. There is a large school in Haa. In the afternoon you should have time for some initial exploration in the Haa Valley.

Overnight: Lechuna Heritage Lodge or Similar, Haa

Day 11 - Walks in the Haa Valley. Drive back to Paro with visit to Dzong Drakha.

In the morning you will have time for a walk in the Haa Valley. Firstly you might drive up to the very top of the valley for an overview. This is a very pretty drive talking about 40 minutes and from here you will get really good views of the valley as well as over to the mountains of the west. On your return you take a spur road to Talung village and walk down from the top of the village for a look at a typical Haa village. Rejoining your vehicle at the bottom of the village you then drive the short distance to the bottom of a track for a nice walk up to Yongto Gompa, an ascent of 100 metres taking about 30 minutes. Yongto Gompa is perched on a ridge overlooking the main valley and is one of the oldest monasteries in Haa, thought to have been built in the 15th century. From here you walk downhill for 30 minutes through pine trees to Yangtha village. This is a large village on the floor of the main valley. In 2001 they suffered a huge fire which destroyed 12 houses. Amazingly, the fire left the temple of the village perfectly intact. After the fire the King visited the people of the village and paid for the reconstruction. The new houses are built in exactly the same traditional style and blend in remarkably well.

After lunch you drive back to Paro with a visit on the way to the temple of Dzong Drakha, a beautiful cliff temple spectacularly located on a broad ledge with vertical limestone cliffs above and below and with lovely views.

Overnight: Hotel Olathang Or Similar, Paro

Day 12 - Walk to Taktsang Monastery.

A short drive beyond Paro town takes you to the trail head for the walk up to the famous Tiger's Nest, Taktsang Monastery. The monastery is perched some 600m/2,000ft up on a cliff overlooking the valley and was said to be where the legendary Indian saint, Guru Padma Sambhava, flew from Tibet on the back of a tiger to defeat five demons, who were opposing the spread of Buddhism in Bhutan. It's a steep uphill walk through woods, of about 1½-2hrs, to reach a tea house (an ascent of 340m/1,115ft.) Apart from offering welcome refreshment this tea house is one of the principle viewpoints of Taktsang, and those who prefer not to climb any further can relax here whilst others continue on. If there is a particular religious gathering or VIP visit in progress, you will not be able to enter the monastery but the further half an hour's ascent is well worth it in any case, as it brings you to another viewpoint directly across from Taktsang. If you are able to make a visit, the final section of the walk takes you from here steeply down 100m/330ft into the gorge that separates you from the monastery and then climbs back up again to reach the monastery gate.

Once you have walked back down you will have lunch and then the rest of the day can either be used to do any further sightseeing your guide suggests, or to do a little last minute shopping before you leave Bhutan.

Overnight: Hotel Olathang Or Similar, Paro

Day 13 - Fly to Kathmandu. Transfer to hotel.

Again a sensational take-off and scenic Himalayan flight past Chomolhari, Bhutan's second highest peak, past Kangchenjunga and Everest back to Kathmandu, where you transfer to your hotel.

Overnight: Dwarika's Hotel, Kathmandu

Day 14 - At leisure in Kathmandu. Transfer to the airport and depart for London.

You will have much of the day free in Kathmandu when you may wish to do some sightseeing or shopping or simply relax by the pool at your hotel. Later there will be a group transfer to the airport for your overnight flight back to London.

Overnight: In flight

Day 15 - Arrive London.