A week in Bhutan
Summary
Stunning Himalayan scenery and a traditional culture that permeates throughout your whole visit – a visit to Bhutan is a great experience and one that is anchored in the Bhutanese prides in maintaining its traditional culture, environment and people’s happiness rather than focusing on purely economic factors. This extends to the tourist industry where the minimum spend of USD250 and a strong government hand restricts some of the more commercialised downsides of the industry and makes it feel like you’re stepping back in time to this slightly forgotten Himalayan kingdom
You’ll have to go with an agency (and pay the minimum spend of USD250 per day), but considering you don’t have to travel as a group, can arrange your own itinerary and the $ includes everything other than flights, it’s a good deal. We went with Swallow Tail Travels on a 7 day / 6 night trip for USD1400, who we would recommend. This is the itinerary
highlights
#1 Hiking Bhutan's most famous trek - the Druk Path and having 4 days of isolation and stunning mountain scenery
#2 Climbing up to the Tiger's Nest Monastery, perched high up on one of the mountain sides
#3 The Bhutan people! Genuinely super friendly and happy people
#4 The feeling of isolation as you emerge from your frozen tent and look at some of the still unclimbed Bhutanese mountains in the distance
#5 Seeing the wonderful colours of the various buddhist Monasteries and Fortresses all so close together
#6 Experiencing the altitude as you pass Labana La Pass at 4,235m
#7 The splashes of colour from the Buddhist flags that give that real Himalayan mountain vibe
Rough itinerary
Day 1 – land in Paro and head out straight away to check out the fortress of Punakha Dzong, Paro Dzong (the mini fotress that overlooks the valley), the National Museum and the monstery of Tronga Dzong
Day 2 – visit in the morning the most famous spot in Bhutan, the Tiger’s Nest Monastery perched high on the sheer cliffs. See Climbing to the Tiger’s Nest Monastery for some tips on this experience. The afternoon is for trying archery and visiting the Kyichu Lhakhang, the oldest temple in Bhutan
Day 3 – Day 6 -hiking the 54km famous Druk Path which takes you from Paro to Thimphu and with views of nearby Mt Jomalhori and Mt Gangkhar Puensum. Moderate difficultly and can easily be squeezed into 4 days, but some take 5-6 days. As with most things in Bhutan, you’ll have it largely to youself. See Hiking Bhutan’s Druk Path at the end of winter for more tips and details
Day 6 afternoon – visit the Buddha Dordenma, a 51m / 167ft Buddha statue gilded in gold, and wander round Thimpu
Day 7 – fly out from Paro
Travel Tips
- Time of Year – we went in March, which was cold, but added to the overall experience when trekking in the snow
- The main highlights of Bhutan are relatively compact. You can check out Punakha Dzong, Paro Dzong, the National Museum, Trongsa Dzong and Kyichu Lhakhang easily within a morning or afternoon
- Accommodation – we stayed, all arranged by the tour company, at Taktsang Boutique Resort & Spa on the first two nights and Hotel Thimphu Tower on the final night. Both were nice
- Various activities – there’s always bits and bobs to do in the evenings and quieter times, such as archery, hot stone baths, cooking classes, traditional dances, traditional crafts etc. Time fillers to a degree, but they just seem to be a bit more genuine than the usual commercialised tourist approach. Similarly, the Bhutanese take no offence if you’re just not in the mood
- Flights – flights can be a little restrictive, but your agency will help you see your various options
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other Country-Wide Experiences
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone