Eastern Bhutan

Shops, restaurants and offices in richly carved traditional buildings line the main street of Paro, where two of eastern Bhutan’s main rivers meet. The town is best known locally for the splendid Rinpung Dzong, overlooking the river, whose most valuable possession is a giant embroidered tapestry, or thondrol (thangka), depicting the dzong’s founding father, Guru Rincpoche; the treasure is unrolled only once a year on the morning of the annual tsechu (festival). On the hill behind rests the National Museum in a beautifully restored watchtower, the Ta Dzong, built in the 1650s to guard Paro’s dzong.

Bhutan’s most photographed monument, the Taktshang Monastery, commonly known as the ‘Tiger’s Nest’, is wedged into a lofty cliff nearly a vertical kilometre above a forested valley. Rock-cut steps and rickety bridges connect its four wings, whose golden pagoda roofs, fluttering prayer flags and distempered walls are dwarfed by the vista of forested hills and snow-capped mountains unfolding on all sides – a spectacle worth the journey to Bhutan alone!

Thimpu became the nation’s capital in 1961, since when it’s swollen to a town of around 80,000 people – the perfect place to get to grips with life in modern Bhutan.

During the fifth day of your trip you’ll tour the Bhutanese capital’s impressive dzongs (fortress-monasteries), the King’s Memorial chorten, Buddhist painting school and national folk museum, made of rammed earth to resemble a traditional farmstead. In the city’s market, your guide will point out local delicacies such as jellied cow skin and fried fern, and don’t miss the chance to touch a takin, Bhutan’s national animal, which looks like a cross between a cow and a goat and survives in the nearby Mothitang Reserve.

Around 25km east of Thimphu, Punakha is the home of one of the country’s most beautiful monasteries, built around 1638 at the confluence of two rivers. The complex is a showcase of Bhutanese craftsmanship, with a particularly impressive assembly hall featuring fine clay statues and intricate murals. The dzong also hosts a well-known festival, during which an enormous thondrol ‒ an extraordinary appliquéd sacred banner ‒ is unfurled, conferring merit on all who see it.

The 17th century dzong at Gangtey is this awesome valley’s prime religious monument, although most visitors come in search of black-necked cranes. A festival in which local children wear specially made crane masks is held in the monastery each November to welcome their arrival. The other major event here is tsechu, which usually falls in October, when monks perform traditional Cham dances in the monastery courtyard. Preserved in one of Gangteng’s inner shrines is one of the country’s more gruesome relics: the hands of a British army officer killed in a battle with Bhutanese forces in 1864.

Surrounded by snow peaks and old-growth forest, the beautiful Phobjikha Valley is home to a unique conservation initiative, where migratory black-neck cranes, which pass through here in the winter months between October and March, are protected by local wardens and volunteers. The centre provides information about the birds and their migration, and if your visit coincides with their stay in the village you’ll be able to observe them grazing on the valley floor through telescopes.

Built on a mountain spur high above the gorge created by the Mangde Chu River, Trongsa is a site rich in Bhutanese history and culture. Its great dzong – the largest in the country – traditionally controlled east-west trade through the kingdom, and was the ceremonial seat of the dynasty that now rules the modern state. The complex contains a wealth of Buddhist art and antiquities, and affords a sublime view over the valley to the surrounding peaks, invariably draped in mist.

Situated in the heart of the country, a crossroads-like alignment of four valleys is collectively known as Bumthang. Until the 1970s when a road was finally constructed through it, this region remained isolated and relatively undeveloped. Today, with its many stories and legends, religious associations, abundant temples and monasteries, it’s regarded as a kind of cultural heartland and a great place to leave your car parked up for a couple of days and take to the footpaths. A succession of picture-book villages line its lower reaches, home to some of Bhutan’s oldest and most revered monasteries.

Often snow-dusted in early summer and autumn, Trumshingla is marked with a huge collection of multi-coloured prayer flags and whitewashed shrines intended to bring good fortune to passing travellers.

Mongar town, situated on the valley floor, marks the gateway to eastern Bhutan and is the site of two dzong – one ruined, the other more modern and functioning. There’s little much else to see.

Perched on a hilltop with stunning views of the surrounding valley above the Drangme Chhu river, the beautiful town of Trashigang was once the hub of the region’s busy trade with Tibet. Today, it serves as a popular stopover on the journey to or from Samdrup Jongkhar and the Indian border.

Trashigang was once a bustling trade centre and, today, continues to serve as a popular market place for the semi-nomadic people of Merak and Sakteng.

Overlooking the town is one of Trashigang's principle sites - the Trashigang Dzong or ‘The Fortress of the Auspicious Hill’. Built in the mid-17th century, the dzong suffered damage during the 2009 and 2011 earthquakes and has recently completed its renovation and conservation works. The views alone makes a visit worthwhile, offering spectacular views of the town and its surrounds.

Flanked by hills to the north and south, Assam encompasses the mostly flat, low-lying Brahmaputra Valley. As the site of two revered Hindu temples, its rapidly swelling capital, Guwahati, is a major pilgrimage destination, and also the hub of the region’s tea tourism.