As seen on
Walking the Trans Bhutan Trail
Bhutan Tours - 3,425m
This trip supports
- Overview
- Itinerary
- Essential info
- Packing list
Grade:
Intermediate
Type:
Activity
Transfers
Duration:
8 Nights
2 - 12
Group size
Leaders
Tour Highlights
- Enjoy hiking along the Trans Bhutan Trail
- Follow the Divine Madman Trail
- Visit the royal cities of Trongsa and Bumthang
- Hike up to the famous Tiger’s Nest Monastery
- Immerse yourself in Bhutan’s unique culture in communities along the way
Explore the Trans Bhutan Trail on this small group walking tour
Immerse yourself in Bhutan’s rich and unique culture through the magical towns and royal cities on the Trans Bhutan Trail.
Visit the royal cities of Trongsa and Bumthang during this true adventure to Bhutan’s magical centre and east. Enjoy five days of hiking along the Trans Bhutan Trail, during which you will follow the Divine Madman Trail and immerse yourself in Bhutan’s unique culture in communities along the way.
Finish off your visit with a night in the charming town of Phunaka before returning to Paro for a hike up to the famous Tiger’s Nest Monastery.
International visitors to Bhutan need to pay a 'Sustainable Development Fee' of $200 per night of their stay (up from $65 per night) to the government. This 8 night tour therefore means a payment of $1,600 to the Bhutanese Government, which has already been incorporated into the tour price.
(Available as a small group tour or tailor-made holiday)
Day 1: Arrival at Paro – Thimphu
Transfer
Dinner
3 star hotel
On arrival at Paro International Airport, you will be met by your guide and driven by private vehicle to Bhutan’s capital, Thimphu. With elevations ranging between 2,248 metres (7,375 feet) and 2,648 metres (8,688 feet) above sea level, Thimphu is the fifth highest capital city in the world by altitude. The city offers a unique blend of the modern world with Bhutanese tradition.
After checking in at your hotel and some time to rest, head out with your guide to explore. First, head to Buddha Point, home to Thimphu’s most recognized landmark, the Buddha Dordenma. Guarding the entry to the Thimphu valley, this 51 metre (167 feet) gilded bronze statue is filled with 125,000 miniature statues and sits atop a three-storey base housing a chapel and thousands of donated statuettes. The statue was commissioned to mark His Majesty the Fourth King of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck’s 60th birthday and was originally made in China before being transported to Thimphu in pieces.
Afterwards, you will make a stop at the Memorial Chorten, a Tibetan-style stupa built in 1974 and one of Thimphu’s busiest religious sites. Your guide will select a good local restaurant in Thimphu for dinner this evening, which will be your first chance to learn about and sample Bhutanese cuisine.
Accommodation: Tara Phendheling Hotel or similar
Day 2: Thimphu – Dochula – Thinleygang – Lobesa
Transfer
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
3 star hotel
After breakfast, head east out of Thimphu this morning to begin your first day of trekking on the ancient Trans Bhutan Trail. You will join the Trail this morning at Dochula Pass, some 3,100 metres (10,170 feet) above sea level. At clearer times of the year, you will be able to enjoy panoramic views of the Himalayas to the north from Dochula.
From here, descend down into the adjacent valley and join what is known as the ‘Divine Madman Trail’. You will now be following in the footsteps of the Divine Madman himself, Drukpa Kuenley, when he came to Bhutan from Tibet in the 16th century to fulfil his legacy of suppressing evil energies through his dharma teachings. During your trek today, your guide will share some of the extraordinary stories which relate to the lama’s colourful life. Make a stop at Thinleygang Lhakhang (temple) before enjoying a traditional Bhutanese lunch cooked in a local farmhouse.
After lunch, rejoin your vehicle and head east towards Lobesa, where you will check into your hotel and enjoy dinner with your guide.
Accommodation: Hotel Lobesa or similar
Trek Distance: 10.5 kilometres (6.52 miles), Estimated Trek Duration: 5 hours, Elevation Gain: 50 metres (164 feet), Starting Elevation: 3,100 metres (8,700 feet), Ending Elevation: Ending Elevation: 1,560 metres (5,100 feet), Maximum Elevation: 3,100 metres (8,700 feet)
Day 3: Lobesa – Pelela – Chendebji – Trongsa
Transfer
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
3 star hotel
After breakfast at the hotel, head to your vehicle for a transfer to Pelela, where you will rejoin the Trans Bhutan Trail.
At 3,407 metres (11,177 feet) above sea level, the Pelela Pass is one of Bhutan’s highest and is traditionally considered to mark the boundary between west and central Bhutan. Local craftspeople often sell fine yak-hair products at the pass. As you descend through the meadows below Pelela, keep an eye out for the yak herder camps which can be seen scattered around the valley.
Stop in a traditional farmhouse in the village of Rukubji to enjoy a hot lunch, before visiting Rukubji’s village Lhakhang (temple), also known as Kuenzang Choling. It is thought that this temple was built some 300 years ago by a Lama named Tshendhen Duelwa. Unlike most temples, it is not built on a ridge with a view out over a valley, but rather on an extended plateau and close to two rivers: the reason for this is that the Lama built the temple on top of the head of a snake-demoness which he subdued in the same location. Rukubji is also famous for its unique local language, and you will have the chance to learn about this during your time here.
Afterwards, rejoin the trail for a gentle climb out of the valley then through a forest, before dropping back down the village of Chendebji. At Chendebji, visit the Chorten (stupa), which is built on the point on which it is believed that the three ridges and the three edges of the sky meet. The Chorten was built by Lam Ngedup Tshering Wangchuk in order to subdue a local demoness, Nyala Dudm, and bring peace to the Chendebji Valley.
At Chendebji, you will rejoin your vehicle for a road transfer to the town of Trongsa.
On arrival, check in to your hotel where you will have time to rest. Your guide will arrange for dinner either at your hotel or a good local restaurant.
Accommodation: Yangkhill Resort or similar
Trek Distance: 21.5 kilometres (13.5 miles), Estimated Trek Duration: 8 hours, Elevation Gain: 500 metres (1,650 feet), Starting Elevation: 3,402 metres (11,162 feet), Ending Elevation: 2,276 metres (7,468 feet), Maximum Elevation: 3,402 metres (11,162 feet)
Day 4: Trongsa – Bumthang
Transfer
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
3 star hotel
After breakfast at your hotel, enjoy a tour of Trongsa Dzong (fortress), which was first built by Ngagi Wangchuck as a small meditation room in 1541, after he discovered self-manifested hoof-prints belonging to the deity Pelden Lhamo on the same spot. Trongsa, which means ‘new village’ in the local dialect, soon sprung up around the site. The Dzong (fortress) was built in its present form in 1644 and then enlarged again at the end of the 17th century. It is home to some 450 district monks who spend their winters in Trongsa and their summers in Bumthang. You will visit a selection of the Dzong’s 23 lhakhangs (temples), before heading to the Trongsa Ta Dzong (watchtower), which now houses the interesting Royal Heritage Museum.
Afterwards, join your vehicle for a transfer to the Yotongla Pass (3,436 metres, 11,270 feet), where you will rejoin the Trans Bhutan Trail. This section of the Trail is historically closely associated with the Royal Family, who would have used it regularly to transfer between royal residences in Trongsa and Bumthang. From Yotongla, the Trail descends through meadows and open forest until it meets Gyeltsachhu (Gyeltsa River). From there, enjoy a scenic walk along the river as far as Geytsa Village, where you will rejoin your vehicle for a transfer to Bumthang. A picnic Lunch will be served at a suitable point on the trail.
On arrival in Bumthang, check into your hotel and relax for the remainder of the day. Your guide will arrange for dinner either at your hotel or a local restaurant.
Accommodation: Yugharling or similar
Trek Distance: 9.5 kilometres (5.90 miles), Estimated Trek Duration: 5 hours, Elevation Gain: 50 metres (164 feet), Starting Elevation: 2,276 metres (7,468 feet), Ending Elevation: 2,574 metres (8,445 feet), Maximum Elevation: 3,425 metres (11,237 feet)
Day 5: Bumthang
Transfer
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
3 star hotel
After breakfast, join your vehicle which will transfer you to the village of Babzur, where you will rejoin the Trail for a pleasant half day excursion. The Trail will first take you past the Pema Choling Nunnery. Women and girls who enrol here follow a nine-year course in the Nyingma Peling Buddhist tradition and are known for a particular drum ceremony known as “chod”.
After your visit to the nunnery, head south along the Trans Bhutan Trail towards the sacred Mebartsho (the Burning Lake), where, in the 15th century, the great treasure hunter Pema Lingpa is said to have discovered several of Guru Rinpoche’s hidden treasures. Lingpa had a dream in which he was summoned to this particular location on the Tang River and, when he arrived, he saw at the bottom of the river a temple with many doors, one of which was open. He then swam down into a large cave where he was handed a treasure chest by a one-eyed woman. He would later repeat the feat in the presence of the local people and whilst holding a lit butter lamp which did not go out underwater – and it is because of that that this pool was named “burning lake”.
Enjoy a typical Bhutanese lunch at a local farmhouse in the nearby village of Phomdrong. During your visit, your host will show you how to make Bumthap Putha, a special type of buckwheat noodle traditional to the Bumthang region.
After lunch, return to Bumthang, where you will visit the Bumthang Brewery, producers of Bhutan’s celebrated Red Panda Beer. Nearby is Bhutan’s only commercial cheese factory. Both the brewery and the cheese factory are legacies of a Swiss-run development project called Swiss Farm, which introduced distinctive European farming and production techniques into the Bumthang area. Dinner this evening will be at a local restaurant.
Accommodation: Yugharling or similar
Trek Distance: 4.5 kilometres (2.80 miles), Estimated Trek Duration: 3 hours, Elevation Gain: 200 metres (656 feet), Starting Elevation: 2,800 metres (9,186 feet), Ending Elevation: 2,713 metres (8,901 feet), Maximum Elevation: 2,800 metres (9,186 feet)
Day 6: Bumthang – Punakha
Transfer
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
3 star hotel
After breakfast this morning, rejoin your vehicle for a transfer back to Trongsa. Alight at the Trongsa Ta Dzong (watchtower), where you begin your last section of trekking on the Trans Bhutan Trail. The Trail still heads right through the center of Trongsa and today you will head through Trongsa Dzong (fortress), crossing the old bridge over Mangdechhu (Mangde River), before heading up the other side of the valley for a steep climb up to the Trongsa viewpoint: from here, enjoy fantastic views back over the Dzong (fortress).
Rejoin the vehicle at the viewpoint and head to the town of Punakha, where you will check into your hotel and enjoy dinner with your guide at a local restaurant.
Accommodation: Zhingkham Resort or similar
Trek Distance: 4 kilometres (2.49 miles), Estimated Trek Duration: 4 hours, Elevation Gain: 350 metres (1,148 feet), Starting Elevation: 2,050 metres (6,726 feet), Ending Elevation: 2,125 metres (7,956 feet), Maximum Elevation: 2,125 metres (7,956 feet)
Day 7: Punakha – Paro
Transfer
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
3 star hotel
After breakfast, head to the Punakha Dzong (fortress), built by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in around 1637 at the confluence of the Phochhu (male river) and the Mochhu (female river). Arguably, it is the most beautiful Dzong in the country. The Dzong guards Bhutan’s most treasured relic, the Rangjung Kharsapani, an image of Chenresig kept away from the public in the utse (tower). It has survived Tibetan invasions, numerous fires, floods and a glacial lake burst. The Dzong served as the capital and seat of the Bhutanese Government until the early 1950s; and the coronation of His Majesty the First Druk, Gyalpo Ugyen Wangchuck, took place here. The building currently serves as the winter residence for the monastic body.
After your visit, you will be transferred west to the city of Paro. On arrival in Paro, visit Ta Dzong or the ‘watchtower’, originally built in 1649 to protect Paro Dzong from the Tibetan military. In 1968, Ta Dzong became Bhutan’s National Museum, and is now home to a number of exhibitions including sculpture, painting and artifacts depicting Bhutan’s magical past. Afterwards, continue to the stunning Paro Rinpung Dzong (fortress), meaning ‘Fortress on a Heap of Jewels’. The original construction of this dzong is believed to have been completed in 1458 and it was restored to its present glory by His Majesty the Third of Bhutan, King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, to mark his royal wedding in 1951.
After your visits, head to your hotel, where we recommend you relax and unwind in a traditional Bhutanese hot stone bath before enjoying dinner with your guide at a nearby restaurant.
Accommodation: Dewachen Resort & Spa or similar
Day 8: Paro - Tiger's Nest - Paro
Transfer
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
3 star hotel
After breakfast this morning, head northwest out of Paro by private vehicle for a visit to the iconic Taktshang Goemba, more commonly known as the ‘Tiger’s Nest Monastery’. Precariously perched on a sheer cliff face 900 metres (2,950 feet) above the Paro Valley floor, the Tiger’s Nest is undoubtedly Bhutan’s most famous religious building. It is built on the site where Guru Rinpoche is said to have arrived on the back of a tigress when he came to subdue the local demon, Singye Samdrup. After subduing the demon, Guru Rinpoche is said to have meditated in a cave here for three whole months.
The Monastery is only accessible by foot via one and a half to two hour hike up the valley side. The trek offers spectacular views from the ridge and passes a small chorten, a basic monastery, and a waterfall on its way.
Once you have reached the Tiger’s Nest, you will have a chance to visit the cave where Guru Rinpoche meditated, as well as the extensive network of Lhakhangs (chapels) which house images, murals, chortens, and a holy spring. You may also wish to make a diversion to the attractive Machig-phu Lhakhang (temple) on the way back down to the access road.
After the visit, you will head back to your hotel in Paro, where you will be able to relax for the remainder of the day or do some last-minute shopping for souvenirs.
In the evening, enjoy a farewell dinner with your guide at a nearby restaurant.
Accommodation: Dewachen Resort & Spa or similar
Day 9: Paro – Depart
Transfer
Breakfast
After breakfast today, you will be transferred to the airport for your international departure flight, rejuvenated by the Bhutanese way of life.
Adventure Optional Extras
Single Room Supplement
Single rooms are available on a first come, first served basis.
We will charge on a pro-rata basis if a single room is not available to book for part of the trip where it would have been possible.
Plant an additional 15 trees for your adventure
Carbon Compensation is not the perfect solution, and it is important to first reduce our carbon emissions as much as we can, yet trees remain an excellent natural technology to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to slow global warming.
For every client and guide who attends a YellowWood Adventure, we donate £30 to our partner charity WeForest to plant 15 trees to (over) compensate for the carbon footprint of the tour.
We also invite our clients to match this with an optional additional £30 for another 15 trees to be planted to help compensate for the carbon footprint of their international flights.
WeForest run many tree planting and tree maintenance projects such as this seedling nursery in the Amhara region of Ethiopia, the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil and many other projects in other countries including Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania & India.
Click Here to find out more about their amazing projects around the world.
Compulsory
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+44 207 846 0197
Related Adventures
Booking Process
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This payment is due 56 days before departure date (we send reminders).
Contact us with any questions about your adventure or booking.
+44 207 846 0197
Grading
To help you choose the right adventure for you, we have given each itinerary a grading that relates to the level of Walking / Trekking you will experience during the trip. This grading can be found on the Yellow map on the adventure page of the website.
All of our trips involve a level of general activity so are designed for people who are in good health, enjoy the outdoors, and have a taste for adventure and some level of fitness. As will be clear from our destinations, the climate (and altitude) may be different to that which you are used to, so please take this into consideration when choosing the most suitable holiday.
Please read our Adventure Itinerary & Essential Information for more information and don't hesitate to contact us if you would like to chat through whether you have found a suitable adventure for you.
Grade 1-3: Entry Level
You need to be in good physical health to enjoy your active holiday, but you don’t need to be an experienced hiker. These itineraries offer a mix of sightseeing and easier walking for around 2-4hrs a day, with the emphasis on sights and cultural experiences.
Walks will be well marked or on defined pathways, and often around sites of interest. The expected amount of descent/ascent will depend on the landscapes of the destination, but will not exceed 400m/day, and will often be much less. Walks are at low altitude (below 3000m).
You will not be required to carry more than a day sack with water and essentials. Ensure you are aware of the weather conditions likely in the destination you are visiting and have a pair of comfortable and worn in walking shoes/boots.
Grades 4-6: Intermediate
You need to have a good level of fitness and be a regular walker for these adventures, with ideally some trekking experience. You can expect to be walking for 3-6 hours per day, not including rest stops, normally on good trail paths but with some uneven surfaces at times.
You will not be required to carry more than a day sack. You may be walking in more challenging temperatures. You will generally be walking at low altitude (below 3000m) but may walk at altitudes up to 4000m. The amount of ascent could be up to 800m in a day but will frequently be less. You may walk on consecutive days.
Ensure you are aware of the weather conditions likely in the destination you are visiting and have suitable clothing for this adventure.
Grades 7-9: Challenging
You need to have a good level of fitness with previous experience of trekking. Extra training before your trip will ensure that you get the most out of your adventure. Areas will be remote and terrain uneven.
Expect to walk for 5 – 8 hours a day, not including breaks, with some very steep ascents and descents. You will be walking at altitude (over 3000m but not higher than 5000m).
Ensure you are aware of the weather conditions likely in the destination you are visiting and have suitable equipment/clothing for this adventure (see the packing list for your adventure).
Please check individual itineraries for details of what you will need to be carrying with you.
Enquiry Process
Get in touch via our Enquiry form to check our availability, discuss the adventure and check we can meet your needs.
Complete our Enquiry Form; contact details, additional requirements (eg diet or health requirements) & questions you may have. Include as much information as you are able to, so we can help you with the detail you are looking for
Click on 'Send Enquiry' (receipted).
We will be in touch as soon as we are able, to answer your questions and help you plan your adventure.
+44 207 846 0197