Exclusive Bhutan 7D

Day 1 Arrive Paro from New Delhi / Kathmandu / Bagdogra & transfer to Thimphu 65 km 1hrs drive

Day 2 Thimphu – capital city

National institute of zorig chusum- SIGHTSEEING

The National Institute of Zorig Chusum is the centre for Bhutanese Art education which provides 4-6 years of training in Bhutan's 13 traditional arts. Students specialize in painting (furniture, thangkas – painted religious pictures, usually on canvas), woodcarving (masks, statues, bowls), embroidery (hangings, boots, clothes) or statue-making (clay). The craft demonstrations are a photographers' dream and it's hard not to be impressed with the skill and discipline of the young students. The showroom sells good-value pieces made by students. 

Motithang Takin Preserve- SIGHTSEEING

Motithang Takin Preserve, located in the Motithang district of Thimphu, Bhutan is a wildlife reserve area for takin, the national animal of Bhutan. Originally a mini-zoo, it was converted into a preserve when it was discovered that the animals refrained from inhabiting the surrounding forest even when set free. The reason for declaring takin as a national animal of Bhutan on 25 November 2005 (Budorcas taxicolor) is attributed to a legend of the animal’s creation in Bhutan in the 15th century by Lama Drukpa Kunley. 

Folk Heritage Museum Thimphu- SIGHTSEEING

The Folk Heritage Museum or Phelchey Toenkhyim is a museum in Thimphu, Thimphu District, Bhutan. The museum is housed in a 3-story 19th century traditional rammed mud and timber house aged more than 150 years. It includes paddy, wheat and millet fields, watermill, kitchen gardens, hot stone bath etc. The ground floor resembles barn, the upper floor resembles safe store and the top most floor resembles living and dining area. The museums displays various materials related to the Bhutanese culture and way of life. Exhibitions includes rural households artifacts, equipment, objects and tools.

Authentic Bhutanese Crafts Bazaar- SIGHTSEEING

There are about 100 shops and all the shopkeepers are women. The shops were allotted to these womenfolk on the condition that they would only sell products which were produced in Bhutan and not import products from other countries. The ladies are helpful, courteous and very obliging while you browse through their wares. If you start from one end, it will definitely take you a little more than an hour to window-shop till the end of the road.

Clock Tower Square, Thimphu- SIGHTSEEING

Clock Tower Square has a tower with four clock faces located in Thimphu, capital of Bhutan. It is a famously known landmark in Thimphu. There are many shops, hotels and restaurants surrounding the square. The Clock-tower has a typical Bhutanese architectural outlook with rich Bhutanese carvings and paintings. There are traditional hand crafted dragon with golden painting on all the four faces of the tower which symbolizes the county as an independent dragon kingdom. The tower has beautiful paintings and carvings of flowers which add more magnificence to the tower. The shops, restaurants and hotels in the clock tower square have a blend of fine traditional and modern architectural Bhutanese design with multi-coloured wood frontages, small arched windows, and sloping roofs. The buildings around the square are all small three storied structures 

Buddha Dordenma statue- SIGHTSEEING

Great Buddha Dordenma is a gigantic Shakyamuni Buddha statue in the mountains of Bhutan celebrating the 60th anniversary of fourth king Jigme Singye Wangchuck. The statue houses over one hundred thousand smaller Buddha statues, each of which, like the Great Buddha Dordenma itself, will be made of bronze and gilded in gold. The Great Buddha Dordenma is sited amidst the ruins of Kuensel Phodrang, the palace of Sherab Wangchuck, the thirteenth Desi Druk, overlooking the southern approach to Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan. 

Day 3 Thimphu - Punakha via Dochula pass 77 km 2 hrs 45 min hours drive

Dochula Pass- SIGHTSEEING

The Dochula Pass is a mountain pass in the snow covered Himalayas within Bhutan on the road from Thimpu to Punakha where 108 memorial chortens or stupas known as "Druk Wangyal Chortens" have been built by Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuk, the eldest Queen Mother. Apart from the chortens there is a monastery called the Druk Wangyal Lhakhang (temple), built in honour of the fourth Druk Gyalpo (head of the state of Bhutan), Jigme Singye Wangchuck; the open grounds in its front yard is a venue for the annual Dochula Druk Wangyel Festival. The pass with 108 memorial chortens is adjacent to the country's first Royal Botanical Park.

Royal Botanical Park, Lampelri- SIGHTSEEING

The Royal Botanical Park, Lampelri is the first botanical park in Bhutan and forms the backdrop of the Dochula Pass. The park forms a biological corridor of 47 square miles (120 kms) between the Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park and the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Park and has a popular botanical garden within it which is spread over an area of 125 acres. This is planted with 46 species of rhododendron of which 18 species are native to the park while the other 26 species are brought from other regions of Bhutan and planted here.

Punakha Suspension Bridge- SIGHTSEEING

The Punakha Suspension Bridge is located near the Punakha Dzong and it is the longest suspension bridge in Bhutan built above the Po Chu river.

Punakha Dzong- SIGHTSEEING

The Punakha Dzong, is the administrative centre of Punakha District in Punakha, Bhutan. Constructed by Ngawang Namgyal, 1st Zhabdrung Rinpoche, in 1637–38, it is the second oldest and second largest dzong in Bhutan and one of its most majestic structures. The dzong houses the sacred relics of the southern Drukpa Lineage of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, including the Rangjung Kasarpani and the sacred remains of Ngawang Namgyal and the tertön Pema Lingpa. Punakha Dzong was the administrative centre and the seat of the Government of Bhutan until 1955, when the capital was moved to Thimphu. It is listed as a tentative site in Bhutan's Tentative List for UNESCO inclusion.

Day 4 Punakha Gangtey valley – day excursion 92 km 3 hrs 20 min drive

Gangtay Goemba - SIGHTSEEING

The Gangtey Monastery or the Gangtey Goempa is an important monastery / temple associate with the Nyingmapa school of Buddhism. The Monastery is Located in the Wandue Phodrang Dzhongkhag in central Bhutan. The Gangtey Monastery is situate in the picturesque Phobjikha Valley, which is also renowned for being the winter home of the rare Tibetan Black Necked Cranes. 

Day 5 Punakha – Paro 145 km 4 hours drive

Day 6 Paro sightseeing

Drukgyal Dzong- SIGHTSEEING

Drukgyal Dzong was a fortress and Buddhist monastery, now in ruins, located in the upper part of the Paro District, Bhutan. The dzong was probably built by Tenzin Drukdra in 1649 at the behest of Ngawang Namgyal, Zhabdrung Rinpoche, to commemorate victory over an invasion from Tibet. In the early 1950s, Drukgyal Dzong was almost completely destroyed by fire. It is listed as a tentative site in Bhutan's Tentative List for UNESCO inclusion. In 2016, to celebrate the birth of His Royal Highness The Gyalsey, as well as to commemorate two other significant events, namely, the arrival of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel to Bhutan in 1616 AD and the birth year of Guru Rinpoche, the Prime Minister Lyonchen Tshering Tobgay announced that the Dzong will be rebuilt and reinstated to its former glory. The announcement and ground breaking ceremony took place a day after the Prince was born

National Museum of Bhutan- SIGHTSEEING

National Museum of Bhutan is a cultural museum in the town of Paro in western Bhutan. Established in 1968, in the renovated ancient Ta-dzong building, above Rinpung Dzong under the command of His Majesty, the King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, the third hereditary Monarch of Bhutan. The necessary infrastructure was created to house some of the finest specimens of Bhutanese art, including masterpieces of bronze statues and paintings. Suitable galleries were constructed to house the extensive collections. Works of art were elegantly displayed on scientific lines. Today the National Museum has in its possession over 3,000 works of Bhutanese art, covering more than 1,500 years of Bhutan's cultural heritage. Its rich holdings of various creative traditions and disciplines, represent a remarkable blend of the past with the present and is a major attraction for local and foreign visitors. 

Rinpung Dzong - SIGHTSEEING

Rinpung Dzong is a large dzong - Buddhist monastery and fortress - of the Drukpa Lineage of the Kagyu school in Paro District, Bhutan. It houses the district Monastic Body and government administrative offices of Paro Dzongkhag. It is listed as a tentative site in Bhutan's Tentative List for UNESCO inclusion. 

Day 7 Departure