Customized Bhutan tours from Bangladesh and India
Customized Bhutan tours from Bangladesh and India
Bhutan’s old winter capital, reached over the Dochula Pass — lower, warmer and greener, with the country’s most beautiful dzong sitting where two rivers meet.
Getting to Punakha is half the point. The road climbs out of Thimphu to the Dochula Pass at around 3,100 metres, where 108 chortens stand on the ridge and — on a clear winter morning — the eastern Himalaya line up along the horizon. Then it drops steadily into a valley warm enough for rice and banana trees.
Punakha Dzong sits at the confluence of the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu, the “father” and “mother” rivers. It served as the seat of government until the 1950s and remains the winter home of Bhutan’s central monastic body. Most people rate it the finest building in the country.
Roughly two and a half to three hours by road, over the Dochula Pass. It is a mountain road with plenty of bends, so travellers prone to motion sickness should say so in advance and sit in front.
Only when the weather cooperates. Clear mornings between roughly October and February give the best odds; in summer the ridge is often in cloud. We usually try to cross early in the day for that reason.
It is a steady uphill walk of about an hour each way through rice terraces and pine, on a clear path. Most reasonably mobile travellers manage it comfortably, and the view back down the valley is worth the effort.