The Experience Tour includes many but not all meals, allowing you to eat where you like in your free time. 30 superb meals are included in the tour: 10 Breakfasts, 10 Lunches & 10 Dinners.
A visit to the mountain Kingdom of Bhutan is a very different experience to most holidays. Until recently, the government had resisted contact with the outside world and even today, the number of visitors is restricted. This results in a country which has preserved its culture, history and traditions. This tour has been designed to take in all these interesting facets. Visit the markets, see beautiful dzongs and marvel a the spiritual atmosphere and mountain scenery.
Day 1
Thursday
Arrive Paro / Thimphu
Your Experience Tour commences on arrival at Paro Airport, where you are met and taken for lunch before being transferred by road to Thimphu, the capital. Exquisitely beautiful and brimming with traditional Bhutanese art, architecture, and culture, this tiny capital of Bhutan is nothing less than Shangri-La.
In the afternoon you visit the National Memorial Chorten with its finely executed wall paintings and delicately fashioned statues giving you a deep insight into the kingdom’s Buddhist culture. On your return to the hotel you drive past the Trashi Chhoe Dzong (Fortress of the Glorious Religion); a distinctively Bhutanese fortress-monastery erected in 1641. (BLD)
Day 2
Friday
Thimphu
Today’s full day of sightseeing in Thimphu valley will be your first introduction to the way of life in this peaceful part of the world. You start the day with a walk to Tango Goemba, a monastery of the Mahayana school of Buddhism located outside the city. Here you are given the opportunity to witness how the locals are trained in the Buddhist way of life.
In the afternoon you visit the National Library, which was established in the late 1960s to conserve the country’s literary treasures, which form a significant part of Bhutan’s cultural heritage. While in the area you visit the nearby Institute for Zorig Chusum, commonly known as the Painting School, where students spend six years training in the 13 traditional arts and crafts of Bhutan. You also visit the folk Heritage and National Textile Museums, a fascinating testimony to Bhutan’s living traditions. (BLD)
Day 3
Saturday
Thimphu / Trongsa
After breakfast you drive up the Dochu-la pass, where you stop briefly to admire the chorten (spiritual monument), mani wall (prayer slate covered stone wall), and prayer flags which decorate the highest point on the road. If skies are clear you will be able to see many of the high peaks which surround the area including Gangkar Puensum, the highest peak in Bhutan at 7,497 metres. You continue down the winding pass to the town of Wangduephodrang, where you have lunch.
Following lunch you continue on to Trongsa across the Pele-la pass, the traditional boundary between east and west. The pass is marked by a large white chorten and prayer flags. There is also an abrupt change in vegetation at this point, with mountain forest being replaced by high altitude Dwarf Bamboo.
On arrival in Trongsa you check into your hotel and have the remainder of the day to relax. (BLD)
Day 4
Sunday
Trongsa / Bumthang
This morning you undertake a walk to the Trongsa Dzong, built by Shabdrung in 1647.
Following lunch, you drive to Bumthang via the Yutong-la pass. The road winds steeply up the pass then down through coniferous forest into a wide, open cultivated valley known as the Chumey valley on the other side. (BLD)
Day 5
Monday
Bumthang
Bumthang is the general name given to the combination of four valleys — Chumey, Choekhor, Tang and Ura whose altitude varies between 2,600 metres to 4,000 metres. It is home to many prominent Buddhist temples and monasteries. You visit the Kurje Lhakhang, where saint Padmasambhava subdued a local demon and left his body imprint on a rock, the 7th Century temple Jambey Lhakhang, the Tamshing Lhakhang, which houses some of the oldest wall paintings in Bhutan and Jakar Dzong, the administrative centre of the region.
Later we have time for a stroll in the village to visit the handicrafts shop and to just take in the atmosphere of the region. (BLD)
Day 6
Tuesday
Bumthang / Punakha
Today you will drive to Punakha with a number of stops along the way to stretch your legs. On arrival you check into your hotel for a two night-stay. (BLD)
Day 7
Wednesday
Punakha
Following breakfast you visit Punakha, the kingdom’s capital until 1955, and the winter home for the country’s central body of monks. The local dzong has a gold-domed six-story tower where your guide will take you inside to view its courtyards and religious statuary while explaining the depth of history and spiritual tradition embodied here. You will also go to visit the newly built Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten.
Later in the day you are taken on an excursion to Wangdue Phodrang, a 400 year old town whose dzong is located on a ridge with a commanding view of the valleys below. As you enjoy a guided tour to the dzong you will be fully immersed in Bhutan’s spectacular Himalayan scenery, where the workings of a long isolated culture exhibit a dignity and spirituality to match the loftiness of their natural surroundings. Following the visit you return to your hotel in Punakha. (BLD)
Day 8
Thursday
Punakha / Paro
After breakfast you will be driven to Paro. It is located in a beautiful valley which encapsulates a rich culture, scenic beauty and hundreds of myths and legends. It is home to many of Bhutan’s oldest temples and monasteries, the country’s only airport and the National Museum. Mt Chomolhari (7,300 metres) reigns in white glory at the northern end of the valley, its glacial waters plunging through deep gorges to form the Pa Chu (Paro River).
Today you visit Rinpung Dzong or the ‘Fortress of the Heap of Jewels’, which was built in 1646. The approach to the Dzong is through a traditional covered bridge (called the Nemi Zam) and then up a paved stone path running alongside the imposing outer walls.
In addition you visit Ta Dzong, which is located on a ridge immediately overlooking Rinpung Dzong and was originally built as a watchtower to protect the dzong. It is now the National Museum and holds a fascinating collection of art, relics, religious thangkha paintings, Bhutan’s exquisite postage stamps, coins and handicrafts, together with a small natural history collection. (BLD)
Day 9
Friday
Paro
This morning you are driven to see the ruins of the Drukgyel Dzong, perched in the mountains, at the departure point for many long-distance mountain treks. This dzong, with a picturesque village nestling below its ramparts, was built in 1646 by Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal to commemorate his victory over the Tibetan invaders.
Following the visit you undertake a walk to the Taktshang Monastery, the most famous of Bhutan’s monasteries, which is perched on the side of a cliff 900 metres above the Paro valley floor. It is said that Guru Rinpoche arrived here on the back of a tigress and meditated at this place, hence the monastery is also called ‘Tiger’s Nest’. This site is a place of pilgrimage which Bhutanese try to visit at least once in a lifetime. In April 1998, a fire severely damaged the main structure of the building, but it has now been fully restored to its original grandeur. The excursion up to the viewing area located on a rocky outcrop across a ravine from the monastery, takes about five hours round trip. Though the climb is steep, the journey is most worthwhile on account of the superb views enroute. (BLD)
Day 10
Saturday
Paro
Today you undertake a full day excursion to Paro-Haa. You drive to Haa via the Chele-la pass with its Blue pine and Rhododendron forest. From the top of the pass you will have superb views of Mt Chomolhari and Jichu Drakey if the weather is clear. The Haa Dzong is presently occupied by military, but the view from the outside is stunning.
After a picnic lunch you visit the famous Lhakhang Karpo Monastery (White Temple) and the Lhakhang Nagpo Monastery (Black Temple). The latter’s central shrine is said to be identical to that in Lhasa Jowo in Tibet. (BLD)
Day 11
Sunday
Depart Paro
Following breakfast you will be transferred to the airport, where your Experience Tour comes to an end. (B)
NB: There are convenient onward flights to most cities in India as well as internationally.
Inca Tours does not own any of the hotels, lodges or service providers utilised in making up the tours. As a result Inca Tours is only acting as an agent for the operators and as such does not accept responsibility for any negligence, omissions, errors or differences in standard experienced by passengers when utilising the operators' products or services. Please Note: for full booking terms and conditions please see the back of our booking form.
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