Phuentsholing (Google Map) and Samdrup Jongkhar(Google Map)
Note. Starting Cost per person per day $ 385/INR 5000(cost and itinerary is customizable as per the number of traveler and their Requirements
After breakfast, drive to Bumthang, one of the most spectacular valleys in Bhutan & also the heartland of Buddhism. The drive will take you through dense forests of oak trees & rhododendrons & through the tropical vegetation the village of Nobding & Pele La pass (11,000ft). Throughout your trip you will come across the beautiful sceneries of rural Bhutan, with scattered settlements far from the road which makes for good photographing. Drive to Bumthang, the religious Valley where the great teachers Meditated & left in there with Many sacred grounds. On the Way, visit the ‘Yathra weaving Centre’ at Zugney & spent some Minutes interacting with the local weavers. Yathra is the name for the colorful, hand-woven woolen cloth (often with geo metric designs), wool used for this type of textile is sheep wool as the sheep is reared in this region. And Yathra is made into jackets & bags. Thereafter drive onto hotel in Bumthang & overnight stay in hotel.
Tang Valley Excursion with lunch in Ogyen Chholing Palace
Tang is the most remote of the Bumthang valleys & due topoor soil quality, agricultural yields are scanty. However, the people of the valley raise sheep & the area turns brightpink in October when the buckwheat is in bloom. A full
day excursion to Tang valley can include a visit to the burning lake, a nunnery, Takrimochen lhakhang as well as the Ogyen Chholing Palace which was recently turned into a museum. Just after the turnoff to the unpaved road leading to Tang, you will see the stop off for Membartsho or the burning lake. From here, the walk down to the lake takes about five minutes. Continuing from Membartsho, the road takes you past Pema Chholing Nunnery, small nunnery in Tang valley currently under major expansion & reconstruction. Then further up the mountain side, before it continues along the river to Kitzom towards the end of the valley. From here, the Ogyen Chholing Museum originally built in the 16th century is visible on a hill across the river, a 45 minutes climb up the mountain. After crossing the bridge, the path leads through a small charming group of farm houses before it starts climbing up the hill towards Ogyen Chholing. Driving back from Tang, you will pass Rimochen lhakhang on your right. Overnight night stay in hotel.
Early Breakfast in the hotel The journey continues eastwards, winding through more rugged terrain. The drive to Mongar takes about 6 hours, with spectacular views en route. We will drive up into the hills above the valley and then past Ura village, before climbing sharply to the highest point on Bhutan’s motorable road network, Thrumsing-la pass (4,000m/13,125ft).From here, the road gradually descends to the sub-alpine valley of Sengor, with wonderful views of cascading waterfalls and the hills of eastern Bhutan along the way. Vegetation changes from alpine to subtropical with the loss of height, and bamboos and luxuriant ferns overhang the road as we drop down to the valley floor. The descent stops at 600m/1971ft, where we cross the Kuri Chu (river). We ascend again through chirpine forests, maize fields and eastern hamlets to reach Mongar town, high on a gentle slope above the valley.Very recently built, Mongar town is a small one, where everbody knows everybody. Like the town, the Dzong is also comparably new, having got built in the 1930s and one of Bhutan’s newest dzongs, but constructed in the same way as all previous dzongs, without either plans or the use of nails.Overnight stay in hotel.
This trip of about 96 km. takes about 3 hours. The first part of journey is through leafy forest filled with ferns. After driving through the Kori-la pass (2,450m/8,040ft), marked by a pretty chorten and a mani
wall, we descend rapidly through corn fields and banana groves to reach the famous road zigzags just below Yadi, a fairly recent and now fast-growing settlement.Zig zagging down the hillside, the road east runs along the Gamri river. A turnoff on the left leads up to Drametse. The temple, perched on top of a steep hill above the village, was founded by Choeden Zangmo and is the most important monastery of
eastern Bhutan. This is the place of origin of the famous Drametse Nga Chham, a masked dance with drums. About 30 km. onwards lies Trashigang (1,100m/3,610ft), which clings to a steep hillside above the Gamri river. Trashigang is the principal township of the biggest and most populated district in the country.After lunch, we will visit Trashigang Dzong, standing at the extreme end of a rocky outcrop far above the river gorge. It serves as the administrative seat for the district and part of the dzong is occupied by the local monastic community.Overnight stay in Trashigang.
The Trashigang – Samdrup Jongkhar road was completed in 1965,and the journey down it to the Indian border takes about 6 hours Along the way, we pass by Sherubtse College in Kanglung, which was founded in 1978. We also visit the nearby Zangtho Pelri temple representing Guru Rinpoche’s paradise, built in 1978 by the late Minister of Home Affairs. We then drive on to Khaling, home of the National Institute for the Disabled and the Weaving Centre. Visits to these may be arranged by prior request only, before leaving Thimphu. From here, it is a further 80 km. to Deothang, which is remembered in history as the site of a famous 1865 battle fought during the Duar Wars, in which the forces of Jigme Namgyal defeated the British. The road then descends fairly rapidly to the plains through dense tropical forest with an abundance of teak, bamboo and ferns. Overnight in hotel.
Today your trip is over and after breakfast your guide will drive you to Guwahati, the capital town of the Indian northeastern state of Assam to board your departure, and you return back with lots of good memories
