RODUNGLA TREK

• One of the most breathtaking flights offered by Druk Airways in the entire Himalaya is to Bhutan. Each flight is an amazing aeronautical feat and delivers an exhilarating descent into the Kingdom, whether it is from Kolkata or Kathmandu across the foothills of the Himalayas. After completing the necessary immigration and customs processes upon arrival at the Paro airport, our representative will meet you and drive you to the hotel. Take a stroll down the town’s main street in the evening. Spend the night at the Paro hotel.

• Drive to Drugyel Dzong in the morning, the abandoned castle from which Bhutanese repelled multiple incursions by forces from Tibet. Visit Kyichu Lhakhang, one of the Kingdom’s oldest and most revered shrines, as you travel.

• After that, go to Thimphu while stopping at Simtokha Dzong, the oldest fortification in the kingdom and current home of the School for Buddhist Studies, which was erected in 1627.

• After visiting Trasichhodzong, a stunning medieval fortress/monastery in the evening, Memorial Chorten, a stupa built in honor of Bhutan’s Third King, is visited.

• Stop over the night in a hotel in Thimphu.

• Visit the National Library, the Arts and Crafts School, and the Textile and Folk Heritage Museum in Thimphu in the morning.

• Next, travel to Trongsa through the Pele La Pass (3,050m) and Dochula Pass (3,050m) (3,300m). In Trongsa, spend the night in the inn.

• Early morning excursion to the impressive Trongsa Dzong, the royal family of Bhutan’s ancestral home. Visit Ta Dzong next, which was designed as a watchtower to look over Trongsa Dzong. After that, go to Bumthang and spend the afternoon exploring the Jakar Dzong, which was constructed in the 17th century by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the country’s first spiritual and political leader. Visit the Kurjey monastery next, where Guru Padsambhava left his physical stamp during the eighth century. In the following century, the temple was constructed. Visit Jambay Lhakhang later. Spend the night at the Bumthang lodge.

• The journey starts today. The Chamkhar Chhu (river) is followed by the trek path, which passes by numerous villages and temples, meadows, forests of blue pine, and scrub bamboo. Today is a really easy and enjoyable day. Reach the village camp at a height of 2,900 meters. It takes roughly 6 hours to walk.

• As you make your way up the trail toward the Phephela pass, you’ll pass through juniper trees and eventually reach the pass at an elevation of 3,340 m. Arriving at Ugyenchholing village after the path descends to Tang valley. At a height of 2,850 meters, camp near the river. 7 to 8 hours of walking.

The trek’s beginning is treacherous and muddy. It turns into a narrow pathway through soggy fields and dwarf bamboo at about 3,000 meters. The trail passes through a field with more dwarf bamboo at about 3,400 meters. A steep, high meadow can be reached by ascending across the meadow and cutting through the woodland. The path leads to a summer meadow that is bordered by trees and covered in little blue alpine flowers.

A further 30 minutes of ascent will bring you to Rodungla (4,100m). The journey to the valley bottom is therefore extremely steep. On the way, there are a few little meadows. Near the campsite, after a little stroll through dwarf bamboo, are pine trees.

This road, which rises and falls like a wave, leads to Khaine Lhakhang and Drula hamlet. Built by the Tibetan King Songtsen in the middle of the seventh century to tame demons, it is one of the oldest temples still standing today.

After lunch, proceed to the Lhuentshe guest house for some leisure.

Once you reach Kuri Zam, the hike progressively ascends through villages and paddy fields. The camp is located at 1,850 meters between the settlement of Menji and the Darchu Pang Lhakhang, which is surrounded by a flower garden with marigold, geranium, dahlia, and nasturtium plants.

Continue upward into the steep, humid woodland, which is covered in thick fern and creeper vegetation and is constantly chirped by cicadas. The path is steep and constrained. Reach the camp at Pemi (2,400m) on a narrow ridge top clearing with a view out to a forested gorge and mountains by steadily climbing for two hours to a ridge top meadow, then descending back into the forest.

Continue climbing until you reach Dong la (3,900m), which offers breathtaking mountain vistas. The trail crosses nine passes, known as the “nine sisters of Dong la” on the other side of the pass. Finally, a steep descent through dense evergreen forests on a trail littered with rocks and logs leads to a meadow on top of a ridge. The camp is located at Taupang (2,460m), a woodland clearing with a wooden cowherd’s hut.

Today’s trip will pass through areas with enormous ferns, red-berried palms, and sporadic leeches. After a two-hour hike, you arrive at the village of Shukshing, a collection of bamboo homes perched on a hillside and encircled by cornfields, banana trees, and grazing cows. The hike comes to an end at Trashiyangtse Dzong.

Early-morning drive to Trashigang. Visit the neighborhood market and Trashigang Dzong. overnight stay in the inn.

Drive back to Bumthang after breakfast, stopping along the way to see the town and dzong of Mongar. Stop in the Bumthang lodge for the night.

Drive to Punakha the following morning after seeing Bumthang market. Lunch would be provided along the way at a renowned eatery in Trongsa town.

Take a quick break for tea or coffee on the way to your guesthouse in Punakha after passing Wangdue Phodrang.

Spend spare time in the morning in Punakha. Drive to Paro for the evening after lunch.

Drive to the airport for the subsequent trip after breakfast at the hotel.