Day 1 - Arriving into Paro

Arriving into Paro Airport, a small, cute, immaculate series of buildings.

Exploring the hills of Paro, the same hills we had seen hurtling past our plane windows on close approach to Paro airport.

Paro was a beautiful and calm valley, the calmness occasionally disrupted by the booming sound of airplanes landing and taking off.

Thinley told us a brief history of Bhutan as we had tea looking over the valley.

We concluded our hike at the Paro fort (Rinpung Dzong) which was hosting the last day of a local festival.

It felt like everyone in Paro was within the thick stone walls of this fort.

We finished our day trying out Kewa Datshi (a local dish of cheese and potato) that had been recommended to us. It was a delicious, hearty dish.

Day 2 - Tiger’s Nest Monastery

Tiger’s Nest is arguably the most beautiful monastery in the world. The famed monastery was visible from the start trial head. As the crow flies it would have been a short straight journey, as the human walks however we would need to traverse a winding pass that would take us up a nearby mountain before descending us into the foot of the temple.

Tiger’s Nest would also occasionally make an appearance along the trail, peeking through various openings and clearings in the tree lines.

A mostly well maintained sturdy path with parades of colourful prayer flags waiting to greet you around most corners.

A series of prayer wheels in a clearing near the highest point of the trail.

There were so many prayer flags that I saw a few local guides in the process of removing some.

Each clearing and viewport offered a slightly different angle, each angle of the monastery as beautiful as the last. I had to take another photo.

It is occasions like this that I wish I was a better landscape photographer.

The lowest point of the trail passed a tall, powerful waterfall, that had been completely obscured by the stone hillside.

No cameras were allowed in the monastery, but it was a fascinating series of steep corridors and narrow rooms filled with monks, Buddhist idols and candles.

Day 3 - Punakha

This day was mostly a travel day as we drove from Thimphu to Punakha. After arriving into Punakha we had time to cross the alarmingly bouncy suspension bridge over the Puna Tsang Chu mountain river, a cloudy rock flour saturated river whose headwaters were in the far north, deep in the mountains near the Tibetan border.

Day 4 - Punakha to Phobjekha

We started the morning with a short, steep hike up to Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Choeten. First we had to cross over another (less bouncy) suspension bridge.

A comparatively small temple that overlooked a beautiful valley.

Was this temple overlooking the most beautiful valley I had ever seen? It was certainly a contender.

We stopped off in Wangdue to see the last day of the Wangdue Tshechu (festival) before continuing to Phobjikha Valley.

Homestay in Phobjikha Valley

Day 5 - Phobjekha to Thimphu

Day 6 - Thimphu Festival

Royal Takin Preserve

Takin - national animal of Bhutan. Legend is this odd looking animal was created by the “Divine Madman” Lama Drukpa Kunley by combining a cow and a goat. The reserve was also home to some Sambar deer.

Day 7 - Thimphu to Paro

Buddha Dordenma
Thangthong Dewachen Dupthop Nunnery

Thinley - our amazing guide.

Bhutan in photos