The Thunder Dragon Tour for 5 nights / 6 days

Kathmandu  - Paro – Thimphu, Drive – 1 hr

You board Druk-Air flight to Bhutan which provides the most fascinating views of the Himalayas. As you enter Bhutan the plains come to an abrupt end and the mountains keep rising. The silver river threads the valleys, waterfall plunge down the forested mountains and to the north the great snowcapped peaks of the inner Himalayas rise up in the sky. As you enter Paro you will see the Paro dzong and one of the most fertile valleys of Bhutan. After lunch at Paro, drive to Thimphu. In the evening free time to explore the city. Overnight in a hotel in Thimphu.

Sightseeing in Thimphu.

After breakfast, visit the National Library, stocked with ancient Buddhist manuscripts, and the Painting School where traditional art is still kept alive through instructions in the art of painting Thangkas (sacred Buddhist religious scrolls). Next you visit Traditional Medicine Institute where medicines are prepared according to ancient practices. Visit Handicraft Emporium for shopping Bhutanese Various Arts and Textiles. Then you visit Bhutanese traditional paper making factory. Visit the Memorial chorten built in the memory of the late King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, 15 century Changangkha monastery and drive further down with good views of the Thimphu valley.

After lunch you will hike to Tango Monastery. The trail Tango is a climb of 280 meters and it takes an hour to reach the monastery. Stay overnight at hotel in Thimpu.

Drive to Punakha, the road winds up from Simtokha Dzong into the pine forest and through small villages for 20 kilometres and then opens miraculously onto the northern ridge of the mountains. The views over the Himalayan panoply at Dochula Pass at 10,500 feet is one of the most spectacular in all Bhutan as you can see the whole range of the Bhutanese Himalayas from here.

Punakha served as the capital of Bhutan until 1955. The town of Punakha, while dominated by its Dzong, developed in 1990's through several government sponsored programs.
Visit the Punakha Dzong. The Dzong is considered one of the most important and also one of the most beautiful Dzongs in the kingdom situated in the middle of two rivers (Pho chu and Mo chu).
After lunch: Hike to the beautiful Khamsum Yuelley Namgyal Chorten, dedicated to the Fifth King. It was built to remove negative forces and to provide peace, stability and harmony in an ever changing world. It took eight and half years to build the three leveled chorten. The hike to/from takes about one and half hour. Overnight at hotel in Punakha.

Morning: walk to Chimi Lhakhang. It was built in 1499 by the 14th Drukpa hierarch, Ngawang Choegyel, the site having formerly been blessed by the famous ‘divine madman’, Drukpa Kunley, who built a chorten there. The temple is a pilgrim site for women who are unable to bear children. It was restored in 1998-99 and the walk there is very pleasant.

After lunch you drive to Paro. Check into hotel. Free time to relax.

Hike up to the Taktsang monastery (Tiger’s nest). The climb up to the view
point will take around three hours. Enjoy the stunning view of the monastery, where Guru Padmasambava landed on the back of a tiger in the 8th century, and mediated for three months. The monastery was later built in this holy place in 1684.
Visit the old fort ruins of the Drukgyal Dzong, which offers a very scenic drive of a typical Bhutanese landscape. The dzong was destroyed by fire and left in ruins as an evocative reminder of the great victories it was built to commemorate. On a clear day the Mt. Jhomolhari(7314metres, 24000 feet),the sacred summit, reaches skyward beyond the Dzong.

Afterwards visit the Ta Dzong (built in1656 and renovated in 1968), an ancient watchtower, which now houses the National Museum. This unusual round building is believed to be in the shape of a conch shell.

Below the museum is the Paro Rimpung Dzong (literally meaning “Heap of Jewels”, built in 1646 by Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the centre of civil and religious authority in this valley. Here you can see finest example of Bhutanese architecture.
Visit the Kichu Lhakhang built in 659 A.D by the Tibetan king Srongsen Gampo. This Monastery is one of the 108 monasteries built across the Himalayan region by the Tibetan King to subdue the Demons that lay across the Himalayan region. The rest of the monasteries lie in other neighboring countries.

Paro - Kathmandu

Morning your guide will escort you to the airport for your onward journey.