Travel in Paro

Bhutan's international flights land at Paro, so all three of our Bhutan itineraries begin and end in this valley. What surprises most travellers is how quickly they leave it. On every trip you land in the morning, are met at the airport by a representative, and drive out the same day — two head for Thimphu, the capital at 2,320 metres, and the third crosses the Dochula Pass straight to Punakha. Paro's own monuments and the Tiger's Nest come at the end. Each trip spends two nights in the valley, both in the closing days.

The Tiger's Nest — Taktsang monastery — sits on a cliff face at 3,000 metres, roughly 900 metres above the valley floor. Guru Rinpoche is said to have arrived on the back of a flying tigress and meditated in a cave here for three months; the buildings were later put up around that cave. All three trips end with it on the last full day. None of them do it the same way.

On the 6-day trip, a walk of about an hour reaches the viewpoint opposite the monastery, and carrying on up to the buildings themselves is optional — about two hours. The 8-day Ha Valley itinerary walks up to the monastery in the morning, three to four hours, with a café at the halfway viewpoint. The third trip comes at it from above: four hours of climbing from Sang Choekor Monastery at 2,800 metres to a camp below Bumdra Monastery at about 3,800 metres, then on past Sangtopelri Monastery to Taktsang the next morning. That camp is the one night on any of the three trips that is not a hotel.

The rest of the valley fills the days around it. Rinpung Dzong — Paro Dzong — is covered in murals and appears on two of the three trips: once on the arrival morning, once on the drive back in from the Ha Valley, where the Ta Dzong housing Bhutan's National Museum is visited the same day. Kyichu Lhakhang, two identical temples strung with prayer flags, is one of the oldest shrines in the country; its construction marks the introduction of Buddhism to Bhutan, and two itineraries stop there on the way back into Paro. Tachogang Lhakhang, beside the last iron chain bridge, is a stop on the drive out to the Ha Valley on one trip and a time-permitting stop on the way to Thimphu on another. On the 6-day trip the free afternoon in Paro can end with trying on Bhutanese dress — a kira for women, a go for men — at extra cost.

Above the valley the roads climb hard. The Chelela Pass at 3,988 metres is the highest point any of the three trips reaches by road; the Ha Valley itinerary crosses it on the way back to Paro and adds a three-hour downhill walk to the Keeli Nunnery at 3,600 metres, with the driver waiting below. The Dochula Pass at around 3,080 metres, with its 108 chortens and the eastern Himalayan peaks behind them, is crossed twice on every trip.

The three itineraries run 6 or 8 days, with starting prices from EUR 2,010 to EUR 2,500. Every one is private — your party only, on your dates, with no scheduled group departures — and a German-speaking guide is included on all three. Hotel accommodation and breakfast are included; other meals are not. International flights are not included, and each itinerary routes home via Delhi. Paro rooms are booked as Standard or Deluxe, and the Ha Valley trip offers a choice of Paro hotels at different levels.