Travel in Punakha

Punakha lies on the far side of the Dochula Pass from Thimphu. Three tours stop here, and those three are every Bhutan trip we sell. The magic of the gigantic Himalayas — eight days, from EUR 2,010 — drives straight from Paro airport to Punakha on arrival day. The Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon — eight days, from EUR 2,500 — reaches the valley on day three by way of Thimphu. The land of happiness — six days, from EUR 2,160 — is the short route. Both eight-day trips give Punakha two nights. The six-day trip gives one.

Punakha Dzong stands at the confluence of two rivers. It was built in 1637 as a fortress against the Tibetans, served in the past as the religious and administrative centre of the country, and has since been restored; the name is translated as the Palace of Great Bliss, or Great Happiness. Two of the three trips put it on the day plan — the Himalayas trip on day two, Thunder Dragon on day four. The six-day trip does not. It comes over the pass, walks to a hilltop chorten in the afternoon and leaves the next morning by way of Chime Lhakhang. Worth knowing before you pick a route.

Every itinerary crosses the Dochula Pass at about 3,080 metres, once on the way in and once on the way out. The pass carries 108 small chortens and prayer flags and looks out over the snow peaks of the eastern Himalayas and Bhutan's highest mountain. On the Himalayas trip that crossing happens on arrival day, a few hours after landing at Paro; the day plan calls it a long drive and builds in a walk to the top of the pass. The same day offers an alternative that no other itinerary carries — a three-hour hike from the chortens up to the Lungchuzekha monastery.

The walk in the valley itself is the one to the Khamsum Yulley Namgyel Chorten: gently to moderately uphill, across a suspension bridge and through rice paddies and forest to a hilltop pagoda that looks down the valley. The six-day plan puts it at about an hour and a half. It is on the two trips that come via Thimphu, both on the afternoon they arrive. The Himalayas trip walks instead from the village of Lobesa through the rice fields to Chime Lhakhang, the fertility temple; the six-day trip reaches the same temple on its way back to Paro, a walk of about an hour.

Away from the dzong the time goes to the villages on the valley slopes. Thunder Dragon visits a village school and an orchard at Nobgang. The Himalayas trip goes to the Nalanda monastery at 2,000 metres and to Nobgang, where the parental home of the four queens married to the previous king stands near the temple. The valley is one of the warmest parts of Bhutan — cacti and poinsettias grow in it.

Rooms in Punakha are at the Hotel River Valley, standard category, on all three trips. The eight-day Himalayas route can also be quoted at the Zhingkham Resort in a deluxe room or the Dhensa Boutique Resort in a suite. There is no five-star tier. All three trips are private: your own guide, no fixed departure dates, and the guide speaks German. Hotel, breakfast, the guide, a bottle of water on arrival and someone reachable 24 hours a day are included. International flights are not — you book your own, and all three itineraries route home via Delhi. On the six-day trip the Punakha day carries two paid extras, both marked optional in the day plan: cooking a Bhutanese dish in a local restaurant, and an archery lesson.