Eight days across central Bhutan, with two nights in a Tang valley farmhouse during the harvest
The Bumthang valleys are farm country first and pilgrimage country second, and September is when the buckwheat comes in. This route spends two nights in a farmhouse in Tang while the crop is cut and hung under the balconies, then walks the temples that sit within sight of those fields. The two long drives are split by a night in Trongsa and a night above Phobjikha, so no day in the car runs past seven hours.
Returning visitors, harvest curious travellers, and anyone who wants central Bhutan without a trek
Meet your guide at arrivals, stop at the iron chain bridge at Tachog Lhakhang, and settle into a guesthouse in Thimphu. The evening kora at the National Memorial Chorten is a short walk from the door.
Cross Dochula in the morning and drop into the warm valley, with a field walk at Lobesa on the way to Chimi Lhakhang. You sleep beside the Punakha river.
An early visit to Punakha Dzong before the coaches arrive, then the long climb east past Wangdue and Nobding. Trongsa Dzong sits above the town in a way that is best seen in the late afternoon light.
Climb over Pele La with a stop at the yak pastures on top, then turn north from Jakar into the Tang valley. The farmhouse has buckwheat drying under the balcony if the harvest is in, and dinner comes from the kitchen garden.
Spend the morning with the household while the buckwheat is cut, bundled and hung to dry, joining in as much as you want and stepping back whenever you would rather watch. Lunch is in the field, and the afternoon is for the balcony and the view down the valley.
Drive down to the Bumthang floor for the three temples that most visitors see in a rush: Jambay Lhakhang, Kurjey with its cave shrine, and Tamshing with its old wall paintings. You sleep in Jakar, ten minutes from the first of them.
Retrace the road over Pele La and turn off above Wangdue for the climb to Phobjikha, arriving in time for the evening light on the marsh. If the cranes have come down for winter, the first of them are usually visible from the valley floor.
A short morning at Gangtey Goemba above the valley, then the drive west to Paro for the airport and your onward flight.
Travel insurance strongly recommended: cover mountain medical care, altitude evacuation, and Paro weather flight delays. Read the travel insurance note
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