7-Day Bhutan Cultural Tour with Tiger Nest, Thimphu, Paro and Punakha

• During the flight on a clear day, you will get to enjoy breathtaking views of Mount Everest, Kanchenjunga, and other famous Himalayan peaks including sacred Mount Jumolhari and Jichu Drake Peaks in Bhutan. 

• Upon arrival at Paro Airport, you will be greeted by the representative and transferred to your hotel.  

• The drive to Thimphu is about 1 hour.  On route, enjoy the view of the valley of Thimphu River through a rather arid and Rocky landscape. 

• After lunch, visit The King's Memorial Chorten (built-in memory of the Third King of Bhutan who reigned from 1952-1972), Changgangkha Monastery, and the radio tower (for a great view of Thimphu Valley and The Thimphu Dzong).  

Overnight stay at Hotel in Thimphu.

• After breakfast, you will hike to Chagri Monastery; it takes about a 1-hour walk to reach the monastery.  Chagrin was built high on the slope in 1619 by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal as his first monastery in Bhutan. It takes you through the temperate forest of oak, rhododendrons and other species of hardwood trees. The view from the monastery below is spectacular. 
• Descend down to the valley and drive back to Thimphu with your Bhutanese guide.  
• After lunch, you will visit The School of Traditional Arts, Mini Zoo to see taking, the national animal of Bhutan and drive to Buddha point to enjoy the view of Thimphu valley. 
• The evening will be at leisure and you can stroll in the town, visit local handicraft shops, do shopping as you like.

Overnight stay at the hotel in Thimphu.

• After breakfast, you will visit Simtokha Dzong, the oldest Dzong in the country that was built in the year 1629; thereafter the road climbs for an hour till you reach Dochula Pass at an altitude of 3150m dotted with colourful prayer flags and 108 Stupa. Weather permits, this pass offers the most spectacular view over the high peaks of the Eastern Himalayans. 

• Enjoy (optional) a hot cup of tea/coffee (at your own expenses) at the Dochula tourist's cafe.  

• Continue to descend en route to Punakha & Wangdue through the temperate forest of rhododendron & magnolia bloom in spring, then a semi-tropical zone, where orange trees, banana trees, and cactuses are found in abundance.  

• Have lunch on the way.  

• After lunch, you will take a walk to the temple standing on a round hill rock through a paddy field to Chimi Lhakhang or the temple of fertility. It is about 20 minutes walk through rice terraces and the village of Yoakha. The temple is situated on the spur above the village. It is believed that a barren couple will have children if they get a blessing for this temple.  

Overnight stay at the hotel in Punakha.

• After breakfast, at the hotel, go about ten kilometres north of Punakha, on a hill rock called Nyizergang, HM the Queen Ashi Tshering Yangden has three stores called Khamsum Yuelley Namgyal Chorten consecrated on December 1999. 

• Situated in the idyllic rural countryside, a 45 minutes climb from the road is well worth seeing the paintings, which are beautiful and present an incredibly complex iconography and the Statues.

• Drive to Bhutan's most spectacular Punakha Dzong and walk in the Dzong by crossing the cantilever bridge. The Punakha Dzong was built in the year 1637 by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal.  

• Have lunch at the restaurant in the town.

• After lunch, you visit the Nunnery and drive to the Queen mothers Village to see the lifestyle of the people in the village. 

Overnight stay at a hotel in Punakha.

• After breakfast, this morning the drive takes around 4 hours drive to Paro, crossing over Dochula Pass. 

• At the pass, you will view 108 Stupas which commissioned by the former Queen as a memorial to those who have lost their lives during the low-intensity conflict in late 2002, when the Indian rebels camped in the jungle on the Bhutan-Indian border was evicted.  

• On a clear day, you will see the breathtaking view of the eastern Himalaya, and depending on the time of the year the vista can vary from alpine snow (Nov-Mar) to a profusion of blossom (Mar-May) splashed among the soft green of the wild herbs and forest trees. 

• After lunch in Thimphu and continue your drive to Paro.  

• In Paro, you will visit Rinpung Dzong (fortress of the heap of jewels); the administrative & religious center of Paro District. This Dzong was built in 1646 by the order of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, who unified Bhutan in the 17th century. 

Overnight stay at a hotel in Paro.

• After breakfast, you will take a "pilgrimage" hike up to the most famous Taktsang Monastery, also known as Tiger Nest. All Bhutanese Buddhist desire to make this their pilgrimage at least once in their lives and each step they take along the trail counts as merit points towards their future. The trails are through the meadow of pines, rhododendrons, and oaks. 

• Choose between a 2 hours round trip hike to the cafe for a good view of the Monastery or a 5 hours more strenuous hike to the Monastery itself. It is believed that Guru Rimpoche flew here on the back of a tigress and meditated here for 3 months and subdued the local deities and converted them to Buddhism. Later in the 17th century, the 4th Desi deities or temporal ruler of Bhutan, Tenzin Rabgye built a temple in 1692 in its present form, thus fulfilling the wishes of Shardrung Rinpoche who died before he built this temple. (Horse ride to the cafe is available at an additional cost).

• After lunch, on the way back to the town, you will visit the oldest temple called Kichu Lhakhang, one of Bhutan's oldest and most revered temples, which was built by a Tibetan king in the 7th century to subdue the demoness. 

• Pay a visit to the ruins of the Drugyel Dzong which burned down in the 1950′s and was the historic site of the ‘Fort of Drukpa Victory’ from which the Bhutanese used to repel the Tibetan invaders time and time again. 

• On a clear day, witness a spectacular view of the 24,000 feet sacred Mt Chomolhari. 

Overnight Day in Paro Hotel. 

• Let the representatives transfer you to Paro International Airport. Wish you a safe journey and thanks for visiting Bhutan. Hope to see you again. Tashi Delek!