 Day 1: Arrival at Paro.
Fly from Kathmandu to Paro Airport. Our representative will meet you at Paro Airport and escort you to the hotel. After lunch, visit the National Museum (watch Tower). This museum has a very interesting assortment of costumes, treasures and world-renowned stamps, and will bring alive the history of Bhutan since the 6th century. Visit Paro Dzong (Fort), Headquarter of Paro District. Altitude: 2250 meters.
Day 2 : Hike to Tiger Nest and drive to Thimphu. (Alternative for old person)
Built on the seemingly impossible cliff at a height of 400 meters above the lush valley floor of Paro is one of the most sacred places in Bhutan. Guru Rinpoche, the second Buddha, flew here on a flaming Tigress for the second visit to Bhutan and meditated here in the 8th century. Here he propagated Vajrayana- Mahayana Buddhism (Bigger Wheel) that was prophesied by the Buddha at the time of attaining Nirvana.
In April 1998, a fire destroyed the main structure of the buildings and the religious contents. A complete restoration was done and resulted in a carbon copy of the original. This place beholds the history of The Hidden Land. The return walking time is approximately five hours (if you have a permit to the site). Otherwise, around 3- 4 hours is enough to make round trip to the viewpoint.
In the evening drive to Thimphu, 2 hours through winding roads following the Pa-Chu (Paro River) down stream to its confluence with the Wang-Chu (Thimphu River). There are good views of the forests, Rocky Mountains & scattered village on our route. As we enter the Thimphu valley we will pass through Semtokha Dzong built in 1629 by Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyel (The man who unified Bhutan). Now Semtokha houses the language and cultural school where scholars of all the ages study Dzongkha (National Language).
Thimphu altitude 2350 m, Driving time: 2 hours.
Day 3 : Full day sightseeing (lots of hike depends on one’s interest)
In morning visit to Changangkha monastery (Temple), which was built in 12th century, the viewpoint where we can get a birds eye view of the capital Thimphu. Visit the animal sanctuary home of the Takin our National animal, and then visit the Nunnery, which is NGO in the Kingdom.
After lunch, some highlight visits will be the Textile Museum, Folk heritage museum and Bhutanese traditional handmade paper factory. Visit Dechen Phordrang monastic School; visit General Post Office, where you will see the finest stamps of Bhutan and the capital building of Bhutan (Tashi Chhodzong) except after 5 p.m. & holidays.
Day 4 : Morning sightseeing and drive back to Paro.
After breakfast, drive to the memorial Chorten (Stupa) built in the memory of His Majesty King Jigme Dorji Wangchuk. He is regarded as the father of modern Bhutan. Visit the National Library, which holds ancient Buddhist texts, historical books, and some very famous manuscripts written with gold ink.
A three-minute drive to the Traditional Medicine Institute will show you where medicines are prepared from plants, flowers and animal’s bones according to ancient practices. Acupuncture is its main discipline. Visit the Art & Painting School, where the students learn the 13 different kinds of Bhutanese Arts.
Afternoon free for the last day shopping at Thimphu and evening drive back to Paro for next day's departure.
Day 5 : Departure from Paro Airport to your onward destination. |
