Western Bhutan

Gasa

The kingdom's high north — hot springs, the highland village of Laya, and the road's end.

Altitude 2,850 m; Laya at 3,800 m Best season April to June, September to November Worth 2 to 4 nights, mostly on foot Getting there Four hours north of Punakha, then trails

Gasa is where the road runs out and the old Bhutan of herders and hot springs carries on regardless.

It is the kingdom’s least populated district, guarding the high passes to Tibet. Below the dzong, the Gasa tshachu — hot springs — have drawn Bhutanese pilgrims for centuries; above it, a day’s walk brings you to Laya, home of the Layap people, whose women wear conical bamboo hats and turquoise, and whose yaks own the trails.

This is journey country rather than sightseeing country. You come here to walk, to soak, and to sleep somewhere genuinely far away.

While You Are Here

Things worth your time

  1. 01 Soak in the Gasa tshachu Riverside hot spring pools where farmers, monks and the occasional traveller share the water and the news.
  2. 02 Walk to Laya A day's climb to Bhutan's highest village — stone houses, turquoise wealth, and glacier peaks on every horizon.
  3. 03 Gasa Dzong A small fortress built to watch the northern approaches, with Kang Bum rising behind it.
  4. 04 Begin the Snowman Gasa is the gateway to the hardest beautiful walk on earth — the Snowman Trek. Price on application, courage assumed.

The Royal Highland Festival at Laya each October gathers the high valleys for yak beauty contests and highland song. See festival dates

Fold Gasa into your journey.

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