Western Bhutan

Punakha

The warm rice valley where two rivers meet at the most beautiful dzong in the kingdom.

Altitude 1,240 m Best season October to April Worth 2 nights Getting there Three hours from Thimphu over Dochula

Punakha Dzong stands where two rivers meet — the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu, the father and the mother — and no photograph has ever quite carried it.

This was Bhutan’s capital for three hundred years, and the monastic body still moves here each winter for the warmth. The valley is subtropical by Bhutanese standards: rice terraces stepping down to the water, bougainvillea against whitewash, and jacaranda turning the dzong lavender each May.

It pairs naturally with Thimphu and Paro to make the classic western circuit, and it is the gentlest place in the kingdom to simply be warm and unhurried.

While You Are Here

Things worth your time

  1. 01 Punakha Dzong Cross the covered bridge and take it slowly — the jacaranda courtyard, the hundred pillar hall, the light off the river.
  2. 02 The suspension bridge One of the longest in Bhutan, strung with prayer flags above the Pho Chhu — halfway across is the valley's best view.
  3. 03 Walk to Khamsum Yulley Namgyal An hour up through rice terraces to a chorten built by the queens — the whole valley unrolls below.
  4. 04 Chimi Lhakhang The temple of the Divine Madman, reached through mustard fields, where blessings are delivered with a certain famous irreverence.
  5. 05 The Mo Chhu by raft Two gentle hours on cold silver water, drifting past the dzong the way it was always meant to be seen.

Punakha Drubchen each spring re enacts the seventeenth century defence of the valley, followed by the tshechu. See festival dates

Where You Stay

Rooms we trust here

Dhensa Boutique Resort &Beyond Punakha River Lodge Pemako Punakha

All stays

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