Western Bhutan

Wangdue Phodrang

A large district of ridges and valleys, including Phobjikha, winter home of the black necked cranes.

Altitude 1,300 m; Phobjikha at 3,000 m Best season October to March for the cranes Worth 2 nights Getting there Half an hour beyond Punakha

Every winter, black necked cranes leave the Tibetan plateau and descend into one bowl shaped valley in Wangdue Phodrang. The valley has arranged itself around their arrival for centuries.

The district around it is large and mostly unvisited, with ridge roads, the rebuilt Wangdue Dzong, and villages that see one visitor a month.

Phobjikha is glacial, treeless at its floor, and profoundly quiet. The cranes circle Gangtey Monastery three times when they arrive, or so the valley insists, and nobody who has wintered here argues. Power lines run underground so the birds fly safely; farmhouses burn wood and grow potatoes as they always have.

Most guests spend two nights in Phobjikha. Allow a good part of the day for the road up from Punakha. It is cold at 3,000 metres even in autumn, so bring warm layers for the early crane watch. The cranes stay from late October to early March. The Black Necked Crane Festival is on 11 November.

While You Are Here

Things worth your time

01 The cranes at first light From late October to early March, watch from the valley edge as several hundred cranes wake on the marsh.
02 Gangtey Monastery The seat of the Gangtey Trulku, above the valley. The crane festival is held in its courtyard each November.
03 The Gangtey Nature Trail Two easy hours through blue pine and open marsh. The best short walk in the kingdom.
04 Wangdue Dzong Rebuilt after the 2012 fire, on a ridge above the Punatsangchhu. The valley wind arrives around noon.
05 Crane Information Centre A small centre with a telescope and a film about the cranes. Useful on grey days when they sit far out.