wangduephodrang
Western Bhutan

Wangdue Phodrang

A vast district of ridge and valley, holding Phobjikha — the 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 — and the valley has arranged itself around their arrival for centuries.

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.

The district around it is enormous and mostly unvisited — a country of ridge roads, rebuilt Wangdue Dzong, and villages that see one visitor a month.

While You Are Here

Things worth your time

  1. 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.
  2. 02 Gangtey Monastery The seat of the Gangtey Trulku, above the valley — its courtyard holds the crane festival each November.
  3. 03 The Gangtey Nature Trail Two easy hours through blue pine and open marsh edge — the best short walk in the kingdom.
  4. 04 Wangdue Dzong Rebuilt after the 2012 fire, ridge perched above the Punatsangchhu — watch the valley wind arrive each noon.

The Black Necked Crane Festival, 11 November each year, fills Gangtey's courtyard with crane dances by village children. Read about Black Necked Crane Festival

Where You Stay

Rooms we trust here

Amankora Gangtey Taj Gangtey Six Senses Gangtey

All stays

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