Central Bhutan

Zhemgang

Deep forest country of the Kheng — golden langurs, bamboo craft and birdsong from dawn to dark.

Altitude 1,900 m, dropping to subtropical valleys Best season November to April Worth 2 nights Getting there Four hours south of Trongsa

Zhemgang is the district serious birdwatchers whisper about and almost nobody else has heard of.

It falls away south of Trongsa in ridge after forested ridge toward the Manas river system — home of the golden langur, found only in this corner of the earth, and of hornbills, trogons and some four hundred other recorded species. The Kheng people who live in these forests are the kingdom’s finest bamboo and cane weavers; their villages cling to spurs above rivers few travellers ever see.

Come for the wildlife, stay for the sense of a Bhutan that tourism has not yet imagined.

While You Are Here

Things worth your time

01 Golden langurs at dawn Watch the roadside forest edges early — whole troops of the world's rarest langur, honey gold against dark leaves.
02 Birding the Tingtibi road One of the finest birding stretches in the Himalaya — rufous necked hornbill country.
03 Kheng bamboo craft Visit weavers working bangchung baskets and cane wine carriers the way their grandmothers taught.
04 Zhemgang Dzong Small, ancient and entirely without visitors, above the old Kheng heartland.

Zhemgang Tshechu each autumn draws the Kheng valleys to the dzong courtyard. See festival dates

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