Thimphu, 2,320 m (7,610 ft)
On a Saturday in Thimphu, ask your guide whether a side is shooting at Changlimithang. That is where you find the capital's real weekend: two teams, long bows and a target most visitors can barely see.
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Since 1971
Archery became Bhutan's national sport in 1971, the year the country joined the United Nations. Teams meet at weekends, and matches are shot on religious and public holidays too.
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The target
The target is a painted board about 91 cm (3 ft) tall and 28 cm (11 in) wide, set 145 m away: more than twice the Olympic distance. And it is hit often.
Photo: Soonam Wooeser / Pexels
The noise
When an arrow strikes, the whole team sings and dances at the target end. Behind the line, women tease the other side with rhymed insults meant to spoil their aim. It is all part of the match.
Photo: Pema Gyamtsho / Unsplash
Watching
Nothing is charged to watch. Stand well behind the archers, never near the target, and let your guide explain the score. Half an hour is plenty to catch the rhythm of a match.
Photo: Raimond Klavins / Unsplash
The same afternoon
Tashichho Dzong holds ministries and the throne room, so on weekdays visitors go in after office hours, published as about 17:00. At weekends and on holidays access is longer, which makes a Saturday doubly useful.
Photo: Pema Gyamtsho / Unsplash
Planning
Matches are easiest to find at weekends, so we try to place a Saturday afternoon in the capital. If no side is shooting, your guide can often arrange an hour at a local range on another day.
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