Western Bhutan
In western Bhutan the important places were built where you have to walk to reach them: temples on cliff ledges, monasteries at the top of forest paths. This week arrives on foot and sleeps in heated rooms.
Photo: Aaron Santelices / Unsplash
Day 2, 2,650 m (8,690 ft)
Dzongdrakha is four small temples set into a cliff above Bondey, about 350 m (1,150 ft) of climbing through pine and rhododendron. Local tradition says Guru Rinpoche first set foot in Bhutan here. Go at conversation pace.
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Day 3
By now your guide knows your pace from Dzongdrakha and sets the climb to the Tiger's Nest by it, timed so you are inside before the monks' lunch hour. Ponies are booked the day before for anyone who wants the first half carried.
Photo: Sujan Mongar / Unsplash
Day 4, 3,988 m (13,080 ft)
The car leaves at 06:30 because the ridge usually clouds over by mid-morning. On a clear autumn day Jomolhari, 7,326 m (24,040 ft), stands to the north. A forest trail then drops through rhododendron and hemlock to Kila Goemba, a nunnery built into the cliff.
Photo: Sujan Mongar / Unsplash
Day 5, above Thimphu
From the road's end at Dodena, cross the Wang Chhu and climb about 300 m (980 ft) to Cheri, founded by the Zhabdrung in 1620. After a riverside picnic, a second climb reaches Tango, rebuilt in 1688 and now an upper school of Buddhist study.
Photo: Passang Tobgay / Unsplash
Day 6, about 3,550 m (11,650 ft)
From the pass a trail climbs about 450 m (1,480 ft) through fir, hemlock, magnolia and rhododendron to Lungchutse Lhakhang. On a clear day the snow runs from Jomolhari east to Gangkhar Puensum. Allow three to four and a half hours.
Photo: BLOG REGION / Unsplash
Day 7, Punakha
Cross the footbridge at Yepaisa and climb about 45 minutes to Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten. Then walk 6 to 7 km (about 4 mi) downstream on farm paths and the river bank, about two hours, until Punakha Dzong appears where the two rivers meet.
Photo: Nilanjan Haldar / Pexels
Planning
The longer days ask for about 500 m (1,640 ft) up and the same down, several days running, and you never sleep above 2,320 m (7,610 ft). Stairs twice a week for a month before you fly is the simplest training.
Photo: Anil Sharma / Pexels