The Kingdom of Bhutan

We meet at Gardermoen, greet the rest of the group, and head toward Kathmandu.

Upon arrival in Kathmandu, we are driven directly to the hotel where we will stay overnight. We check in and take a short rest at the hotel or a stroll in the Thamel district. Kathmandu is a fantastic city to wander around. Here you can feast your senses on impressions, smells, and mystery. After we have gotten lost in the many backstreets and found our way back again, we meet for dinner at a local restaurant.

After a short hour-long flight with views of the Himalayas and Mount Everest itself, we arrive in Bhutan and Paro. Here we are greeted by local guides in traditional Bhutanese dresses, who take us to the hotel. We spend the afternoon in the small town of Paro. Here we are also served dinner and get a small glimpse into traditional life in Bhutan. Overnight at a hotel in Paro.

If it is market day in Paro, we spend some time walking around to look and experience the everyday atmosphere at the market. If you like, you can also buy some local snacks. Tiger's Nest, a monastery high up on the mountainside, is today's main goal, and we begin the hiking trip just outside the town. It is not far up to the impressive building, but it is steep, and it takes us a couple of hours before we arrive. Among other things, we have to climb 700 steps before we go 400 down again before we arrive at Tiger's Nest. Here it is also important to walk slowly to start the acclimatization in a good way. At Tiger's Nest we get a guided tour of the monastery and plenty of time to enjoy the view. The location is incredible, and everyone wonders how they thought of building a monastery here, high up on the mountainside. The entire trip takes about six to seven hours, and we are served a packed lunch along the way. Overnight and dinner at a hotel in Paro. In Paro, we recommend taking a traditional "Hot stone bath" after the trip to Tiger's Nest. The hot stone bath is located on a farmhouse, with several small rooms, with 2 "bathtubs" in each room. The water is heated by glowing hot stones! We can guarantee that it is wonderful to lie in a bathtub heated by glowing stones (remember swimwear).

Now we are finally going to start the Druk Path, a hiking trip that lasts for four days. We start early in the day and drive up to the upper side of the National Museum in Paro. From here we start walking, and we will climb over 1,000 vertical meters during the day, so it is important to take it easy and drink plenty of water. Nevertheless, it is not so high that most people can manage this without problems. We follow a road before starting on the trail that leads us up onto the ridge above Paro. We eat lunch later before continuing along the ridge and enjoying the view. After lunch, it is mostly uphill, and when we arrive at the camp located at about 3770 m, most people feel it well in their legs.

We are woken up in the tent and have a leisurely breakfast. Then the trip continues and we walk down into slightly thicker air before climbing up into the heights again and toward the camp. The camp is located by Jimilang Tsho (3885 m), a lake known for its large trouts. If we are lucky, maybe we will get to see some in the clear water. We arrive at the camp after about 6 - 8 hours of walking and have plenty of time to enjoy the afternoon by the lake. There is a lot of up and down today as well, so have your trekking poles ready to relieve your knees. We eat a nice dinner in camp.

After a delicious breakfast, the trip begins with a climb from the lake to a ridge at about 4200 m. On the way up, we walk through a rhododendron forest with gorgeous yellow flowers if we hit the blooming season. We follow the ridge before heading down toward a camp where we might be lucky and meet some local yak herders. On the way, we pass Bhutan's "Trolltunga", have your camera ready. We camp near some old ruins at about 4100 m and spend about 7 - 9 hours on today's march.

After breakfast, the trip starts with some climbing up toward 4200 m, and if we are lucky with the weather, we will see the entire Himalayas with the highest mountain in Bhutan, Mount Gangkar Puensum, towering in front of us. We continue downward toward the Phadjoding monastery and all the way down through lush pine forest. Down by Thimphu in the afternoon and the rest of the day on your own, whether you want to relax after the trip or stroll around the streets if there is enough time. We stay overnight at a hotel in the center of Thimphu and here we have a good dinner before an early night (for most).

Now we are done with the hiking trip and spend the morning in Thimphu, with a visit to a "Memorial Chorten" and a traditional painting school. We are eventually driven up to the Big Buddha before heading to the old capital Punakha. We stop at Dochula Pass, where there are 108 stupas in memory of fallen soldiers. Then the road goes 1800 vertical meters down on winding roads, all the way down until we reach Punakha. Maybe we have time for one more sight before dinner at the hotel.

After breakfast, we take a short walk up to the Kamsum Yullen Chorten temple, a great walk upwards with gorgeous views down toward the rice fields. After the trip, we head down toward the Punakha river - two rivers that meet. There is a female river and a male river. Here, those who wish can take a short, easy rafting trip for an extra cost (approx. 150 USD per boat taking 5 people). A fun and for many a welcome change of pace. The others sit by the river and enjoy the view. After rafting, we visit Punakha Dzong - the fortress which is a fantastic structure. After the visit, we head back to Paro for a nice farewell dinner.

We fly over the Himalayas to Kathmandu and arrive during the morning/afternoon. The day here is planned according to individual wishes, some choose to spend the last part of their holiday budget in some of the small shops in Thamel, but we have also made it possible to visit some of Kathmandu's cultural and historical highlights; Boudhanath stupa and Pashupatinath temple for those who want to see this. Overnight at a centrally located hotel in Thamel, and a nice closing dinner tonight.

After a final breakfast in Kathmandu, we are driven to the airport for the flight home.

If we need to have a lay-over on our way back home, this will be the arrival day.