A cultural trip with three nights in a farmhouse rather than a hotel: cooking, farm work and a hot stone bath.
The best days on most of our trips are the ones spent in a village. This trip is built around that: three nights in a working farmhouse, sleeping on the floor of the family room as the household does, eating what the family eats, and helping with whatever needs doing that week.
Depending on the season, that might be threshing, planting, or making ara. There is a hot stone bath on one of the evenings, which is the traditional Bhutanese answer to a long day.
The rest of the trip covers the western valleys and Taktsang, so you see the dzongs as well.
This is not a comfortable trip in the hotel sense. It is warm, and it is the closest most visitors get to how the country actually lives.
What stands out
- Three nights in a working farmhouse, not a hotel
- A traditional hot stone bath
- Farm work in whatever season you come: threshing, planting, harvest
- Taktsang and the western dzongs on the other days
The itinerary
-
Day 1 7,610 ft
Arrive Paro, drive to Thimphu
Met at the airport and driven to the capital.
-
Day 2 7,610 ft
Thimphu
The dzong, the museums, and the weekend market if the timing works.
-
Day 3 4,100 ft
Thimphu to Punakha
Over Dochula and down into the warm valley.
-
Day 4 4,600 ft
Punakha: into the village
Punakha Dzong in the morning, then out to the farmhouse in the afternoon. Tea with the family and a walk around the fields before dark.
-
Day 5 4,600 ft
Village life
A full day with the household: whatever the season calls for. A hot stone bath in the evening.
-
Day 6 5,200 ft
Village and the walk to Khamsum Yulley
The morning on the farm, then the walk up through the rice terraces to Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten and back.
-
Day 7 7,480 ft
Punakha to Paro
Goodbyes in the morning, then the drive west over Dochula to Paro.
-
Day 8 10,150 ft
Paro: the walk up to Taktsang
The Tiger's Nest, around five hours there and back.
-
Day 9 7,480 ft
Departure
Morning transfer to the airport.
What is covered
- All internal transport with a private vehicle and driver
- A licensed English-speaking Bhutanese guide throughout
- Accommodation in government-approved three-star hotels, or better on request
- All meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner
- All entry fees to monuments, dzongs and museums
- Bhutan visa processing and the visa fee
- The Sustainable Development Fee
- All internal taxes and the government royalty
- International flights to and from Bhutan
- Travel insurance, which we ask every guest to arrange
- Drinks, laundry, telephone and other personal expenses
- Tips for your guide and driver
- Anything not listed as included
The homestay nights are simple: you sleep on a mattress on the floor of the main room, the bathroom is basic, and there is no wifi. That is the point of it.
We work with a small number of families we know well, and the money goes directly to the household.
On this trip
Other trips
Cultural Tours
Glimpse of Bhutan
The short introduction to Bhutan: Thimphu, the drive over Dochula to Punakha, and the climb to Taktsang on…
Festival Tours
Paro Tshechu
Two full days at the Paro festival, with the western valleys and Taktsang around them.
Cultural Tours
Central Bhutan Tour
West to east as far as Bumthang, the religious heart of the country, returning through Phobjikha, where the…