A Horse Hacking Tour

Upon your arrival in Paro International Airport, you shall be greeted by a aCholala Tours & Travels representatives and he/she shall brief you about the tours, itinerary, inclusions as well as cultural practices of Bhutan including Do’s and Don’ts. We then visit following sites at Paro; Five Chortens Nyamai Zam Rinpung Dzong Ta Dzong The distance between Paro and Thimphu is about 65 kilometers and will take about an hour. On the way, we will visit Tachog Lhakhang located on a hilltop across Pa Chhu connected by an ancient iron bridge built in the late 13th and early 14th century by ThangtongGyalpo. Once at the hotel, you can unpack to rejuvenate from your high mile journey with a relaxed evening previewing the trip ahead. We will also resolve any queries you may about your stay with us here in Bhutan. If you are good, we can take a leisure stroll in the town to familiarize you with Bhutanese lifestyles and culture.

Today we start the day by visiting the famous National Memorial Chorten into the heart of the city. It is an extraordinary piece of Buddhist architecture and artwork with intricate sculptures and stunning paintings. Then our next visits will be the following sites; Buddha Dordenma Simtokha Dzong Dochu La Pass Druk Wangyal Chorten & Lhakhang After lunch at a restaurant near the Dochu La Pass, we will drive further east before we make a stop to visit the Royal Botanical Garden. We then make another stop at the fertility temple, Chimi Lhakhang. We continue our journey via Khuruthang town and warmer valley of Punakha. Once we check into the hotel, we enjoy a delicious supper and talk about our plan for the next day. We retire for the night hoping for the best weather tomorrow.

Punakha Dzong located at the confluence of two rivers of Punatsang Chhu is our first visit for the day. You will find out that it is arguably the most beautiful Dzong in the country. Existing the Dzong, we head towards a Suspension Bridge. It is perfect visit for those who want to experience some thrilling heart pumping experience while crossing it. Stunning valley scenes awaits you as you cross it on either side. We then visit the following places; Tangoo Lhakhang Bajo Lhakhang Radak Neykhang Wangdue Phodrang Dzong Restoration site After lunch, we continue driving on East –West Highway of about 64 kilometers taking us 2 to 3 hours until Phojikha Valley. Gangtey Goemba of Phobjikha is our first stop located on a forested hill overlooking the entire green expanse of the valley. Then we visit the Black –Necked Crane Information Center of Royal Society for protection of Nature (RSPN), you can get a better insight into the valley’s treasure. From spotting the cranes (during season) through powerful spotting scopes, checking the information inventory to biking around the feeder road you can choose activity to expedite for the rest of the day. We can also either opt out to experience a Bhutanese Home – stay or a regular hotel for the night.

Leaving behind a beautiful Black –Necked Crane Valley, we drive towards Pele La Pass at 3420 meters elevation. It is one of the most beautiful drive east offering accesses to central Bhutan over the Black Mountains, the physical boundary between western and central Bhutan. On a clear day, you can try to spot Mt. Jomolhari (7326m), Mt. Jichu Drake (6989m) and Mt. Kang Bum (6526m) towards the west marking the border of Black Mountain national Park. We continue to drive towards Trongsa spotting yaks grazing on the barren hills as we maneuver into the broad heavily cultivated Mangde Chhu Valley. Chendebji Chorten is on our en route to Trongsa. Once at Trongsa, we stop for lunch and then explore the Trongsa Dzong and up next, we will hike up to the Ta Dzong located strategically above the Trongsa Dzong on the left bank of the Mangde Chhu. The journey to Bumthang should take us about 2 to 3 hours as we drive through; Yutong La Pass Chume Valley Buli Lhakhang En –routing through Nangar Village we will stop at the Yathra factory where traditional Yathra fabric is manufactured from sheep wool. On arrival, we check into the hotel and rejuvenate from the day’s excursion.

We start our day in ‘Switzerland of Asia’ by driving uphill where the majestic Jakar Dzong stands overlooking the valley of Bumthang. It means “Castle of the White Bird”, exhibits a stunning bird –eye view of the entire valley. On the way we will stop to the following places; Kurjey Lhakhang Jambay Lhakhang Chakar Lhakhang Tamshing Lhakhang Kenchosum Lhakhang After lunch, we start driving towards the famous Burning Lake – Mebar Tsho located along the way to the Tang Village over the feeder road. Even at present this small fresh water lake is a very scared pilgrimage site where people offer butter lamps and prayer flags on auspicious days making it spectacular landscape with rich history for tourists to visit. We head further east towards beautiful Ura Valley for about hour and half through beautiful conifer mountains, valleys, farms and pastures. Once we reach Shingkar Village, we visit Dechen Chholing Goemba. We then make our journey to Tang Valley where we will meet our horses and the trail guide. After short introduction on riding lesson, we can make short ride within the valley visiting villages and bonding with your horse. We can choose to spend the night at a Guest House or a Home stay.

On our first day of horse riding, we begin climbing up a hill towards Phepe La Pass with an elevation of about 3900 meters or feet. In about 6 hours of riding your horse along with multiple stops to rest for lunch, refreshments and horse feeding, we will arrive at Ngang Village. The time trail takes to complete will make sure you bond with your horse into a friendly and healthy companionship to last for the rest of the hacking trip. Ngang Lhakhang located in the village is a private temple. It looks like a large farm house with two stories and a large courtyard holding a festival from the evening of the 15th day to 17th day of the 10th Bhutanese month. You can either choose to stay overnight at the rural Farmhouse home –stay right beside the Lhakhang or in the tent.

From the village of Ngang, horse hacking should take us about 5 hours to arrive at Jakar valley. We can combine horse riding trek with cultural sightseeing. You can enjoy a nice relaxing ride while exploring local villages and meeting friendly people. It is a beautiful hack through the farms and unpaved roads. You can witness farmers plowing their fields and women working hard in a potato field. Once we are in a Jakar town we will check into the hotel. For rest of the evening we can choose to rejuvenate from the past two days of horse riding in a spa for a traditional massage, steam bath or a stone bath. We can also go to local karaoke bar before retiring for the night.

We will drive till the road head to start horse hacking at Menchugang. The trail is easy which combines with the famous ‘Bumthang Owl Trek’ taking us about 4 to 5 hours to complete. As we arrive at Dhur village we will stop for lunch and feed our horses. The village of Dhur (2900 m/9514 ft) is the biggest rural village in Bumthang consisting of about 75 households with about 800 or more people. Horse riding continues after lunch with an uphill climb through blue pine forest towards the campsite at Schonath (3450 m/ ft). The forest is covered in hemlock and juniper trees and during a silent night, you can hear the hooting of owls, hence the name ‘The Owl Trek’. From here you can still see the Dhur village.

Leaving our beautiful campsite of Schonath, we ride through a lush green forest of hemlock, fir, spruce and varieties of rhododendrons which bloom fully during the months of April and May. It also takes us through a forest of bamboo which is the main undergrowth in this area. After riding for about 2 hours, we will arrive at the Drange La Pass at an elevation of 3600 meters or feet. We then climb the Kitiphu ridge (4000 m/ ft) finally arriving at our campsite for the night. From the campsite, you can witness stunning views of snow –capped mountains and the beautiful valleys underneath. Mt. Gangkar Puensum (7570 m/ ft) can be seen from here as it stands majestically as the highest unscaled peak in the world.

On our final day of the horse hacking trek, we take about 4 to 5 hours to arrive at cheerful Chume valley. We descend toward the monasteries of Zambhalha, Cheodrak and Tharpaling. Choedrak Monastery is located at an elevation of 3800 meters or feet on a high ridge dominating the whole Chume valley. From here we descend into Tharpaling Monastery (3600 m/ ft) which is composed of a series of building overlooking the valley. The area is a historical Buddhist learning center where renowned masters like Longchen Rabjampa spent many years in exile from Tibet in the early 14th century. We descend for about half an hour before entering Chume Valley and retire for the night.

Today is the day we head back to the capital city, Thimphu. It should take us about 5 to 6 hours' drive on the East-West highway. You can relax aback and enjoy the meandering hilly road drive as you play flashbacks about your previous journey and horse hacking in the heart of Asian Switzerland. Later in the evening after we check into the hotel, we can take a leisure stroll in the town. You can visit the souvenir shopping lane at Arts & Crafts Market. You can buy visit to Bhutan gifts to your friends and family back home ranging from traditional arts and crafts to traditional Bhutanese textiles.

We head out after breakfast for about an hour drive to the base of the famous Tiger's Nest Temple. It is one of the main icons of our country and your visit to Bhutan would be incomplete without hiking up the Paro Taktsang. The difficulty of the trail is from moderate to extreme at some instances but the stunning view of the landscape and the great historic stories of the monastery will surpass all your body aches. We return to the hotel in the evening as the sun sets reviewing our whole trip and lending our ears to your comments and suggestions. After a delicious Bhutanese supper, we retire for the night giving you ample amount of time to pack.

As you prepare to fly back home or towards your next destination, we share a delicious breakfast. Our friendship does not end today with your departure. Rather it is a matter of another time and place before we see each other again.