8 Cool & Offbeat Things Everyone Should Do In Bhutan

Forbes

5 days ago

Dancer at the Talo Tshechu festival on the grounds of mountaintop Talo Goenpa monastery.
From trekking to Tiger's Nest monastery and exploring Punakha Dzong palace to attending the flamboyant Paro Tshechu festival and snapping a selfie with the giant, gold-covered Buddha Dordenma Buddha statue, Bhutan boasts several iconic sights.
But there's so much more to the fabled Himalayan kingdom, sights and experiences that offer a much deeper insight into one of the world's most fascinating cultures.
Bar Hop Thimphu
Wedged into a narrow mountain valley, Thimphu offers a surprisingly good bar scene, dozens of places where visitors can sample local libations, catch homegrown tunes, and hang out with residents of Bhutan's capital and largest city.
The rooftop Drunken Yeti offers panoramic views and a signature cocktail called 'The Yeti' made with eight different alcoholic spirits. They've also got ara, a fermented beverage made from wheat, and special edition 1907 12 Year Single Malt Whisky, named for the year that first modern king of Bhutan was crowned.
At the opposite end of the Thimphu drinking spectrum is the Tipsy Cow, located in a basement on the main street. This Euro-style club offers a dance floor, disco lights, local craft beers, and a variety of Bhutanese music videos.
The Grey Area boasts the Bhutanese equivalent of a boho ambience, art-covered walls complemented by live folk music and specialty drinks like the herb-and-vodka 'Cardi B' cocktail
Tenzinling Luxury Villa Tents near Paro.
Glamp the Himalayas
Bhutan's sleep scene has taken a quantum leap in recent years with the advent of upscale glamping resorts.
Renowned for its over-the-top African safari camps, &Beyond makes its first splash in Asia with the spectacular Punakha River Lodge. The waterfront property renders gourmet cuisine, innovative outdoor activities, extensive gardens, spa treatments and yoga sessions, swimming pool, and overnights in lavish tented suites with views of the snowcapped Himalayas.
Arrayed along a hilltop overlooking Paro, Tenzinling Luxury Villa offers spacious and well-equipped tents around a common area with swimming pool, spa, bar and restaurant that serves excellent Bhutanese and Indian cuisine.
Atsara posing with a fair-goer at the Talo Tshechu.
Relish a Rural Festival
Bhutan is renowned for flamboyant festivals. Paro Tshechu in March or April is the most famous, attracting thousands of locals and tourists to witness its traditional mask dances, music performances and colorful costumes.
Avoid the rush and head for the Bhutan countryside, where village and monastery festivals boast an intimate atmosphere where locals outnumber overseas visitors and where you don't need to elbow your way to the front of the crowd for a closer view or great photos.
A great example is Talo Tshechu, which plays out over three days each spring on the grounds of mountaintop Talo Goenpa monastery around a two-hour drive east of Thimphu. Talo is especially known for its pranks by red-masked atsara clowns and the epic Zhungdra by the local dance troupe.
Strange but true: A takin takes a drink at the Motithang Takin Preserve near Thimphu.
Take Time for Takins
Bhutan's national animal defies easy description. In the same vein as an African wildebeest, it appears to be constructed from left-over parts from other creatures. People often compare the takin to a musk ox or mountain goat, but it's most closely related to sheep.
They're difficult to spot in the wild because of their remote habitats, which makes the royal Motithang Takin Preserve near Thimphu the ideal place to get up close and almost personal with the strange, horned beasts.
Explored via elevated walkways, the woodsy preserve shelters other endemic species like sambar deer, blue sheep, muntjac and golden pheasant.
Catch Sunrise Over the Himalayas
Rise before dawn and trek to a temple to see the first rays of a new day glistening off the high peaks. That's one way to beat the crowds who arrive at many temples later in the day. But you can also make it a picnic: Pack your own breakfast or arrange a breakfast box with your hotel.
Tiger's Nest (Taktshang) is far and away the most famous (and popular) trek. But you'll be sharing the summit trail with hundreds of other folks, even at daybreak.
Better to set your sights on a remote temple like Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten above the Punakha Valley. After crossing the swift-flowing river on a narrow, bouncy suspension bridge, it's about an hour's hike through rice terraces and forest to the gold-clad shrine.
All of the guest rooms at Mendegang Heritage Home flaunt traditional Bhutanese design.
Sleep at a Homestay
Rather than a hotel or glamping resort, reserve at least one night for a homestay. Some are more like small palaces built by former royal courtiers or family members rather than ordinary homes.
Located just off the highway between Thimphu and Punakha, Mendegang Heritage Home offers rooms and meals in an elaborate country manor house where Gyaldroen Thinley (chief secretary of the third king) lived with his two wives and many children.
The home is still owned and operated by his descendants, including a granddaughter who manages the property. If you ask nicely, she'll show you the mansion's three extravagant Buddhist temples.
Sink Into a Hot Stone Bath
For as long as anyone can remember, Bhutanese have treasured hot stone baths.
Heated by a wood fire, the water is infused with minerals released from the rocks and wormwood leaves (Artemisia absinthium) — the key ingredient of absinthe spirit — before it's dispensed into rectangular wooden tubs in private compartments.
Beyond blissful relaxation, hot stone baths are thought to soothe many different ailments from digestive issues and hypertension to various skin conditions.
Some hotels and homestays feature hot stone baths. But there are also independent bathhouses like Eco Farm Estate on the outskirts of Paro.
Soothsayer at the Pangri Zampa College for Astrology in Thimphu.
Get Your Fortune Told by a Buddhist Monk
Find out what your future holds at the Pangri Zampa College for Astrology in Thimphu, where saffron-clad Buddhist monks use a variety of ancient texts and books to determine your fate.
Readings take around half an hour, but visitors are free to explore the complex and chat with monks at their leisure. There's no fee per se, the fortune tellers do expect a small gratuity.
In addition to training young astrologers — all those boys playing soccer in the schoolyard — the college creates the official national calendar and decides on the most auspicious dates for royal weddings, funerals, coronations and other significant occasions.