Top Things to Do While in Bhutan
Posted on 15/01/2020
If you are in search of the best Bhutan Tours, consider hiring Bhutan Soul Tour and Travel. We offer premium Touring Services across Bhutan. The Nation conveys exciting ancient mountain trekking and hiking.
We guarantee you will love the culture and climate of the country at once. Residents of Bhutan are extraordinarily welcoming and friendly. You will find animals and plants of diverse species and will also witness some of the wild forests. October to December is the ideal time for the Bhutan tour, visit now!
Top things visitors can do in Bhutan to experience the authentic Bhutanese culture
ABOUT BHUTAN SOUL TOURS AND TRAVEL
Our biggest strength as a company is our passionate team members. We strive to be an informative and reliable partner for our guests to offer them a hassle-free experience while planning their trip to Bhutan and ensure a memorable trip during their stay in Bhutan.
Why travel with Bhutan Soul Tour and Travel?
- Our team is led by an experienced leader with over three decades of experience organizing tours to Bhutan for international tourists.
- We ensure that our guests are guided by some of the most seasoned certified tour guides in the country to ensure, quality time during their stay in the country.
- Our guests are chauffeured in well-maintained cars with an experienced professional driver to ensure their safety.
- Our dedicated support staff strives to respond to all your queries and ensure that we deliver on the expectations of our guests.
Top Things to Do While in Bhutan
Spend a Night at a Home Stay
Home stay properties in Bhutan are regulated by the Tourism Council of Bhutan and therefore maintain a certain standard in terms of services offered and hygiene. Visitors staying at a homestay will get a chance to enjoy true local hospitality, share a meal with the host family, and experience the authentic Bhutanese way of life. Other activities that add to the excitement are trying out a traditional hot stone bath, cooking a local dish guided by the host, interacting with the host family, playing a game of archery with the locals, and exploring the village. Most villages particularly in Paro and Punakha are surrounded by paddy fields and the transformation of the landscape during the plantation and harvesting season is spectacular.
Attend the Mask Dance Festival
The Mask Dance Festival is one of the biggest events in the country. It attracts thousands of tourists every year to witness the unique event. A mask dance festival is a religious event celebrated across the country during different times of the year in honor of Guru Rinpoche, a Buddhist master who is believed to have introduced Buddhism in Bhutan. During the festival, monks perform a series of religion-inspired dances and chant prayers to invoke deities. Locals from within the region attend the festival to receive blessings and celebrate family reunions. The event is glorified with the monks wearing colorful silk robes and exquisitely crafted masks depicting gods and deities. Locals also attend the festival wearing their finest clothes and jewelry. The sacred events are celebrated within and around the medieval fortresses.
Hike to the Tiger’s Nest Monastery
The Tiger’s Nest Monastery is over 3 century old and it is located in Paro Valley. The hike is included in every visitor’s itinerary and has thus become the most popular and most visited attraction in Bhutan. Its popularity is due to its legendary history the location of the monastery and its architectural marvel. The monastery is precariously built on a sheer cliff 900 meters above the Paro valley and the only way for visitors to arrive at the monastery is to hike for up to two hours from the base of the mountain.
Before the monastery ever existed, the location where the current monastery sits had a cave that was used by Guru Rinpoche to meditate for many years in the 7th century and thus blessing the land. Subsequently, a monastery was built in the 16th century enclosing the cave which remains the inner sanctum of the monastery. According to the legend, Guru Rinpoche arrived at the sight riding atop a flying tigress, thus the name of the monastery.
Visit Phobjikha Valley
Despite being a popular destination, Phobjikha Valley depending on the time of one’s visit, it does not feel touristy at all. The secluded village is enclosed by mountains covered in trees and scattered settlements with acres of agricultural land carpeting the valley floor. The wetland in the center of the valley is off limits to human activity, it is the roosting area for the endangered species the Black Necked Cranes. These migratory birds fly south to the village from Tibet every winter before flying back in early spring. The valley is known for its extremely serene environment and has become a popular meditation center. The scattered settlements are connected by trails which are ideal for hikes and mountain biking.
Explore the Medieval Fortresses
The medieval fortresses locally known as Dzong are an integral part of Bhutan and its culture and tradition. Few Dzongs in Bhutan predate the medieval period while the rest of them were mostly built during the 16th and 17th centuries. The origins of the Dzongs are primarily credited to Zhabdrung, the founder of Bhutan and he basically ascribed the significant roles that Dzongs continue to play even in modern times. The unification of different states under a single rule was commemorated with the construction of Dzongs. Its presence in a region symbolized the recognition of a centralized authority. The Dzongs were then assigned as the seat of the district administration and it also housed the monastic community in the region. During times of war, the Dzongs were also used as a military barrack. The defense fort in Paro known as the Drugyel Dzong and the Punakha Dzong has many accounts of successfully defending foreign invasions. Dzongs are a great source of information for travelers interested in learning more about the history of Bhutan.
