Punakha
Warm and low, with Bhutan’s most beautiful dzong at the meeting of the Pho and Mo rivers.
To reach Punakha you cross the Dochu La, a pass at just over 3,000 metres crowned with 108 chortens and, on a clear day, a long line of Himalayan peaks. Then the road drops for an hour into a warmer, greener world — Punakha sits low and subtropical, thick with rice and banana, and served as the winter capital of Bhutan until the 1950s.
Its dzong is the reason most people come: Punakha Dzong stands white and enormous at the confluence of the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu, the father and mother rivers, reached by a wooden cantilever bridge. It is the second-oldest and, by wide agreement, the most beautiful of the country’s fortresses, and in spring the courtyard jacarandas drop a haze of lilac over the whitewash.
A gentle walk through the village of Sopsokha and its terraced fields leads to Chimi Lhakhang, the fertility temple of the Divine Madman Drukpa Kunley, its walls frankly painted and its blessings sought by couples from across the country. The rivers below are calm enough for an easy afternoon of rafting past the dzong.
Because it is low and warm, Punakha is a fine choice in winter when the highlands are cold, and lovely in spring for the jacaranda. It pairs naturally with Thimphu and Paro on the western loop.
Plan a journey through Punakha
Tell us your dates and your pace, and we’ll shape a route through this valley and the ones around it — usually within two days.