Cultural Tours · Nature & Wildlife · Moderate
The Grand Crossing — West to East
- Paro
- Thimphu
- Punakha
- Phobjikha
- …
The whole kingdom, end to end — from Paro across the central valleys to Trashigang, leaving through Samdrup Jongkhar.
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Eastern Bhutan · 1,100 m
Trashigang
The largest district of the east — terraced hillsides, silk weavers and the high villages of the Brokpa.
Eastern Bhutan sees only a small share of visitors. Trashigang, with its cliff-top dzong and weaving villages, is the place to start exploring it.
Fewer than one in ten visitors to Bhutan make it to the east, and those who do often say it was the highlight of their journey. The landscape is wilder and greener, villages cling to steep terraced slopes, and people are curious and welcoming in a way that comes from seeing few outsiders.
Trashigang is the largest district and the natural hub. Its dzong sits on a dramatic spur above the river, and the town below is a busy trading centre where people from the surrounding hills come to shop. In Radhi, women weave raw silk on backstrap looms on their verandas; further east, the Brokpa herders of Merak and Sakteng still wear their distinctive yak-hair hats.
The east rewards time. We usually include it in longer journeys, ideally crossing the country from Paro and leaving via Samdrup Jongkhar to avoid retracing the long road west.
Things to see
- 01
Trashigang Dzong
Built in 1659 on a spur high above the Drangme Chhu, once defending the east against Tibetan raids.
- 02
Gom Kora
A temple beside the river around a rock where Guru Rinpoche is said to have subdued a demon. Its spring festival draws pilgrims from across the region.
- 03
Radhi
A village of rice terraces known for fine raw-silk (bura) weaving.
- 04
Merak and Sakteng
Remote high valleys home to the semi-nomadic Brokpa people, reached on foot.
Things to do
- Visit weaving households in Radhi
- Walk around the old town and market
- Continue to Trashi Yangtse and the stupa of Chorten Kora
- Trek into Merak and Sakteng with a full crew (permits arranged by us)
Local tips
- Distances in the east are long and roads winding — journeys here suit travellers with ten days or more.
- Many visitors enter or exit Bhutan through Samdrup Jongkhar in the south-east, avoiding a long return drive.
Journeys that include Trashigang
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