| Day 1 |
 Arrival
at Paro airport. Our Bhutanese guide will come
to receive us. Then we take a one-and-a-half-hours
drive to Thimphu the capital city of Bhutan, through
the beautiful Paro Valley. Stay in Hotel.
DAY 2:
First day sightseeing on bike. We bike to Tangu
and Cheri monasteries, Tashichoe Dzong, which
houses the office of the King Jigme Singe Wangchuk
and the Jey-Kenpo (Chief Abbot). We also visit
Dechencholing Palace. From Dechenphodrang, a Buddhist
College, you can see the Royal Palace of the present
king. We visit the Memorial Chorten, which was
built in the memory of late King Jigme Dorji Wangchuk.
We stop along the way for refreshments and after
lunch we bike to the painting school and National
Library. Back to Hotel. |
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| Day 3: |
| Leave Thimphu and bike to Dochula,
22km from Thimphu, then on to the Punakha Valley
where we will camp close to a river. |
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| Day 4: |
| Today we head off
along dirt track to Wangdi, where we stop for lunch
at the Wangdi Guest House. If time permits we will
bike as far as Garzikha Zam then drive to Pelayla
and back on our bikes for the descent into Chendbji
Chorten. Here we camp at the confluence of two streams. |
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| Day 5: |
| We have the option
of driving or cycling to Tongsa to visit the Ta
Dzong. After lunch we drive on to Yotungla and then
down into the Chumey Valley. From here we ascend
to Kikela and another descent in to the Jakar Valley,
the largest valley in Bhutan. |
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| Day 6: |
| Explore the Jakar Valley. First
we stop on the way to Kujee Lhakhang to visit Jakar
Lhakhang. From Kujee Lhakhang we head towards Tamshing
Lhakhang via Jampay Lhakhang, one of the oldest
Lhakhangs in the kingdom. |
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| Day 7: |
| We leave Jakar Valley to enter
Tang Valley the ancestral home of the King of Bhutan.
We have an option to camp near the Ugyencholing
Palace or bike back to Jakar. We have time to visit
the Membartsho (flaming lake). |
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| Day 8: |
| Drive to Nobding and bike uphill
to the ridge and then have a screamer of a downhill
through the beautiful glacial Phobjikha Valley.
We visit the Gangtey Monastery, the largest Nyingmapa
Monastery in Bhutan. Overnight in a lodge. |
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| Day 9: |
| We bike or drive as far as the
ridge and bike to Wangdi. After lunch at the Wangdi
Guest House we bike to Mendaygang where we stay
overnight at Dechhen Cottage. |
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| Day 10: |
| Today we drive as far as Dochula
from where there is the option of driving or continuing
by bikes into Thimphu. In the afternoon we visit
handicraft emporiums and other textile centres. |
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| Day 11: |
| We have a lovely 57km bike ride
ahead of us today on pothole free tarmac roads.
We stop for lunch at Sonam Trofel, the best restaurant
in Paro town. |
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| Day 12: |
| We spend the whole day sightseeing,
visiting the Kyichu Monastery, one of the oldest
monasteries in Bhutan then bike to Drugyel Dzong
built in 1647-49 to commemorate the Bhutanese victory
over the Tibetan invaders. We go on to visit the
National Museum and after 5pm we are able to visit
the Ripgung Dzong. |
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| Day 13: |
| Today's biking is the most difficult.
The road meanders uphill to Chalayla, the highest
motorable pass in Bhutan, at 3988m. We stop for
lunch at Sonam Trofel then bike or drive back to
Paro. |
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| Day 14: |
| Our last day in Bhutan. Today
we hike up to Taksang (Tiger's lair), which clings
to a cliff face 1,000m above the valley. Taksang
is one of the most beautiful temples in Bhutan,
built by the temporal ruler Tenzin Rabgye in 1684. |
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| Day 15: Departure. |
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