Paro Tshechu Festival

The flight into Paro is itself one of the more memorable arrivals in aviation — only a small handful of pilots in the world are certified to land at this airport, with the descent threading between mountain ridges that seem close enough to touch from the cabin window. Met on the tarmac with a traditional khadar (white silk scarf) and transferred to the hotel for check-in. After lunch, an unhurried introduction to the valley — a slow walk along the Paro Chhu riverbank past prayer-flag-strung chortens, and a first look at Rinpung Dzong from the cantilevered footbridge. Early evening pre-trip briefing covering the festival’s three main days, the etiquette of the dzong courtyard, and what photography is welcomed (a lot) and what isn’t (the unveiled Thongdrol, certain masked dances). Early dinner and an early night to settle from the journey.

Stay:

Hotel Olathang, Paro

Meals:

D

The signature day of any Bhutan trip — done deliberately before the festival rather than after, while the legs are fresh and the dzong is not yet packed with pilgrims. Taktsang Monastery (the Tiger’s Nest) clings to a vertical cliff face 900 metres above the Paro valley floor, where Guru Rinpoche is said to have meditated for three years, three months, three weeks, three days and three hours after flying here on the back of a tigress. The hike is a steady 5- to 6-hour round trip on a well-maintained trail of switchbacks through blue pine and prayer-flag-strung rest stops. Tea break at the halfway cafeteria where the iconic view of the monastery first opens up across the gorge. Inside the monastery, several small lhakhangs are open for visit; remove shoes, leave cameras at the door. Hot-stone bath at a traditional farmhouse in the late afternoon for tired legs.

Stay:

Hotel Olathang, Paro

Meals:

B/L/D

Distance:

7 km

Altitude:

3120 m

An early breakfast and the short drive across the river to Rinpung Dzong, where the courtyard is already filling with Bhutanese families in their finest gho and kira (the men in long-sleeved knee-length robes, the women in hand-woven ankle-length wrap-dresses). The Tshechu opens with the traditional set of cham (masked dance) — the dance of the Lords of the Cremation Grounds, the Dance of the Black Hats, the Dance of the Heroes — each teaching a chapter of Buddhist cosmology in elaborate brocade costumes and hand-carved wooden masks that have been used in this same dzong for centuries. Between the choreographed dances, atsaras (sacred clowns with bright red wooden masks and exaggerated phallic props) work the crowd with bawdy humour — a centuries-old ritual role that breaks tension and is said to deflect misfortune. Lunch from the festival food stalls or back at the hotel. More dances in the afternoon, including the popular Dance of the Stag and the Hounds.

Stay:

Hotel Olathang, Paro

Meals:

B/L/D

A second full day in the dzong courtyard for the festival’s middle act, when the most theatrical of the cham dances are performed. The day’s repertoire typically includes the Dance of the Judgement of the Dead — a slow, masked enactment of a soul’s progress through the bardo (the intermediate state after death) — and the Dance of the Sixteen Drukpa Yoginis, in which sixteen masked figures representing the female deities of Vajrayana Buddhism circle the courtyard in a tightly choreographed pattern. The crowd swells over the morning, and most travellers find that wandering the food stalls and the small market that springs up outside the dzong walls is as much a part of the day as the dances themselves. Local specialities to try: ema datshi (chillies in cheese), red rice momos, hoentay (Haa valley buckwheat dumplings), and butter tea from the women’s cooperatives.

Stay:

Hotel Olathang, Paro

Meals:

B/L/D

The festival’s most moving day, and a pre-dawn start to be in the dzong courtyard for the unveiling of the giant Thongdrol — a vast silk appliqué of Guru Rinpoche surrounded by his eight manifestations, said to liberate viewers from their accumulated sins on first sight. The Thongdrol is unrolled before sunrise; by the time the first light hits the dzong walls, hundreds of pilgrims are already prostrating in front of it, and butter lamps line the courtyard. The image is rolled away by mid-morning so the sunlight does not damage the silk — the entire unveiling is only a few hours, and is the spiritual centre of the entire festival. Final cham dances continue through the day, ending with the blessing dance of Guru Tshengye (the eight manifestations of Guru Rinpoche) at sunset. A reflective afternoon — many travellers say this is the most moving day of any Bhutan trip. Farewell dinner at a traditional Paro farmhouse.

Stay:

Hotel Olathang, Paro

Meals:

B/L/D

A relaxed breakfast and last walk along the Paro Chhu — perhaps a final visit to Kyichu Lhakhang, one of the two oldest temples in Bhutan (said to have been built in the 7th century in a single day, one of 108 temples raised across the Himalaya by the Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo to pin a giant demoness to the earth). We aim for the airport at least two hours before departure for relaxed check-in. Final khadars at the security gate and a last “tashi delek” before you board. Most onward flights connect through Delhi, Kolkata, Bangkok or Singapore.

Stay:

—

Meals:

B