Remote & eastern Bhutan

Trashigang

The far east, where the weavers are.

Overview

Trashigang is the largest district in Bhutan and its old eastern capital, a town pinned to a steep hillside above the Drangme Chhu at around 1,100 metres, with its dzong on a spur over the river. The air is warm, the slopes are terraced with maize and the people, Sharchops, speak their own language and keep their own ways.

This is the heart of Bhutanese weaving: the raw-silk bura of Radhi, the finest kira of Khaling, looms on every farmhouse veranda. East of town the road climbs to the high pastures of Merak and Sakteng, home of the Brokpa yak herders with their black felt hats, who come down to the Trashigang Tshechu each winter.

Few visitors reach the east, and that is its gift. The Trashigang Tshechu is intimate and local, the valleys are empty of other travellers, and the hospitality is of the kind that happens when guests are rare.

Altitude: 1,100 m
From Paro: Two to three days by road across the kingdom; about 1 hour by domestic flight to Yonphula, then 1 hour by car.
Best months: October, November, December, March, April
Region: Remote & eastern Bhutan

Best time to visit

Four seasons, two of them famous.

Spring and autumn are peak. Monsoon is green and quiet. Winter is cold, clear and empty.

Spring

March to May

Warm days, orchids in the forest and the maize going in. Good walking weather in the higher villages; the valley floor warms quickly by May.

Monsoon

June to August

Hot, wet and lush, with occasional landslides on the road. We do not usually travel east in these months.

Autumn

September to November

Clear skies after the rains, harvest in the terraces, the weaving season under way. Peak season for the east and the Trashigang Tshechu at the end of it.

Winter

December to February

Mild and sunny at this altitude; the Brokpa come down for the tshechu and the roads are at their best. An excellent time to come.

Festivals here: Trashigang Tshechu (November / December). Dates follow the lunar calendar; verify yearly.

Highlights

What Trashigang does better than anywhere.

The weavers of Radhi and Khaling

Sit beside a backstrap loom as a woman works raw silk into the patterns her grandmother taught her. The National Handloom Development Centre at Khaling shows the whole process from cocoon to cloth.

Walkers consulting a map on the way to the highlands

The road to Merak and Sakteng

A long day's drive and walk climbs into the Brokpa highlands, a sanctuary of rhododendron and yak pasture where the yeti is officially protected. For travellers with time and a taste for the remote.

A winding road and late light over the eastern ridges

Rangjung and the valley temples

The monastery at Rangjung, east of town, is one of the liveliest in the region, and the farm villages along the Gamri Chhu are open, friendly and rarely visited.

Dzongs & temples

Whitewashed walls, red roofs, and the people still inside them.

Trashigang Dzong

The Fortress of the Auspicious Hill, built in 1659 on a spur above the Drangme Chhu by Minjur Tenpa, the third Desi, to hold the east against Tibet. Unusually, it has a single courtyard shared by monks and administrators, and the views down the gorge are immense.

Long sleeves and trousers in the dzong; no photography inside shrine rooms.

Gom Kora

A small temple on the river below Trashigang where Guru Rinpoche meditated in a cave and left his footprint. Pilgrims squeeze through a narrow rock passage to test their sins, and the spring festival draws people from across the east.

Long sleeves and trousers in the dzong; no photography inside shrine rooms.

Journeys

Journeys that pass through Trashigang.

All journeys

Questions

Before you go.

Either by road from Bumthang over the Thrumshing La and through Mongar, about two days, or by domestic flight from Paro to Yonphula, weather permitting, then an hour by car. Flights are seasonal; verify schedules at booking. Verify against https://www.bhutan.travel before launch.

Verify against bhutan.travel before travelling. Fees verified as of 2026-10-14.

Usually in November or December, over three or four days at the dzong, with the Brokpa of Merak and Sakteng in attendance. Dates follow the lunar calendar; verify yearly.