Textiles and weaving

Bhutanese weaving is among the most intricate in the world, and the finest kushuthara cloth of Lhuentse can take a year on the backstrap loom. Patterns are held in memory and in the hands, passed from mother to daughter, and every valley has its own.

In Thimphu the Royal Textile Academy holds the great collection and explains the thirteen traditional arts. In the east, around Trashigang and Mongar, the looms are still on the verandas and the dyes still come from madder, indigo and walnut. We arrange time with weavers rather than shops.

Travellers who wish to can try a few rows themselves and learn why the cloth costs what it does. If you buy, we help you buy well, from the weaver, at a fair price, with the story of who made it.