15-Day Bird Watching and Cultural Tour in Bhutan
15-Day Bird Watching and Cultural Tour in Bhutan
Best birding, wildlife and cultural tour in Bhutan. Bhutan is a small country nestled in Eastern Himalayas - a land of rhododendron forests, stunning panoramas and friendly Buddhist culture.Bird watching in Bhutan is a sublime experience. Towns are very small and surrounded by untouched forests.
There is very little traffic and the roads provide excellent opportunities to walk through what are surely the best-preserved forests anywhere in the Himalayas. On this trip we will see some 350 different birds, 12-15 mammal species and an amazing variety of butterflies and flowers.There will also be time to see the amazing architecture, visit dzong’s, which blend the role of both fortress and monastery, and meet the friendly Bhutanese people. Overall, experience the unique culture of Bhutan, expanding your interests but not compromising your main objectives!This itinerary has been designed to see the best of Bhutan, with a minimum of long-distance driving, and removing the need for camp.
Book This ExperienceA glimpse of the journey
Your Itinerary
A curated journey through the experience
Paro
This morning you meet your local guide and driver from our office
1 hourParo River
Day 2: Morning birding at Chele La for high altitude birds and continue to Thimphu, 110 km.
4 hoursChele La Pass
Chele La gives us the opportunity to ascend above tree line into alpine meadows and dwarf rhododendron scrub where we have the possibility of seeing some of Bhutan’s high altitude birds such as; Himalayan Monal, Blood Pheasant, Himalayan Cuckoo, Snow Pigeon, Rufous-fronted and Yellow-browed Tits, Greenish Warbler, Red-tailed Minla, White-browed Fulvetta, Black-throated Thrush, Blanford’s and White-browed Rosefinches, Collared Grosbeak, White-throated Redstart, White-browed Bush Robin, Alpine Accentor, Plain Mountain Finch (often seen in big flocks of up to 200 birds), and Red-headed Bullfinch.
6 hoursThimphu
Day 3: Thimphu to Punakha, 78 km. Bird watching stop at Dochu La and Lampelri Park. In the afternoon visit Punakha Dzong.
2 hoursDochula Pass
In this high elevation, mixed broad-leaved forests, there is an incredible wide range attractive birds such as: Hodgson’s Hawk Cuckoo, Darjeeling Woodpecker, Rufous-vented Tit, Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler, Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush, Rufous Sibia, Fire-tailed Myzornis (one of the top birds in Bhutan), White-collared Blackbird, Green-tailed Sunbird and Olive-backed Pipit.
2 hoursRoyal Botanical Park
Continuing to Lampelri we will explore the Royal Botanical Park looking for, Hill Partridge, Eurasian Jay, Rufous-bellied Woodpecker, Blue-fronted Redstart, Verditer Flycatcher, Blue-fronted Robin (very shy and rare), Scarlet Finch, and Dark-breasted Rosefinch.
2 hoursPunakha Dzong
Day 4: Punakha to Phobjikha over Lawa La (pass), 85 km.
2 hoursPunakha Suspension Bridge
In the morning we will bird along the Puna Tshang Chhu looking for, Pallas’s Fish Eagle (rare and globally endangered), Bar-headed Geese, Ruddy Shelduck, Eurasian Wigeon River and Red-wattled Lapwing amongst many other species.
3 hoursGangtey
From Lawa La we will descent to Phobjikha valley stopping en-route to visit Gangtey Goenba, the largest Nyingmapa monastery in Bhutan, set on a spur above the Phobjikha valley and surrounded by the quaint village of Gangtey.
4 hoursPhobjikha Valley
Day 5: Morning birding at Pele La (3,350m) and drive to Trongsa, 85 km.
2 hoursPelela Mountain
Starting early we will travel eastwards to explore the high boreal forests of Pele La, 3,350m hoping to find Himalayan Vulture (often found in flocks of up to 30 birds soaring high above Pele La), Solitary Snipe (a rare inhabitant of the roadside marshes), Lesser Cuckoo, the amazing Spotted and Black-faced Laughingthrushes, Hume’s Bush Warbler (a bamboo dweller), Short-billed Minivet, Rufous-vented Yuhina, Dark-rumped Rosefinch, Crimson-browed Finch, Red Crossbill and Brown Bullfinch.
3 hoursChendebji Chorten སྤྱན་སྡེབ་སྦྱིས་མཆོད་རྟེན།
We continue our birding as we travel through beautiful rhododendron forests to village of Chendibji, where a Nepalese styled Chorten is picturesquely situated alongside the river.
3 minutesTrongsa
Day 6: Trongsa to Tingtibi, 140 km. Birding in Royal Manas national park.
3 hoursTrongsa District
The whole section of todays journey is spectacular as we look for an amazing variety of rare and special birds in the mixed broad-leafed forests that stretches from 2200m down to 700m.
3 hoursTingtibi Park Range Office
Day 7: Bird watching in Royal Manas National Park, one of the best birding location in Bhutan
4 hoursThe Royal Manas National Park
Day 8: Tingtibi to Trongsa via Zhemgang town, 140 km.
7 hoursZhemgang
After breakfast we will continue birding along the Zhemgang road, stopping at prime locations and to absorb the sheer beauty of this part of Bhutan. Along here we will look for, Indian Cuckoo, Black Eagle, Red-faced Liocichla (very beautiful bird), Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler and White-tailed Robin.
5 hoursLangthel Park Range Office
Day 9: Trongsa to Bumthang, 80 km, birding en-route at Yotong la and Tharpaling monastery.
3 hoursYotongla Mountain
Birds we will look for include; Steppe Eagle (globally endangered), White-capped Water Redstart, Ultramarine Flycatcher, Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, Black-billed Magpie (endemic to Bumthang valley), Brown Parrotbill, Chestnut-headed Tesia, Russet Bush Warbler, Red-throated Thrush, Yellow-breasted Greenfinch, Himalayan Beautiful Rosefinch and White-winged Grosbeak.
2 hoursTharpaling Monastery ཐར་པ་གླིང་ལྷ་ཁང་།
Day 10: Bumthang to Yongkola, 140 km. Stopping along one of the best birding routes in Bhutan and the Eastern Himalayas.
4 hoursThrimshingla Pass
Leaving Bumthang we travel eastwards through forests of larch, silver fir, spruce and towering hemlocks to Thrumshing La pass at 3,780m, in the upper reaches of these magnificent forests we have our second opportunity to see the stunning Blood Pheasants often seen in huge flocks feeding by the roadside, Satyr Tragopan (another star attraction for Bhutan), Bearded Vulture, and Great Parrotbill.
4 hoursSengor
Day 11: Two full days are spent to explore the best birding locations in Bhutan.
4 hoursYongkola Pass
Day 12: Exploring the bird-rich Thrumshing La national park
8 hoursLingmethang
Day 13: Yongkola to Bumthang, 140 km. Birding the areas of Namling, Sengor and Thrumshing La pass
8 hoursUra Valley
Day 14: A short flight from Bumthang to Paro, (25 mins). Bird watching and cultural visits in Paro valley.
8 hoursRinpung Dzong
This morning we will take the short flight to Paro (25 mins), where there are breathtaking views of Himalayan Mountains from your flight. Arriving in Paro we will visit Paro Dzong (1644), the Fortress of the “Heap of Jewels”, which was featured in some scenes of the film ‘Little Buddha’ (1993). This 5 storey building has white-washed walls, magnificently carved and painted wooden doors and windows, which add to the sense of power and wealth required to build this fortress. From the dzong we will follow the stone path down to the Paro Chhu (river) and cross the Nyamai Zam - the wooden cantilevered bridge festooned with prayer flags.
5 hoursChele La
Day 15: Your guide and driver will take you to the Paro airport to end the tour.
3 hoursParo
No accommodation included on this day.
2 hoursIncluded
- Bhutan visa fee
- Domestic flight from Bumthang to Paro
- All entrance fee for museums and parks
- 14x Breakfast
- 14x Dinner
- 14x Lunch
- Accommodation included: 14 nights
- Entry/Admission - Punakha Dzong
- Entry/Admission - Ura Valley
- Entry/Admission - Punakha Suspension Bridge
- Entry/Admission - Dochula Pass
- Entry/Admission - Royal Botanical Park, Lampelri
- Entry/Admission - Chendebji Chorten སྤྱན་སྡེབ་སྦྱིས་མཆོད་རྟེན།
- Entry/Admission - Rinpung Dzong
- Entry/Admission - Tingtibi Park Range Office
- Entry/Admission - Paro River
- Entry/Admission - The Royal Manas National Park
- Entry/Admission - Langthel Park Range Office
- Entry/Admission - Tharpaling Monastery ཐར་པ་གླིང་ལྷ་ཁང་།
- Entry/Admission - Chele La Pass
Not Included
- Travel Insurance (essential)
- Personal expenses
- Charges incurred as a result of circumstances beyond the control of Langur Eco Travels
- Flights
- Gratuities
Good to Know
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Not recommended for travelers with back problems
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Not recommended for travellers with serious high altitude sickness
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- Face masks required for travelers in public areas
- Face masks required for guides in public areas
- Face masks provided for travelers
- Hand sanitizer available to travelers and staff
- Regularly sanitized high-traffic areas
- Gear/equipment sanitized between use
- Guides required to regularly wash hands
- Temperature checks for travelers upon arrival
- Paid stay-at-home policy for staff with symptoms
- A current valid passport is required on the day of travel
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Tickets & Cancellation
You can present either a paper or an electronic voucher for this activity.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start time of the experience.