Five days beyond the four passes, to one of the most secluded and least visited valleys in Bhutan.
Highlights
Chele La, Bhutan's highest motorable pass
Haa Dzong and the apple orchards
Lhachag Karpo Lhakhang on the cliff
The Singye valley approach
What is included
Licensed guide and private vehicle
Four nights in Haa valley lodges and farm stays
All meals, including local apple and buckwheat dishes
All monastery fees, permits and SDF
Chele La and the four Zonglab passes on the drive
Mask dance performance visit arranged with the community
Day-by-day itinerary
Day 1 — Over the Chele La to Haa The drive west out of the Paro valley climbs for two hours to the Chele La Pass at 3,718 metres, the highest point on the highway, with the Chomo Lhari range ahead in clear weather. The road drops into Haa on the far side of the watershed, and the change is immediate and total: drier, higher, empti…
Day 2 — Haa Dzong and the cliffside temples The dzong sits on a ridge above the town with whitewashed walls, and the view from its roof is over the whole valley to the western peaks. Then the Lhakhang Karpo, the 15th-century temple on the lakeshore a short walk below town, where a lone monk keeps the place and the butter lamps going, and the…
Day 3 — The Haa valley on foot A walking day on the valley's terraces and side slopes, following irrigation channels out to the farms above town, with the Haa Water Festival in the calendar if you are here in June. The birding is the other reason to spend a day slow in this valley: Haa holds one of the densest populations of whi…
Day 4 — Back over Chele La to Paro The return crossing, and a stop at the Wangdue Phodrang bridge viewpoint if the group would rather break the drive than do it straight. Down into the Paro valley by early afternoon, with the afternoon free for Kyichu Lhakhang or, for anyone who has done it already, the drive out to the Chukha valle…
Day 5 — Departure Transfer to Paro airport in time for the flight, with the drive ten minutes from most of the valley's hotels.