In this episode of the Winging It Travel Podcast, I continue my Bhutan travel series covering Days 4–7 of my guided journey through one of the most unique and spiritual countries in the world.
These were some of the most immersive days of the entire trip.
It begins high in the mountains at the Druk Wangyel Festival, held annually at Dochula Pass. Surrounded by 108 chortens and Himalayan peaks, this patriotic festival honours Bhutan’s Fourth King and celebrates peace, unity, and national identity. Wearing the traditional Bhutanese gho, I experienced mass dances, military performances, storytelling, and a powerful display of modern Bhutanese culture.
From there, we descend into the warmer Punakha Valley — home to the breathtaking Punakha Dzong, one of Bhutan’s most important historical and spiritual landmarks. Built in 1637 at the meeting point of two rivers, this former capital remains a living monastery and royal ceremonial site — and yes, it’s where Bhutan’s King and Queen were married.
I also hike to the hilltop temple Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten, walk through rural villages to reach the famous fertility temple Chimi Lhakhang, and cross the swaying Punakha Suspension Bridge with dramatic valley views below.
One of the most special experiences? Staying in a traditional Bhutanese homestay — helping churn butter, cooking local dishes, and learning about family history in a farmhouse perched above the valley.
The journey then takes me east into the stunning Phobjikha Valley, often called the “Switzerland of Bhutan” for its wide glacial landscape and alpine feel. Here, I overnight at Gangtey Monastery, witness an emotional end-of-year monk ceremony, and experience Bhutan’s spiritual depth in complete silence — and freezing temperatures.
Check out my previous Bhutan episodes
Episode 1 Interview with Ugyen Rinzin - https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/winging-it-podcast/id1559489384?i=1000743770563
Episode 2 - IMMERSIVE Hiking to Tiger's Nest Monastery - https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/winging-it-podcast/id1559489384?i=1000744754502
Episode 3 - Days 1-3 solo episode - https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/winging-it-podcast/id1559489384?i=1000745691316
Episode 4 - Interview with a female monk - https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/winging-it-podcast/id1559489384?i=1000747763604
Episode 5 - IMMERSIVE Day in Bhutan - https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/winging-it-podcast/id1559489384?i=1000748856300
Episode 6 - Ama Om Homestay Interview - https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/winging-it-podcast/id1559489384?i=1000750963609
🎧 If Bhutan has ever been on your travel radar, this series will show you why it deserves to be.
This entire journey through Bhutan was made possible by Breathe Bhutan, who created an incredible, deeply immersive itinerary that allowed me to experience the country far beyond the surface. From meeting local families to having honest conversations like this one, their focus on authentic, responsible, and meaningful travel is something I’ll be showcasing throughout this series.
Huge thanks to Breathe Bhutan for creating an authentic, culture-focused itinerary and making experiences like this possible. Also, thanks to Tourism Bhutan for hosting me on this trip and making this series possible.
Breathe Bhutan
Website to book tours - https://www.breathebhutan.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/breathebhutan/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/breathebhutan/
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00:00 – Intro & overview of Bhutan Days 4–7
02:00 – Wearing the traditional Bhutanese gho
03:45 – Druk Wangyel Festival at Dochula Pass
07:00 – Chimi Lhakhang (Fertility Temple) walk through villages
09:30 – Sunset views over Punakha Dzong
11:30 – Hike to Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten
14:30 – Exploring Punakha Dzong (Bhutan’s former capital)
16:30 – Traditional Bhutan homestay experience
17:45 – Crossing the Punakha Suspension Bridge
18:30 – Visiting a Bhutanese nunnery
19:30 – Arriving in Phobjikha Valley (Switzerland of Bhutan)
20:30 – Overnight stay at Gangtey Monastery
21:45 – Witnessing a powerful monk ceremony
22:30 – Reflections & cancelling the winter trek
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Hello and welcome to this week's episode and I'm continuing the Bhutan series for a solo episode on days four to seven and that will wrap up the main part of my tour and I'll come to the last three days and a summary in the last episode. Welcome to the Winging It Travel Podcast, your weekly ticket to the world, dropping every Monday and hosted by me, James Hammond, proudly part of the Boy Escape Network. This is a travel podcast that throws out the itinerary
and dive straight into the raw, real and unpredictable essence of global exploration. Chasing moments over milestones, those spontaneous encounters, immersive sounds and unforgettable stories. Whether I'm hiking up volcanoes in Guatemala,
James Hammond (:camping under the stars in British Columbia.
met incredible people, seen breath taking places and collected unforgettable stories. I now get to share them with you, alongside some of the most diverse and well travelled guests from around the world. Expect engaging conversations that bring fresh perspectives and inspiring travel tales. There are also raw, reflective solo episodes where I share personal insights, practical tips and honest stories from the road. This is a podcast for travellers, dreamers, backpackers and anyone who's ever thought, what if I just went for it and travelled? If you're looking for stories to tell, tips to share,
and experiences to inspire, then you're in the right place. There's so much travel content coming your way, it might just spark that trip you've been dreaming about for years. You can find Winging It, and more fantastic travel podcasts from around the world at VoyEscape.com. The link is in the show notes. Let's go and explore the world. So today, day four of my Butan tour was up in the morning in Access Suites in Thimphu, a great breakfast, and I got dressed up.
in a traditional go. Now a go is a national dress worn by the Bhutanese men and it's instantly recognizable. It's about a knee-length robe wrapped around the body and folded inward and then secured at the waist with like a belt called a kera. So then when it's tied properly, sort of creates like a pouch at the front. So it's quite practical. You can hold your phone and your wallet in there, but no pockets. And then I wore these black socks with my trainers and normally
This is worn on day-to-day life or important occasions. think for me, because I was going to a festival, which I'll come to in a minute, they want to dress me up in the formal dress, which I was more than happy to do. And it's cool to understand how it feels like to dress like this every day, like my guides do. And this material is hand-woven fabric and it's got like bold patterns, more like a kilt, if you can imagine those sort of patterns in your mind.
James Hammond (:So after about 10, 15 minutes, they got me ready. A bit tight around the waist, but that's probably me being a bit too big. And I was off in the van to the festival. This sort of attire is actually normally worn for government offices, work, schools, temples, official events in Bhutan. Sometimes you'll see it just on the street, just day-to-day life. And also you will see the younger generation mostly not wear it, but they can wear what they want day-to-day. But I did see some school children wearing it as well. So I guess on the whole.
It is expected that you wear this in society. And I think there's different designs for what status you have in society as well. But I asked the guides this about what they're wearing. They said it's pretty standard what they're wearing, but they're wearing very different colors as well, which is up to them in terms of what they want to look like. Now let's get to the main event of this day. And that's the Druk Wangyal Festival. It's one of Bhutan's most visually striking and meaningful celebrations. I got really lucky going in December because this is held at the Docella Pass.
every year. It was created in:So it's more of a mix of traditional culture, storytelling, mass dances. The Royal Bhutan army were there as well and the other armed forces. And there were a few celebrities in the crowd as well, including one of the fourth king's wives. He has four. One of those was there too. And it's basically performances to showcase Bhutan's modern history. And when I got there, I didn't know what to expect. So we arrived, it's pretty cold, it's pretty high up in altitude. And there's a cafe there if you want to get a coffee just to warm yourself up.
And as I was walking down the path in my go, very colorful, lots of people, lots of locals and lots of tourists as well who were there in Bhutan. And we're all walking down this amazing path and you go into this area, which kind of looks out into the mountains and you have the highest unclimbed mountain in the world in Bhutan. And you can see that in the distance and the backdrop is sensational, but I wasn't sure what to expect when I arrived to the area. When I got to the area, it was so busy.
James Hammond (:People were on the floor sitting in lines watching the performances. There was, to the left of us, the more expensive seats. I mean, it doesn't cost, but they would be like undercover, proper chairs, et cetera. They were the officials, the celebrities, the people who are important in society. And in the middle was the stage in front of the iconic 108 Druckwangerl Chortens, which are the snow capped peaks and mountains, which you can see on clear days. In December, guaranteed clear days.
Most festivals in Bhutan are quite famous for being religious rituals, ancient meanings, but this one was more patriotic and reflective celebrating Bhutan's journey as a nation. So I got to see that side. But I implore you when you book your tour to Bhutan to try and get in a festival if you can. I think they have 12 to 15 major festivals throughout the year. See what you can find. And honestly, you won't regret it. It's full of noise, sound, music, dancing, positivity, happy people.
Everything is such a great experience. I love being there for a couple of hours and I've got some real cool footage from behind the stage to the front of the stage. I was trying to see as many of the performances as possible and I thought, you know what, this is Bhutanese culture in a nutshell here. We've got all the locals, all the tourists sitting together just enjoying the festivities to commemorate Bhutan as a country. So after a couple of hours, we thought it's time to go. We had a bit of a journey east. So we're going to go to the cafe first.
where the festival has taken place and let me tell you the Americano top notch and you can get cakes and sandwiches there too. It's off in the van to our next temple and this one's called the Chimilacang temple often called the fertility temple. Now when you park up and you walk down towards temple you're going to go through some villages in the Punaka Valley. They're called Sopsoka and Tiaprongu near Lobeza. Now these villages will have a lot of penis signs on houses on the walls.
on art everywhere because it's leading up to the fertility temple which sits on a small hilltop. So the approach takes you along narrow paths between like rice paddies, traditional Bhutanese homes and prayer flags, great little temples in the middle of the field, sensational views of the valley and as I keep mentioning in Bhutan in December clear skies so you see as far as the eye can see and honestly it's breathtaking. I would say this temple is well visited but maybe not like the major temples that I visited in Bhutan.
James Hammond (:bit more an experience, kind of slows you down into village life because you have to walk through the villages and see the community working and being together rather than just driving up, parking up and going to a temple. So it's not just a tourist site. The temple is dedicated to Drukpa Kinley. He's the 15th century Buddhist master known as the Divine Madman and he's famous for his humor and shock to teach Buddhist truths and challenge social norms. So if you're struggling to conceive for children, couples normally go there.
And it's known for its fertility blessings during couples from across Bhutan. And it's actually quite serious. mean, it's got a playful reputation maybe, but ultimately it's a place of faith, protection and compassion. And it's deeply woven into helping women conceive and have children. So it's a serious thing. When the women go there, they have a little ceremony and a ritual. I think they have to go around the temple three times. And then once they do that little ceremony, they go back and obviously it does work because you have pictures on the wall.
of people who have conceived since they've been to this temple. So there is some truth to that. And when you get to the temple, you can walk in and see it. Again, no phones or cameras allowed in temples in Bhutan. And the view, because it's on top of a hill, I mean, amazing looking down the valley in Punaka. You really get to see what Punaka is about from this temple in terms of the nature. Sensational. It follows the river all the way through. And then Punaka Valley, as we stand here at Chimulakang, the altitude is lower. It's a little bit warmer.
So that makes a difference from being up in the hills in Bhutan. So my guide Ratu gave me a rundown of all the history and the information about Chimulakang. I'm not going to do it justice. So you have to go there and get the low down from your own guide. Then we walked back to the van to head to our hotel in the Punaka Hills called Dhama City Hotel. It's getting quite late at this point. This hotel is situated right on top of the hill overlooking the Punaka Dzong. And we arrived just at dusk for a tea and a sit down and a biscuit.
and overlooking the Punakazong, which changes from day to night to the most sensational view. mean, honestly, it's absolutely incredible. The lights come on and it just flashes up in the valley beneath you. That is well worth the sunset when you get there, but also for sunrise, which we'll come to in a second. Damociti Hotel, great food. I mean, all the hotels and restaurants serve great Bhutanese food. And we had amazing momos and rice and curry and chili cheese, the usual Bhutanese cuisine.
James Hammond (:Quite cold up here though compared to where we were earlier. So I got into my cabin, which was a nice little wooden cabin just perched on the hill and my door opened up into the view of the valley and I got my heaters on and got snugly in bed. So day five got up in the morning pretty early because I got to bed quite early actually and walked straight out of my doors to the cabin onto my little balcony. Quite cold, but the misty views that goes across the valley sort of halfway up. So the Punakazong is
poking above it and obviously beneath it. But this cloud is just in the middle of the valley. Honestly, wow. What a great view for a coffee. Walked up to the restaurant area, grabbed a coffee and breakfast, a great breakfast. And the hotel staff there at Dhama city are so nice. They give you a WhatsApp number. Any problems, you can message them in case you have any needs. They gave me an extra blanket and an extra heater for my room. Really appreciated it. And it's a top place to stay if you go to Puneika. Next up is the Kamsan Yule Namgal Chhortan.
Buddhist temple. We're going to walk through some more traditional villages and this time it's a bit more traditional. And what I mean by that is we walked through the village, glorious day, know, mild, like 11, 12, 13 degrees and we see some villages working in the farms and they're separating grain from the hay using quite old school equipment and techniques. It's quite hard work in the sun and we got to speak to them to ask them how they do it and watched them. And it really was quite interesting to see how the local villages
live day to day and work day to day. On the trail you're going to see some older villagers who are selling dates and fruits and nuts. They collect money for their own village to build temples and stuff and then normally ex-military or ex-army who fought in the war. And we met some of those guys. I bought some bananas off one guy. I he charged me like a hundred rupees, which is like what? Two to three pounds in English money. But a huge bunch of bananas. I mean, there were too much of them. So I gave him half back and I shared out the rest with my group.
e was constructed in the late: James Hammond (:based on all four levels of the temple, which I'll come to in a second. The hike up was about 45 minutes. In the altitude, yeah, it's a fair whack, but not too bad. Steps and a clean trail all the way up. What was really cool actually going up is there's nice little sit down area by this huge bell, which goes around and around in a circle. And in the distance, we could hear people cheering and they're playing like darts. And it's not the traditional darts that you think of where you just throw like, I don't know, from eight feet away.
These guys are throwing darts from like hundred feet away and bigger targets, bigger darts. But obviously if you get it into onto the board or maybe into the middle, they're cheering and they're drinking at the same time. So that's quite cool to see that in the distance in here. Obviously it's a day off for those guys. And let's describe the temple because this is quite unique. one is very modern. I really like the inside and at the top you can get even better views of the valley. But the ground floor is
focusing on protection and removal of obstacles and negative forces. The second floor mandalas, which is like the Tibetan art form and representing a spiritual balance and safeguarding the peace and harmony of the country. The first floor symbolizes wisdom and compassion and the top level is home to the serene Buddha opening out to the panoramic views that reflect clarity, calm and spiritual completion. Let me tell you when you get up to the top floor and you look straight ahead, 360 degree views as well.
My word, great views up there. This temple definitely reminded me of Japan. had that sort of feel. So if you go to Japan and just walk amongst the Japanese gardens and a temple, it has that sort of feel. Very serene, peaceful prayer flags flickering in the wind. And I really enjoyed my time there. It's actually pretty cool to see up the top as well of the whole area. So we headed back down to the van for lunch on the river by the Punukazong. And the water was like the water you get here in Canada, a sort of glassier light color.
of narrows and it's built in: James Hammond (:Not just a fortress, it's a spiritual center. So you're to see monks walking around. They live there during the year. And the courtyards as you walk around, awesome architecture, colors. And it's just really cool to see monks walking around as you check out the temples as well. The funniest thing in the temple is a rooster. So it walks around and the story goes that back in the day it was going to be slaughtered to eat. But there was a fundraising campaign to keep it. So as you walk in, you're going to see this one rooster this time.
dancing around the courtyards and he wanted to go in to this one door. It's a gold door that no one can go in, only the monks. And just sat there waiting to be let in and sat there for 10, 15 minutes watching this rooster most of the time. Yeah, but also trying to admire the views of the whole structure. The scale was breathtaking. It's like whitewashed walls. There's a tree in there, looks like Bodh Gaya in India. So like an enlightenment tree, intricate woodwork, traditional architecture and deeply symbolic.
king and queen got married in:The things with homestays is I love doing them in different countries to understand the local people and how they live. So AmaOm's homestay was almost at the top of my list of things to see and do. A super lovely lady, like the best, so kind, so gentle, welcomed us into her home, fed us straight away with momos, coffee, booting these pizza. It's good, trust me. And we got to have a chat and also do some activities. Now I want to refer you back to AmaOm's interview in the previous episode. I do a little intro there explaining how it went.
And also she explains what goes on at the home safe. So not to spend too much on this point, but more of a home feel here. I've got to see the guys in casual clothing. So mostly they're in goes, but in this setting, they got dressed into standard clothing. They just lounge about in. That's quite cool to see. I got to milk a cow, churn the milk into butter and cheese, helped with the cooking. So I've chopped some veg and helped Emma on in the kitchen. And we're getting fed all the time from start to finish when we're there. And the Boudinese pizza, let me tell you, it's good. You got to try it.
James Hammond (:It's not better than the Italian pizza, but my word, awesome. And a really nice sleep, so peaceful in the house, in the middle of a farm field. Brilliant. So I was like day six next morning, we're up early for breakfast, coffee. She gives us turnip, avocado, eggs, as much tea as you want. And she explained much of her family history to us when we leaving. And she's got a real interest in history. Her brother is known to the king. He's a famous artist. And we just got to see all these pictures on these walls of going back.
five, six generations. Absolutely incredible. You have to stay at Anna Om's homestay when you go to Bhutan because she's the most charming lady. Again, doesn't speak that much English, barely any actually. So if you learn a bit of Bhutanese, that would help. But don't worry, your guides and other people will translate for you if you want to have a conversation. And she really is that mumsy grandma feel. So nice. Anyway, we packed up, headed out of the homestay and went to Bhutan's second longest suspension bridge called the Punika suspension bridge.
That stretches across the Mochu River linking nearby villages with the Zong. So straight in prayer flags. It's pretty high up. I mean, it's going to be about hundred feet above the river. A classic bridge, sort of sway side to side. It's about 160 to 180 meters and about one to two meters wide. So people can go back and forth next to each other. Dramatic views as you cross. Awesome. That's great to see early doors. And then we headed up to the San Chen Dorji Lendrup nunnery. Again, I'm going to refer you back.
to a couple of episodes ago when I interviewed a nun from this nunnery. She explains what happens at this nunnery and what they day-to-day is like and what the aim of the whole place is. But when we got there, again, on top of a hill, very clean, a serene music is getting played. You hear them practicing their rituals in the temple. You can't go in the temple, but you can stay outside and see into the temple. The view is incredible. Again, I thought it's very important to get an interview not only with a male monk, but also a female monk.
to get both sides of the story. After that was lunch near the Chimilakang temple in that little village that we walked through. More of an Indian style this time. Nice change actually. I love Indian food. And after lunch, it's a of a trek in the van actually. We're headed east to the Pabchika Valley. Now this place is often called the Switzerland of Bhutan. And weirdly, I didn't know that when I was arriving. So when I was walking down the trail, we parked up, got out and walked down about 30 minutes. And as you approach the valleys,
James Hammond (:It looks like Switzerland. And I said, this looks like Switzerland. Ratoo was like, yeah, it's known as Switzerland of Bhutan because it's got like an open glacial valley, rolling green fields, crisp mountain air, very, very cold, like blistering cold actually. And it has what's super cool, endangered black-necked cranes and they migrate there from Tibet every year. The landscape is completely different to anywhere else in the country that I've seen.
It's a huge, huge valley, U-shaped valley right in the middle of Bhutan, open meadows, quiet rural life, and you can stay there too. And unlike most valleys, it's quite broad and flat. So when you see the birds flying across, you can really see them in the distance. It's not too hard to spot. Bit of an alpine feel actually. Yeah, loved it. And when we're walking down and you've got those like traditional farmhouses, I'm like, this is exactly like Switzerland. It's pretty, pretty cool. So one of the coldest valleys in Bhutan, it's a protected conservation area. We're next to a group of
I think they're Chinese tourists, but about 20 of them actually. And their guides went down to the village to go and get some hot coffee for them because it's that cold. And overlooking the valley is Gangtai Monastery. That's where we're heading to next to stay for the night. And yeah, that ends with an overnight stay there. It's a 17th century monastery perched high above the valley. All the meals are prepared by the monks and we settle in for a freezing but unforgettable night surrounded by silence, prayer, the views, and it's perched quite high up in the valley. Monks everywhere here. It's pretty cool. If you really want to imagine
What Bhutan is like, you're probably thinking temples, prayer flags, monks. This place has it all. What a place. But very, very cold. Didn't sleep too well this night. Bit higher up in altitude, very cold. Had the heater on the go, but just couldn't get comfortable. And then next morning we had breakfast, which was cooked by the monks. And I got to learn a little bit more about the Tibetan Buddhism that they preach there. And interestingly, what was really, really cool is we went to the actual proper monastery on site.
And all the monks were in there for the last ceremony of the year. And we got to go in. It's incredible. The sounds, the noise, the drum, the music is actually quite overwhelming. I couldn't really get a grasp on what's happening. And there wasn't many tourists there, like maybe a couple of people, but they're so welcoming and let us in and we could sit in there and just listen and watch. And they're all sat in a square in lines. They all got the books out. They're all singing in time. What an experience. And it kind of really, I felt, signed off.
James Hammond (:on my busiest part of my tour because during breakfast just before this, I canceled the hike I was going to do in the half mountains because it's too cold. I was going to be camping in tents at minus three and four degrees. I didn't think I could do it. Too high in altitude. I had a bit of a cold, just not warm enough for me. So after the demonstration, got some last photos, monks hanging out, such a cool photo to get. Got back in the van and it's the long, long journey to Thimphu.
And essentially what happened was we got to Thimphu really late, checked into a hotel and that was it for my guides. But I'll come to more on this in the next episode to finish the Bhutan series. But that's the end of day seven. And at this point, I really did know that the main bulk of Bhutan is done as per the itinerary. And I was free to explore for three days before I flew back to Bangkok. So that's the bulk of the tour completed for this episode. If you've got any questions, let me know. I'll answer them. And you can send me an email at jameshammantravel at gmail.com.
or send me a message on Instagram and I'll get back to you with any questions or any comments you have. Add to that, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, give five stars. I really appreciate that. A written review is also pretty cool. If you have time and you can head to buymeacoffee.com forward slash winging it if you want to donate $5 to the production costs of this podcast. Thanks for tuning in. I'll see you in the next episode. And that's it for this episode on winging it. I hope you took something from this episode where it sparked a new idea.
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