What does a day in Bhutan actually sound like?
In this immersive episode of the Winging It Travel Podcast, I take you through a full day exploring the Kingdom of Bhutan—from peaceful sunrise views over Thimphu to the powerful sounds of monks in morning ritual, vibrant Himalayan festivals, and unforgettable Bhutanese cuisine.
You’ll experience Bhutan through raw, unfiltered audio: chanting monks at Gangtey Monastery, sizzling local dishes, bustling festival energy, and the quiet calm of a sunset hike through the valleys.
This is more than a travel episode—it’s a sensory journey into one of the most unique and culturally rich countries in the world.
If you’re planning a Bhutan trip, curious about Bhutanese culture, or just want to escape through sound, this episode will transport you straight into the heart of the Himalayas.
Expect monasteries, mountains, local food, art, culture, and real on-the-ground reactions throughout.
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
Episode 7 - Days 4-7 solo episode - https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/winging-it-podcast/id1559489384?i=1000752831510
Episode 8 - My Bhutan Travel Guide: Days 8-11 - https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/winging-it-podcast/id1559489384?i=1000753952128
🎧 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 what I’ll showcase throughout this series. Thanks so much, guys! 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/
If you enjoyed this episode:
00:00 Intro – Monk rituals & what this episode is all about
00:46 Podcast intro & what to expect
02:20 Sunrise walk over Thimphu
02:48 Traditional Bhutanese breakfast & tea with a lama
03:35 Heading to witness monks’ final ritual of the year
04:43 Inside the monastery – chanting, drums & atmosphere
06:14 Bhutanese coffee culture at Mountain Café
07:00 Arrival at Druk Wangyal Festival
08:02 Festival in full swing – music, colour & culture
10:30 Why festivals in Bhutan are a must-do
11:01 Lunch – traditional Bhutanese dishes explained
13:08 Visit to Chokhi Traditional Art School
15:29 Learning Bhutanese art & cultural traditions
16:31 Trying local skills – cooking & butter tea
17:28 Art experience & local crafts
18:29 Sunset hike through Bhutanese landscape
19:21 Evening views over the valley
19:59 Traditional Bhutanese dinner feast
21:19 Reflections on Bhutanese people & hospitality
22:00 Why tourism matters in Bhutan
23:40 Outro – reflections & call to action
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Produced by Winging It Productions - https://www.wingingitproductions.com
Voyascape: Travel Podcast Network - https://voyascape.com/
Winging It Travel Podcast - Website
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Winging It Travel Podcast Credits
Host/Producer/Creator/Composer/Editor - James Hammond
Contact me - jameshammondtravel@gmail.com or james@wingingitproductions.com
Social Media - follow me on:
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That is the sound of a monk's ritual. And this is what a day travelling in Bhutan truly sounds like. In this immersive episode you'll hear my live reactions, the haunting sounds of morning prayers, an epic Bhutanese lunch, vibrant festival celebrations and the calls of nature on a village walk. From quiet moments to the energy of daily life, this is Bhutan, raw and unfiltered.
If you ever wondered what a day here sounds like, you're in for a treat. So sit back, relax and step into the majestic soundscapes of the land of the dragon.
James Hammond (: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 Voy Escape Network. This is a travel podcast that throws out the itinerary and dove 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,
or 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. Cold. Yeah.
James Hammond (:an early morning walk for sunrise and a view over Timpu.
James Hammond (:I think if I could define Bhutan before I was here, it would be this temple on a hill with this view. Look at that, misty Timpu. Wowzers.
James Hammond (:Time for breakfast and a cup of tea with a view.
First, with the tea, it goes as a snack. This is roasted rice. This one is red rice. Spinach with cheese. And this one is cake. This one is cheese with butter. Fried cheese. This one is chili paste. Dry chili paste. amazing. Time to enjoy another cup of tea with the lama.
intriguing conversations.
James Hammond (:After a great breakfast and four cups of tea, now it's time for a walk to the temple. I'm going to witness the monks morning ritual. It's the last one of the year and I'm not sure what to expect. There should be plenty of sights and sounds to get stuck into. I can't wait.
James Hammond (:The monks are gathering and filtering in to the Soon the call to prayer will be announced.
James Hammond (:it has begun.
James Hammond (:And my word, what a sight. Monks all sat in rows in the temple. Drums beating. The vibe, the energy, so positive. Grooving almost. This is the last one before they close for the year. We are at the Gangtae monastery in the Pagchika Valley in the east. And this ritual
is to ward off any negative energy or forces from the monks themselves going into the new year but also the surrounding area and peoples. Can you imagine what this looks like? What it feels like? It truly is breathtaking. My senses are overwhelmed.
Now it's time to head back into the van and to get a coffee and believe it or not, Bhutan has some great coffee. So let's head to a cafe.
James Hammond (:This is Mountain Cafe, one of the first cafes in Bhutan to grow and roast its own coffee using beans from the country's southern foothills. It tastes so good. I'm at the Dolce Rapaas. The Himalayas are in stunning views here, clear sky. Bhutan actually has the highest unclined mountain in the world. And I'm actually at the festival here. There's a festival going on today which is one of Bhutan's...
ed back in the year of around: was saying. It was created in:the Royal Bhutan Army, performers telling Bhutan's modern history and vibrant costumes with plenty of music I imagine. It is already quite busy. I cannot wait to see it in action.
James Hammond (:don't know.
James Hammond (:This is the Druk Wangyo Sitju Festival. Look at this. Wow, look at the colours. Himalayas in the background. Very busy, very popular. There's a lot of dancers going on.
commemorate the military. In:And that's why he started this festival to commemorate those guys who fought for the country. And here we are paying respects. That's so cool.
James Hammond (:of tourists here as well checking out which is good to see paying respects of course lots of locals as well.
James Hammond (:Yeah, possible? Sure, sure. Okay, yeah. You can be here? Yeah. Okay, yeah. I'll walk around. Can I go up here as well? To the left? Yeah. Yeah.
James Hammond (:Ah, I see. Yeah. That's cool. I can go round the right-hand side.
James Hammond (:You can walk straight to the... Where? Yes. You can walk around there to that place? Yes. Okay. You can us to the south side. Yes, agreed.
James Hammond (:you
colours, the flags, the dancers. It's been an awesome time so far. Look at that background, my word. What a cool event. You have to go to a festival in Bhutan, it's a must. So when you plan your trip, look at the calendar. There's plenty throughout the year. And I got lucky with this one with my timings. I booked my flights first, then booked my trip. But there's more to come. I love the background, look at that.
James Hammond (:Speaker of the National Assembly. There he is. Doing the rounds, some TV about. It's pretty cool, very popular. That's amazing. So much colour, life, music, sounds. Very overwhelming, but what an awesome time. It has gone midday and we're all gasping for lunch. Now it's drive to a cafe and I cannot wait to get stuck into some Butanese food.
Okay, the first one is known as a Jangbule, the typical food from central part of Bhutan, the place called Bumthang. This is a common red rice from Paro. This is chicken par and chili cheese, emadatsi, fried mushroom, fried local fish, trout from the Paro River, and eggplant and mixed veggies. The last one is known as Ejje in our native language, the chili paste.
Chilies mixed with onion, tomato, cheese and coriander. And I can't wait to get stuck in.
As you heard there, a plethora of options for lunch. And every Bhutanese lunch, dinner and also breakfast, there'll be seven to nine dishes to choose from. And it's not a la carte, it's bowls of food. Eat as much as you want, no rules. An absolute dream of a way to eat. And it tastes so good. I love a bit of spice with my food and the Bhutanese love their spices too.
If there is one dish you should try in Bhutan, it is Amadatsi, which is chilli cheese. It is so good. But be sure that you can handle the spice. But saying that, every dish has spice in it. But this dish is specifying in chilli and cheese only. Trust me, it's good.
James Hammond (:Right, next stop is Chocke Traditional Art School, just behind me. Art is an interesting concept. I'm not very good at art, but I've got a music background, so I'm interested in art, especially you like Buddhist art or Tibetan art. So that's an interest of mine, so we're gonna visit. I think I'm gonna get shown around, probably showing some art. Might even get to try some, see what happens. And yeah, I love this sort of culture of a country. I think art is very important for a country that does give you an insight into their culture and how they think about life.
and how they think about going about their day-to-day business. So looking forward to it. The culture continues. Let's carry on. Chokhi Traditional Art School. First up is to meet my guide and to light a candle for good faith, as well as hear some background behind the art school and where it is in Thimphu and Bhutan as a country. Very important to get the background before we crack on with seeing the museum. Chokhi Traditional Art School is a private non-profit art institution.
th. The school was founded in:It's the only private institution in Bhutan that provides free tuition, food and lodging to students passionate about traditional arts. It's crucial that they receive funding from donations and the government to keep going. I can't wait to hear more. From there he want a resting place for this scripture. So he shot an arrow from there so it was left behind this museum.
from there so like divine might man he sprinkle like rice yeah so from there like stream water emerge so this has many medicinal properties we do still have this one so people used to come here so it have like many medicinal benefits yes and he like advise the people of this valley to build a three stupa you can see there yes this also we have
James Hammond (:advice to build a god of compassion, god of power and god of wisdom. So if you build this three stopper, so this valley will protect from the evils and there will be happiness. Let's hope. My first activity was to fry some rice on a wok and I had a bit of a crowd watching. I think they're impressed with my skills though.
And you need, you have to shake. Oh, okay. Yes, yes. Okay, how does this work? Like this.
James Hammond (:I can cut. Now you are qualified.
I also tried to make butter tea. Not easy.
James Hammond (:Yeah, sure.
Downslope or hard? Downslope. Up hard.
James Hammond (:This is difficult. Down slow, up hard.
James Hammond (:That's really difficult. That's the hardest thing so far.
I saw many demonstrations like hieroglyphics, woodwork, paintings, art and now it's time for me to finish the visit with bit of art myself. Some therapeutic coloring in on paper. Can you beat it? I'll check out the store to finish my visit and I do plan to buy some masks. The Butanese masks are one of the things to buy in the country. A great souvenir, locally made and no middleman in terms of the cost.
all donations go towards the person who made it. What a great visit to Chocke Traditional Art School. Check the show notes for links if you want to see more of this amazing institution in Bhutan. Now it's time to finish the day with a hike and a walk to a sunset point, just back in the van to our next destination.
James Hammond (:The trails are well maintained. There's a slight breeze in the air and it's not too much of an incline. The sun starts to set and some great views over the valley. What a peaceful majestic walk and the sun starts to drop and the temperature too has gone from 16-15 degrees and it's approaching zero at an alarming rate.
James Hammond (:On most trails in Bhutan you'll find a little temple sitting on top of a hill and this is no different. I love the sounds in the background and I absolutely love the views in the distance. Dreamy.
James Hammond (:We hiked back to our hotel, which is on top of a hill and it's evening views as the day turns from dusk to night and the temples in the distance light up as well as the houses surrounding them. The views of the valley of Bhutan mixed with temples in the hills and the lights and the natural light fading is absolutely what I dreamed of when I thought of going to Bhutan. You have to experience this once in your lifetime.
Now for another epic Bhutanese dinner. have rice, white rice, we have lentil soup here. So bleached chili and yaks chunks. Yaks meat chunks, have juicy ear, mushroom, we have chili paste, then we have dried fish, then we have chicken nuggets kind of. Okay. Then we have here again...
Yeah jerky but it's crushed kind. Yeah. Here we have the famous Imatasi. Yeah. And we have like mixed vegetable. Lovely. So this is a good mix of vegetarian as well as non-veg with rice and lentil soup. Amazing. So it's for you to enjoy now. Absolutely. Yeah. I've enjoyed it.
Cheers to the handsome man over here, James! James is the world's most handsome man! I've never been called that before. Not me, not me! No one's ever said that before? Thank you. This trip to Bhutan was made possible with the tour company Breathe Bhutan. They truly are the best at what they do. They've made my trip as authentic as possible and I was absolutely delighted to join Kinley and his team for dinner in the evening.
people in Bhutan are some of the kindest and funniest people you'll meet and they love to drink.
James Hammond (:These guys will ensure you have the best time in Bhutan and are well taken care of. My guides Ratu and Sonam were the most thoughtful, engaging, knowledgeable and fun people to be around for this trip. Alongside them was Parbati who works for Brif Bhutan and God our driver who made it all possible. They enhanced the trip too. A huge thanks to Tourism Bhutan for aiding this trip and if you want a classic day in Bhutan like this episode covering temples, views, food, lamas, museums, coffee, local people
and more, then be sure to book that trip now. Thanks for tuning in to today's episode for an immersive day in Bhutan. And don't forget to check out all the other Bhutan episodes on this series. I've created a playlist on Spotify and on Captivate, my hosting site for the podcast, so you should be able to collate them all together and listen to any one of them in a nice easy place. Please leave a five star rating review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or any podcast app that you use.
And if you write a review, be sure to say some nice words too. If you'd to support the podcast or the production costs, you can head to buymeacoffee.com forward slash winging it, and you can donate $5 to Winging It to keep this podcast going. Lastly, tell your friends about Butan, Butan's series and this podcast in general. Hopefully it'll come in for some great content and stick around for more to come later in the year. I'll close out with Ama Om.
When I stayed at her home stay, I asked her why people should visit Bhutan and here is why you should visit. There is a very important question. She says that yes, tourists should visit Bhutan. It has a very great impact for the society. First reason she stated is she's saying that Bhutan is a small country. Tourism has really benefited the country as a whole.
by providing job opportunities and source of income for the community as well as the country. She's saying that the tourism has even helped a smaller community of villagers to start their livelihood through tourism by hosting just like our homestay. So she says that tourism is a really great thing for Bhutan because it is some
James Hammond (:people's source of livelihood. And that's it for this episode on Winging It. hope you took something from this episode where it sparked a new idea, offered a different perspective or simply let you feel part of the journey. If you enjoyed it, leaving a quick rating or review on your podcast app really helps the show reach new listeners. And if you know someone who might connect with this episode, share it by word of mouth or social media. It makes a huge difference. Head to voicecape.com for more amazing travel podcasts as well. And I'll see you.
in the next episode. Until then, keep winging it.