THE KINGDOM
OF HAPPINESS

The adventure starts in the air. As the plane approaches Paro Airport, travellers will be delighted with an incredible view of the city, as a beautiful valley nestling between two mountain ranges appears before their eyes. After being closed to tourism for years, until 1974, the most enigmatic territory of all Buddhist societies that has bloomed in the Himalayas reveals its ancestral traditions and the profound peace and harmony that its unexplored valleys radiate.

Forests and deep, blue lakes, ever-snowy summits, majestic cliffs and simple wooden bridges all shape Bhutan’s unrivalled setting. The bright colours that decorate its houses, palaces and temples, and the always curious gaze of its people fill every corner of the city with light and life.

A natural stairway to the Himalayas

It’s striking to cross the marvellous Dochula Pass, over 3,000m above the valley, and admire the breathtaking view of the highest peaks of the Eastern Himalayas. There awaits the solitary Gangkhar Puensum, the country’s highest peak and the highest unclimbed summit in the world.

During the descent towards Punakha, the scenery begins to change. It’s a memorable experience to see the snowy summits and go through the little villages in the mountains, where yak-herders and Buddhist monks arrive, reciting their mantras on their way to unknown, remote monasteries.

Mount Chomolhari crowns the north of Paro valley, and its glacial waters plunge between the profound canyons to form the Pa Chhu River. This is one of the most fertile valleys in the kingdom, and from here it’s easy to see the enormous area of terraced cultivated fields of the famous red rice, the star of the delicacies of Bhutanese cuisine.