Twice each year, Bhutan's largest cities, Paro and Thimpu, have a Tsechu or festival that is as colorful and cool as any in the world. The Paro Tsechu and Thimphu Tsechus are the biggest and probably most spectacular of the many Buddhist festivals in the tiny country of Bhutan.
People throughout the country flock to these cities to receive Buddhist blessings and to watch the many very colorful mask dances that occur over the 3 day festivals. Both monks and lay people perform in the festival dances which tell the story of Buddha’s life and the triumph of good over evil.
Bhutan is one of those great out of the way places where you are constantly and happily surprised. They only allow 21,000 people to visit the country each year so the experience is intimate and there are few westerners outside of the large festivals. There is only one traffic light in entire country and its is said they exaggerated their population to 1M so they could get into the United Nations.
The king measures his success, not on some financial metric, but on the Gross National Happiness of his people. There is a national dress code of essentially high end plaid robes worn with black socks and black wingtip shoes. It looks much better than it sounds and is one of the many things that make this country so unique.
Archery is the national sport and cities compete against each other shooting arrows 300 feet into a target that is 1 foot wide. Periodically a spectator gets hit but the games go on. The archer is wearing one of the robes that is part of the national dress code.
Young monks watch the mask dancers from their monastery that overlooks the festival grounds.
A jester beats the drum, and plays jokes to make the audience laugh between dances.
You can not forget that they are at the base of the Himalayas and the views, nature and trekking are world class. Tiger's Nest in the Paro Valley, is a Buddhist Temple originally built in 1692, and is on the side of a cliff on a mountain peak and should not be missed.
Best Time to Go to Bhutan: March/April for the Paro Tsechu and September for Thimphu Tsechu
How Long to Stay in Bhutan: 7-10 days
General Costs for Bhutan: High to very high - they have no independent tourism so you must have a guide and driver. The average cost per day is at least $300-450.
What To Do in Bhutan: Tsechu festivals, hiking in pristine alpine forests, exploring Buddhist monasteries, archery contests, buying great antiques in the cities of Paro and Thimphu.
UNESCO World Heritage Site? Applied for in 2003
Weather in Bhutan: Cooler to cold, alpine-like because of proximity to Himalayas
Language: Bhutanese
