108 stupas
Dochula Pass
A ring of 108 white chortens at 3,100 m, with the black mountains of the Himalaya behind them....
See this place →Black-necked crane sanctuary
Phobjikha Valley
A glacial bowl of pasture and bog, where the black-necked cranes spend the winter under the ridge.
CountryBhutan
RegionGasa · Wangdue
Height2,900 m
Best timeNov–Mar (cranes)
Typical visit1–2 nights
What it is
One of the only valleys in Bhutan flat enough to be a bowl, and the winter home of some 400–600 black-necked cranes that come down from Tibet each November to feed in the marshes and the harvested buckwheat fields.
How we visit it
Across the Black Mountain from the west, or from Wangdue, and stay in the valley so you have both dusk (the cranes come in) and morning (they leave for the fields). We combine with the Nature Conservation Centre and Gangtey Gompa above the valley.
Before you go
Good to know
- Novu2013Mar for the cranes; the road in is reasonable in winter, but icy at the pass
- Silence and no drones in the valley u2014 it is a conservation area
- The 4 km boardwalk round the marsh is the best half hour of the day
Bhutan Highlights
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108 stupas
Nyingma monastery above the valley
Gangtey Gompa
A single great nest monastery on a spur above the crane valley, with a village grown against its walls....
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Paro Town & Kyichu Lhakhang
The valley that receives you: Bhutan’s only airport, an ancient temple in a field, and a town of shakha and ...
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