Pele La
The 3,420-metre pass over the Black Mountains, the traditional divide between western and central Bhutan.
- Altitude
- 3,420 m
- Coordinates
- 27.537°, 90.202°
Current Weather
Pele La crosses the Black Mountain range at about 3,420 metres, and it is the boundary in more than one sense: the highway from Thimphu to Trongsa goes over it, and so does the traditional line between western and central Bhutan.
What to see
The pass is marked by a chorten and a bank of prayer flags beside the road, with dwarf bamboo covering the slopes on either side — the plant that feeds the yak herds grazed up here in summer. The tree line is close, so the ridges are open and the sky is most of the view.
Two things sit just beyond it. The turn-off to Phobjikha — the glacial valley where the black-necked cranes winter — leaves the highway near the pass. And an hour or so down the far side is Chendebji Chorten, on the road to Trongsa.
Practical
This is a driving stop of fifteen or twenty minutes rather than a destination, but it is the point on the east–west highway where the country visibly changes. It can be cold and wind-blown even when both valleys below are warm, and it is occasionally snow-bound in winter.
Location
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