Trashigang

Trashigang is the largest town in eastern Bhutan and the least-visited place of its size in the country. Few western itineraries reach this far — it is roughly two days' driving from Bumthang — and the reward for making the journey is a Bhutan that feels unrehearsed: a working market town on a steep hillside above the Drangme Chhu, where Sharchopkha rather than Dzongkha is the language of the street.

The dzong on the spur

Trashigang Dzong — "the fortress of the auspicious mount" — was built in 1659 on a promontory so sheer that it is defended on three sides by cliff and river, with a single narrow approach. It served as the eastern seat of government for three centuries and, unusually, houses both the district administration and the monastic body within one compact set of courtyards. From the outer walls the ground drops away to the confluence of the Drangme Chhu and the Gamri Chhu several hundred metres below.

Weaving country

The east is Bhutan's textile heartland. Households across Trashigang district work the backstrap loom, and the raw-silk bura and cotton cloth woven here supply markets nationwide. Radhi, a village east of town, is known as the "rice bowl of the east" and equally for its silk weaving; Rangjung, further on, holds a large Nyingma monastery and a Saturday market that draws farmers from the surrounding gewogs.

Merak and Sakteng

The road east climbs toward Merak and Sakteng, twin highland valleys at 3,000–3,500 m inhabited by the Brokpa — semi-nomadic yak herders whose language, dress, and felted yak-hair hats with their distinctive rain-shedding spikes set them apart from every other Bhutanese community. The Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary protects their grazing lands, along with rhododendron forest, red panda, and — officially — the migoi, the Bhutanese yeti, which is written into the sanctuary's founding mandate. The valleys opened to visitors in 2010; reaching them still requires a permit, a guide, and either a long drive or several days on foot.

Practicalities

Trashigang sits at about 1,150 m, so it is warmer and more humid than the western valleys — comfortable in winter, sticky in the monsoon. Most travellers arrive overland from Mongar across the Kori La pass, or fly into Yonphula airfield 25 km away when weather allows, then continue south to Samdrup Jongkhar and the Assam border.