Six days on the Pema Ling trail — apple country, the Crane Sanctuary and Bhutan's great horseback trails.
Highlights
The historic Pema Ling trail
Black Mountain Crane Sanctuary
Subalpine pine and apple orchards
Trongsa Dzong and the Ta Dzong museum
What is included
Licensed riding guide and full support crew
Five nights riding, mountain horses with tack
All meals including packed trail lunches
All permits, SDF and park fees
Support vehicle and emergency evacuation
Bumthang farm-stay and a folk music evening
Day-by-day itinerary
Day 01 — Bumthang to the Black Mountain trailhead Meet the horses and crew at Jakar, then ride out of the valley and up onto the Black Mountain plateau at 2,340 metres. The first day is short by design — four hours on horseback, with the apple orchards of Bumthang falling behind and pine closing in ahead. Camp is pitched in a meadow beside the tra…
Day 02 — Pema Ling: the historic lamas' road The Pema Ling is the old pilgrimage and trade route between Trongsa and Bumthang, used by lamas and traders on foot for centuries and now ridden in a single pass. Six hours in the saddle along ridgelines with the valley on both sides, and camp in subalpine pine with the horses tethered nearby.
Day 03 — Ridge day toward Trongsa A long day on the ridges that separate the two valleys, with the road from Trongsa occasionally visible far below. This is the section of the trail that traders used to reach Bumthang, and the views explain why. A shorter afternoon ride into camp, with the horses already watered and fed.
Day 04 — Descent into the Deep Valley A long descent into Trongsa's Deep Valley, dropping through pine into the narrow valley of the Mangde river. The trail is steep in places and the horses are sure-footed; the support vehicle takes the luggage ahead so the day is ridden light. Camp near the river below Trongsa.
Day 05 — Trongsa Dzong, the Taoist temple and the ride out Ride to the valley floor for the Trongsa Dzong, the Ta Dzong museum, and the ancient Taoist temple whose painted ceiling and carved columns reflect Bhutan's pre-Buddhist inheritance. An afternoon of riding back toward the road, with the Black Mountain massif filling the northern sky behind you.
Day 06 — Bumthang return & the great horse races The final ride re-crosses the plateau to Bumthang, where the region holds its great horse races on the Pema Ling trail — the reason lamas and traders travelled it in the first place. Back in Jakar for a farm-stay night of red rice, buckwheat and Bumthang cheese, before the flight from Bathpalathang.