Five days of practice with the lamas of the capital — morning kora at the Tango Chorten, teachings at Thrangu Tashi Choling, and instruction from a resident teacher.
Highlights
Kora at the Tango Chorten, the largest memorial chorten in the world
Two days of teaching at Thrangu Tashi Choling monastery
Drukpa Kunley heritage house and the history of the Kagyu school
Closing puja and a blessing from a resident lama
What is included
Licensed guide and a resident meditation teacher
Private vehicle and driver for all five days
Four nights in a Thimphu hotel and a monastery guest house
All breakfasts, lunches and dinners, vegetarian on retreat days
All permits, SDF and entry fees
Two days of guided retreat with instruction in English
Airport transfers and a closing puja attendance
Day-by-day itinerary
Day 01 — Paro to Thimphu, into a city of lamas Drive from Paro over the Dochula Pass and into the capital, with an introduction to the kora, the clockwise circumambulation that is the practical shape of Bhutanese Buddhist life. Evening at the riverside, with the dzong lit above the water and an early start promised for the morning.
Day 02 — Kora at the Tango Chorten with the city Walk the kora at the Tango Chorten, the largest memorial chorten in the world, clockwise with lamas and laypeople in the cool of the early morning. It is daily practice rather than ceremony, which is exactly what makes it worth being there. The afternoon is a walk through the capital's monastic qua…
Day 03 — Thrangu Tashi Choling: retreat, first day Up to the Nyingma monastery above Dechenphub, one of the few in Bhutan where a structured retreat can be sat with instruction in English. The first day is foundations — posture, breath and the four immeasurables — taught in a morning sitting and explained over tea in the afternoon.
Day 04 — Thrangu Tashi Choling: retreat, second day A full sitting day, longer and quieter, with the afternoon given to the monastery itself — its shrine rooms, its library and the small printing house where the texts of the tradition are still produced. Nothing is asked of you that you have not already been taught.
Day 05 — The Kagyu heritage house and a closing puja A morning at the Drukpa Kunley heritage house, which keeps the Kagyu school alive in the capital, and an afternoon of free time before a closing puja attended with the lamas. Evening return to Paro for the flight home, carrying a practice rather than a photograph of one.