Thimphu Tshechu & the Masked Dances of the Capital
Destination: Thimphu Valley
Duration: 6 days / 5 nights
Difficulty: Easy
Best season: Jul 2027 — Aug 2027
Price: from 4,600 USD per guest
Six days in late summer for Thimphu's tshechu, the capital's own festival, with the archery match, the mask market and a night at the dances.
Highlights
Thimphu Tshechu cham dances and the thongdrel
National archery match at Changlimithang ground
Mask makers and carvers of the Thimphu craft quarter
Walk to the Tango Chorten above the capital
What is included
Licensed guide throughout
Private vehicle and driver for all six days
Five nights in a Thimphu boutique hotel
All breakfasts, lunches and dinners
All permits, SDF and entry fees
Reserved viewing at the cham dances and thongdrel
Archery match tickets and a mask workshop
Day-by-day itinerary
Day 01 — Paro to Thimphu, the capital at festival time Drive from Paro over the Dochula Pass and into the valley, arriving in Thimphu as the city fills with visitors and the lamas begin walking the kora routes around the dzong. An afternoon walking the riverside and the market, and an early night before the festival ground opens.
Day 02 — Tashichho Dzong, the market and the mask makers A morning inside Tashichho Dzong, seat of the government and the Je Khenpo, and an afternoon in the weekend market and the craft quarter. The visit that shapes the festival is a session with the mask makers themselves, who explain how a papier-mâché face is built, painted and given its expression.
Day 03 — Thimphu Tshechu, first day The capital's own festival, held on open ground in the middle of a working city, and watched by a crowd that includes half the ministry and most of the city's families. Cham dances in the morning and afternoon, the thongdrel at dusk, and the particular pleasure of a festival whose audience is Bhuta…
Day 04 — Thimphu Tshechu, second day and the archery match The festival's second and final day, with the full sequence of mask dances and the lamas' kora through the town. That evening the country plays its national sport: a tournament match at the Changlimithang archery ground, played barefoot in kira, with Bhutan's top archers and a crowd that treats it…
Day 05 — Kora at the Tango Chorten and the craft studios Walk the kora at the Tango Chorten, the largest memorial chorten in the world, clockwise with the lamas and laypeople who make this the city's daily practice rather than a ceremony. The afternoon is given over to the weaving, woodwork and paper studios that make Thimphu a craft city in a way that m…
Day 06 — Return to Paro and departure A final morning in the capital market, then the drive back over the Dochula to Paro for the flight home. Festival dates shift with the lunar calendar each year, so this tour departs on the days the dances actually happen rather than on a fixed calendar date.