Summer festivals in Bhutan are rare, but an important one is held at Kurjey in the beautiful Bumthang valleys of central Bhutan. During the balmy days of early summer, explore the high mountain valleys of Paro and Thimphu in western Bhutan and then on to Punakha, Wangduephodrang and Gangtey in Central Bhutan. Then crossing east over the dreaded Black Mountains and into Bumthang Valley—the remote regions of Trongsa and Bumthang.
The Bumthang valleys are noted for their beauty and long history, and are the cultural heart of the Dragon Kingdom, rich in art and tradition and filled with magnificent temples dedicated to Himalayan Buddhism. Take time to walk, explore, and absorb the mystical atmosphere of this unique and peaceful kingdom which has captured the imagination of so many visitors– except so few travellers visit the kingdom and even fewer venture to visit this festival. This is the time when majestic Dzongs peer out of mythical clouds in the most surrealistic ways. The rains have come down and cleansed all: Everything is lush, luxuriant and saturated with life. MSNBC says of Bhutan, “It has all the ingredients of a tourist paradise; misty mountains, mysterious monasteries, emerald green paddy fields and tales of yaks and yetis.
Each year barely 20,000 foreign tourists walk through the Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan’s spectacular forests covered with conifers, rhododendrons and prayer flags fluttering in the wind.” This is summer in Bhutan, sometimes rainy and sometimes misty; sometimes balmy and at all times beautiful and, almost empty of tourists – but always enchanting, enthralling, exhilarating and enrapturing !
