Migae Adventure Travel

Bumthang

To the east of Trongsa in the wide valley of Bhumthang lays the Jakar Dzong. Legend says that when lamas assembled to decide on a site for the dzong, a big white bird rose suddenly in the air and settled on a spur of the hill and was here that the “Castle of the White Bird” was built. The building itself is surrounded by an impressive wall approximately one mile in circumstances in its centre a tower soars nearly 150 feet into the air. The Yutongla pass and a series of hair-raising bends at 11,500 feet separate the valleys of Trongsa and Bumthang.

Bumthang is unique by itself, charms visitors and separates it from other regions. It comprises of four smaller valleys, the deeply spiritual region of Bumthang is shrouded in religious legend.Bumthang is also the home of the great Pemalingha to whose descendants the present dynasty traces its ancestry. Pemalingha was a blacksmith who was led by mystic forced to discover spiritual treasures at the bottom of the burning lake.

Jakar town is the largest between Thimphu in the west and Trashigang in the east. Jakar is famous for its honey production, cheese, apples and apricots.

If you are to visit Jakar you should plan to spend a few days taking advantage of the valley’s relatively gentle slopes to walk to nearby medieval temples and glimpse Bhutan’s mostly rural population. At the village of Zugney, a few miles before climbing down to Jakar, typical woolen material (yathra) is woven and hung on the sides of houses for sale.