Experiences

• Cooking class

  At Gangtey Lodge, food has always been key to a greater understanding of the history, customs, and traditions. Explore and prepare a culinary journey of Bhutan. Collect ingredients such as homemade cheese and butter from a visit to a village house or join the chefs shopping at the local market. Finally, dine in the Woodshed, a personalised and exclusive dining experience, and enjoy your creations.

• Spiritual cleansing (Thrusel)

  Join the monks at the Shedra for an early morning Thrusel ritual, for self-cleansing of all bad spirits surrounding us and for good luck. Buddhist fumigation is a ritual practiced by the Bhutanese every morning and during special pujas (religious ceremonies). Selected herbs are burnt, and holy water (thrue-chhu) is poured over one’s head for purification. It is a common belief that every place has its local protective deity or spirit, and the fumigation is to please the spirit and keep the spirit happy.

• Gangtey Valley mountain bike rides

  Take one of Gangtey Lodge’s 8 complimentary mountain bikes to visit traditional villages and far-flung monasteries throughout the valley. There are numerous village roads and tracks for mountain bike riding, which range from easy to strenuous, including the lung-busting climb to the top of the Lawa Pass for the more adventurous.

• Farmhouse visit

  Phobjikha Valley is rich in culture and traditions and is home to two main ethnic groups – the Phobjibs and the Gangteps. Today, the people of the valley predominantly farm potatoes, plus wheat, buckwheat, and barley. Visit a traditional farmhouse, immerse yourself in the local community and learn more about their culture and daily lives. Join the family and experience how they make homemade traditional butter and cheese, or help them harvest potatoes and turnips, depending on the season.

• An evening with the Black-Neck Crane Centre Staff

  Phobjikha Valley is a protected nature reserve under the auspices of the Royal Society for the Protection of Nature (RSPN). The valley is the winter roosting grounds of the endangered Black Necked Cranes, more than 300 migrating from the Tibetan Plateau and arriving in late October and staying until mid-March each year. The Royal Society for the Protection of Nature’s Black-necked Crane centre performs invaluable work in ensuring the protection of their roosting areas, educating the locals and tourists of the importance of the cranes to the valley. If you would like to learn more about the Black-necked Crane, Gangtey Lodge will happily invite the staff up for evening drinks and further discussion. This experience is subject to the availability of the RSPN staff so please book on reservation.