Aside from the rich cultural sites and living heritage of Bhutan, the marvellous landscapes of the country are ideally suited to fabulous trekking expeditions and there are a number of officially sanctioned routes, of varying durations and grades, from a few days to an awesome twenty-five day high Himalayan epic.
The nature of these landscapes and the inherent lack of facilities require that treks be locally staffed with a tour organiser, guide and cook who will organise the logistics and accompany you and your party. Unlike Nepal, there are no porters for hire and equipment and luggage is traditionally carried by pack animals, such as horses or, at higher altitudes, yaks.
As some of these routes traverse extremely rough country and high elevations, with some treks venturing into the rarefied atmosphere beyond 5,000 metres, considerable thought must be given to your physical preparedness for the route.
Although tents, mattresses, cooking equipment, first aid box and portable altitude chamber will be provided, personal equipment including backpack, sleeping bags, hiking boots, suitable clothing for the extremes of temperature dependent on both time of year and altitude, torch, water bottles, sewing kit etc., will need to be brought with you as there are no hire facilities in Bhutan for these items.
You will be provided with a checklist of both necessary and recommended items suited to your route well in advance of your arrival in Bhutan.
The quality of food provided is generally excellent, and your team can provide for specialist diets. You will only need to carry extra provisions if you have particular personal snacking preferences. However, as fresh food has a limited storage life, on treks in excess of one week, you should be prepared to accept meals comprised largely of tinned or packet foodstuffs.
A full list of treks currently available can be found in our section on
Bhutan Trekking Tours.