Above the Cloud Trek (Bhutan)

Travelling in Bhutan is fabulous and amazing, but travelling in and experiencing Bhutan with the team at Wind Horse makes the experience truly unique and memorable. The Wind Horse difference is immediately obvious; from the support you receive in designing your adventure, the range of Wind Horse exclusive walks, homestays, horse riding, cultural and adventure activities that can be used to make your itinerary uniquely yours, to the wonderfully experienced and knowledgeable guides, drivers and trekking staff who will do all they can to assist you in getting the most out of your adventure. The Wind Horse team are committed to making your experience of Bhutan the best it can be.

Bhutan Trip Feedback:

Following a truly fabulous and inspiring three-week West to East cultural adventure with Wind Horse in 2014, the decision to return to Bhutan in 2015 to complete a four week trekking focussed program that included the two week Lingshi – Laya – Gasa Trek and two weeks of cultural and day walking adventures was an easy decision.

The trip began with three days of acclimatisation activities in the Haa Valley, which was beautiful and relaxing and included visits to the Haa Mela (Indian Army Annual Fair). The Ugyen Homestay experience in Haa was terrific and the food cooked by Doley was amongst the best that any of us have eaten anywhere in Bhutan.

Words cannot begin to describe how incredible the trekking experience was. The landscapes that we trekked through were breathtakingly beautiful and differed so much with changes in altitude and aspect. The Bhutanese Himalaya are so different to other parts of the Himalaya, with greater flora and fauna biodiversity and very little human intervention. The trek itself was certainly challenging, covering approximately 250kms and crossing five high altitude passes in 14 days. You certainly went to bed each night knowing that you had earned a good night’s sleep. The support from the Wind Horse trekking team (cook, cook’s assistant and horseman) was outstanding. From making and breaking camp, to the professional and compassionate horsemanship and the incredibly delicious food produced daily, the team did all they could to make the trek as enjoyable as possible.

Following two glorious days in the Gasa hot springs soaking away any soreness from the trek, we commenced two weeks of cultural and day walking adventures. Focussing on the unique cultural aspects of Bhutan was a wonderful contrast from the trekking experience, which focussed on Bhutan’s unique environment. The homestays used for this part of the journey were terrific as they were all truly different and each of the families we stayed with welcomed us warmly and taught us so much about themselves and the area that they lived in. It was planned that we would attend two festivals, but with the assistance of local knowledge we ended up attending five different cultural festivals. Each festival was a wonderful experience and having an opportunity to just sit and enjoy the performances and the festivities with the local people was really heart-warming.

One of the greatest pleasures of my travel in Bhutan is knowing that during my one month of travel we have directly employed five people and have directly purchased goods and services from approximately one hundred small and family run businesses, which has contributed to the indirect employment of hundreds if not thousands of people. By localising the accommodation, food and other purchases we have made a real if somewhat small contribution to the development of Bhutan.