Where We Rested Our Heads in Bhutan

We stayed in some pretty awesome, remote spots during our week in Bhutan. Here's a run-down so we don't forget:

Home Stay with Kinley, Thimphu

This was our home for the first two nights in Bhutan. I wrote about it a bit in this post. We had a lovely new-construct, 3 bedroom/3 bathroom apartment. It was adjacent to the apartment where the owner of Kinley & his family (owners of Breathe Bhutan) live. Two women were on staff to cook all our meals, everything from breakfast to afternoon snacks to dinner. Quite the treat.

Duplex, chilies hanging out to dry and the girls doing some morning bicycle laps out front :)

Paige was excited to get her very own room! The girls set up the 3rd bedroom as a spa :)

We proudly joined the "Polaroid Hanging Wall of Fame"

Eco Lodge, Wangdue

The Wangdue Eco Lodge sat perched atop a crazy steep hill, about 30 minutes South of Punakha. To accommodate the four of us the lodge gave us two bedrooms. It was chilly outside, but the rooms were cozy & warm. There were only four other guests at the lodge; it felt like it was a private lodge :) The food here was delicious. A special spot!

We had two rooms, both top floor with sweeping views from the balconies

Paige & Mommy were roomies in one cozy room; Sadie & Daddy in the other

This place sat atop a VERY steep cliff. Tried not to look out the window on the drive up/down. Eek!

Check out this awesome spot for breakfast!! Special spot and tasty food = great start to the day.

Dewachen, Phobjika Valley

Next up was the Dewachen Hotel & Spa located in Gangtey, Phobjika Valley. This was the furthest East we got in Bhutan. Another lovely spot, the best surprise was that it had a spa on-site. No shame in admitting that Doug & I booked ourselves into (amazing) massages that evening after we checked in :) Again we were given two adjacent rooms so we split up with the girls; not yet ready to leave them in their own room solo. The rooms were perfect for cartwheel practicing :)

Dhumra Farm, Punakha

Back in Punakha, Dhumra Farm was an unexpected add-on. In the early planning stages months ago I had expressed interest in staying at Dhumra, but it was fully booked for our dates at the time. The day after we arrived to Bhutan Kinley let us know that Dhumra had a cancellation and that if we were still interested, we could stay there. Right on!

We're so glad it worked out to stay at Dhumra Farm. It was a peaceful oasis with tasty food and a fun garden to explore. We had two beautiful, spacious, cozy rooms side-by-side.

Gorgeous grounds and structures on the property. The top photo is of the main dining area.

Lovely rooms, perfect for snuggling up and also school sessions :)

Exploring the gardens & grounds before breakfast

Dhumra Farm is the kind of place were you don't want to leave the breakfast table; you want to put your nose in a book & hang out all day

Paige engrossed in a book about the solar system & how the universe began (no kidding!). Doug is pages into a book called "A Field Guide to Happiness: What I Learned in Bhutan about Living, Loving, and Waking Up". He's digging it big time.

Gangtey Palace, Paro

We stayed at the Gangtey Palace our final two nights in Bhutan. The grounds were lovely, as were the relatively newly constructed dining building and cozy bar/cafe. The rooms, however, were a different story. They were old, run-down and in major need of repair. We minimized our time in the rooms and opted for the common areas, the hotel's saving graces.

Grounds of Gangtey Palace: views & wide-open spaces

Cheers to enjoying a local beer (Red Panda) al fresco. Photos courtesy of our budding photographers, P&S.

We met a lovely British couple named Roger & Rae (in pic below) in the hotel bar. Funny enough, the live in Hanoi, Vietnam. Roger is a pilot for Vietnam Airlines. We're flying Vietnam Airlines twice in the coming months, so there's a chance Roger could pilot the plane we're on! How cool would that be?! We had a lovely time chatting with them and exchanging intel on great Southeast Asian travel spots. We exchanged contact info & hope to see them when we're in Hanoi in mid-December! They also told us about a young British man that was staying at the hotel as well, who is trying to be the youngest person ever to travel to ALL countries around the world! He's about 150 countries in at the moment. We were hoping to meet him while we overlapped at this hotel, but alas we missed each other. Super fun to learn of someone else adventuring the world in their own way :)

Too chilly to drink the beer outside, so we moved inside to the cozy bar/cafe. The girls found some funny hats & played games, and we had a great time chatting with Roger & Rae.

School session back in the cozy bar/cafe the next day

Goodnight Gangtey Palace

Hope to Return

All the places we stayed in Bhutan were special & memorable in their own ways. Each opened our eyes to the unique beauty of different areas of Bhutan. Wish we had more time to enjoy them properly. Here's hoping we return to Bhutan someday to hang out more!