Introduction Timphu is the only city of some importance we visited in Bhutan. There are some shops, a good post office, the weekend market and some good hotels and restaurants.
Accommodation We stayed at the Druk hotel. This is the best hotel we stayed in in Bhutan. They have a big lobby, enormous rooms with carpets, TV and a good bathroom. They also have internet service. The food was excellent, again the best we had in Bhutan.
What to do? - The weekend market starts on friday afternoon and is worth a visit, but still I thought is was rather disappointing, so i wouldn't schedule my visit to be able to see it. It's not really colorfull or anything.
- The National library is apparently worth a visit, but it was closed when we were there.
- The dzong is very big, but the setting is less impressive then the other dzongs. Also it's very difficult to take a good picture because it is surrounded by houses, and also a bit of barbed wire we couldn't get in, and part of it are government buildings.
- You can do some shopping in town. The philatelic counter of the post office is worth a visit, but bring your own material to store the stamps properly, because they don't have that. They have probably the best collection of postcards as well. The shop underneath the Hotel Norling has a very poor collection of both stamps and postcards (unlike what they say in LP).
- Not to miss is the walk towards Cheri Goemba. First you drive for 30 minutes north over the best road in Bhutan (reason is that there are some royal palaces here along this road). The climb up is not too difficult (45 minutes), and the monastery is really nice.
Getting out To Paro it is a 90 minutes drive. |
