Wellness · Movement
Mindful hikes
Walk the old monks' paths with nothing to reach and nowhere to be.
Bhutan is laced with footpaths that predate its roads: pilgrim routes between temples, farm paths over passes, the trails hermits took to their caves. They climb through oak and rhododendron, cross streams on log bridges and arrive at chortens where the view opens without warning.
A mindful hike is one of these walks taken slowly, with a guide who knows when to speak and when not to. We stop at a lhakhang for a few minutes of sitting, eat lunch where the pines frame a snow peak, and give the afternoon a shape without a schedule.
Favourites include the ridge walk from Dochula through the forest to Lungchutse, the valley floor at Phobjikha among the cranes, and the Bumthang paths between Jambay and Kurjey Lhakhang. None is difficult. All of them stay with you.
The ritual
How it unfolds.
- 01
Begin with five minutes of standing still at the trailhead, listening to the valley.
- 02
Walk at the pace of your breath, with the guide ahead and silence agreed for the first hour.
- 03
Sit at a chorten or temple for a short meditation before lunch.
- 04
Return by a different path, and end with tea at a farmhouse.
Journeys
Journeys that include this.
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Other ways to restore.
Begin
Tell us a little. We will shape the rest.
One specialist, one conversation, and a first sketch of your journey within two working days.