Lhuntse District: The Hidden Gem of Bhutan

• Helloཇ་ཕག་ལས་
  [Ja phak la]
• Goodbyeབདག་ལས་
  [Dak la]
• Yesཡིད་
  [Yi]
• Noམ་མེད་
  [Ma me]
• Please/You're welcomeདགེ་བ་དགེ་བ་
  [Ge ba ge ba]
• Thank youརེ་བ་ཤ་ནས་
  [Re ba sha ne]
• Excuse me/Sorryབར་ནས་
  [Bar ne]
• How are you?ཁྱེད་ར་མེད་ལས་
  [Kye ra me la]
• Fine. And you?སྐྱེ་ནས་. ཁྱེད་ར་མེད་ལས་?
  [Skye ne. Kye ra me la?]
• Do you speak English?ཨིན་གས་བཀབ་ས་མེད་ཚོ་?
  [Ing sa khab sa me tso?]
• I don't understandང་འཚ་གོ་མེད་མེད་ཚོ་
  [Nga tso go me me tso]

• I'd like to see the menu, pleaseམཚོ་འདིས་བཞག་པ་
  [Tso di zha pa]
• I don't eat meatབག་སར་མེད་མེད་ཚོ་
  [Gak sar me me tso]
• Cheers!བཀུར་
  [Kur]
• I would like to pay, pleaseང་ད་ལ་བཞག་པ་
  [Nga da la zha pa]

• Help!གྲོ་ཁྱབ་
  [Gro khyab]
• Go away!ཤེས་གནས་
  [She ne]
• Call the Police!རྒྱབ་རིས་གྱི་གྲོང་ཚོ་
  [Gyab ri gyi gro tso]
• Call a doctor!སློབ་མ་གྱི་གྲོང་ཚོ་
  [Lob ma gyi gro tso]
• I'm lostང་སྐུར་ལ་གས་བཞི་
  [Nga kur la sa zhi]
• I'm illང་བར་མེད་
  [Nga bar me]

• I'd like to buy...ང་བཞི་བདག་པ་
  [Nga zhi dak pa]
• I'm just lookingང་ལས་འགྲོ་ཚོ་
  [Nga la gro tso]
• How much is it?དུས་གཙ་དུས་ཤ་མེད་?
  [Dus tsu da sha me?]
• That's too expensiveདུས་ཤ་མེད་གང་གི་ཡོད་བཞི་
  [Du sha me gang gi yo zhi]
• Can you lower the price?དུས་གཙ་གས་མེད་ཚོ་?
  [Dus tsu ga me tso?]

• What time is it?ཆོས་ཉིད་འགོར་ལས་?
  [Cho nyi gor la?]
• It's one o'clockདུས་གོར་ཁ་ཡིད་
  [Dus gor kha yi]
• Half past (10)ཕང་ཀ་བཀའ་གོར་
  [Pang ka ka gor]
• Morningཉིནམ་
  [Nyi nam]
• Afternoonཉིནམ་དཀར་
  [Nyi nam kar]
• Eveningཉིནམ་དགོའི་
  [Nyi nam go yi]
• Yesterdayཁ་སང་
  [Kha sang]
• Todayདེ་རིང་
  [De ring]
• Tomorrowནཱི་རིང་
  [Nai ring]
• 1གཅིག་
  [Gcik]
• 2གཉིས་
  [Gñis]
• 3གྱི་
  [Gyi]
• 4བཞི་
  [Zhi]
• 5ལྟ་
  [La ta]
• 6དྲུག་
  [Drug]
• 7དགུ་
  [Gcu]
• 8བར་
  [Bar]
• 9དགུ་བ
  [Gcu ba]
• 10བཅོམ་
  [Chom]

• Where's a/the...?མིང་ནས་...
  [Ming ne...]
• What's the address?རིནག་དེར་འདིིས་?
  [Ring der di si?]
• Can you show me (on the map)?ང་བར་གས་དོལ་འདིིས་?
  [Nga bar tso dol di si?]
• When's the next (bus)?སྦུ་གནས་མེད་དིིས་?
  [Su ne me da si?]
• A ticket (to ....)སྦུ་ཁུར་གི་གྲོང་ཚོ་
  [Su khur gi gro tso]

Lhuntse District, originally known as Kurtoe, is one of the oldest regions in Bhutan. The district's history dates back to the establishment of the Kurtoe Valley, which is believed to be among the first places where Bhutanese civilization began. The valley was a significant center for the early spread of Buddhism in Bhutan, with many monks and scholars traveling through the region.

The district is intrinsically linked to the legacy of Khedrup Kuenga Wangpo, the fourth Druk Desi (secular ruler) of Bhutan. He was born in the Kurtoe Valley and his influence is still palpable in the region. His efforts in consolidating religious and political structures in Bhutan had a lasting impact on the district, making it an important historical and cultural landmark.

Lhuntse Dzong, perched on a hill overlooking the Kurichu river, stands as a sentinel of Bhutanese heritage. Constructed in the 17th century by Trongsa Penlop Minjur Tenpa under the order of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the dzong has been a focal point for Buddhist teachings and practices. It played a critical role in the region's defense and administration.

Lhuntse District holds a special place in Bhutanese history as the ancestral home of the Wangchuck dynasty, Bhutan's royal family. The village of Kurtoe Dungkar is particularly significant, as it is the birthplace of the first King, Ugyen Wangchuck. The Dungkar Nagtshang, the ancestral home of the Wangchuck family, is a site of pilgrimage and historical importance.

The district is renowned for its intricate and vibrant textile arts, particularly the Kushutara, a traditional garment worn by Bhutanese women. The weaving techniques and patterns have been passed down through generations and are considered some of the finest in Bhutan. The textiles from Lhuntse are highly sought after and play a vital role in the cultural identity of the region.

The Lhuntse Tshechu is an annual religious festival that showcases the district's rich cultural heritage. Held at the Lhuntse Dzong, the festival features masked dances, traditional music, and various rituals performed by monks. This vibrant celebration attracts people from all over Bhutan and offers a deep insight into the spiritual and cultural fabric of the region.

Lhuntse District is located in northeastern Bhutan. The nearest airport is Paro International Airport, approximately 475 kilometers away. From Paro, you can take a domestic flight to Bumthang Airport. Alternatively, you can drive from Paro to Lhuntse, which takes about 12-14 hours. Bhutan's road network is well-maintained but can be winding and steep, so hiring a local driver is advisable.

Transportation within Lhuntse District is mainly by road. Taxis and private hire vehicles are available for local travel. Public buses connect Lhuntse with other parts of Bhutan, but they are less frequent. Renting a car with a driver is a practical option for exploring the remote and scenic areas of the district.

The official currency in Bhutan is the Bhutanese Ngultrum (BTN). Credit cards are accepted in some hotels and larger establishments, but it is advisable to carry cash, especially in rural areas like Lhuntse. ATMs are scarce, so ensure you have enough cash before arriving in the district.

Lhuntse is generally a safe destination for tourists. There are no specific high-crime areas targeting tourists, but standard precautions should be taken. Avoid traveling alone at night in unfamiliar areas and keep an eye on your belongings in crowded places. Always follow local guidelines and respect cultural norms.

In case of an emergency, dial 113 for immediate assistance. The local police station and basic medical facilities are available in Lhuntse. It is highly recommended to have travel insurance that covers medical emergencies and evacuation. For minor health issues, there are pharmacies in the district where you can purchase over-the-counter medications.

Fashion: Do dress modestly, especially when visiting religious sites. Avoid wearing revealing clothing. Religion: Do respect local customs and traditions. Always remove your shoes and cover your head when entering temples and monasteries. Public Transport: Do be respectful and give up your seat to elderly passengers. Don't eat or drink on public transport. Greetings: Do greet people with a slight bow and a 'Kuzu Zangpo' (hello). Eating & Drinking: Do try local delicacies and accept food offerings graciously. Don't refuse hospitality, as it is considered impolite.

To experience Lhuntse District like a local, visit the local markets and interact with the friendly residents. Attend local festivals such as the Lhuntse Tshechu to witness traditional Bhutanese culture and dances. Explore the picturesque villages and monasteries, and take part in local customs and rituals. Don't miss visiting the Lhuntse Dzong, a stunning fortress with panoramic views of the surrounding valley.