Trashigang: The Hidden Gem of Eastern Bhutan

• Helloཇོ བོ
  [jo bo]
• Goodbyeབྱ ཀོ
  [ja ko]
• Yesགཏོ
  [ta]
• Noགམོ
  [ma]
• Please/You're welcomeསྐུ བོ
  [sku bo]
• Thank youལས བོ
  [la bo]
• Excuse me/Sorryདང ལ གཚ བོ
  [dang la tsa bo]
• How are you?ཁ སྤྱིན ཅ ད ངས བ སྐ བོ?
  [kha spyin cha dang sa ku bo?]
• Fine. And you?སྤྱིན ཅ ད ང སྐ བོ. ང སྐ བོ?
  [spyin cha dang sa ku bo. nga sa ku bo?]
• Do you speak English?ད ང ཨགིན སྐ བོ གཏོ?
  [da nga angin sa ku bo ta?]
• I don't understandཁ སྐ བོ ལ རེག ཏོ
  [kha ku bo la re ta]

• I'd like to see the menu, pleaseད ང མཚ ཏ མཐ ས ས སྐ བོ
  [da nga tsa tha ta sa ku bo]
• I don't eat meatཁ ཨགར གཏ སྐ བོ
  [kha ag rta sa ku bo]
• Cheers!གཏོ ལར གཏ མཐ ས སྐ བོ
  [to la rta tha ta sa ku bo]
• I would like to pay, pleaseད ང སྐུ གཏ ཞ ས སྐ བོ
  [da nga sku ta zha ta sa ku bo]

• Help!གས མང ར ཕ ར
  [ga mang ra pha ra]
• Go away!ཆོ ཡ ལ ར
  [cho ya la ra]
• Call the Police!མོ བོ ཆོ ཡ སྡ ར
  [mo bo cho ya da ra]
• Call a doctor!མོ བོ དོཀ ཏ ར
  [mo bo dok ta ra]
• I'm lostཁ མང ར ཤ ར
  [kha mang ra sha ra]
• I'm illཁ རནམ ཡ
  [kha renam ya]

• I'd like to buy...ད ང དམ ཡ གཏ སྐ བོ
  [da nga dam ya ta sa ku bo]
• I'm just lookingཁ རང ཨགར སྐ བོ
  [kha rang ag ra sa ku bo]
• How much is it?ཁ ཨགིན གཏ སྐ བོ?
  [kha angin ta sa ku bo?]
• That's too expensiveད དམ སྐ བོ
  [da dam sa ku bo]
• Can you lower the price?ཁ ཨགིན གཏ སྐ བོ?
  [kha angin ta sa ku bo?]

• What time is it?ཁ གིན ད མ བ ཤ ར?
  [kha gin da ma ba sha ra?]
• It's one o'clockད མ ཚ ས
  [da ma tsa sa]
• Half past (10)ཏ ཚ ད
  [ta tsa da]
• Morningསྤར
  [spar]
• Afternoonཕར
  [phar]
• Eveningརིང
  [ring]
• Yesterdayཁ སྤས
  [kha spar]
• Todayཁ གིན
  [kha gin]
• Tomorrowཁ རར
  [kha rar]
• 1ལ
  [la]
• 2ག
  [ga]
• 3བ
  [ba]
• 4བྱ
  [ja]
• 5ལྔ
  [langa]
• 6དྔ
  [danga]
• 7བར
  [bara]
• 8བས
  [basa]
• 9དག
  [dag]
• 10བཅ
  [bcha]

• Where's a/the...?ཁ ཨགིན ད ང?
  [kha angin da nga?]
• What's the address?ཁ ཨགིན སྡ ར?
  [kha angin da ra?]
• Can you show me (on the map)?ཁ ཨགིན གཏ ཞ ར སྡ ར?
  [kha angin ta zha ra da ra?]
• When's the next (bus)?ཁ ཨགིན ད ང སྡ ར?
  [kha angin da nga da ra?]
• A ticket (to ....)ཏ ཨགིན ཀིཏ ཏ (ད ཨགིན)
  [ta angin kid ta (da angin)]

Trashigang Dzong, also known as 'The Fortress of the Auspicious Hill,' was constructed in 1659 by Chögyal Minjur Tempa, the third Desi of Bhutan. This historic dzong was built to defend against Tibetan invasions and to consolidate the power of the central government. The dzong overlooks the confluence of the Drangme Chhu and the Gamri Chhu rivers, offering strategic and scenic value.

In the 17th century, Trashigang played a crucial role in Bhutan's unification. The region's strategic location made it a vital point for maintaining control over eastern Bhutan. The dzong served not only as a fortress but also as an administrative center, helping to extend the central authority of the Bhutanese government.

In the late 19th century, Trashigang came into the spotlight during the British expedition led by Sir Ashley Eden in 1864. Although the expedition primarily focused on the western regions of Bhutan, the influence extended to the east, including Trashigang, marking the beginning of diplomatic interactions between Bhutan and British India.

Trashigang is renowned for its vibrant festivals, particularly the annual Trashigang Tshechu, held in the dzong courtyard. This festival, celebrated with masked dances, music, and spiritual ceremonies, attracts thousands of devotees and tourists. The Tshechu is dedicated to Guru Rinpoche, who is believed to have introduced Tantric Buddhism to Bhutan in the 8th century.

In recent decades, Trashigang has seen significant modernization while preserving its rich cultural heritage. The establishment of educational institutions like Sherubtse College in Kanglung has transformed the region into an academic hub. Infrastructure developments, including improved road networks, have made Trashigang more accessible, fostering tourism and economic growth.

Buddhism profoundly influences the culture and daily life in Trashigang. Monasteries scattered throughout the district serve as centers for religious learning and practice. The presence of sacred sites and continuous religious activities underscore the spiritual significance of the region, making it a pilgrimage destination for many Bhutanese.

Trashigang is located in eastern Bhutan. The nearest international airport is Paro International Airport, approximately 550 kilometers away. From Paro, you can take a domestic flight to Yonphula Airport, which is about 30 kilometers from Trashigang. Alternatively, you can travel by road from Thimphu or Paro, which usually takes around 2 days by bus or taxi due to the mountainous terrain.

Trashigang is a relatively small town, and many attractions are within walking distance. Local taxis are available for longer trips and are reasonably priced. Public buses connect Trashigang to other parts of Bhutan, but schedules can be irregular. Renting a car is an option, but driving can be challenging due to the hilly and winding roads.

The official currency in Bhutan is the Bhutanese Ngultrum (BTN). Indian Rupees (INR) are also widely accepted. Credit cards are accepted in some hotels and shops, but it is advisable to carry cash, especially in smaller establishments and rural areas. ATMs are available, but they may not always be reliable, so ensure you have enough cash on hand.

Trashigang is generally a safe destination for tourists. However, take standard precautions such as avoiding walking alone at night in unfamiliar areas and keeping an eye on your belongings in crowded places. There are no specific high-crime areas targeting tourists, but it's always best to stay vigilant and aware of your surroundings.

In case of emergency, dial 113 for police assistance or 112 for medical emergencies. Trashigang has a local hospital and several clinics. It is recommended to have travel insurance that covers medical emergencies. Pharmacies are available in town 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 the traditional 'Kuzuzangpo La'. Eating & Drinking: Do try local delicacies and accept food offerings graciously. Don’t refuse hospitality, as it is considered impolite.

To experience Trashigang like a local, visit the weekend market where you can buy fresh produce and traditional Bhutanese goods. Engage with locals, as they are often friendly and willing to share stories about the town's history and culture. Don't miss visiting the Trashigang Dzong, which offers a glimpse into Bhutanese architecture and history. For a unique experience, attend local festivals such as the Trashigang Tshechu, which features traditional dances and cultural performances.