Wangdue Phodrang: The Gateway to Bhutan’s Wilderness

• Helloཀླུ་ཤི
  [lu shi]
• Goodbyeབོད་པའི་བྱང་ཤུ
  [boe pai yang shu]
• Yesགིས
  [gi]
• Noམེད
  [me]
• Please/You're welcomeདགོངས་སྐྱིད
  [gong kyi]
• Thank youབཤགས་བཅུ
  [shak chu]
• Excuse me/Sorryམྒོག
  [gok]
• How are you?ཁྱེད་ར་མེད་གི་ཤྲོག
  [khe ra me gi shrog]
• Fine. And you?མེད་འདུག་ལ་གི་ཤྲོག
  [me duk la gi shrog]
• Do you speak English?ཨིན་ཀྲིཤ་ཁོངས་ཉིན་བཞག
  [in kri shong nyin shag]
• I don't understandམེད་མ་དྲུག
  [me ma druk]

• I'd like to see the menu, pleaseམང་དགོངས་ལས་བསྐྱར་བ་ཕྱིན།
  [ngang gong la kyar ba chin]
• I don't eat meatསྒོ་སྟོན་གདབས་མེད
  [go ton dab me]
• Cheers!གསོལ་མར་བཤོས་གཉིས
  [sol mar shog nyi]
• I would like to pay, pleaseང་ངའི་ངོག་ཤེས་བསྐྱར་བ།
  [nga nga'i ngok she kyar ba]

• Help!ལྷོ་ལ
  [lho la]
• Go away!བྱ་བ
  [ja ba]
• Call the Police!རྩོལ་རྒྱབ་ལ
  [tsol gyab la]
• Call a doctor!གསོལ་ཡོད་ལ
  [sol yod la]
• I'm lostང་ཆོས་ལ
  [nga chos la]
• I'm illང་སྡོམས་ལ
  [nga doms la]

• I'd like to buy...ང་ཕེབས་རོགས།
  [nga pebs rok]
• I'm just lookingང་སྔོད་ལག
  [nga ngod lag]
• How much is it?དགོངས་ཚད་མི་བཟན
  [gong tse mi zan]
• That's too expensiveདེ་ཁོངས་སྒོ
  [de kong go]
• Can you lower the price?ཁོངས་ཉིན་དགོངས་ལའང་བར་བསྐྱར་བ
  [kong nyin gong la ngar ba]

• What time is it?དུས་ཆེར་ནས་སྐུག
  [dus cher ne ku]
• It's one o'clockགཅིག་རིས་ཨིག
  [chik ri ik]
• Half past (10)ཅུང་ཁོར་ནས་(༡༠)
  [chung kor ne (10)]
• Morningསྔོ་དོར
  [ngo dor]
• Afternoonཉི་ཚོར
  [nyi tsho]
• Eveningདགོལ
  [gol]
• Yesterdayཁ་སང
  [kha sang]
• Todayདེ་རིས
  [de ri]
• Tomorrowམིན་པ
  [min pa]
• 1༡
  [1]
• 2༢
  [2]
• 3༣
  [3]
• 4༤
  [4]
• 5༥
  [5]
• 6༦
  [6]
• 7༧
  [7]
• 8༨
  [8]
• 9༩
  [9]
• 10༡༠
  [10]

• Where's a/the...?དྲིང་གི་གཡུ
  [ring gi yu]
• What's the address?རིས་ཚོར་གི་རྒྱབ
  [ri tsho gi gyab]
• Can you show me (on the map)?ད་མ་བཞག་ནས་ལ
  [da ma shag ne la]
• When's the next (bus)?ཕྱི་ལོ་སྦ་ཉིན་རིས་ཤ་རྒི
  [chyi lo sa nyin ri sha gi]
• A ticket (to ....)ཡར་གཨ་ཨིག
  [yar ga ik]

Wangdue Phodrang was established in 1638 by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the unifier of Bhutan. The town was strategically built on a high ridge overlooking the confluence of the Punatsangchhu and Dangchhu rivers, serving as a defensive outpost against invasions from the south.

The Wangdue Phodrang Dzong, a majestic fortress, was constructed in the same year as the town's founding. It has played a crucial role in Bhutan's history, serving as both a religious and administrative center. The dzong is known for its unique architectural style, blending traditional Bhutanese design with strategic military features.

In June 2012, a devastating fire swept through the Wangdue Phodrang Dzong, causing extensive damage to the historic structure. The fire destroyed many invaluable artifacts and religious relics. Efforts to rebuild and restore the dzong commenced soon after, reflecting the resilience and dedication of the Bhutanese people to preserve their cultural heritage.

Wangdue Phodrang is renowned for its annual Black-Necked Crane Festival, held in the courtyard of the Gangtey Monastery. This festival celebrates the arrival of the endangered black-necked cranes from Tibet. It features traditional songs, dances, and educational programs aimed at raising awareness about the conservation of these majestic birds and their habitat.

The Gangtey Monastery, also known as Gangtey Goenpa, is one of the main spiritual centers in Wangdue Phodrang. Founded in 1613 by the first Pema Lingpa, the monastery is an important site for the Nyingma school of Buddhism. It sits on a hill overlooking the Phobjikha Valley, offering breathtaking views and a serene atmosphere for meditation and reflection.

The Phobjikha Valley, located in Wangdue Phodrang, is a glacial valley known for its stunning natural beauty and ecological significance. It is a designated conservation area, home to several endangered species, including the black-necked cranes. The valley is a popular destination for tourists and nature enthusiasts, offering opportunities for hiking, bird-watching, and exploring traditional Bhutanese villages.

Wangdue Phodrang is located in central Bhutan. The nearest international airport is Paro International Airport, approximately 135 kilometers away. From Paro, you can take a taxi or a bus to Wangdue Phodrang. The journey typically takes around 3 to 4 hours by road. Alternatively, you can hire a private car for a more comfortable and flexible travel experience.

Within Wangdue Phodrang, local taxis are readily available and relatively inexpensive. Public buses also operate within the town and connect to nearby villages. For those looking to explore more remote areas, renting a car can be a convenient option. Biking and walking are also popular ways to get around, especially for visiting local attractions.

The official currency in Bhutan is the Bhutanese Ngultrum (BTN), which is pegged to the Indian Rupee (INR). Credit cards are accepted in some hotels, restaurants, and shops, but it is advisable to carry cash, especially in smaller establishments and rural areas. ATMs are available in Wangdue Phodrang, but it is wise to withdraw sufficient cash in larger cities like Thimphu or Paro before traveling.

Wangdue Phodrang is generally a safe destination for tourists. However, like any travel destination, it is advisable to take standard precautions. Avoid walking alone at night in unfamiliar areas and keep an eye on your belongings in crowded places. There are no specific high-crime areas targeting tourists, but it is always best to stay vigilant and aware of your surroundings.

In case of emergency, dial 113 for police assistance and 112 for medical emergencies. The local police station and medical facilities are available in Wangdue Phodrang. It is recommended to have travel insurance that covers medical emergencies. For minor health issues, there are pharmacies in the 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 monasteries and temples. 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 Wangdue Phodrang like a local, visit the local markets 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 Wangdue Phodrang Dzong and the nearby Punakha Dzong, both of which offer insights into Bhutanese architecture and history. For a unique experience, explore the Phobjikha Valley, home to the endangered black-necked cranes.