Trashigang is the largest district in eastern Bhutan and its small town is the main settlement in a part of the country that few visitors reach. The valleys here are narrower and steeper than those in the more touristed west around Paro and Thimphu, and the remoteness is part of the appeal.
The town itself is tiny — perhaps 40 or 50 shops, a school, and a hospital, all crammed onto a hillside with no room to expand. The reason it exists is the Trashigang Dzong, a fortress-monastery built on a ridge overlooking the confluence of the Dangme Chhu and Gamri Chhu rivers. Like all Bhutanese dzongs, it is both beautiful and imposing.
The surrounding countryside is a patchwork of barley, rice, and wheat fields, with subtropical fruit orchards at lower elevations. Sherubtse College, Bhutan's oldest degree-granting institution, is about two hours' drive away in Kanglung.
The best time to visit is between October and April — you will avoid leeches, mosquitoes, and monsoon landslides. Allow at least two nights; the remoteness demands it. The Chortenkora festival in mid-March is worth timing a visit around. Getting here from Thimphu takes two to three days by road, depending on the route.