Phobjikha Valley

Broad glacial valley where black-necked cranes winter from late October

Address Phobjikha, Wangdue Phodrang District

The Phobjikha Valley is a broad U-shaped glacial valley at around 3,000 metres, about 70 km east of Wangdue Phodrang town. From late October to mid-February it becomes the wintering ground for several hundred black-necked cranes that migrate down from the Tibetan plateau.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Nature (RSPN) runs a small visitor and information centre at the edge of the wetland, with viewing scopes and exhibits on the cranes' biology and the conservation programme. The hillside above the valley is dominated by Gangtey Goemba, a 17th-century monastery whose courtyard offers the panoramic view of the valley that ends up in most photographs. Several short trails — the Gangtey Nature Trail being the easiest — let you walk down through the pine forests to the valley floor.

things to do sight
A story
Local Buddhists consider the cranes sacred and will not interfere with them — when the cables were laid to bring electricity to the valley in the 2000s, they were buried underground rather than strung on poles, so that the birds would not collide with them. The crane festival, held each November at Gangtey Goemba, is timed to celebrate the birds' arrival.