Dochu La

A pass on the drive from Thimphu

Dochu La is the pass on the main road between Thimphu and Punakha, at about 3,100 m. You don’t make a separate trip to it. Almost everyone driving to Punakha crosses it about 45 minutes to an hour out of Thimphu and stops here, to stretch, look for the mountains and walk among the chortens. From the pass the road drops almost 1,900 m through forest to the warm Punakha valley.

The 108 Druk Wangyal chortens

The 108 chortens on the hillock in the middle of the pass were built under the patronage of Queen Mother Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck. They honour the Bhutanese soldiers who died in December 2003, when the army, led by the Fourth King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, drove Indian insurgent groups out of some 30 camps they had set up inside Bhutan. The chortens were finished and consecrated in June 2004.

They are known as the Druk Wangyal chortens, from the words for the victory of the Thunder Dragon. Each one is white with a red band, in the style called khangzang, with a gold finial on top. They are set in three tiers around the hillock:

The number is not an accident. 108 is a sacred number in Buddhism, the same as the count of beads on a prayer rosary. Walk around the chortens clockwise, as you would around any chorten, and take the paths between the tiers rather than climbing on the walls.

Druk Wangyal Lhakhang

Beside the chortens stands the Druk Wangyal Lhakhang, the temple of the victory of the Thunder Dragon, finished in 2008. It was also built by the Queen Mother, in honour of the Fourth King and the armed forces, and completed in the year Bhutan marked a hundred years of monarchy. The design mixes traditional Bhutanese architecture with contemporary touches, which makes it a good contrast to the old dzongs you will see further on. The usual temple rules apply inside: hats off, no photos.

The mountain view

On a clear day the pass looks out over a long line of the eastern Himalaya. Among the peaks are Masanggang (7,194 m) and Gangkar Puensum (7,570 m), Bhutan’s highest mountain and one of the highest in the world never to have been climbed. Your guide will point out which is which.

The view is best on clear winter mornings, roughly October to February. Cloud tends to build as the day warms, and during the monsoon, from about June to September, you may see nothing but mist and wet prayer flags. That is still worth the stop. On a misty day the chortens appearing and disappearing in the cloud are a sight of their own.

The December festival

On 13 December every year the Druk Wangyal Tshechu is held in the open ground at the pass. The Queen Mother started it in 2011 to commemorate the 2003 victory and honour the Fourth King. Because the date never moves, it is easy to plan a winter trip around it. Our festival calendar lists it with the others, and our guide to tshechus explains what happens at one.

Walks from the pass

• Lungchutse Lhakhang: a trail climbs from the pass through hemlock, pine and rhododendron forest to the Lungchutse temple at about 3,560 m. It is about 4 km each way; allow half a day for the round trip. The effort is moderate, mostly because of the altitude, and on a clear day the view from the top is wider than from the pass.
• Royal Botanical Park, Lamperi: the pass sits within this protected area of about 47 km², with forest running from about 2,100 to 3,750 m. Red pandas live here, and the botanical garden grows 46 kinds of rhododendron, which flower from around March.

Our mountains and trekking guide covers longer walks.

Visiting

• Time: 30 minutes to an hour for the chortens and the view; half a day if you add the Lungchutse walk.
• Warm clothes: at 3,100 m the pass is much colder than Thimphu or Punakha, often windy, and snow is possible in winter. Bring a warm layer even if you are dressed for the valley. Our packing checklist has the details.
• Dress for the lhakhang: covered shoulders and knees, and no hats inside. More in our cultural etiquette guide.
• Photos: fine around the chortens and of the view; not inside the temple.

Getting there

Take the road east out of Thimphu. The pass is about 45 minutes to an hour away, and from there the road winds down to Punakha in about another 1.5 to 2 hours. There is nothing to plan: your driver will stop here on the way to Punakha or on the way back. Our getting around Bhutan guide explains how road days work.

Tips from our guides

• Leave Thimphu early if you want the mountains. The clearest views are usually in the first hours of the day.
• If the peaks are hidden on the way out, try again on the return drive; the weather here changes fast.
• Carry the story down with you. The demoness that Drukpa Kunley subdued came from Dochu La, and the temple built where he trapped her, Chimi Lhakhang, is in the valley below, on the same road. Punakha Dzong is the next stop after that.
• The Thimphu district administration has a short page on Dochula (opens in a new tab) with the history of the chortens and the lhakhang.