Things to do in Gasa

Gasa is the far northwest: 3,130 km² of high country, the fewest people of any district, and the gateway to Laya and the Snowman route. What brings people here are the tshachu — hot springs — and one weekend in October when the highland communities come down off the mountains.

Things to do in Gasa, compared

Attraction	Time needed	Legwork	Best season
Gasa Hot Spring	An afternoon, or as long as you like	Riverside site on the Mo Chhu; steps down to the pools	Winter, when the contrast is the point
Gasa Dzong	About an hour	Ask us — the approach isn't published and this is high country	Mar–May, Sep–Nov
The Royal Highland Festival	Two days	Held at altitude — allow for it	23–24 October

Entrance fees are included in every tour we run, so there's no ticket window to queue at and no cash to carry at any of them.

The hot springs, which are the real reason

Gasa Tshachu sits on the bank of the Mo Chhu, the same river that runs down to Punakha Dzong, and it is among the best-loved hot springs in the country. According to Gasa Dzongkhag, the water is traditionally held to relieve joint pain, and Bhutanese travel here to soak for days at a time — this is a domestic pilgrimage as much as a spa.

Other tshachu lie nearby. The site has been renovated several times in recent years, so ask us what is open before you build a trip around it.

The obvious pairing is a Laya trek: the springs are what you do afterwards, and there is no better argument for them than a week of walking.

The Royal Highland Festival

23–24 October, and it is the one time Gasa fills up. Started in 2016 to mark the birth of the Gyalsey and the 400th anniversary of the Zhabdrung's arrival, it brings the highland communities — Layaps, Lunaps and yak herders from across the north — down for two days of horse and yak racing, highland produce, and a lot of people who do not otherwise meet each other in one place.

Dates are in the festival calendar, and the Royal Highland Festival journey is built around it. Book early — the accommodation in Gasa is limited in a way that a bigger district's is not.

Getting there, and when

Gasa is reached from Punakha, and it is high and cold in winter and pleasant in summer — the opposite of most of Bhutan's seasonal advice, because you are not here for mountain views but for hot water and highland communities.

March to May and September to November for the dzong and the walking. October for the festival. Winter for the springs, if you can get in.