Gasa Hot Spring (Gasa Tshachu)

Gasa Tshachu is a set of hot-spring pools on the bank of the Mo Chhu at about 2,170 metres — five for women and five for men, each at a different temperature, plus two reserved for VVIPs. It sits about two kilometres from Gasa Dzong, which stands some 640 metres higher. Stay an afternoon, or check into a guesthouse and stay days.

What is actually there?

According to Gasa Dzongkhag: five ponds designated for women and five for men, plus two exclusive ponds for VVIPs and VIPs. Each pond runs at a different temperature, and choosing the one that suits you is part of how the place works.

We won’t give you a total, because the dzongkhag’s own wording is ambiguous about whether the two reserved ponds are counted within its “ten ponds” or are additional to them. Five and five is the part that is unambiguous, and it is the part that matters.

The site is on the Mo Chhu — the same river that runs down to Punakha Dzong — and there are guesthouses nearby that can be booked in advance. The road in has been improved in recent years.

One caution we won’t skip: ask us what is open before you come. The site has been renovated more than once recently, and nobody publishes its current status — not the dzongkhag, not anyone. This is a long way to travel on an assumption.

This is a pilgrimage more than a spa

According to Gasa Dzongkhag, the tshachu is traditionally believed to relieve ailments such as joint pain, and each pond is held to have its own properties.

We’ll report that as the tradition it is rather than dress it up as medicine — but the way Bhutanese use it tells you how seriously it is taken. People travel here and soak for days at a time. It is a domestic pilgrimage as much as a bathing spot, and it is among the best-loved hot springs in the country for that reason. Other tshachu lie nearby.

Getting there from the dzong

About two kilometres apart, and about 640 metres of height between them.

Gasa Dzong stands at roughly 2,800 m; the springs are at about 2,170 m, on the riverbank below.

What we can’t tell you is how much of that you walk. Nobody publishes how far the pools are from where a vehicle stops, or how many steps are involved — and that is worth knowing at a place whose whole reputation is for easing joint pain. Ask us, and we’ll tell you what the guides find on the ground.

When should you come?

Winter. The contrast is the entire point: it is the cold that makes hot water worth travelling for, and this is high country.

The other natural pairing is a Laya trek — the springs are what you do afterwards, and after a week of walking there is no better argument for them.

See things to do in Gasa for the rest of the district.