Narphungla
Narphungla is a pass at about 1,700 metres on the Trashigang–Samdrup Jongkhar highway, in warm broadleaf forest, close to where three districts meet — Trashigang, Samdrup Jongkhar and Pemagatshel. It is a birding stop: you pull over and work on foot. Thirty to forty-five minutes, and it wants an early start.
What is there to see?
Birds, and the forest they are in. The pass is known for the Rufous-necked Hornbill and the Beautiful Nuthatch — two that bring birders to eastern Bhutan on purpose — along with the Gold-naped Finch, Grey-sided Laughingthrush and the rare White-gorgeted Flycatcher.
The list changes as you drop. Below Dewathang the forest turns subtropical and the birds turn with it: Violet Cuckoo, Wreathed Hornbill, Pied Falconet, Blue-eared Barbet. It is worth knowing which you are stopping for — they are not the same stop.
There is a small shop at the pass selling bamboo baskets and vegetables. That is the whole of the infrastructure, and it is part of the charm.
Close to where three districts meet
Narphungla sits near the junction of Trashigang, Samdrup Jongkhar and Pemagatshel, which is unusual enough to be the reason people remember it. On the public boundary data we checked, the highway passes within about 1.3 kilometres of the point where the three dzongkhags come together — near it rather than exactly on it, and we would rather give you the distance than round it away.
We do not publish a pin for it. No map database we can reach carries the name Narphungla at all — not OpenStreetMap, not the gazetteers — so rather than drop a marker we worked out ourselves, we give you the road, the altitude and the junction, and leave the pin to whoever maps it first.
When should you come?
November to early May, and as early in the morning as your driver will agree to. That is the window both birding operators who work this road publish, and birding here is a first-light business.
The monsoon, June to August, is the wrong time for this stretch of road generally, and the birds are not the reason.
See things to do in Samdrup Jongkhar for the rest of the district, and Dewathang for the town below the pass.
Frequently asked questions
What birds can you see at Narphungla?
The pass sits in warm broadleaf forest, and the birds it is known for are the Rufous-necked Hornbill, the Beautiful Nuthatch and the Gold-naped Finch, with Grey-sided Laughingthrush and the rare White-gorgeted Flycatcher also recorded here. Different birds belong to the descent, not the pass — Violet Cuckoo, Wreathed Hornbill and Pied Falconet are birds of the subtropical forest below Dewathang. Nobody publishes a species count for the site, so we won't give you one.
When is the best time to bird at Narphungla?
November to early May, and early in the morning. Both of the birding operators who describe this road give the same window, which is the one we follow. Our own listing previously said October to April; that was ours and unsourced, and it is corrected.
Where exactly is Narphungla?
On the Trashigang–Samdrup Jongkhar highway above Dewathang, at about 1,700 metres, and within about 1.3 km of the point where Trashigang, Samdrup Jongkhar and Pemagatshel meet — near the junction rather than exactly on it. We do not publish a map pin for it: no map database we can reach carries the name at all, and we would rather give you no pin than a marker we invented.
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