Spending The Night At A 300 Year Old Monastery In Bhutan
Dodeydra Monastery
Hiking and staying at Dodeydra was the highlight of our Bhutan trip. Everyone thinks of the famous Tigers Nest temple when they imagine Bhutan but spending the night in a functioning monastery was way more unique. The monastery itself was hundreds of years old carved into the rock and absolutely beautiful. There was only one other couple visiting and we basically had the whole place to ourselves. If you want to escape the tourism and go somewhere truly representative of Bhutan I highly recommend planning this into your Bhutan tour.
Dodeydra Monastery Hike Stats
- Difficulty: Medium – Good trail but steep in sections
- Hike length: ~ 6.0km Each Direction
- Elevation Gain – 800m gain
- Highest Elevation – 3000m or 9,842 Feet
- Time Needed – We took about 3 hours up
- 4 x 4 – Not required your guide will get you to the start point
- Fees – Included with our tour provider
The Hike To Dodeydra
The hike to Dodeydra started at a dusty uphill pullout just outside of Thimphu. we hiked for about an hour slowly heading up through the trees on a well trodden path.
After about an hour we reached this little pagoda sitting area that had views over the capital Thimphu.
From here on out you start to notice the 3000m of elevation you are hiking to. A bit past the lookout we reached a ridge with a soccer field and this funny exercise bike with a view.
Once you are here most of your elevation is done and it’s an easy 1 hour walk to the monastery. Make sure to take things a bit slower and watch your heart rate. Most people don’t get altitude sickness at this altitude but you can if you push yourself to hard.
Approaching the monastery
The Monastery
I know Bhutan is in asia but I was super not expecting Langur monkeys everywhere.
Our dinning room, where we were served welcome Butter tea and Maekhu. Maekhu is like a puffed slightly salty fried rice mixed with butter. It is traditionally mixed into the butter tea and it is surprisingly nice. Think savory rice crispies.
Room for the night
Our Ensuite
The attached temple, we couldn’t believe no one else was here.
Staying Overnight In The Monastery
The accommodation was very basic compared to the fabulous hotels we had been staying in. You quite literally live as the monks do so prepare yourself for that. Despite that we had our own room, a heater and even a shower and private bathroom so not to bad. The food was vegetarian very tasty and served in the central dinning room.
Our breakfast and the bookshelf with the entire Harry Potter series.
Megs hanging by the fire in the living room
After breakfast the next day we were allowed to join the monks for their Pujas. Pujas are the mantras that monks chant everyday. Unfortunately no pictures are allowed inside monasteries so we can’t show you what it looked like. You are just going to have to trust that listening to chants in Dzongkha in a 300 year monastery was a very cool experience. This was one of those moments that made us feel very faaaar away.
What Were The Monks Like?
There are different levels of Monasteries in Bhutan. Dodeydra is a younger term monastery so it is mainly newer students. Because of this most monks were younger and happy to practice their english. The elderly monks were friendly as well but not as proficient in english. It was a very cool opportunity to be able to sit and chat and talk about their lives while sipping tea. They don’t seem to get a ton of visitors so even though we were extra work for them they were very happy to have us. I think the 800 m 6 km climb scares a lot of tourists away.
They also really seemed to appreciate how the SDF fees that tourists pay support them. It was a nice change to see that tourist taxes were actually making it to the people.
We were surprised by some of the inspirational quotes set up around the area. I was not expecting Eminem, to Isaac Asimov to the Buddha.
Questions About Bhutan?
We wrote a whole blog of everything we wished we knew. Check it out here! How to get here? What do you need for Bhutan? Where to fly to Bhutan from? We answer all of that for you above!
Don’t miss the famous Tigers Nest Trek
