Mongar lies on Bhutan’s main east-west highway between Bumthang and Trashigang. As a stop along this route, the town provides access to Phrumsengla National Park and several hiking trails. Two questions can help with planning your trip: Are you interested in Mongar for its own townscape and dzong-building history, or would you also like to explore nature and hiking destinations? These themes describe different sides of a trip. Cultural interests in town and access to trails and nature can therefore be considered as distinct reasons for choosing the area.

Townscape and Dzong Architecture

Behind Mongar’s old bazaar stand concrete high-rises, each with a traditional shop on the ground floor. Tall concrete buildings and traditional shops together shape the townscape here. Mongar Dzong offers a different architectural perspective: it was built in the 1930s using traditional dzong-building methods, without architectural plans or nails. The date and construction method refer to the same building project. Thus, the distinctive townscape behind the bazaar and the history of traditional dzong architecture provide different cultural points of interest in Mongar.

Monasteries and a Festival Nearby

Yakang Lhakhang is about a 20-minute walk from Mongar and is a privately run monastery. It was founded by Lama Sangdag, the sixth son of Terton Pema Lingpa. The monastery houses spiritual treasures as well as sacred objects attributed to Terton Pema Lingpa. Its founding by one of Terton Pema Lingpa’s sons and the attribution of the objects to Terton himself establish distinct connections within the same religious tradition.

Drametse Lhakhang is also nearby. Once a year, people from Mongar and Trashigang gather there for a religious festival on the tenth day of the Bhutanese calendar. It is known by the names Kaggsol Chenmo, Trel Da Tshechu, and Daw Drugpai Choep. Unlike Yakang’s founding story and attributed objects, Drametse is associated with an annual festival. The two sites are also described differently: Yakang by its approximate walking time from Mongar, and Drametse by the festival date in the Bhutanese calendar. If you are planning your trip specifically around the festival, check the exact date for the year in question.

Ruins Seen from the Road

The ruins of Zhongkar Dzong stand on a hill overlooking Themnangbi. They are visible from the Mongar–Bumthang road when driving down the road to Lingmenthang. This setting differs from the religious themes at Yakang and Drametse: at Zhongkar, the visible ruins and the view from the road shape the impression. When planning your trip, you can weigh different interests: Mongar’s townscape and dzong-building history, religious sites nearby, and views of ruins along the way.

Discover more destinations: Punakha, Paro

For the main trip overview: Bhutan.