Solo travellers

“I arrived still answering emails in the car from the airport. By the third day I had stopped checking altogether. Haa was where I really felt the change. It was quiet, beautiful and there was absolutely nothing I needed to solve.”

“I run my own company and genuinely thought eight days was too long to be away. It turned out to be exactly right. Nothing about the trip felt like a corporate wellness retreat. I simply had room to think again.”

“The morning at the nunnery was unexpectedly powerful. There was no big revelation, which I actually appreciated. I just remember sitting there after meditation and realising how tired I had been for a very long time.”

“I came to Bhutan completely depleted. I left rested, but more importantly I left with perspective. The work was all still waiting for me when I got home. I just didn’t feel quite so controlled by it anymore.”

“I came after losing my father and was worried the journey might feel too focused on grief. It wasn’t. There were conversations that helped, but also hikes, beautiful meals and completely ordinary moments. I think that balance was what I needed most.”

“The afternoon we were given completely to ourselves in Punakha was probably the most important part for me. Nobody was trying to fill the silence. I sat outside for hours and, for once, let myself feel whatever came up.”

“Lighting the butter lamps was incredibly simple, but it affected me more than I expected. There was something comforting about being able to do something physical with all the thoughts I had been carrying around.”

“I did not leave Bhutan having ‘moved on’, and I am glad nobody suggested I should. I left feeling more accepting of what had changed and less afraid of carrying the memory forward. That felt much more real.”

“My divorce has been the hardest thing I have ever lived through. I came to Bhutan feeling angry, exhausted and completely unsure of who I was without the life I had planned. I needed this trip.”

“I hadn’t realised how much I needed time away from everything until I was there. I came home knowing what I wanted to change.”

“The women we met were the part I wasn’t expecting. We had completely different lives, but so much in common.”

“There’s something about walking for hours in the mountains that puts everything else into perspective. Things that felt enormous at home suddenly didn’t.”

“I thought I was coming to Bhutan for an adventure. I didn’t expect to learn quite so much about myself along the way.”

“I came to Bhutan to find myself. Instead, I found phalluses everywhere. Not a bad destination for a solo woman traveller.”

“Bhutan gave me something I didn’t realise I was missing: space. There was no pressure to be anywhere or achieve anything. I slept better, walked for hours, ate incredibly well and came home feeling noticeably calmer.”

“I expected beautiful scenery, but what stayed with me was how unhurried everything felt. Mornings in Phobjikha, conversations with people we met along the way, the hot stone baths, even the long drives. For once, I wasn’t thinking about what I needed to do next.”

“This was exactly what I needed after a very intense year. It wasn’t a wellness retreat and nobody was asking me to transform my life. I simply had time to slow down, be outdoors and clear my head. By the end, I felt like myself again.”

“The eastern part of the journey was a real highlight. We visited places I would never have found on my own and met people in their homes and villages, but nothing felt staged. There was also plenty of time to disappear back to the lodge with a book and do absolutely nothing. That balance was perfect.”

“I had been to Bhutan before and thought I knew the country reasonably well. I was completely wrong. This journey took us into homes, workshops and conversations I would never have known how to access. It felt less like sightseeing and more like being invited in.”

“The afternoon with the Mongpa community was extraordinary. We sat listening to stories about their beliefs and history, watched the weaving and shared lunch together. Nothing felt performed for us. It was one of those rare days when you realise how little you knew before you arrived.”

“I loved that the journey never felt like we were ticking off attractions. We met historians, monks, artisans and conservationists, and every conversation added another layer to what we were seeing. By the end I understood Bhutan in a completely different way.”

“The private camp near Royal Manas was a highlight, but what I remember most are the people. Sitting with a weaver in her home, talking with monks, meeting the family at Ugyen Choling. There was a sense throughout the trip that doors were being opened for us that normally remain closed.”

“I did this trip just after turning fifty and it felt strangely well timed. The trek was challenging enough to make me work for it, but the days at Phajoding gave the whole journey a depth I wasn’t expecting. I came away feeling like I had marked something important.”

“The night beside Jimilangtsho is the one I still think about. No phones, no road noise, just the lake, the mountains and the camp. It was probably the first time in years that I had nowhere else to be.””

“I was worried that the spiritual side might feel a little forced, but it never did. The conversations with the lama were thoughtful and very human. You could take from it what you wanted, which I really appreciated.”

“The combination worked beautifully. You trek hard for several days, then suddenly you are in Haa eating with a family and sitting in a hot stone bath beside a stream. By the time we reached Tiger’s Nest, it felt like the right way to finish.”

“I’ve ridden in a lot of places, but Bhutan was completely different. One minute you’re carving through a mountain pass, the next you’re sitting in a monastery receiving a blessing.”

“The riding was incredible, but it was the stops that made the trip. Farmhouse lunches, small villages, tea at Chelela and people waving as we passed.”

“I expected the roads to be the highlight. They were, but so was everything around them. You never felt like you were rushing through Bhutan just to get to the next hotel.”

“By the end, the bike felt like the best possible way to have seen the country. You notice more, stop more often and somehow feel much closer to everything.”

“Tigers nest was incredible, I only made it because of my best mate Cameron”

“I wrote more in those two weeks than I had in the previous six months. Bhutan gave me new things to write about, but more importantly, it gave me the time to actually write.”

“I loved that it wasn’t a writing retreat where you sit in a room all day. We were out meeting people, seeing extraordinary places and filling notebooks as we went.”

“Meeting Bhutanese writers and artists was one of the highlights for me. We talked about where ideas come from, what makes a story worth telling and how differently we all see the world.”

“I arrived with half an idea and no idea what to do with it. Somewhere between the long drives, conversations and mornings with my notebook, it started becoming a story.”

“I thought Bhutan was going to be really quiet and probably a bit serious. It was nothing like I expected. We went rafting, rode motorbikes to Punakha and went out in Thimphu with people our age. I came home wanting to travel everywhere.”

“The best part was being somewhere where everything felt completely different from home. Spending time with the monks was actually one of my favourite days. We talked, played games and realised we were the same age but living totally different lives.”

“I had never travelled without my family before, so I was nervous at the start. By the end I felt like I could handle anything. Laya was incredible because there was no comfort zone left. You just had to get involved.”

“It was fun, but it also made me think about things I hadn’t really thought about before. I came back more confident, more independent and definitely more interested in seeing the rest of the world.”