Gangtey Lodge

About this property

Gangtey Lodge is a converted Bhutanese farmhouse on the eastern rim of Phobjikha, a wide U-shaped glacial valley at 3,000 metres that stays green and open when the rest of the country is folded into gorges. Twelve suites face west across the marshland toward Gangtey Goenpa, the seventeenth-century monastery on the far ridge.

Every suite has a bukhari wood stove, a freestanding bathtub set at the window, and a valley view; the lodge is small enough that the whole place can feel like a private house. The kitchen is unusually good for a property this remote, and afternoon tea in front of the fire in the main room is something of an institution.

Between late October and mid-February the valley fills with black-necked cranes flying in from Tibet — Phobjikha is their most important wintering ground in Bhutan, and the Black-Necked Crane Festival is held at the monastery each November. Out of season the Gangtey Nature Trail, a gentle two-hour walk from the monastery down across the valley floor, starts a few minutes from the door.