Mushroaming Bhutan
Mushrooms, Mountains & Monasteries
July 6 to 19, 2025
The clouds lifted and allowed a peek at the most stunningly located Taktsang Goenba, the Tiger's Nest (3050m / 9970ft).
Cheri's wooden cantilever bridge decorated with Five elements prayer flags.
Mushroaming Bhutan 2025 Itinerary
6-Jul Sun Arrival Paro (2200 m / 7200 ft)) - Thimphu (2335 m / 7660 ft)
Our flight arrives in the morning in Paro. Transfer by bus to Thimphu, Bhutan's capital. Check in into amazing the Druk Hotel. Visit to the vegetable market to check for mushrooms and exotic produce. Afternoon visit to Takin Wildlife Park to see Takin, Serow, Goral, Barking deer and other endemic Himalayan wildlife including gorgeous pheasants.
7-Jul Mon Thimphu - Genekha (3300m / 10800 ft)- Thimphu
Mushroom hunt in Genekha's oak-pine-spruce forest with local mushroom hunters, 1h drive from Thimphu. Genekha is known as Bhutan's foremost sourcing area of matsutake. Here locals collect commercially matsutake since the 1990s and we helped starting a porcini collection. Druk Hotel
8-Jul Tue Thimphu
We have several options for a hike (i.e. Phajoding monastery, 5 hours) or less demanding walks to Chagri or Tango to visit beautiful monasteries. Besides enjoying the impressing destinations along the way we can enjoy wild flowers and mushrooms. In the afternoon we can visit a traditional Daphne fiber paper production and/or Zampa textile studio with weaving and indigo dying. Druk Hotel
9-Jul Wed Thimphu to Tsirang (3290m / 10750 ft)
Along the road of our 6 hour drive to Damphu, Tsirang we will stop at Do Chula Pass with its famous 108 stupas and gorgeous Hemlock forests . Tsirang is known for its gentle slopes and climate as well as biodiversity like birds and butterflies. The area is settled by Nepali speaking Lhotsampa. It is known for organic farms and co-operatives producing vegetables, poultry and eggs, as well as fly fishing and Oyster mushroom farming. Overnight at Damphu Resort
10-Jul Thu Tsirang
11-Jul Fri Tsirang
Mushroom walk in deciduous forest on the "360-degree track", below the Royal Guesthouse in Kilkhorthang Gewog. Afternoon visit to local farms in Khorsenay village.
12-Jul Sat Tsirang to Phobjikha (2900m / 9510ft)
Scenic drive 6 hour drive to Phobjikha valley, a high-altitude wetland, the wintering ground for Black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis).
Visit to Gangtey gonpa, Bhutan's biggest Nyingma monastery, the seat of the Pema Lingpa tradition, founded in 1613. We can listen to the monks chanting their evening prayers. Overnight at Gangtey tent resort
13-Jul Sun Phobjikha
Great options for scenic short- and day hikes as well as for mushroaming excursions. In the open meadows grows "Po Sha", Agaricus campestris. It is widely consumed by the people either cooked or roasted. Gangtey tent resort
14-Jul Mon Phobjikha to Tang (2800m / 9200ft)
Early morning drive (6-7 h) to Trongsa via Pele la pass (3420 m) and continue via Yotong la pass (3425 m) to Bumthang with stops on the way including the gorgeous and tasty Waterfall Willing Café and the impressive Trongsa Dzong castle. Ogyen Choling Guest House
15-Jul Tue Tang
Many options for hikes of varied length with the possibility to roam the forest for mushrooms (towards Phokpey 7 h, Thowadrak 5h, for non-hikers Langmalung Lhakhang. In addition visit Ogyen Choling palace museum, that gives great insights into the life of a feudal aristocratic household and all its economic activities, including agriculture, crafts, i.e. weaving and long distance trading. Ogyen Choling Guest House
16-Jul Wed Tang to Jakar (2587m / 8488ft)
Drive to Jakar via Tangsibi to hunt king boletes, matsutake, hedgehogs, Fried Chicken mushroom and other spruce forest mushrooms. Once in Jakar we can visit Jampe Lhakhang near our lodge. This temple is one of the first that King Songtsen Gampo of Tibet constructed in Bhutan in the 7th century. Overnight in Rinchenling Lodge, where one can book a hot stone bath.
17-Jul Thu Jakar to Paro by plane or bus
Hopefully we can take the 30 min flight from Jakar to Paro, otherwise 8h drive with some nice stops. When traveling with plane (as it always worked out before) we will spend the afternoon in gorgeous woods below Chelela Pass, 1 hour above Paro. Lunch will be served in the woods (with table & chairs) as well! Overnight at Tiger's Nest Camp
18-Jul Fri Paro (2195m / 7200ft) – Tiger Nest / Taktsang (3200m / 10,500ft) - Paro
Peak experience saved for the penultimate day: a beautiful hike ( start in 2650m / 8700ft) up to the incredibly stunning, world famous Tiger's Nest temple built into a sheer granite rock face in the 17th Century. At this site in the 8th Century Padmasambhava who brought Buddhism to Tibet and his spiritual consort Yeshe Tshogyal meditated for three years and the site has been sacred ever since. Tiger's Nest Camp
19-Jul Sat Paro - 4 pm Departure to Bangkok
Morning packing and transfer to Paro, with its cozy restaurants and cafes and the ultimate souvenir & Bhutanese art shopping town.
Note: In the first part of the trip we will be accompanied by Sabitra Pradhan from the National Mushroom Center. She will bring her mushroom drier along and we will collect specimens for the NMC. So far very few fungi have been sequenced, since Bhutan does not have a sequencing lab.
Also, we might still need to do some changes and add a few more items. We are working with Bhutan Homestay, their web page gives a nice idea of the scope of possibilities, though we will not do any homestays.
In addition travel in Bhutan can be strenuous, one factor being altitude, furthermore the roads can be challenging, especially during mushroom season, which is of course during the summer monsoon. So rain ponchos and umbrellas are a good thing to bring along. Also, hunting for mushrooms can include walking up steep slopes with no trails. You must be well on your feet since we will do some hikes as well, but we always offer alternative programs when the hikes a strenuous.
In addition travel in Bhutan can be strenuous, one factor being altitude, furthermore the roads can be challenging, especially during mushroom season, which is of course during the summer monsoon. So rain ponchos and umbrellas are a good thing to bring along. Also, hunting for mushrooms can include walking up steep slopes with no trails. You must be well on your feet since we will do some hikes as well, but we always offer alternative programs when the hikes a strenuous.
2018 Participant comment:
Daniel, I was just talking with a friend about our Bhutan trip and it occurred to me how meaningful the trip was
- not just the mushroom hunting (beyond awesome), the scenery (gorgeous) and the culture; and not just the people individually (what a great group) but the entire package was really so much more than the parts. I have been in the Himalayas a few times and this was the first time I felt profoundly connected to them.
Thank you for putting together an incredible experience.
Jerry Nickelsburg, PhD - Adjunct Professor of Economics - Anderson School of Management, UCLA
Our guide Karma with delicious Himalayan Caesar mushrooms (Amanita hemibapha)
Costs
Land Costs: $ 5250 [with 10 to 12 participants]
[$5650 with 8-9 participants]
includes all accommodations, meals, overland transport, visa & entrance fees
Single room supplement: $450
for registration after Jan. 15, 2025 add late fee $400
Not included:
Flights
to Bangkok: $600 - 1200 rt; International tickets to Bangkok need to be purchased individually by participants.
However, we need to coordinate the flight to Paro, Bhutan from Bangkok (or Delhi). Costs of flights to Bhutan from Bangkok are around $900 rt and Delhi around $700 rt.
One flight within Bhutan on July 17th from Jakar to Paro is about $190, is not included in the tour price. Tickets will be purchased by our agent in Bhutan.
Other expenses:
Souvenirs, alcoholic beverages, hotel bar, phone & laundry, herbal hot baths etc, tips for Bhutanese guides
A nice haul of Boletus reticulceps, the Netcap King bolete, a spruce-associate common in subalpine forests in Bhutan and Eastern Tibet
Bhutan's inviting capital Thimphu is populated by about 100,000 people. In front Thimphu Chu running at 2250 m / 7400 ft.
Super tasty chanterelle pizza enjoyed at Druk Hotel in Thimphu!
A stone relief seen at Dochu La of Ngawang Namgyal or Zhabdrung Rinpoche (1594–1651) who unified Bhutan as a nation-state and also sought to create a distinct Bhutanese cultural identity separate from the Tibetan culture from which it was derived.
A stinkhorn, probably Phallus impudicus, which is common in pine forests. The core of the egg is quite enjoyable eaten raw.
Sese Shamu as Cantharellus cf cibarius is known in Dzongkha. The Chanterelle is highly esteemed and very popular in Bhutan and most are found in oak forests.
The Buddha Mushroom - Tricholoma matsutake. We will participate in a matsutake Festival in Ura, Eastern Bhutan.
Matsutake are mostly collected for export to Japan. Where ever found, markets have sprung up in the last decade.
Yeshe Tsogyal's retreat house in Tiger's Nest / Tak Tsang.
The Himalayan Gypsy (Cortinarius / Rozites emodensis) can be abundant in the woods. It is a choice edible closely related to the Gypsy mushroom (Cortinarius caperatus / Rozites caperata) of the Northern hemisphere.
Allium wallichii, a wild Himalayan onion seen near Thowdrak, Bumthang
The 2019 Mushroaming Fungal Fellowship. During a short stop at an old-growth spruce forest we found Netcap King boletes (Boletus reticuloceps), Ochre Himalayan Caesars (Amanita hemibapha var ochracea or now A. ochracea) and Blewits (Lepista cf nuda). The next mushroom meal was secured!
Trongsa Dzong is the largest dzong fortress in Bhutan, located in the centre of the country. Built on a spur overlooking the gorge of the Mangde River, a temple was first built here in 1543 by Ngagi Wangchuk. In 1647, his great-grandson Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (Shabdrung or Zhabdrung being his title) built the first dzong to replace the temple, which was added on through the Centuries. Photo: ©Bhutan Homestay.
Phajoding Monastery was founded in the 13th Century by Phajo Drugom Zhigpo (1184-1251). However most of the impressive buildings were constructed in 1748 by Gyelwa Shakya Rinchen (1710-1759), the 9th Je Khenpo who is considered to be the reincarnation of Rechungpa, the heart disciple of Milarepa.
Two Bhutanese ladies selling chanterelles, corals and corn along the Thimphu-Paro highway.
A dark blue-gray chanterelle (Craterellus cornucopioides) known as the Horn of Plenty.
It is an excellent edible, but is not often eaten in Bhutan because of its dark color. We cooked it up and it was wonderful.
It is an excellent edible, but is not often eaten in Bhutan because of its dark color. We cooked it up and it was wonderful.
Chanterelles, corals and matsutake are the most common commercial mushrooms.Also visible in this picture in the lower center are "Ripongkar", a Lyophyllum.
The countryside in Zamto Village, Genekha, surrounded by oak-pine forests rich in matsutake and other fungal resources in an altitude of around 3000m.
A young sulfur shelf (Laetiporus sp.), a very tasty and unusual textured edible mushroom.
Dances at the Ura matsutake festival. Note the food stands in the back!
Terraced slopes with farm houses in Punakha.
Lush Himalayan forests along the Lungchutse trial.
Farmhouses above rice fields near Paro.
