Tsechu Time – Festival in Bhutan

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Tsechu Dancers

From Trongsa, we headed farther east into the Bumthang Valley. We stayed two nights in the area and spent our time visiting dzongs, going for long walks and having fondue and (too much) cheese from the cheese factory started by a Swiss gentleman.

No trip to Bhutan would be complete if you didn’t see a tsechu, one of the many colorful festivals that occur in the spring and fall throughout the country.

Women sing and dance in traditional Bhutanese clothing

After our nights in Bumthang, we stopped in a small village and attended the first of this three-day tsechu. Lines of women singing traditional songs, men dressed as clowns holding wooden penises with condoms (you read that right) and elaborately masked dancers entertained us for hours before a picnic lunch and drive back west.

Women in kiras at farmhouse window

Musicians at tsechu

Woman with baby at tsechu

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