Mongar marks the beginning of eastern Bhutan. The second largest town in the subtropical east, Mongar is built high on a gently sloping hillside.

The journey is one of the most beautiful in all the Himalayas. Rising out of Ura, the highway climbs steeply to the highest pass (3,800 meters, 12,800 ft.) along the West-East highway at Thrumsing La where the mountains of east Bhutan can be seen during clear weather.

The road drops from 3,800 meters to a mere 650 meters in only a few hours passing from pine forest through semi-tropical forest and orange groves. Carved out of the side of the mountain, here the road follows a sheer cliff face 1000 feet above the valley floor. Towns in eastern Bhutan are built on the sides of the hills, which contrasts to valley floor settlements in the west. Some of the finest weaving villages in Bhutan are found in the Mongar area.

Mongar Dzong
Although built in the 1930s and one of Bhutan’s newest Dzongs, it is constructed in the same way as all earlier Dzongs, without plans or nails. A visit to Mongar Dzong shows one how traditional Bhutanese architecture has continued to thrive through the centuries.