Samdrup Jongkhar Dzong

The Dzongkhag has eight Community Schools, seven Primary Schools, six Junior High Schools and one High School with a total of students of 6,995 as of December 2001.
Samdrup Jongkhar is the gateway to and commercial hub for five Eastern dzongkhags. The dzongkhag’s potential is further enhanced by the commissioning of Kurichu hydropower. Availability of reliable hydropower combined with modern Telecom facilities will change the development landscape of the dzongkhag by offering tremendous opportunities for household, business and industries. Lack of adequate road network also has direct impact on socio-economic development and quality of lives of the people in the dzongkhag.

Trashiyangtse Dzong

Trashiyangtse was a Dungkhag under the administration of Trashigang Dzongkhag till 1992. It was created as a separate full fledged Dzongkhag co-inciding with the start of the seventh plan in 1992. The Dzongkhag has eight geogs namely Bumdeling, Jamkhar, Khamdang, Ramjar, Tomzhangtshen, Trashiyangtse, Toetsho, and Yalang with 117 villages and 3489 households..

Two and half five-year development plans have brought about manifold socio-economic changes in the lives of the people in the Dzongkhag. As of first half of 2006 (4th year of 9th Five Year Plan) the Dzongkhag has one Higher Secondary School, one Middle Secondary School, four Lower Secondary Schools, twenty two community primary Schools, one Hospital, seven Basic Health Units (BHU), eight Renewable Natural Resources (RNR-EC) Extension Centers, one Institute for Zorig Chusum and a 40 KM black topped road. Over 70% of the households have access to piped drinking water supply.

Trashigang Dzong

This dzong, or fortress, was built in 1659 by the third Druk Desi to defend against Tibetan invaders. Because of its altitude invading armies remarked that “it is not a dzong on the ground, it is in the sky”. Now it became the seat of successive Trashigang Dzongpoens who were called the Trashigangpas. Today the Dzong is the headquarters of the Trashigang Dzongkhag

Archery: National Game

National Game of Bhutan Archery

Archery The national sport of Bhutan is archery. Other traditional sports include digor - a kind of shotput, darts and wrestling. Today, most international sports, such as soccer, basket ball, volleyball, tennis, and table tennis are becoming popular. In Bhutan a game of archery has always been a serious business. Tradition has it that if two villages or districts were to compete in a game of archery, elaborate preparations preceded the actual duel. Astrologers consulted the stars and their books of wisdom to divine the most auspicious day to play the game, including even the most favorable sequence of shooting for their players.

Each dzong in Bhutan has a separate space as ‘Bha Cho’ or field of target. Competitions and archery contests are quite colorful and bubbles with excitement. There are often two teams, wearing traditional Bhutanese dresses, competing with each other. Small wooden targets for archers are placed 140 m apart, as opposed to the Olympics, where 50 m is the standard distance

Jumolhari Mountain Base

Jumolhari/Chomolhari mountain base camp, trekking in Bhutan