The Western Valleys

The four main valleys of West Bhutan - the Paro, Ha, Thimphu and Punakha valleys run in a north-south direction, so that each of these separate valley populations had lively trade relationships with Tibet and India, but had only limited contact amongst each other.

An exception is the relationship between the Thimphu and the Punakha. Already for a long time the state clergy and the royal family, together with their royal household, spent their winter months, not in the higher located capital of their province, but in the much warmer Punakha. For this reason, wealthy families from Thimphu often own and lease land and animals in Punakha, which are then cared for by hired herders.

Since in the high valley of Ha no rice can be cultivated, the inhabitants of this region, who mainly pursue animal breeding, are in this respect dependent upon the Paro Valley. At the time of the rice harvest, now as then, they migrate to Paro in order to help with the harvesting of the grain and the replanting of the rice bushels. As payment they recieve rice, which their horses and yaks carry back home to Ha.