Welcome to Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park

Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park (JSWNP) is endowed with large areas of natural ecosystems and great altitudinal ranges creating unusually high levels of biological diversity. Unlike other national parks around the world, JSWNP is also a home to several cultural rich agricultural villages which can be visited during a six day low-altitude trek. The overriding challenge of the park management is to strike a balance between safeguarding wildlife and human needs thereby creating a win-win situation. For effective management, the park is judiciously divided into three zones namely: core zone, buffer zone and multiple-use zone. The multiple-use zone is the area where villagers live, where agricultural activities can be undertaken and where tourists are allowed to enter.

The Nabji trail, the six- day low-altitude trek, is set out in this specific area. The following code of conduct applies to tourists visiting the park,

Code of Conduct.

General visiting conditions:

The Nabji trek is an ideal winter trek for which bookings can be made through an authorized Bhutanese tour operator. A maximum number of 11 people per group are allowed on the trek (incl. The FTO tour guide if any). Most tourism products offered are compulsory (use of campsite, village guides, porters, cooks). Others are optional (cultural performances, buying crafts, vegetables and firewood).

Here are some tips to minimize your impact on community and environment in Jigme SingyeNational Park

Environmental tips:
1. Don’t buy mineral water bottles. Each campsite at the Nabji trail has a water filter for drinking water, providing a basic supply of drinking water per tour group. We suggest you to bring iodine tablets or iodine solution to purify water while trekking.
2. Help the villagers to save firewood! Gas will be used to prepare food at the campsites along the Nabji trail.
3. Try to avoid generating waste while trekking.
4. Do not litter along the trail and at campsites, or in villages. Bring back all solid waste generated during the trek. At the end of the Nabji trail is an incinerator (basic burner) where all solid waste will be burnt. Each campsite along the trail has a pit for biodegradable products.
5. Don’t throw away batteries. Collect all types of batteries and take them back home with you because there is no battery recycling plant in Bhutan
6. Stick to the main trail. It helps reduce erosion and the destruction of plant life. Always go with your guide (they can tell you stories of what happens when you go off the trail).
7. Don’t make a campfire. It consumes a lot of firewood to warm you for a couple of hours, instead wear sufficient clothes while trekking in high mountain regions.
8. Collection of flora (incl. Firewood) and fauna (or parts of wildlife) is not allowed.
9. Shoot photos, NOT animals! Don’t tease or disturb wildlife, take photos of wildlife in their natural habitat, but please don’t make photos during nighttime.

Cultural tips:

1. Respect the local culture and costumes.
2. Dress modestly; wear clothes that cover the body at least from chest to knee while hiking.
3. Take off your shoes while visiting religious places such as temples or monasteries. If you want to enter a temple (Lhakhang) or monastery, wear long sleeves, long pants or a skirt and remove your hat.
4. Always walk in a clockwise direction while visiting religious places such as temples or monasteries, or around prayer flags.
5. Don’t drink alcohol and don’t smoke while visiting religious places (Lhakhang, chorten etc).
6. Photography and filming inside a temple is not allowed.
7. Ask permission before taking a picture of local people or places.
8. Discourage begging. Don’t give money or candy to local children. It will encourage them to beg whenever they see foreigners. Instead you may leave small donations to schools or the village development fund (for each of the villages along the Nabji trail) so that the money can be used to benefit the whole community.
9. And please, give necessary comments and good suggestions to the local people/committees to improve their campsite, and other services.

Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but good memories!!!

ITINERARY
Introduction

The Nabji-Korphu Trail is an ideal post-harvest/winter trekking within the Jigme SingyeWangchuck National Park located in Central Bhutan. The trail is a six-day low-altitude trek (between 693m/23100 ft and 1,636m/5453ft) through six different villages.

On this trek, you will possibly see the Golden Langur, one of the rare primates, which can only be found in Bhutan and neighboring Assam. Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park is also home to the endangered Rufous-necked Hornbill. The trail is a superb place for birding and has a wide variety of plants and flowers found in this Himalayan area.

Besides the natural beauty the area also has substantial cultural history, witnessed among others a commemorative pillar in the temple of Nabji symbolizing the occasion of peace negotiated between the two kings (King Nauche from India and King Sindhu from Bhutan) by Guru Rinpoche in the eighth century. The first two days of the trek will go through the homeland of the Monpa people thought to be the first settlers in Bhutan. The Monpas practice a mix of animistic shamanism and Buddhism. They were originally hunters and food gatherers and their culture, tradition and practices were intrinsically linked to the forest around them. They are traditionally cane weavers and bamboo crafters, using their skill for house construction, making baskets and other household items.

Community Tourism.

The Nabji-Korphu Trail supports the park management in their efforts to conserve nature by creating more awareness on natural and environmental issues through tourism and introducing socio-economic benefits. Specific measures are put in place to maximize socio-economic benefits and minimize negative impacts from tourism development and to create more awareness on natural, environmental, and cultural issues.

A waste management system has been put in place where tour groups have to carry their non-degradable waste out of the park. Waste can be disposed off at the Park Range Office in Tongtongfey, where a small incinerator is built.

The community will have a sole responsibility to manage and provide services on the trek. The rates for these services are standardized and each village has a tourism Management Committee (TMC), appointed by the villagers. The TMC will monitor and control the services, revenue collection and utilization through the Community Development Fund (CDF). The revenue so collected will go directly into CDF bank account.

Accessibility.

Best time to visit the area is from October to March. The Pilot Community steering committee has set specific dates to visit the park (only one tourist group can visit at a time). Bookings can be made through a Bhutanese Tour Operator who will arrange reservation of park permits and prepare the necessary road permits. A maximum number of 11 people per tour group are allowed on the trek.

Service Package.

The service package includes community camping sites with basic facilities, local lunches, tea or meal, porters, village guides and cooks. Other services and programmes offered are a cultural program, handicraft made out of cane and bamboo, vegetables and firewood. Basically all the campsites will have more or less the same facilities such as camping ground, toilets, shower, kitchen and a mini theatre (two campsites) for cultural program. A minimal amount will be charged on top of the services provided, which will go directly to CDF.

Suggested itinerary.

Day 1 Tongtongfey: (1000 m)-Jangbi(1350m), about 3 hours
After furnishing yourself with ample information about the trek of the information booth at the park-range office in Tongtongfey, the Jangbi village guide steers you down to the Mangdi river where you cross a suspension bridge. The first day brings you in contact with the Monpas who are believed to be the first inhabitants of Bhutan. A glimpse on their lifestyle further validates their ethnicity, coupled by mythical legends about their origins. The Campsite at Jangbi stands on the valley sill, which offers a beautiful view of the Mangde valley.

Day 2: Jangbi (1350 m)-Kudra (1,500 m)-about 6 hours
The morning allows you to further interact with the Monpas. Before you proceed, you could pay a visit to the orchid garden for your indulgence in botanical photography. The hike to Kudra provides a touch of jovial atmosphere because this part of the trail meanders along stone imprints of Guru Rimpoche’s footprints, dagger and phallus, festooned with stories that support Guru’s activities. Lunch is served just before you reach Ugyendra, a steep cliff below Phrumzur, one of the few villages of the Monpa communities scattered along the trail. With renewed energy from lunch, you could visit the village Lhakhang and then proceed to the campsite at Kudra.

Day 3: Kudra(1,500 m)-Nabji(1,300 m); about 6 hours
You could wake up with a distant call of the Rufus-necked hornbill. This part of the trek is an assortment of streams, waterfalls and thick forests that will give you an invigorating feeling of being out in the wild. The Great Himalayan Squirrel, Rhesus Macaques, and small snakes are often spotted along the trail. Unseen but present, are Himalayan black bear, Red pandas, Clouded leopards and many more. Upon arrival at the holy tree in Nabji, the people will give you a heart-warming reception. Nabji is a beautiful village with endless paddy fields demarcating the valley and surrounding the campsite.

Day 4: Nabji village(1,300m)-Korphu(1,500m), about 3 hours
En Route to Korphu, the Nabji village is located in the middle of the paddy fields. Inside, there remains a stone pillar on which Guru Rinpoche, while traveling through Bhutan in the 8th Century, brought consensus between two warring kings by imprinting their thumbs on each side of the stone. Korphu is situated on the mountaintop at an altitude of 1,500m. The most striking thing about Korphu is that the people exemplify hospitality almost treating you like “A king on accession to throne”. You have the option of being welcomed with a traditional “chipdrel” procession and a “Marchang” ceremony, singing traditional songs of praise and well-being for the new visitors. They also perform the traditional “Tashi Labey” to bid you farewell. If you are interested, you can participate in a quintessential Bhutanese games of “Khuru”, ‘Dego’, ‘Sok-sum’, and Gee-dum’, all on the brink of fading away. You could also pay a visit to the village temple that houses the sacred relics of Pema Lingpa, the famous ‘Treasure revealer’ of Bhutan. The village campsite provides a spectacular bird’s-eye view of Nabji and surrounding areas.

Day 5: Korphu (1,500m)-Nyimshong (1,300m), about 5 hours
The day from Korphu to Nyimshong is pleasant and arguably the best birding spot which can boast a bird list of more than395 species, with among others the Rufus-Necked hornbill which has its nestling holes adjacent to the trail. The walk is mixed with waterfalls, streams, and cantilever bridges. The evening brings you to Nyimshong, a village with its reticent architecture and lifestyle. The woman of Nyimshong have a fondness for singing and dancing and a cultural show would be ideal to express certain euphoria to end your trek. Of course this is optional.

Day 6: Nyimshong (1,300m)-Reotala(1000m), about 3 hours
If you are lucky, the Golden langurs will lead you to the exit. You descend down to the Mangde river again to see some herons and River-lapwings. An hour’s steep ascend to the road and your driver will drive you back to Trongsa.