COMO Uma Bhutan – stay in ‘paradise’ on one of the last luxury tourism frontiers
Helicopter rides, archery classes and yak dumplings make for a highly memorable visit to the mysterious Himalayan kingdom
There’s a COMO in Bhutan? No – there are two in the landlocked, mysterious Himalayan Buddhist kingdom whose name means “land of the thunder dragon”. One is COMO Uma Paro, close to Bhutan’s airport and its most famous monastery, the Tiger’s Nest; the other is COMO Uma Punakha, three hours’ drive away, in a valley on the bend of a sacred river.
Ah. Surely most hotels want to avoid being near a flight path?
True, but this is a very special flight path. Planes bank sharply in the distance, with the beautiful verdant valley and snow-capped mountains behind them. It’s quite the vista. There are only 12 pilots in the world registered to land in Paro, the country’s sole international airport. It’s a manual landing and occasionally a bit of a hair-raiser for passengers. There are also only 10 flights a day, so it’s hardly going to affect your sleep.
I see. What else makes these places so special, then? Apart from the breathtaking locations, decor, food, service, amenities, staff and, in Punakha, a gorgeous in-house retriever called Freddy, not much. Oh, except for the new helicopter adventure, a six-night itinerary staying in both properties that takes you to places rarely – if ever – visited by foreign travellers.
