Kuenga Rabten Palace

Kuenga Rabten stands about 23km south of Trongsa at roughly 1,750m, looking down over the Mangde Chhu. It was built in 1929 as the winter residence of Jigme Wangchuck, Bhutan's second king, under the supervision of Dasho Jamyang, father of his senior queen Ashi Phuntsho Choden.

The court moved down here from Trongsa for the cold months, which is why a palace of this size sits in a valley this quiet. It opened to visitors in the 1970s as Bhutan began receiving foreign guests, and today it houses monks of the Trongsa monastic body alongside the rooms that are shown. The drive down from Trongsa is the reason most people come, as much as the house at the end of it.