Gasa Tshachu (Hot Springs)

The Gasa Tshachu are mineral hot springs on the bank of the Mo Chhu at about 2,100m, below Gasa Dzong in Bhutan's far north west. They are the best known tshachu in the country and are traditionally held to relieve thirteen kinds of ailment, which is why Bhutanese families travel for days to sit in them, particularly in winter.

The pools are simple stone baths fed directly by the spring, with separate enclosures and basic changing shelters, and they fill up in the cold months when the road is quietest. For trekkers the springs sit on the Laya Gasa route and are usually reached on the descent rather than the climb, which is the sensible way round.