The Paro Chhu is a river of western Bhutan

Bhutan

Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...

. It is a tributary of the Wong Chhu

Raidak River

The Raidak River is a tributary of the Brahmaputra River, and a trans-boundary river, flows through Bhutan, India and Bangladesh.-Bhutan:...

, which is known as the Raidak in its lower reaches.

Course

The Paro Chhu rises to the south of Chomo Lhari (mountain of the Goddess). Its glacial waters plunge torrentially through alpine meadows and deep gorges in the Jigme Dorji National Park

Jigme Dorji National Park

The Jigme Dorji National Park, named after the late Jigme Dorji Wangchuk, is the second-largest National Park of Bhutan. It occupies almost the entire Gasa District, as well as the northern areas of Thimphu District, Paro District, Punakha, and Wangdue Phodrang Districts...

, and descends into a wide, open, undulating valley. Sub-alpine and temperate forests are found along its middle and lower reaches. A prime trout

Trout

Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...

 stream, it nourishes lush green rice fields and apple and peach orchards on its banks.

Paro

The Paro Chhu flows through the Paro Valley, which is the site of one of Bhutan's main towns, Paro

Paro, Bhutan

-History:Rinpung Dzong a fortress-monastery overlooking the Paro valley has a long history. A monastery was first built on the site by Padma Sambhava at the beginning of the tenth century, but it wasn't until 1646 that Ngawang Namgyal built a larger monastery on the old foundations, and for...

, and many important monasteries. The two best known of the monasteries are Taktshang ("Tiger's nest" in Dzongkha), and Paro Dzong

Rinpung Dzong

Rinpung Dzong is a large Drukpa Kagyu Buddhist monastery and fortress in Paro District in Bhutan. It houses the district Monastic Body and government administrative offices of Paro Dzongkhag.-History:...

. Taktshang clings to a ledge of a high cliff approximately 15 km north of Paro. Taktshang and Paro Dzong are two of the finest examples of Bhutanese architecture. Below the dzong, a traditional wooden covered bridge called Nyamai Zam spans the Paro Chhu. The original bridge was washed away in a flood in 1969 and the present one is a reconstruction. Earlier versions of this bridge were removed to protect the dzong. The bridge was also shown in the movie Little Buddha

Little Buddha

Little Buddha is a 1994 feature film by Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci, starring Bridget Fonda and Keanu Reeves. Made by Bertolucci's regular partner, British producer Jeremy Thomas, it marked the team's return to the East after The Last Emperor....

 by Bernardo Bertolucci

Bernardo Bertolucci

Bernardo Bertolucci is an Italian film director and screenwriter, whose films include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Last Emperor and The Dreamers...

  Below the town of Paro, the river runs immediately to the west of Bhutan's only international airport. That airport is renowned for the hair-raising final approach. Only one airline, Druk Air

Druk Air

Druk Air Corporation Limited , operating as Drukair — Royal Bhutan Airlines, is the national airline of the Kingdom of Bhutan. Its headquarters are in the western dzongkhag of Paro....

, is licensed to fly into and out of this airport.

Kayaking

The lower Paro Chhu river is a good stretch of about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) for beginner/intermediate kayakers

Kayaking

Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking and canoeing are also known as paddling. Kayaking is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle...

. This stretch has many small, boulder rapids and wave trains. There is one class IV–V boulder choke, about 3 km from the put in, which can be run on the left and scouted from the right. It is suitable for kayak

Kayak

A kayak is a small, relatively narrow, human-powered boat primarily designed to be manually propelled by means of a double blade paddle.The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each seating one paddler...

s only as the river is too small for a raft

Raft

A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is the most basic of boat design, characterized by the absence of a hull...

 to be enjoyable. After this, the river enters a short, scenic canyon

Canyon

A canyon or gorge is a deep ravine between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Rivers have a natural tendency to reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water it will eventually drain into. This forms a canyon. Most canyons were formed by a process of...

 with more class II–III rapids. The stretch ends at Chhuzom. More experienced kayakers can continue down the Wong Chhu.

Chhuzom

Chhuzom (Chhu means river and zom means join) is the place where Paro Chhu and Wong Chhu meet. For many traditional Bhutanese this confluence is considered the union of a father and mother river. Paro Chhu represents the father and is sometimes called the Pho Chhu, Wong Chu represents the mother. Because Bhutanese traditions regards such a convergence of rivers as inauspicious, there are three chortens here to ward off evil spells in the area. Each chorten is in a different style – Bhutanese, Tibetan and Nepali. The upper reaches of Wong Chhu, above Chhuzom, are sometimes referred to as Thimphu Chhu.