A storied reminder of the Swiss Alps in the Bhutan Himalayas

The Swiss Guest House in Kharsumphe, Bumthang, is a venerable establishment run by a storied family that has long symbolized the mutual bonds between Bhutan and Switzerland.

Fritz Maurer, the Swiss Dairy expert who founded it, was first sent by the von Schulthess family of Switzerland, personal friends of Bhutan's progressive Third King, His Majesty Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, who wanted to promote Swiss-style dairy farming in Bhutan. The famous Swiss industrialist Fritz von Schulthess, who sent Maurer to Bhutan, was the king's close mentor and confidante, and deep and affectionate relations exist to this day between his grandchildren and the current royal family in Bhutan.

Aside from Bumthang's famous soft Gouda and Swiss Cheese pioneered by Maurer, the Swiss Guest House today is well-known for the magnificent peach blossoms that explode each spring in the ancient royal orchard, which a senior member of the Bhutanese royal family gifted Dasho Maurer for his services to the kingdom.

Several things recommend the Swiss guesthouse over other lodges in its class in Bumthang. It was the region's first must-stay guest house long before any other tourist lodges in the kingdom. But chief among the reasons today is the Swiss Guest House's home-cooked meals, built from scratch by its young chef and manager Sonam (Maurer's daughter from his late Bhutanese wife), who daily prepares a hearty Swiss farmer's breakfast and meticulously bakes the desserts and sets out the charcuterie featuring local ham cured by her dad. Meals are all built from scratch ingredients lovingly grown, tended, and harvested by the chef. Her seasonal offerings and celebrations bring a breath of the Suisse Alps to the central Bhutanese Himalayas.

This charming property stubbornly and straightforwardly clings to its simple original handle of 'guest house,' even as many newer establishments seek to describe themselves more ostentatiously as "resorts," a word that has come to mean something entirely different in Bhutan than its Western connotations would suggest. The SGH's typically simple blend of traditional Bhutanese architecture and Swiss-inspired elements, surrounded by its beautiful orchard, landscaping, and rich history, gives it an aura all its own.