Gasa is the northernmost and most sparsely populated district of Bhutan, a remote, high-altitude world of snow-capped peaks, alpine pastures and deep forests along the border with Tibet. Long reachable only on foot, improved roads have finally begun to open this pristine region to a handful of visitors.
Gasa is famous for the Gasa Tshachu, natural hot springs long prized by the Bhutanese for their healing properties, and for the semi-nomadic Layap people of the highland village of Laya, with their distinctive conical bamboo hats and yak-herding way of life. The 17th-century Gasa Dzong watches over the main valley.
For adventurous travellers, Gasa is trekking country of the highest order — home to stretches of the legendary Laya-Gasa and Snowman treks, widely regarded as among the most spectacular and challenging walks anywhere in the Himalaya.