Samdrup Jongkhar is the oldest town in eastern Bhutan and its principal overland gateway to and from the Indian plains of Assam. Warm, subtropical and busy with cross-border trade, it marks the meeting point of Bhutan's forested hills and the lowlands stretching away to the south.
For most travellers, Samdrup Jongkhar is the natural start or finish of the great eastern Bhutan road journey, linking the remote districts of the east with the airport at Guwahati across the border. The surrounding area offers subtropical nature, lively rural markets and an atmosphere very different from the highland valleys of central and western Bhutan.
A place of transitions and gateways, Samdrup Jongkhar rewards those completing the full traverse of the kingdom from west to east, or beginning their adventure from the plains.