Bhutan

The approach into Paro is one of the great arrivals in aviation — a steep descent through a tight river valley that only a handful of certified pilots may fly. Meet your guide and orient in the valley: the Rinpung Dzong straddling the river on a stone bridge, and the National Museum in the old watchtower above it. An evening walk along the river as the light drops.

The icon. The classic day hike climbs through prayer-flag-draped pine forest to a cafeteria viewpoint, then descends to a waterfall and climbs stone steps cut into the cliff — five to seven hours round trip. For the fit, the optional Bumdra extension (2 days, 1 night) camps on a 3,800-metre ridge and descends to Tiger's Nest from above, ahead of the crowds. Photography is not permitted inside the temples.

After yesterday's effort, a traditional Bhutanese hot stone bath: a wooden tub heated by river stones burning since morning, the minerals leaching into the water as they cool. In the late afternoon, dinner with a local farming family — ema datshi (the national dish of chillies and cheese), red rice, and whatever has come in from the garden — then the drive east to Thimphu.

Thimphu is the only capital in the world without a traffic light — a white-gloved officer directs the central intersection by hand. A full day covers the essential arc: the 51-metre Buddha Dordenma above the valley, the government fortress of Tashichho Dzong, the National Memorial Chorten where the elderly circle and spin prayer wheels, twelfth-century Changangkha Lhakhang, and the takin preserve — Bhutan's improbable national animal.

Cross the Dochula Pass (3,088m) — 108 chortens and, on a clear day, the entire eastern Himalaya. Descend into subtropical valley to Sopsokha, the Fertility Village, where every house is painted with phalluses; a twenty-minute walk through paddies reaches Chimi Lhakhang (1499), where a monk blesses pilgrims with a sacred wooden phallus. Close at Punakha Dzong, the most beautiful in Bhutan, at the confluence of the Mother and Father rivers.

A 45-minute morning climb through rice paddies and pine forest to the Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten — four storeys of painted timber and gilded copper, its rooftop giving a 360-degree view of the Punakha valley. Then the road climbs over the Black Mountains (3,300m) and down into Phobjika: a broad, flat, treeless glacial basin at 3,000 metres, unlike anywhere else in Bhutan, with Gangtey Monastery on its forested knoll.

Phobjika is the winter home of the black-necked crane (October–February). The Gangtey Nature Trail descends six kilometres from the monastery through pine forest, bamboo, and open marsh — every habitat the valley contains. Then a three-hour drive returns to Paro for the late-afternoon flight out, the same canyon approach in reverse — this time you know what you are looking at.