Bhutan

Paro Airport is one of the most challenging commercial airports in the world — a short runway in a narrow Himalayan valley at 2,235m, requiring visual approaches and permitting only specially trained pilots. Rinpung Dzong (the fortress-monastery overlooking the Paro valley, 17th century) in the afternoon.

💡 Only Drukair and Bhutan Airlines are certified to land at Paro. The mountain approach — banking between peaks, the runway appearing suddenly in the valley floor — is one of the most memorable landings in commercial aviation.

The Tiger’s Nest (Paro Taktsang) is a monastery complex built into a granite cliff 900m above the Paro Valley floor. The 3h hike (each way) through pine forest ends at four temple buildings clinging to the rock face above a 300m vertical drop. Padmasambhava is said to have meditated here in a cave in the 8th century.

💡 The Tiger’s Nest is genuinely one of the most dramatic architectural sites in Asia — not primarily for spiritual reasons but because the building’s position on the cliff is physically improbable. The walk through the rhododendron forest is excellent in April.

1h drive from Paro. Thimphu is the world’s only capital without a traffic light — a policeman directs traffic from a decorated booth at the main intersection. The National Memorial Chorten (a large white stupa circled by spinning prayer wheels and elderly pilgrims all day), the Tashichho Dzong (the government fortress), the National Museum of Bhutan.

💡 Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness index — the official government metric by which policy is assessed, prioritising wellbeing over GDP — was created in 1972 by the 4th King and has influenced development economics globally. The Centre for Bhutan Studies tracks it with quarterly surveys.

The Folk Heritage Museum (a three-storey rammed-earth farmhouse showing traditional Bhutanese domestic life), the National Textile Museum (Bhutanese weaving — kishuthara silk, raw silk, cotton), the weekend market for yak cheese, red rice, dried chillies and local crafts. The Buddha Dordenma statue (51m bronze-and-gold Buddha above the valley).

💡 The Buddha Dordenma (completed 2015) contains 125,000 smaller Buddha statues inside it — each one individually consecrated. The statue sits at 2,580m above the Thimphu valley and is visible from most of the city. Entry is free.

3h from Thimphu via the Dochula Pass (3,100m, 108 chortens, panoramic Himalayan views on clear days). Punakha Dzong (the “Palace of Great Happiness”, built in 1638, at the confluence of two rivers, the most beautiful dzong in Bhutan) in the afternoon.

💡 The Dochula Pass panorama on a clear morning (typically before 10am before cloud builds) shows a 180-degree sweep of the eastern Himalayas including Masang Gang (7,194m) and Gangkhar Puensum (7,570m, the highest unclimbed peak in the world — Bhutan does not permit summit attempts above 6,000m).

Chimi Lhakhang — the Fertility Temple, dedicated to Drukpa Kunley (the “Divine Madman”, a 15th-century saint whose unconventional methods included using explicit imagery to subdue demons) — across the Punakha rice paddies. The phallus paintings on houses throughout Bhutan also derive from Drukpa Kunley’s tradition.

💡 Drukpa Kunley is one of the most unusual figures in Tibetan Buddhism — a poet, saint and provocateur who deliberately violated social norms to challenge attachment. The painted phalluses on Bhutanese house walls are protective symbols, not decorative choices.

Drive back to Paro via Thimphu (total 3h). The Paro market for final purchases: handwoven textiles, thangka paintings, carved wooden bowls, red rice and buckwheat. The Paro valley in the late afternoon before the next morning’s flight departure.

💡 Red rice (a nutty, slightly chewy variety grown at altitude in the Paro and Punakha valleys) is Bhutan’s staple grain and is available nowhere else in this quality. It keeps for months and makes an excellent edible souvenir.