Bhutan

Bhutan's most iconic image, the Tiger's Nest clings to a sheer cliff face 900 metres above the Paro Valley floor, accessible only via a two-hour hike through blue pine and rhododendron forest. Founded in 1692 on the spot where Guru Rinpoche is said to have flown from Tibet on the back of a tigress to meditate in a cave, the monastery complex is a place of extraordinary spiritual atmosphere.

Built at the confluence of the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu rivers in 1637, Punakha Dzong is widely regarded as the most beautiful building in the Himalayas — a white, gold, and terracotta fortress that has served as Bhutan's administrative and religious capital for centuries. In winter, the jacaranda trees that surround the dzong bloom in cascades of purple blossom against the white walls.

One of the world's last capital cities without a traffic light — replaced by white-gloved traffic police — Thimphu is a fascinating blend of traditional Bhutanese architecture and cautious modernity. The Memorial Chorten, the weekend market, and the National Institute for Zorig Chusum (traditional arts) give visitors genuine access to the Bhutanese way of life.

A broad glacial valley of remarkable beauty on the slopes of the Black Mountains, Phobjikha is the winter home of the black-necked crane — a sacred bird in Bhutanese Buddhism — which migrates here from Tibet between October and February in flocks that the valley's monks celebrate with an annual crane festival. The valley's monastery, Gangtey Gompa, overlooks the wetlands from a forested ridge.

Bhutan's spiritual heartland, the Bumthang district contains four sub-valleys with an extraordinary concentration of ancient temples and monasteries, including Jambay Lhakhang, believed to date from the 7th century. This is the part of Bhutan that most closely preserves the ancient way of life, where traditional farmhouses and red-robed monks are the dominant presences in the landscape.

Only opened to tourists in 2002, the Haa Valley in western Bhutan is one of the country's least-visited and most beautiful valleys, where traditional lhakhangs (temples) and ancient farmhouses sit beneath conifer forests reaching up to the snow line. The valley's high meadows are grazed by yak herders in summer, and its hiking trails offer access to pristine Himalayan wilderness almost unknown to international travellers.