Bhutan

Bhutan runs a Sustainable Development Fee, which keeps numbers down and costs up; the trade is quieter valleys and no coach parks. Paro and Thimphu are the entry, but the country improves eastward. Punakha’s dzong sits at the meeting of two rivers and is the handsomest building in the Himalaya. Phobjikha fills with black-necked cranes from late October, and the valley has no overhead cables because they were buried for the birds. The Trans Bhutan Trail can be walked in sections, three to five hours a day between villages. Tshechu festivals move with the lunar calendar, so dates confirm late; if a masked dance matters to you, tell us early and we will build around it.