“The descent was like some kind of mad fairground ride, dodging landslips, swerving around yaks, hollering at macaques”
Above all it is a country in an intriguingly innocent state, having tried and rejected traffic lights, having outlawed tobacco, and having a traditional dress code for its official jobs and educational institutions that means that menfolk, in kho robes, appear to be wearing Scottish kilts, and the women, in kira, look like as demure as Kate Middleton going to work. Aware that all this makes it hugely attractive to travellers, Bhutan has pioneered its own approach to tourism, too. A ‘high value, low numbers’ policy means that visas are only issued for guided travel. As a result, visitors tend to come in either one of two main ways: either as trekkers who head off into remote valleys in groups, or as cultural tourists, who get carried from one monastery to the next in vehicles.
Clockwise from left: Navigating Bhutan's mountain roads. Punakha Dzong Fortress. Two of the children who were intrigued by the Western cyclists who would choose to ride rather than take the support vehicle that travelled with them. Rush hour: Locals wait to take the bridge across the river.
