Mongar

The beauty of Mongar begins well before travellers set foot in the sleepy, mountaintop town. Set midway between Thimphu and Trashigang, this high-altitude settlement is encompassed by a sea of Himalayan valleys dressed in cloud and colourful blooms of rhododendron. As the main roadway (one of the few in the country) weaves its way between dense forests and green pastures abutting sheer cliffs, sweeping vistas of this remote and wonderful section of the world’s mightiest mountains unfold on all sides.

Once in, travellers here can delve into a marketplace of stalls selling lemongrass oils and traditional dress, or explore the traditional half-timbered homes and the spots that make this town one of Bhutan’s educational hubs. The major pulls of the town however, lurk just outside of the center, going from the beautiful 16th-century walls of Yagang Lhakhang (crammed full with prayer flags and ritualistic masks), to the fascinating Mongar Dzong and the crumbling remnants of the Zhongar Dzong, left over from the Middle Ages. Your Mongar tour guide will tell you to plan your visit around the Tshechu in November, when visitors can view the dance of the Drums of Dramitse, a product of the Dramitse Lhakhang.