Thimphu in 3 days

Dochula Pass (3,100 m altitude — the mountain pass on the road from Thimphu to Punakha, 30 km east of Thimphu; the finest Himalayan panorama accessible by road in Bhutan: on clear days (typically best October-February in the early morning), the Himalayan peaks visible from Dochula include Masagang (7,194 m), Tsendagang (6,960 m), Terigang (7,060 m) and Gangkhar Puensum (7,570 m — the highest unclimbed mountain in the world; Bhutan has banned all mountaineering above 6,000 m since 2003 for religious and cultural reasons, making Gangkhar Puensum permanently and deliberately unclimbed — the first major peak over 7,000 m in the world to be permanently protected from summit attempts)); the 108 memorial chortens (the 108 Druk Wangyal Chortens — built in 2004-2005 by Queen Mother Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck to commemorate the victory of the Royal Bhutan Army over Assamese militant groups (the ULFA and BODO groups who had established bases in Bhutanese territory in 2003) in the 2003 military operation ordered by the 4th King (the only military operation conducted by the Royal Bhutan Army in modern Bhutanese history)); the Druk Wangyal Lhakhang (the temple at the pass).

Punakha Dzong (Pungtang Dechen Photrang Dzong — "the palace of great happiness and bliss"; built 1637-1638 by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal at the precise confluence of the Pho Chhu (Father River) and Mo Chhu (Mother River) — the two rivers are the twin tributaries of the Sankosh River; the dzong sits on the narrow land spur between the two rivers at the confluence point (the most strategic and most visually dramatic site of any dzong in Bhutan); the architectural significance: Punakha Dzong is the most beautiful building in Bhutan and one of the most magnificent historic buildings in Asia — the 180-metre-long white fortress with the gilded golden roofs, the multiple courtyards, the five-storey central tower (utse) and the setting at the river confluence surrounded by the Himalayan foothills makes it the most photographed structure in Bhutan; the historical significance (Punakha was the winter capital of Bhutan until 1955 — the Je Khenpo and the court migrated between Thimphu (summer) and Punakha (winter) annually; the Royal Wedding of King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Jetsun Pema was held at Punakha Dzong in October 2011 — the most-watched royal wedding in Bhutan's history).

Chimi Lhakhang (the "Divine Madman's Temple" — the small hilltop monastery in the Punakha valley built in 1499 by the Drukpa Kunley (known as "the Divine Madman" — the wandering tantric master and poet (1455-1529) who used unconventional methods including sexual activity, outrageous behaviour and irreverent humour to transmit Buddhist teachings; the Drukpa Kunley is one of the most beloved and colourful figures in Bhutanese religious tradition; his "teaching style" (the use of his phallus as a magical device to subdue demons and bless devotees) is commemorated by the phallic symbols painted on traditional Bhutanese houses throughout the country (the painted phalluses on house facades are a uniquely Bhutanese folk tradition, found throughout the country, representing fertility and protection against evil spirits)); the fertility pilgrimage (Chimi Lhakhang is the principal fertility shrine in Bhutan — couples who wish to conceive make pilgrimages to the temple to receive the blessing of the monk with a wooden phallus carved in the form of the Drukpa Kunley's "magic thunderbolt"); the walk to the temple (the path through the Punakha valley rice fields (the Punakha valley at 1,200 m is the lowest and warmest valley in western Bhutan — the rice fields, the orange trees and the banana plants).

Return to Thimphu with evening stops: the Takin Preserve (the Motithang Takin Preserve — the preserve housing Bhutan's national animal, the takin (Budorcas taxicolor — the most unusual large mammal in Asia; the takin is morphologically bizarre: the body of a wildebeest (the massive barrel chest, the large head with the Roman nose and the backward-curving horns) on the legs of a mountain goat (the sure-footed cloven-hooved legs adapted for steep terrain); the takin was classified as the Bhutanese national animal in 1980 (the legend: the divine madman Drukpa Kunley created the takin by assembling the bones and skull of a goat with the bones of a cow and bringing the assembled composite to life with his blessing — the "national origin myth" of Bhutan's most eccentric national symbol); the preserve houses 30-40 takin individuals; the Institute for Zorig Chusum (the national arts and crafts training institute where students study the 13 traditional arts (zorig chusum) of Bhutan: thangka painting, woodcarving, clay sculpture, lacquerwork, silversmithing, weaving, embroidery, papermaking, bamboo work, cane work, blacksmithing, stonework and gold/silversmithing); watch students practising the traditional arts).

Paro Taktsang (Tiger's Nest — the Taktsang Palphug Monastery, built 1692 at 3,120 m altitude on a granite cliff face 900 m above the Paro valley floor; the monastery clings to the sheer cliff at a point where the cliff overhangs the monastery buildings (the buildings appear to be growing directly from the vertical granite face with no visible support); the sacred significance: the site where the Indian tantric master Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche — the 8th-century master who introduced Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet) flew from Tibet on the back of a tigress (the tigress was a manifestation of his consort Yeshe Tsogyal) and meditated in the cave (Taktsang Cave) for three months in 747 CE — the most sacred site in Bhutan; the hike (the 4-hour round-trip hike from the Paro valley floor (2,200 m) to the monastery (3,120 m): the first 2.5 km trail through the pine forest (the smell of the Himalayan blue pine (Pinus wallichiana) and the prayer flag strings between the trees); the cafeteria viewpoint at 2,850 m (the most photographed view of Tiger's Nest — the monastery directly across the ravine); the final descent into the ravine and the 646-step staircase to the monastery entrance; the monastery interior (4 temples with the 8th-century meditation cave; shoes must be removed at the entrance).

Rinpung Dzong (Paro Dzong — "the fortress of the heap of jewels"; built 1645-1646 on the rocky spur above the Paro valley; the dzong that inspired James Hilton's Shangri-La in "Lost Horizon" (1937) (Hilton placed his fictional Shangri-La in a Himalayan valley that clearly draws on Paro — the remote valley accessible only through a narrow gorge, the lamasery perched on the rocky spur, the permanent spring-like climate and the hidden paradise inaccessible to the outside world)); the wooden cantilever bridge below the dzong (the Nyamai Zampa — the traditional Bhutanese cantilever footbridge made of woven bamboo and timber; the original bridge was built in the 14th century and has been rebuilt multiple times in the traditional form; the bridge is the most photographed structure in the Paro valley after Tiger's Nest); the dzong uses (Rinpung Dzong serves as the administrative centre of Paro district and houses the monastic body of approximately 200 monks (the monks perform the Paro Tsechu festival (the annual spring festival — the most important festival in western Bhutan, held for 5 days in March-April) in the dzong courtyard).

Paro National Museum (the Ta Dzong — the circular watchtower above Rinpung Dzong, built in 1651 as part of the dzong's defensive system; converted to the National Museum of Bhutan in 1967; the collection documents Bhutanese art and artefacts: the thangka paintings (the traditional Buddhist scroll paintings on cotton or silk — the finest thangka in the National Museum collection date to the 16th-17th century and include the elaborate mandala thangkas and the lineage thangkas depicting the transmission line of Buddhist teachings); the natural history collection (the takin specimens and the endemic Himalayan wildlife of Bhutan); the philatelic collection (Bhutan was the first country in the world to issue three-dimensional (3D hologram) stamps (1967) and talking stamps (vinyl record stamps, also 1967) — the most innovative philatelic programme in the world in the 1960s, partly funded to generate hard currency for the developing Bhutanese economy)); Kichu Lhakhang (the oldest temple in Bhutan — built in 659 CE by the Tibetan emperor Songtsen Gampo (the king who introduced Buddhism to Tibet) as one of the 108 temples built simultaneously across Tibet and the Himalayas to pin down the demoness whose body was spread across the landscape (the Kichu Lhakhang pins down her left foot)).

Traditional Bhutanese hot stone bath (Menchu — the traditional Bhutanese therapeutic bath experience (the dotsho — the bath house with the outdoor fire); the method: river stones (typically the local granite or schist stones of the Paro River) are heated in an outdoor fire for 3-4 hours until they are intensely hot (the stones crack and glow in the fire); the hot stones are then placed in the wooden bathtub through a wooden sluice into a separate compartment in the tub (the stones heat the water in the tub without the bather touching the stones directly); the minerals from the stones (the artemisia (mugwort) herb, dried rhodendron flowers and other medicinal herbs are added to the water in the traditional dotsho) give the water the therapeutic properties that Bhutanese traditional medicine attributes to the treatment of arthritis, body aches and mental stress; the farmhouse dinner (the traditional Bhutanese farmhouse homestay dinner of Ema Datshi, red rice, Phaksha Paa and the Bhutanese butter tea (the Süja — the tea churned with yak butter and salt — the standard hot beverage of Bhutan, Tibet and the high Himalayan communities)).