Paro

Paro Valley is where every visitor to Bhutan arrives, and where most leave — a broad, deeply fertile valley at 2,200 metres, watered by the turquoise Paro Chhu river, flanked by forested ridges and watched over by the ruins of an ancient fortress and the spires of the dzong on its hilltop above the town. The valley floor is a patchwork of terraced rice fields and apple orchards; the upper valley is one of the most dramatic high-altitude landscapes in the Himalayas, culminating at the 7,326-metre summit of Mount Jomolhari.

The flight into Paro is one of the most spectacular in the world — only eight specially certified pilots are authorised to land at its narrow runway, flanked by mountains on all sides. The approach twists between peaks and descends over terraced fields before touching down in what feels like the middle of a fairy tale. Those lucky enough to fly on a clear day see Jomolhari and the Himalayan chain from directly alongside.

Paro's greatest treasure is Taktsang Palphug Monastery — the Tiger's Nest — which clings to a sheer cliff face 900 metres above the valley floor with an audacity that still startles the eye after decades of photographs. But Paro is far more than its most famous attraction: a magnificent 17th-century dzong, Bhutan's oldest temple (7th century), the national museum, dramatic ruins of a border fortress, and a town of traditional painted wooden shopfronts and welcoming teahouses make it among the richest single destinations in the Himalayan region.

The legend behind Taktsang is as extraordinary as its location. In 747 CE, the great Indian master Guru Padmasambhava — revered as the Second Buddha and the man who brought Buddhism to Bhutan — flew to this cliffside from eastern Bhutan on the back of a tigress (a manifestation of his consort, Yeshe Tsogyal). Here, disguised as the wrathful deity Dorje Drolo, he meditated for three years, three months, three weeks, and three days in a cave, subjugating the malicious spirits of the region. He then emerged in his eight divine manifestations, establishing the site as one of the most powerful sacred places in the Buddhist world.

The first physical temple structure was built around the cave in 1692 by Gyalse Tenzin Rabgye. Most of the current complex — four main temples surrounding the original meditation cave — was meticulously reconstructed after a devastating fire in 1998 and reopened in 2005 under the direction of Bhutan's fourth king. The only relic to survive both the 1998 fire and an earlier 1951 blaze is the sacred Guru Sungjonma statue — believed to have spoken aloud and transported itself miraculously to the monastery.

There are currently four interconnected temples with stairs cut into the cliff face and a dramatic waterfall-fed gorge to cross via a bridge at mid-point. The interiors contain some of the finest painted murals in Bhutan — intricate depictions of Buddhist deities, cosmological diagrams, and the life of Guru Rinpoche. Photography is not permitted inside any of the chapels.