Bhutan

Phobjikha is a bowl-shaped glacial valley on the western slopes of the Black Mountains, bordering the Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park. Because of the large flock of black-necked cranes that winters here, it is one of the most important wildlife preserves in the country. In addition to the cranes there are muntjacs (barking deer), wild boars, sambars, serows, Himalayan black bears, leopards and red foxes in the surrounding hills. Some people refer to this entire region as Gangte (or Gangtey), after the goemba that sits on a ridge above the valley.

Intrepid travelers venturing to the wild and rugged east of Bhutan will be rewarded with fascinating villages and towns little influenced by tourism, group-free dzongs and temples, beautiful silks and amazing embroidery. Most of the population lives in tiny settlements secreted high above roads or in isolated valleys. The remote east is home to minority ethnic groups, some comprising fewer than 1000 people, and is unrivalled in traditional arts and crafts.

Whether you arrive by air at the dramatic, mountain-bound Paro valley or by road at steamy Phuentsholing, it soon becomes clear that you have arrived at an otherworldly destination. Prayer flags flutter from nearly every rooftop, men and women dress in traditional garb, chortens and stupas decorate river and road junctions, and fortress-like monasteries command mountaintops.

Strung out along the Wang Chhu, Thimphu is Bhutan's own mini-metropolis, an expanding bubble of shopping complexes, monasteries and chalet-like apartment buildings that reverts quickly to blue-pine forest at the city limits.

The charming town of Paro lies on the banks of the Paro (or Pa) Chhu, just a short distance northwest of the imposing Paro Dzong. The main street, only built in 1985, is lined with colorfully painted wooden shopfronts and restaurants, though these appear under threat as the town grows and multistorey concrete buildings continue to pop up. For now Paro remains one of the best Bhutanese towns to explore on foot and is worth an hour or two's stroll at the end of a day of sightseeing.

Rikt kulturarv och buddistisk harmoni parat med het chili och vacker bergsnatur. Bhutan bjuder på många resehöjdpunkter. Vagabonds reporter Mikael Persson listar fem favoritplatser i det sagolika landet.

Pyramidformade berg visar vägen. Fortsättningen är som en dröm: mäktiga klosterborgar, virvlande glaciärvatten och munkprocessioner i rött. Bhutan är landet som lunkar framåt på sin egen stig.

Vagabonds guide till Bhutan. Här tipsar vi om saker att se och göra i det natursköna landet.