Several other sights lie in and around town but further up the valley (towards Tibet) lies what is arguably Bhutan’s iconic picture-postcard monument – the Taktsang Monastery. Commonly known as the ‘Tiger’s Nest’, it is wedged into a lofty cliff nearly a vertical kilometre above the valley.

Rock-cut steps and rickety bridges connect the four wings, whose golden pagoda roofs, fluttering prayer flags and distempered walls are dwarfed by the vista of forested hills and snow-capped mountains unfolding on all sides – this spectacle alone is worth the journey to Bhutan! This fabulous site has long been sacred.

Some of Tibet’s most illustrious sages and saints meditated here from the 8th century. The monastery is reached by a marvellous, though strenuous, uphill walk enlivened throughout by increasingly grand vistas.