Paro - Open Sesame
As you fly into Bhutan you will find that Paro is as apt an introduction to Bhutan as there can be. The place reflects all of Bhutan. Fresh with crisp, clean mountain air Paro is a valley encased by walls of mountains that are dotted with Buddhist stupas and monasteries. And a river runs through it.

The most prominent structure in the valley is the elegant Rinpung Dzong which, like most dzongs in Bhutan, is built upon an elevated vantage point that overlooks the largest stretch of the valley.The Rinpung Dzong is the monastic and administrative center of the district. Up on a hillock above the dzong rises what was once a watchtower. This, the Ta Dzong, is now the National Museum.

On touchdown in Paro the very airport itself will speak of the Bhutanese element that pervades all buildings in Bhutan. But for architectural marvel you must travel some distance upstream where the Taktsang monastery - seriously damaged in a 1998 fire and now under reconstruction - stands on the sheer face of a granite cliff.

The architectural feat represents the strength of religious fervour in Bhutan. Drukgyel Dzong (the Fortress of the Victorious Drukpas), located 18 kilometres from Paro town, is another monument to the Bhutanese spirit. It was from here that Bhutan repeatedly and successfully drove back Tibetan invaders.

However, for all the peace and calm of the valley, Paro is widely regarded as a "rice bowl" valley and is one of the most prosperous settlements in a country that is dominantly agrarian.

Phuentsholing - Commercial Hub
Phuentsholing's importance arises from the fact that it borders India, the country that is the one major trading partner of Bhutan. It is this border that makes the town a lively jumble of Bhutanese and Indian cultures, peoples and products. Little surprise, therefore, that Phuentsholing is not far from the 1020-megawatt Tala hydroelectric power plant, the largest single socio-economic development project ever attempted by Bhutan.

Yet, even with the din of commerce, serenity is but a few minutes drive away. The Amo Chu, a river whose banks are a favoured picnic spot, creeps nonchalantly by the town while a gardened monastery sits perched on the hillock of Kharbandi.

Thimphu - The Political Core
Thimphu is one of the smallest capitals yet, almost ironically, also one of the fastest growing urban centers in the world. The population growth rate is over seven percent per year. No more than a collection of villages and a centralised dzong before it became the capital in 1956, Thimphu is now the largest Bhutanese town and represents the peak of Bhutan's modest economic advancement. Still, it has no lack of religious and cultural character.

It was from this valley that the sons of Phajo Drugom Zhipo, the founder of the state religion in Bhutan, spread the Drukpa Kagyu school of Buddhism in Druk Yul; and numerous monasteries and religious centers still adorn its hills. It remains the summer residence of the Je Khenpo, the religious head of the country, and of the Central Monk Body. It was also in Thimphu that a decisive battle in 1885 allowed the first king, Sir Ugen Wangchuck, to unify Bhutan and later establish a monarchy. The fourth King, His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck, today rules Bhutan from the Golden Throne in Thimphu's Tashichhodzong (the Fortress of the Auspicious Religion).

Life in Thimphu revolves around the town's main street, Norzin Lam, which is split into two levels and comprises a mix of shops, hotels and restaurants. Visitors will find Thimphu has many other places of interest such as the School of Arts and Crafts, the National Institute of Traditional Medicine, the Handicrafts Emporium and the bronze workshop.

As a recent edition of the Himalayan Travel Trade Journal put it, "Thimphu is a capital proud of its past and shows every effort at maintaining its age old traditions. Although open to the outside world, the authorities have succeeded in keeping Western influences at bay, a reason why it captivates visitors."

Punakha - The Former Capital
Situated at a lower elevation than Thimphu and Paro, Punakha's warmer climate makes it one of the most fertile valleys in the kingdom and its vast rice fields stand testimony to that claim.

The township has shifted to a new location a few kilometers downstream from its original site on a river bank opposite the Punakha Dzong. The dzong itself, which housed the first National Assembly (Bhutan's parliament) in 1952, is the winter residence of the Je Khenpo and the Central Monk Body. It is situated on a spur of land a stone throw above the confluence of the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu rivers. The dzong was built in 1632 by one of Bhutan's most important historical figures, Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, and has played a key role in the civil and religious life of the Bhutanese ever since.

Wangduephodrang - Riding an Elephant
Legend has it that the Zhabdrung was given Divine directions to build a fort on a hill that looked like an elephant. He did, and Wangduephodrang Dzong proved critical in unifying the western, central and southern districts.

The town that neighbours the dzong today is a cluster of small shops that include one or two establishment which serve as lunch-stops for tourists. It is a pretty town whose residents are known to keep it conspicuously clean.

Trongsa - Where the Twain Meet
Trongsa is home to the largest dzong in Bhutan, a dzong that was the seat of the Trongsa Penlop, Gongsar Jigme Namgyal and of his son, King Ugen Wangchuk, and the second King, Jigme Wangchuck.

This ancestral seat of Bhutan's Royal Family sits squat on what was 100 years ago the only route connecting eastern and western Bhutan. It was, to His Majesty the King's ancestors, a pivotal element in the governance of eastern Bhutan The original Trongsa Dzong was built by the Zhabdrung in 1648.

Bumthang - The Geographic Core
Arguably unsurpassed in the serene poetry of its landscape Bumthang is a photographer's paradise. This broad valley in central Bhutan, which houses several sacred Buddhist shrines, is split by a clear mountain river that runs by one of the most picturesque towns in the kingdom. Perched high on a hill above the town looms the impressive and appropriately named Jakar Dzong (Fortress of the White Bird) which sports a central tower rising 150 feet high.

Myth and religious legend abound in Bumthang. A host of tales and accounts of the revered eighth century Tibetan mystic, Guru Padma Sambhava, and the great Nyingmapa treasure revealer, Terton Pema Lingpa (1450-1521), are traced to Bumthang and its satellite valleys. The Guru's bodily imprints are still visible at the Jampa Lhakhang (monastery) and the Kurjey Lhakhang, located on a fringe of the Choekhor valley.

Beyond Bumthang lies the equally charming Ura valley, which is the last settlement before the climb up to the country's highest road at Thrumshingla (12,500 feet) and then further down into eastern Bhutan.

Mongar - Room With a View
The difficult drive over winding bends and high cliffs before Mongar makes the town a refreshing stop. The first thing visitors notice is that, unlike most western and central Bhutanese towns, Mongar sits on the side of a hill and not in a valley. Much of eastern Bhutan is the same - the hills are generally steeper and the valleys too narrow for comfort. The people of eastern Bhutan also speak a different dialect and their villages are less nucleated.

As if to emphasise its hilly base the small town of Mongar appears to have sprouted suddenly in one collective heave. The houses, all uniform in size, are relatively taller than elsewhere and rise into a hill slope in one straight line.

Trashigang and Tashiyangtse - An Orient's East
Beyond Mongar and a 90-kilometre stretch of arid landscape is Trashigang, a town tucked into a hillside cavity. Minute as it appears Trashigang is the nerve center of eastern Bhutanese commerce as its roads stretch one way towards the southern border and the other way into two interior districts. Another road follows a separate direction towards the satellite township of Rangjung and then spreads out in fingers to more rural settlements.

Trashigang's 17th century dzong is built on a cliff further out of the town and commands a majestic view of the Dangme Chhu river.

Tashiyangtse grew out of Trashigang and achieved separate district status only recently. Far more sparsely populated than Trashigang, Yangtse is more an administrative center than a town. Like Mongar, its dzong was also constructed in recent times.

The place has developed around Chorten Kora, a stupa where Guru Padma Sambhava is believed to have foreseen the construction of a special temple and chorten (stupa). Indeed the chorten is one of the only three in Bhutan built in the style of the Boudnath stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Tashiyangtse is known for its skilled wood craftsmen and for the Bomdeling National Park where the endangered Black Necked Cranes (Grus nigricollis) roost each winter.