Bumthang Valleys

Bumthang is where Buddhism took root in Bhutan, and its four broad valleys hold the country's oldest and most revered temples: Jambay Lhakhang, said to date from the seventh century, and Kurjey Lhakhang, built around a cave where Guru Rinpoche left an imprint of his body in rock. The landscape is gentler than western Bhutan - wide flat valley floors of buckwheat and potato fields, blue pine on the slopes, farmhouses with painted window frames - and the region is known for its cheese, honey, apple products and the country's first brewery. Autumn brings the Jambay Lhakhang Drup with its masked dances and midnight fire ceremony.

What you actually see

• Kurjey Lhakhang - the temple complex around Guru Rinpoche's meditation cave.
• Jambay Lhakhang - among the oldest temples in the country.
• The valley walks - farm tracks between temples through buckwheat fields.
• Bumthang produce - cheese, honey, buckwheat noodles and apple brandy.

When to go

Spring and autumn are the classic windows, with clear skies and festivals. Bumthang sits high and gets genuinely cold from late autumn, with snow closing the passes in winter. The Jambay Lhakhang Drup festival falls in autumn and is one of the most atmospheric in the country.

Honest expectations

Bhutan requires visitors to travel on a package with a licensed operator and pay a daily sustainable development fee, which makes it an expensive destination by regional standards - that is policy, not a surprise cost. Reaching Bumthang means either a very long mountain drive over several passes or a small domestic flight subject to weather. Temple interiors usually prohibit photography, and some inner sanctums are closed to non-Buddhists.

Nearby

Trongsa's dzong to the west and the Phobjikha valley on the road back.