Punakha

Punakha owes its fame to Punakha Dzong, the fortress that rises at the confluence of the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu rivers in central Bhutan. Once the seat of Bhutan’s government, it remains one of the most photographed buildings in the kingdom, its whitewashed walls and gold roofs framed by jacaranda trees each spring. Cross the traditional cantilever bridge to reach it, and the scale of the place, and the rivers that shaped it, becomes properly clear.