Punakha

Punakha was the capital of Bhutan until 1955 and holds the most beautiful dzong in the country, a white fortress-monastery standing on the spit where the Mo Chhu and Pho Chhu rivers meet, reached across a cantilever bridge with jacaranda trees flowering purple around it in spring. It is the winter seat of the monk body, which moves down from Thimphu each year to escape the cold. At twelve hundred metres the valley is warm enough for rice and bananas. A long suspension footbridge crosses the Pho Chhu downstream. The drive from Thimphu crosses the Dochula in about three hours.