Trongsa

The steeply corrugated landscape surrounding Trongsa is among the most dramatic in Bhutan. To the town's southwest lie the thickly forested Black Mountains, home to clouded leopards and golden langurs. In the area directly around Trongsa, the Mangde Chhu river has carved a sheer-sided valley where travellers sight Trongsa and its white-walled dzong long before the winding road reaches the town. Energetic visitors can follow the traditional approach to Trongsa Dzong, a two-hour trail that descends to cross the Mangde Chhu over a traditional cantilevered bridge before making a steep ascent of the opposite bank to the dzong's western gate.