Stan Armington [Planet - Bhutan

A former conservation biologist and publishing manager of Outdoor Activity guides at Lonely Planet, Lindsay has trekked, jeeped, ridden and stumbled across many a mountain pass and contributed to Lonely Planets South India, India, Nepal and Pakistan & the Karakoram Highway guides, among others. He has still not seen nearly enough of the Himalaya or its peoples.

It started at an ungodly hour, when usually only the dogs of Thimphu are awake. This cold, dark morning the canine chorus found a human harmony as hundreds of bleary-eyed tourists and locals sought their allotted lifts, and countless car and bus headlights traced a pilgrimage to Paro. We were off to see the Guru Rinpoche thondrol unfurled at the Paro tsechu. To gaze upon the thondrol is to have ones sins expunged and to witness such an extraordinary festival is a dramatic highlight of visiting Bhutan. The traffic jam at Paro had to be seen to be believed and it was a relief to set out on foot up towards the dzong. Some strolled, some ran, at least three shortcuts were initiated, but there was no need to rush. The enormous thondrol had its own stage and setting separate to the dzong and thousands had already gathered to watch the dances, utter a prayer and attract a blessing.

Ever drawn to Himalayan peaks and Tibetan Buddhist communities, Bradley has been travelling to Tibetan areas for over a decade. He coordinated the last two editions of Lonely Planets Nepal and the last three editions of Tibet, and has written the Tibetan areas of LPs China and South-west China guides. British-born and nomadic at heart, Bradley currently lives under the big skies of Montana.

Bradley is also the co-author of Lonely Planet guides Central Asia, Jordan, Shanghai and Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks and has worked on Lonely Planet guides from Morocco to Mongolia. He has lectured on Central Asia at the Royal Geographic Society.

This six-week research trip took me right across Bhutan, from Phuentsholing in the southwest to Trashi Yangtse in the far east. Favourites are hard to pin down in such a remarkable country but I thought the little-visited , of course!

My favourite place of all? That was a long hike through lush forests, mani walls and sudden chortens up to an achingly beautiful and utterly silent hermitage. Where exactly that is, Im not telling

Stan Armington, who also authored Lonely Planets Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya, has been organising and leading treks in Nepal since 1971. A graduate engineer, he has also worked for the US National Park service in the Yellowstone and Olympic parks as well as serving as a guide on Mt Hood in Oregon. Stan is a director of the American Himalayan Foundation, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Explorers Club, and specialises in opening bars in Himalayan towns. He has travelled extensively in Bhutan and developed a project to train Bhutanese craftsmen in historic building conservation. He lives in Kathmandu, where he runs a trekking company and tries to keep up with all the changes to trekking routes in both Nepal and Bhutan.

Richard W Whitecross wrote The Culture and Buddhism in Bhutan chapters. He was raised in southern Scotland and, after encountering several lamas at a young age, developed a lifelong fascination with the Himalayas and, in particular, Bhutan. A former environmental lawyer turned anthropologist, Richard spent a year in a Buddhist monastery preparing for fieldwork. His doctoral thesis, The Zhabdrungs Legacy: Law and Social Transformation in Contemporary Bhutan (2002) is the first ethnographic account to focus on law and social change in Bhutan. Following his PhD he was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship and taught courses on political anthropology, ritual and religion, and intends to publish further on Bhutan.

Bhutan is an extraordinary destination; surrounded by myth and secreted within the mightiest mountain chain, it bumps shoulders with the global giants of China and India. Traditional culture is proudly cherished and natural heritage is equally treasured, and yet modernisation and development is equally conspicuous in this complex and little-known country.

Though it is certainly isolated and remote, Bhutan is not a difficult place to visit. There is no limit to the number of tourists who can visit and there are no restrictions on group size. You can easily organise a journey as a couple or as a solo traveller. The Royal Government of Bhutan requires that foreign visitors travel with a prepaid and preplanned itinerary through a Bhutanese tour company. You can simply buy a space on a group tour or arrange a custom-made program. With some background information and a helpful tour operator you can customise an itinerary that suits your interests, be they culture, wildlife, festivals, trekking, cycling, rafting etc. Generally there is a great deal of freedom as to where you can go and what you can do, though its sometimes difficult to change your program once you have finalised the arrangements.

English is widely spoken and there are Western-style hotels and food throughout the country. Though as you move further from the capital, Thimphu, expect more simple facilities and less familiar food. The costs seem very steep at first, but factor in what is supplied accommodation, food, transport, guides and, of course, Bhutans unrivalled uniqueness.

Climate, and therefore season, is certainly a consideration when planning your trip to Bhutan, especially if you are trekking. However, Bhutans altitude range, from subtropical valleys to alpine peaks, and its busy festival calendar means you can pretty much visit Bhutan at any time of the year to explore its attractions and witness colourful festivals.

The ideal time for trekking and for travelling throughout the country is autumn, from late September to late November, when skies are generally clear and the high mountain peaks rise to a vivid blue sky. While the climate is best in autumn, in Bhutan an umbrella is usually never far from reach, and no matter when you go, there is likely to be rain periods. Autumn is also the time of the popular Thimphu tsechu (dance festival) and heralds the arrival of the black-necked cranes to their wintering grounds in central and eastern Bhutan. Not surprisingly, therefore, international visitors also peak in autumn, indeed about half of the total annual tourist numbers arrive between September and November. Avoiding the busiest tourist seasons can save you money (see opposite) and hassle.