The Dragon Kingdom (Bhutan)

Eleven nights and around 668 miles through Bhutan on a Royal Enfield, entered overland from Assam and ridden west across the country, with the highest pass in the kingdom in the middle of it.

Delhi opens the trip at the Jama Masjid and the Chandni Chowk bazaar, then a domestic flight to Guwahati and the land border at Samdrup Jongkhar. Trashigang follows in the Himalayan foothills through bamboo forest and villages of stilt houses, and Mongar comes next past the sixteenth-century monastery at Drametse through blue pine.

Bumthang is reached over the Thrumshingla, the highest pass in Bhutan at around 3,800 metres, with the Zhongar dzong on the way. The dzongs are the recurring feature of this route: fortress monasteries, whitewashed and enormous, which served as administrative capitals and in several cases still do. Trongsa stands over the Mangde river gorge and is among the most dramatic. Gangtey follows over the Pele La at 3,300 metres, then Punakha across the Black Mountains.

Thimphu comes next over the Dochula at 3,100 metres, with the Memorial Chorten and an enclosure holding takin, the national animal and one of the odder creatures in Asia. Paro closes the riding by way of Dobji dzong, the Haa valley and the Chele La at 3,800 metres, with Jomolhari at 7,314 metres in view, and the trip ends with the walk up to the Tiger’s Nest, a monastery built onto a cliff 700 metres above the valley floor. Bike rental is included and the price is quoted per person. Bhutan limits visitor numbers by design and charges a daily fee for the privilege, which is why the roads are as quiet as they are.