Thimphu
The world’s only capital without a single traffic light — directed instead by a dancing policeman.
Thimphu is the capital, and still the only one in the world without a single traffic light — an intersection was fitted with one once and taken down again within days, because people missed the white-gloved policeman who directs the traffic from a painted box. It is a city that has grown fast but not forgotten itself: office workers wear the gho and kira, and farms press right up to the edge of town.
The valley’s landmark is Tashichho Dzong, the riverside fortress that houses the throne room and the offices of government by day and the central monk body in summer; it glows gold under floodlights at night. Above the city, the great gilded Buddha Dordenma looks out over the whole valley, and the Memorial Chorten stays busy from dawn with elders turning its prayer wheels and circling it clockwise.
Thimphu is the best place to understand how the country actually works. The weekend market fills with vegetables, chillies and dried cheese carried in from the districts; the painting school at the Zorig Chusum teaches the thirteen traditional arts; and the takin preserve at Motithang keeps a small herd of the odd national animal, half goat and half cow by legend.
The city is comfortable for most of the year and makes an easy first stop for adjusting to the altitude before heading higher or east. Autumn is clearest and coincides with the Thimphu Tshechu, one of the largest festivals in the country; the Druk Path trek to Paro also begins from the ridge above town.
Plan a journey through Thimphu
Tell us your dates and your pace, and we’ll shape a route through this valley and the ones around it — usually within two days.