The 108 chortens and the morning mountain view

Park at the pass and walk up among the chortens. There are 108 of them, white with a red band, set on a mound in three tiers of 45, 36 and 27. Queen Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck had them built after the December 2003 operation in which the Royal Bhutan Army cleared Indian insurgent camps from southern Bhutan; they were consecrated in June 2004. They honour the soldiers who died and are meant as a monument of peace.

Walk around them clockwise. Each tier gives a different angle, and the prayer flags strung between trees make the scene. Then turn north. From October to February the sky is often clear in the early morning and you see a long chain of peaks across the horizon. The highest is Gangkar Puensum, about 7,570 m, Bhutan's highest mountain and one of the highest in the world never to have been climbed, since Bhutan banned mountaineering on high peaks.

Time it right. Leave Thimphu by 7 am and you reach the pass before the cloud builds. Midday usually brings haze and tour buses. A board at the viewpoint names the peaks. The chortens are free. On 13 December the Druk Wangyal Tshechu fills the pass with masked dancers. Take care on the steps in winter, when they can be icy, and keep a warm jacket on, as the wind is cold even when the sun is out.