The last autonomous Buddhist mountain empire in the Himalayas, Bhutan is one of the most isolated and tempting corners of Asia. 70 per cent of its 18,000 square miles is forested, and the country treats nature with admirable reverence — its emperor is young and environmentally insightful, and many of the country's higher regions remain almost free of the footprints of man, undamaged examples of the fast-disappearing Himalayan surroundings.

The 9-day trek to Chomolhari, Bhutan's holy and highest mountain, at the border with Tibet, provides strangers a rare chance to experience its untouched mountain wilderness and diverse terrain, not to mention its almost complete lack of other trekkers. Mountaineering beside terraced farms and lush rice paddies, through meadows and low forests, travellers endeavour beyond the tree line into a world of glaciers and rock, where the renowned snow leopard prowls.

Campgrounds are set up in high alpine grounds where yak herders bring their hairy animals to browse by unspoiled mountain lakes.Clinging to a steep mountain ledge about 3,000 feet above the terraced Paro Valley is a destination of hikes long and short, and of respectful Buddhist pilgrims.