Bhutan's dzongs
A dzong is a government office, a monastery and a parish church at once. That decides when you may walk in, what you may photograph and what you wear. Your guide briefs you in the car; here it is first.
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Thimphu
Tashichho Dzong holds ministries and the throne room, so on weekdays visitors go in after office hours, published as about 17:00, with longer access at weekends and on holidays. Your guide must be with you.
Photo: Pema Gyamtsho / Unsplash
The seasons
The Je Khenpo and the central monk body winter in Punakha and summer in Thimphu. A dzong in residence is fuller, louder and partly closed, so the season decides how much of it you see.
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Cameras
Courtyards, walls and dance grounds are open to a camera. The chapels and their statues are not. At the top of Taktsang everything, phone included, goes into a locker at the last gate.
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Dress
Shorts are not allowed. A skirt or dress should cover the knee, and a collarless shirt needs full sleeves, so a light shirt or jacket over a T-shirt settles it. Caps off at the gate, shoes off at each shrine door, flip-flops left at the hotel.
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Manners
Walk clockwise round every chorten, prayer wheel and mani wall. Give and take anything with both hands, point with an open hand rather than a finger, and keep your feet turned away from an altar when you sit.
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Festivals
Stepping onto it for a better photograph is the one thing Bhutanese guests will not forgive. Keep the flash off. Drones may not be flown anywhere in Bhutan, and customs at Paro holds any that arrive.
Photo: Pema Gyamtsho / Unsplash
Planning
This courtesy is called driglam namzha. Bhutanese men wear a white kabney into a dzong and women a rachu; a guest is not expected to. Pack one jacket with sleeves and long pants, and you are ready for every dzong on the route.
Photo: Pema Gyamtsho / Unsplash