High up near the top of a 1,000 ft Himalayan cliff and clinging to a bare rock face is the Tigers Nest Monastery where Guru Rinpoche brought Buddhism to Bhutan arriving on the back of a tigress. The many prayer flags are shot across the deep ravine on a string attached to a bow and arrow.

On the road from Bumthang to Punakha a stop to photograph an architectural detail of columns at a roadside temple yields a lovely surprise when a local woman using the temple wall as a shortcut pops into frame.

A young potato farmer’s daughter playing with her fathers shoe jumps for joy at the sight of a foreign visitor. Bhutan has opened its door to tourists only since 1974 and limits their numbers with a steep tax of $250 that goes straight to social services and the education of its people.

Kids gather after school in their brightly colored purple uniforms. One squeezes through a traditional Bhutanese door frame. Large rocks weigh down the wooden roof shingles as an extra measure to keep them from blowing off in strong mountain winds.

2 young monks dressed in burgundy robes stand outside a doorway to the former Royal Palace of Bhutan in Bumthang. The Old Palace is situated next to the AmanKora Bumthang Hotel. The current Dechencholing Palace in the capital city of Thimphu is now serving the Royals of Bhutan, Queen Jetsun and King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck and family.

A candlelit outdoor terrace at dusk in preparation for cocktail hour at the Taj Tashi Hotel in the Bhutanese capital city of Thimphu. This is the Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces first and only hotel in the country of Bhutan.

A suite including wood-burning stove and oversized tub for two at the AmanKora Bumthang in Bhutan. This lodge one of 5 in the AmanKora family of hotels in the Kingdom of Bhutan each offering the ultimate level of comfort and service with a cohesive design style of architecture and interiors using traditional Bhutanese methods for exterior constructions combined with interiors with a clean, restrained and modern aesthetic.

Massage by candlelight in a darkened room to help you relax in the ultimate luxury at the Jiva Spa nestled in the Thimphu valley high up in the Himalayan mountainous region at the Taj Tashi Hotel in downtown Thimphu, Bhutan.

Firewood attendant delivering wood down long, light-filled stone corridor to your door at the AmanKora Bumthang lodge in Bumthang , Bhutan. He is wearing the Bhutanese traditional dress for men the gho which is a knee-length robe tied with a fabric belt known as the keyra.