Haa Valley
2,600 mWestern Bhutan
A pristine valley of apple orchards and alpine forest, opened to visitors only in 2002.
West of the Chele La pass — Bhutan's highest motorable road point — the Haa Valley remained closed to outsiders until 2002, and still sees only a fraction of the kingdom's visitors.
Its small temples, scattered farmhouses and the annual Haa Summer Festival offer an intimate picture of rural Bhutanese life, with the Chele La ridge walk above as one of the country's finest short hikes.
