A small landlocked country in Asia, Bhutan is located within the Himalayan mountain range. To pay a visit to the monastery, you’ll need to trek about two to three hours up a steep path through pine forest but once you’re there, you’ll be in the holiest site in Bhutan; the place where the ‘second Buddha’ Guru Rinpoche, aka Padmasambava, flew to atop the back of a tigress to meditate in a cave for three years, three months, three days, and three hours to subdue the local demons and bring Buddhism to Bhutan. That was in about 1692 or 7th Century AD. Photo by Simon Fotherby.