Haa Dzong (Wangchulo Dzong)

Wangchulo Dzong is among the newest of Bhutan's fortresses, built in 1915 to replace a smaller structure on the same ground in the Haa valley. Since 1962 it has served as the headquarters of the Indian Military Training Team, the mission that trains Bhutan's armed forces under the two countries' long standing security arrangement.

That role has a practical consequence worth knowing before you arrive: the dzong is not open to civilian visitors and photography of it is restricted. It is admired from the valley floor rather than toured. Haa itself was among the last Bhutanese valleys opened to foreign visitors, in 2002, and remains one of the quietest in the west of the country.