Rukubji Village

Rukubji is a compact village on the highway between Wangdue Phodrang and Trongsa, in the high country above the Phobjikha turnoff. Its houses stand close together on a spur with terraced fields fanning out below, which is what makes it a photograph almost everyone takes on the drive east.

The settlement sits in the Black Mountains, the range that separates western Bhutan from the centre, and the road through it crosses the Pele La pass nearby. Buckwheat, potatoes and turnips grow here rather than rice: the altitude is too high for paddy. Most travellers see it from the road on the long drive to Bumthang.