Eat farm-and-table

Ask your guide to arrange a meal at a farmhouse, which is usually manned by visitor-friendly farmers, to break up the monotonous array of similar dishes in Bhutan's hotels and restaurants. The menu is based on what is in season and readily available in Bhutan. In the spring, fiddlehead ferns and leafy spinach may be found in curries; in the summer, asparagus; in the autumn, succulent matsutake mushrooms—and in the winter, warming potato and turnip curries topped with red rice will send you into a carb coma.

Prepare to sit on the floor, eat with your hands, and consume your weight in red rice as the traditional stove (Bukhari) keeps you and a kettle of sweet milk tea (naja) or butter tea (suja) warm. As a gift for your hosts, bring a bottle of K5 (named after the current king) or Special Courier whiskey. This small gesture will go a long way, and although your plans for hiking later in the day might be thwarted by day drinking, you’ll return with a full belly, and long-lasting memories and friendships.