Trongsa is where Bhutan keeps its spine. The enormous dzong, sprawling down a ridge above the Mangde river gorge, was founded in the seventeenth century, and it is the ancestral seat of the royal family, whose first kings governed from here before ruling the whole country. Tradition says the crown prince still serves as governor of Trongsa before taking the throne. From the road, the building appears and disappears across the valley for a long time before you actually arrive, because the highway has to wriggle all the way round the hillside to reach it.
That wriggling is the riding. The East-West Highway coming from Paro and Thimphu climbs over the Pele La, a pass of a bit over 3,000 metres, then descends through forest of rhododendron, oak and bamboo, with prayer flags snapping at every bend. The road is narrow, patched, often damp, and shared with trucks, buses and the occasional cow, and landslides are routine in the monsoon. Dawn is the best hour, before the cloud comes up the valley; in winter the air is crisp, in summer it is wet and loud with rain.
The town is small, only a few thousand people, strung along the hillside, but it has a petrol station, simple guesthouses and teahouses where you can get butter tea, momos, or ema datshi, the chilli and cheese stew that is as close as Bhutan comes to a national dish. The Ta Dzong, a watchtower above the town, is now a museum of the monarchy and is well worth an hour if it is open. Jakar, in the Bumthang valley, is about twenty-five kilometres of road away at the next larger spot, and is the usual next stop.
Foreign riders in Bhutan must ride with an approved guide and permits, so the fuel and rest stops will usually be arranged for you, but it is still wise to top up in Trongsa and keep a spare layer in your bag. The mountains here make their own weather, and warm sunshine can turn into cold drizzle in a couple of hours.