Black-necked crane season

Every late October the black-necked cranes arrive in the Phobjikha valley from the Tibetan plateau, circling Gangtey Monastery three times before they land, or so the farmers will tell you. They stay until February, feeding in the marsh and dwarf bamboo, and the whole valley organises itself around their presence.

The best hours are early. Frost on the boardwalk, breath hanging, and then the cranes lifting from the roost with that bugling call that carries for a mile. We walk the Gangtey nature trail with a local naturalist, visit the crane information centre and watch from a distance that leaves the birds undisturbed.

On 11 November the Black-necked Crane Festival fills the monastery courtyard with schoolchildren in crane costumes and dances written for the birds. Phobjikha sits at three thousand metres and the nights are cold, which is exactly why the farmhouse hot stone bath afterwards is so good.