On the second night of our three-day trek it was so cold that I pinched a blanket off one of our pack donkeys. It repaid me by nibbling the grass outside my tent all night, the clanking bell around its neck keeping me awake for hours.

But it was a small price to pay for the glorious view and clear, crisp air that greeted me the next morning. Steep, dark green hillsides of pine and rhododendron surrounded the meadow where we had camped, in a remote valley halfway between the town of Paro and the capital, Thimphu. A sparkling brook babbled beneath our campsite, powering a mill shared by people from the village of Tshaluna to grind their wheat. But otherwise there was little sign of human presence — except for another group of campers, which included the rock musician Mike Rutherford and the TV presenter Penny Smith. Only quality holidaymakers here.

“Younger backpackers have had a bad influence in Nepal,” Doje Tshering, 37, our guide, had said the previous evening over our campsite supper of the local red rice and curry. An articulate man and an experienced trekker, Doje had just guided Michael Palin on the Bhutanese leg of his recent trip for the Himalaya TV series. “Here we only take tourists who pay US$200 per day. It’s not snobbishness but it means that we learn more from people who come here.”

The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is a peculiar tourist destination. The $200-a-day minimum fee deters many visitors (although it is put towards your accommodation and guiding costs), as does the rule that you must book with a tour company and be guided. Hence there are no backpackers, no travellers’ cafés, no hassle or haggling. There’s no visible homelessness or grinding poverty, although 85 per cent of the 750,000 population live a subsistence life on the land. Walking through tiny Thimphu, I was completely ignored — no beggars, no street kids.

Bhutan’s strict management of tourists is part of a broader paternalistic concern for its people that has produced one of the quirkiest places I have visited. Where else, for example, is it compulsory to wear national dress in public — the men in ghos, belted robes with a pouch in which they carry everything from a mobile phone to a baby, the women in elegant kiras, long dresses? Where else would the Government ban not just smoking in public, but the sale of tobacco, as happened last month? And where else do government ministers come to your hotel to address the guests? But that’s what happened one evening in Paro, when Thakhur Singh Powdyel, of the Ministry of Education, visited the Amankora hotel to explain King Jigme Singye Wangchuk’s vision for the country he has ruled since 1974.

“We have looked at how other countries have measured development and progress and have drawn lessons from them,” he said. “Our King envisioned for Bhutan a path of development known as Gross National Happiness.”

This means putting the well-being of his subjects ahead of economic concerns: for example, potentially lucrative climbing expeditions are banned, as the Bhutanese consider the mountains sacred.

Care for the environment also receives more than lip service. On our trek Doje told us that the authorities often carry out spot checks to make sure that trekkers remove all their rubbish. You may camp only in certain places, and cannot gather firewood. As a result, we saw very little litter, and the country is three-quarters covered by forest. The $200 day rate means staff can be properly paid; our gear was carried by donkeys, not porters as in Nepal or Peru.

While a trickle of tourists has visited Bhutan over the past 30 years, what’s new is the recent opening of two luxury hotels: Amankora, from the Amanresorts group, and Uma Paro, part of Como Hotels, which owns resorts such as Uma Ubud in Bali.

It’s the first time that foreign investors have been allowed in (no McDonald’s or Starbucks here), because, I was told, the Government is keen to increase job opportunities and bring in more high-spending visitors. It’s already working: last summer Amankora hosted the entrepreneur David Tang’s 50th birthday party, attended by celebrities including the Duchess of York and her daughters.

Until now, the country’s best hotels — I also stayed at the Druk Hotel in Thimphu and the Olathang Cottages in Paro — were reminiscent of India’s best 20 years ago: musty rooms, basic bathrooms, slow, formal service. The two new hotels are raising the game considerably. Amankora has the real “wow” factor, with its massive rammed-earth walls, spacious courtyards and calm, Japanese feel. Its 24 rooms are high-ceilinged, wood-panelled, with a stunning free-standing terrazzo bath. Niggles (such as lighting too dim for reading) were forgiven when I awoke to a stunning view of distant Jhomolhari, the pointy, snow-covered 7,314m (24,000ft) peak.

Continues on page 2()The Bhutanese menu features a national favourite: emadatse, chillies in cheese sauce. It’s pretty unpalatable, but it’s unavoidable. At the Bhutan Kitchen restaurant in Thimphu I was served a meal of rice, pork, chillies and cheese, potatoes with chilli, radishes with chilli, chilli sauce (just in case), and yak butter tea. “Here, chilli is not a seasoning, it’s a vegetable,” said Laura Howard, 36, whom I met over dinner at Amankora with her husband Dieter Turowski, 39.

The London-based couple, both successful bankers, were, I imagined, Amankora’s ideal guests: cash-rich, time-poor, enthusiastic trekkers, experienced travellers and keen to see a new culture.

Although TV was introduced in 1999 and there is a handful of internet cafés, Bhutan feels little touched by technology. Tibetan Buddhism informs daily life, and multi-coloured prayer flags flutter in gardens, fields and on mountain tops. Spectacular square fortress-monasteries (known as dzongs) are everywhere, and some can be visited. I renamed Rinpung Dzong, in Paro, the Monastery of Lost Photo Opportunities: dating from 1646, it is still the home to shaven-headed young monks, who spill over its balconies to wave at visitors. But inside its precincts, photography is banned.

For many visitors, the order and lack of hassle is one of Bhutan’s many undoubted charms. But it has none of the sweaty, dirt-under-your-fingernails, get-up-and-go which attracts many of us to the rest of Asia. Indeed, there’s probably a law against it.

Need to know

Getting there: Cath Urquhart and photographer Doug McKinlay travelled with Steppes East (01285 651010, www.steppeseast.co.uk).

An eight-night tour, including two nights at Amankora, costs from £2,595 per person. The price includes flights to Paro via Delhi, full board, transfers and guide.

Amankora: 00 65 6887 3337, www.amanresorts.com.

Uma Paro: 00 975 8 271597, www.uma.como.bz.

Red tape: Your visa comes with your tour booking. Bring US$20 cash to pay for it on arrival.

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