Once forbidden to outsiders, a glimpse of the Himalaya in Bhutan is as tantalizing as the sighting of a rare and beautiful bird. This mountain is Jhomolhari, at 23,996 feet [7,314 meters] Bhutan's second highest peak. In the foreground a fortress built to repel Tibetan invaders crumbles to the ground.

After a thousand years of solitude, the hermit kingdom is trekking over steep ground to reach the modern world. Its gentle pace, for better or worse, is a choice made long ago. 'You have to understand,' says a Jesuit priest who has lived in Bhutan for decades. 'By and large, most of this country still exists in the time of King Arthur.'

—From "Bhutan: Kingdom in the Clouds," May 1991, National Geographic magazine