Bhutan

My Druk Air (Druk means Dragon in Bhutanese) flight arrived in Paro just before 11 am on a clear Sunday morning.  The approach to Bhutan's one and only airport was a winding one, with mountains on both sides - temples topping several of them.  After a quick customs and immigration check, it was off to the Hotel Druk for check-in and briefing on what our photography tour would entail.  Nevada Wier, the Santa Fe-based travel and adventure photographer, was our leader, cajoler and pharmacist (one ferocious cold germ took hold of the group early-on and made its way through just about all of us!).  The twelve of us on tour were also accompanied by Peggy Dey, a noted Bhutan expert, a local guide, and our driver.  Over the next 12 days, we would share a country together.

The exact itinerary of the trip, including the follow-up journey to Thailand and Laos, is shown by clicking the Factoid button on the navigation bar.  What follows are some of the highlights of that journey shown in pictures (hey, its was a photo tour after all!) and brief text.  Neither words nor pictures can truly convey the sereneness of Bhutan and Laos, nor the chaotic din and smells and sensations of Thailand.  Hopefully this brief introduction to these exotic lands will tempt you into visiting for yourself.  Enjoy!

Paro, the country's second largest town, is home not only of the national airport but also the national museum - Ta Dzong (shown high on the hill in this photo).  The Paro Dzong, the town's largest monastery, is shown on the lower left.  From where this photo is taken, its nearly an hour's drive to the museum given the convoluted roadway system of Bhutan.  [The national highway, linking western, central and eastern Bhutan, is a 10-12 foot wide strip of asphalt (sometimes gravel) with minimal shoulders, no guardrails and no centerline!] 

Downtown Paro is a single street, maybe three blocks in length, with small shops, cafes and bars.  In this most isolated of countries, English is the second language making life for an American tourist a bit easier.  These four young lads are standing in the doorway of one such small shop.  (The Bhutanese are far from camera-shy and often INSIST that you photograph them!)

One of the true benefits of having Peggy Dey along is her ability to get our group into places even more off the beaten track.  Still on our first day in Bhutan, we had the privilege of attending a Puja (or prayer service) for World Peace as guests of Chimi Wagmo, a daughter of a famous reincarnated Buddha (Kyentse Rimpoche) at the Phurbai Lakhang. Even more special was the ability to photograph the ceremony for a few brief minutes.  Prayers are usually chanted, accompanied by bells, drums (seen in lower left) and cymbals.  

Later, we moved on through Thimphu, the capital city, and came across a World Peace Ceremony at the Memorial Chorten.  One of my favorite moments was watching the citizenry circumambulate around the Chorten (temple) with prayer beads in one hand and a prayer wheel in the other, chanting all the while.

As you may be gathering already, prayers, chants and a general religious lifestyle permeates Bhutanese society.  The national government is based at the Thimphu Dzong; nearly the entire population is Buddhist; nearly everyone wears the national costume whenever out in public (albeit by governmental decree).  One perpetual means of prayer are the placement of prayer flags.  Sometimes standing alone, other times in groups of hundreds, the flags cast a prayer every time the wind whips them (which can be quite often in mountainous Bhutan!).  These flags stood on the crest of a hillside adjacent to the Chimi Lhakhang in the Punakha district of Central Bhutan.      

The Chimi Lhakhang, or Mad Monk Monastery, was perhaps my favorite stop on the entire Bhutan journey.  Walking through barley fields for perhaps a half-an-hour, we reach the monastery just as the student monks were breaking from the morning studies.  They were fabulous subjects, both in posed portraits or while running through the fields of the Buddha! 

After a day in the Punakha Valley, we continued east to the Bumthang Valley, a full day's drive including crossing over Pele La, an 11,000 foot mountain pass.  The Bumthang Valley, far wider than the Punakha Valley, is a major agricultural center and the site of several major festivals.  Due to some last minute changes in schedule, we were not going to be able to attend a festival in this area.  But, serendipity led us to a rehearsal of a small Dzong's upcoming festival.  It was just the participants, a few locals and ourselves that were there.  It was a grand afternoon of photography and of observing the joy and sincerity of the people.  Two of the younger observers  are the subject of this portrait at the entrance door of the monastery.  If you haven't already gathered, the Bhutanese are some of the most visually striking people anywhere on earth.

Returning to the Punakha Valley several days later, we attended our first full-blown festival at the Wangdi Phodrang Dzong, shown in the accompanying photo.  A magnificent setting at the turn of a long, steep valley made the festivities all the more special.  We spent an entire day at the festival, watching dancers, processions and the locals.

We then returned to Thimphu for the nation's largest festival, the Thimphu Tshechu.  The overwhelming crowds made us thankful for the festivals we had already seen, though we were able to get up close and personal with a large group of young monks, making for a fabulous photo opportunity.

Before we knew it, we were back in Paro.  On that final morning, several of us took off for an hour+ drive north to a trailhead, and then climbed 1000 feet in an hour to the Tahtshang Gompa viewpoint.  The temple in the upper background, a day's hike from the viewpoint, is considered the most sacred site in Bhutan.  Unfortunately, the temple burnt several years ago.  But work is underway to restore it to its former glory.