Home from Bhutan. And now it’s time to give thanks.

I’m home in Bangkok, savouring the memories of the last two weeks in Bhutan. I was blessed with the company of a delightful group of photographers who made the trip memorable for all the right reasons. There are naturally some concerns when you start to organise a trip of this nature, it’s two weeks in unfamiliar surroundings, the destination is remote, the culture and cuisine is unusual and the participants first opportunity to meet each other is our pre-trip familiarisation meeting in Bangkok 48 hours before departure.

Yet all concerns were quickly dissolved as it became apparent that appreciating the magic of Bhutan would be the prime concern for each of our group. And there’s much magic to appreciate.

We began in Paro, arriving by air after one of the most hair-raising, roller-coaster descents between Himalayan peaks. It’s testament to the pilot’s skill that passengers erupt into spontaneous applause when the plane gently touches down on the Paro airport tarmac.

Our itinerary took us to several of the autumnal festivals (tsechus), where we relished the sights and sounds of the sacred masked dances. The tsechus were a delight and we managed to capture all three days of the enchanting Tamshing Phala festival in Bumthang, photographing the unusual sight of people queueing up to have their sins absolved through being beaten by masked monks wielding oversized, straw-filled bags. The monks gave no quarter and several people were knocked to the ground from the force of the blows.

We honed our photographic skill through the day and spent evenings downloading and reviewing our images, concluding with Lightroom tutorials whenever the opportunity arose. One of the great pleasures of a trip like this is having the opportunity to see other photographers’ images from the same event. Different approaches, compositions and techniques yield images that vary enormously and sharing our results gave us all inspiration to try different things on subsequent days.

We were blessed in so many ways during this trip. A terrific bunch of photographers to travel with – all of whom are now firm friends – a great local guide, Sonam, who went beyond the call of duty on a daily basis to ensure that we stayed in the best hotels and were fed and watered no matter what curved balls I threw into our increasingly elastic itinerary. Our driver, appropriately named Karma, drove our big bus expertly and navigated Bhutan’s curving, high-altitude roads with confidence-inspiring expertise.

It really was the most memorable experience and Bhutan has once again cast it’s magic spell upon me. It’s impossible not to fall in love in Bhutan and I did. Completely.

Plans for photo expeditions to various locations in 2010 are already in the mix and I’m hopeful that a return to Bhutan will be possible next autumn. Places will be limited and available only upon application. If you’d like to be the first to hear when new events are planned then please subscribe to my newsletter.

Our Bhutan Photo Expedition 2009 group, guide and driver with staff from our hotel in Jakar, Bumthang.

Posted on Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 at 9:21 pm. Filed under: Workshops RSS 2.0 feed.