Along with two friends, Kirsty and I visited the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan in early December 2004. It was a wonderful trip and Bhutan lived up to all our expectations. We began our journey in the border town of Phuntsholing (having come from Darjeeling in India) and over the next ten days worked our way across the country to the Bumthang Valley before returning to Paro for our flight home. En route, we stopped at various places along the way including Punakha, Trongsa and the Phobjika Valley.
The Bhutanese were quite happy to have their picture taken and digital cameras hadn’t been around for too long when we visited Bhutan. In fact, it was the first time we had used a digital camera on our travels and it was a novelty for us to be able to take photos and look at them instantly. But you have to wonder what was going through this old lady’s mind when a friend of ours took her photo and then straightaway showed it back to her.
Kunga Rabten Phodrang (Winter Palace), Trongsar
We’ve had the same in remote mountain towns in Laos and we just wonder what the locals think. We’ve shown them video and the kids especially just get so excited.
So few tourists go to Bhutan and it must have been a special journey for you. We met a girl from Bhutan just last week and its made us really interested in going there one day.
Frank (bbqboy)
Showing people photos of themselves is a great way to interact especially when we don’t share a common language and I love seeing the reaction!