Welcome
Bhutan is famous for its glorious Himalayan scenery, kind and friendly people, colourful Buddhist culture and, of course, valuing Gross National Happiness. We warmly invite you to experience these delights with us and a small group of fellow travellers and photographers. Our focus will be on creating special opportunities for you to gather fascinating memories and create fantastic images. Led by two professional photographers, Robert van Koesveld and Namgyal, you will meet villagers, townsfolk, and monks while travelling through valleys, forests, farmland, and mountain passes aflutter with prayer flags. Staying in guesthouses, farmhouses, feudal villages, and town hotels, we will explore the culture from the 7th to 21st centuries. And of course, there will be plenty of time for considering photography as well, so you can create meaningful images with depth and beauty.
Jump to the Detailed Itinerary here, or just scroll further down. Please click here for the Tour’s Terms and Conditions, here to jump to pricing details, and here to jump to details about the tour leaders.
Highlights
Be entranced by the swirling colour and music inside the courtyard of Paro Dzong as monks perform the Black Hat dance to purify the space for the four-day tsechu (annual religious festival). Masked dancers, as well as locals dressed in their best kira and gho, make it a photographer’s festival too.
Experience village life inside and outside the farmhouses in a small village on a picturesque hill-side. By staying two nights with families in their farmhouses, you have unique opportunities to witness (and photograph) their domestic and religious routines. You’ll also have the privilege of a specially commissioned day of rituals, chanting, dancing, and a community meal. During our stay you can also have portrait sessions and talk with villagers about their life and hopes for the future.
Discover how life in a feudal village changed dramatically around sixty years ago, when the King ended serfdom and led an extraordinary modernisation process. Stay two nights in the guesthouse by the former manor house, now a fascinating private museum, and meet locals who have experienced Bhutan’s ongoing transformation.
Explore a range of photographic possibilities: landscape and nature, portraits and street scenes, monasteries and farmhouses, traditional and modern culture.
Take time to review your images as you go, consider your purposes and methods, all with access to two photography coaches, whose priority is your creativity.
A small group of just eight guests in four cars, each with a driver and a guide or photography coach. Plenty of opportunity for flexibility, conversation, quiet time, coaching, and photography.
Expert leaders + Fantastic Local Knowledge
You’ll have two highly experienced tour leaders as your guides to help you navigate the Kingdom of Bhutan and the many photographic opportunities it offers.
Namgyal, also known as Namgay, has been leading and operating tours for photographers in Bhutan since 2007. He puts lots of thought into how to create the best opportunities and is renowned for his integrity, curiosity, and humour. A skilled photographer, Namgay has led many photography tours over the past decade, giving him many opportunities to photograph the people and places of Bhutan in all seasons and a variety of conditions. He has insight into what opportunities can be responded to flexibly or created in advance. Namgay has built a team of drivers and staff who share his passion and help guests engage with Bhutan’s special culture. Some of handpicked staff are also photographers themselves. You can find more of Namgay’s images on Instagram: @tshangkhap_photography.
Robert van Koesveld is a full-time, award-winning photographer whose work reflects his life-time interest in cultural travel. He is interested in capturing ‘spirit of place’ and ‘people with presence’ in a cultural context. Robert and Libby Lloyd, his wife, first travelled to Bhutan (and met Namgay) in 2008 and have returned many, many times. Their images from that first trip enticed Fremantle Press to commission a large format photobook. That entailed a further trip and extensive local research. The result was ‘Bhutan Heartland’ (2010), and subsequent photo tours that have formed a foundation for the Seeing Bhutan tour experience. His book ‘Geiko and Maiko of Kyoto’ (2016), in advance form, won the Australian Professional Photography Awards category of best Photo Book for 2015. He has led photo tours to Japan, China, and India. Bhutan is Robert and Libby’s favourite country of all the many places they have visited, and they are thrilled to be able to share their passion with fellow travellers. You can find more of Robert’s images on Instagram: @robertvankoesveldphotography.
Only Eight
With just eight participants and two photography coaches, we (Robert and Namgay) can offer support and guidance to take your image-making further and deeper. We travel in four cars with just two guests per vehicle. This allows flexibility and often uncrowded experiences.
As guests rotate through the four vehicles, you have opportunities to get to know local guides and drivers and hear their individual stories (and maybe drop in on their families). Every day you will travel with one of our photo leaders, or with writer and photographer Libby Lloyd, as well as our other very experienced specialist local guide. This means you can engage in learning and conversation and receive coaching while travelling as well as when we are on location.
Calm and Focused Travel
Memorable images with depth and meaning take time and consideration. They need contextual, cultural, and emotional connection. We have designed opportunities that reflect a range of Bhutanese people, culture, history, and environment, so you can meet the country and its people at a calm pace that also enables you to consider what images, why, and how. There will be time too for discussion and learning about how to create the images that interest you. Flexibility with a small group and four cars also means following-up unexpected opportunities along the way. A deeper, richer experience of travel for us all.
Image Making
Robert considers a camera as just a tool for engaging with our world and for making images. The best images are made not ‘taken’. We aim to photograph what we feel, not just things or places. By engaging with the people and places we meet, we deepen our experience of them, as well as their cultural and physical environment. Then we can begin to identify ‘what this photograph is about’ and find ways to make an image that reflects our deeper experience, and also really moves and interests the viewer. Sometimes one image tells your story; other times it needs a sequence or series of images.
Those with any level of experience as a photographer will enjoy this trip, as will artists and non-photographers who can, of course, enjoy making written or sketched images. We do spend lots of time in most locations, so you need to be open to that. In terms of gear, there are no special requirements, other than your ability to carry it; we recommend travelling reasonably light. Anything from a good phone camera through to a mirrorless, DSLR or medium format camera is fine. If you are not a photographer, something like a sketch book or writing journal will be good too. We provide a detailed pre-departure document to help with gear and most other questions.
Teaching and Coaching
Developing as a photographer is not just a product of time. Experience needs reflection to be genuinely useful to one’s development. Technical skills are valuable at times, but simply acquiring a bunch of techniques, or a bunch of cameras, won’t really take you forward. While we can talk about technical matters if appropriate for you, we are most interested in deepening your conceptual process so that you come away with images that matter to you. If you are open to sharing your images and visual process, we can support your development. Robert will offer some group teaching tailored to the actual participants, and with a small group we will be able to converse and coach individually along the way. Still, we won’t be intruding, and if you just want to work on your own, we will leave you to it. Robert and Namgay will photograph alongside you at times, and happily share their compositions, but your images are our absolute priority.
So, we will definitely be open to conversation and coaching about your own creative process, as a photographer, sketcher, or writer. Robert will bring examples of his own exhibition-oriented work and be open to sharing about his own process. We welcome you bringing your own projects or work in process too.
Physical Fitness
A basic level of walking fitness is essential, but this tour is not a hiking tour, so nothing extreme will be required of you. It will be spring, and we have planned some scenic walks in nature, mostly on well-maintained pathways; we will be visiting many buildings with steps. Just let us know if you have any health issues or doubts, and we will see how we can work around them.
Tour Pricing and Inclusions
Tour price: USD$7,950 per person Twin Share. (Please see Twin Share details following.)
Single Supplement: USD$950, additional to the Twin Share price per person.
Deposit to confirm your place: USD$2,000, due upon booking.
The above Tour price includes:
Bangkok accommodation on the night of 21 March 2021. (Flights to Bhutan leave early, and it is necessary to stay overnight in Bangkok the night before tour commencement.)
Welcome dinner in Bangkok on the evening of 21 March 2021.
Bhutan visa (arranged by Illuminating Tours).
15 days in Bhutan, full 14 days on tour.
Flights to and from Bhutan (via Bangkok); domestic airfare within Bhutan.
All ground transport for the duration of the tour.
All entrance fees to temples and national parks.
Breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for the duration of the tour from breakfast 22 March 2021 to breakfast 05 April 2021.
Bottled water, as well as coffee and tea as midday refreshment.
All your tour accommodation in Bhutan from the first night of 22 March 2021 to the last night 05 April 2021.
All photographic tuition for the duration of the Tour.
Two professional photographers to help you get the best photos.
Highly experienced local Bhutanese specialist photo guides and drivers in Bhutan.
The above Tour price does not include:
Flights to and from Bangkok.
Initial transfer from the airport to the hotel in Bangkok.
Transfer to the airport at the tour conclusion in Bangkok.
Travel insurance - stipulated as a condition of booking.
Camera Insurance.
Alcohol and extra beverages.
Hotel laundry services.
Any extra meals you may order, including hotel room service.
Any extras you may wish to buy along the way.
Any tips you may wish to leave for local guides and drivers.
‘Our Priority is Your Creativity’
Key Details
Leaders and Guides
Robert van Koesveld
Robert is a full-time photographer whose work is primarily involved with world cultures. He has been interested in cultural travel all his life. Since retiring early from his psychotherapy practice, he has concentrated on photography and travels extensively each year. Together with his wife, Libby Lloyd, he published a photo book about Bhutan (‘Bhutan Heartland: Travels in the Land of the Thunder Dragon’, Fremantle Press, 2010). His book ‘Geiko and Maiko of Kyoto’ (2016), in advance form, won the Australian Professional Photography Awards category of best Photo Book for 2015. Robert is interested in capturing ‘spirit of place’ and ‘people of presence’ in a cultural context. He has led photo tours to Bhutan, India, China and Japan. He currently has work on exhibition in Arles and has had recent exhibitions in Kyoto and Dubai.
Namgyal (nicknamed Namgay)
Namgay, the co-founder of Illuminating Tours, grew up in Tshangkha village near Trongsa in central Bhutan. He started working as a guide in 2004, after graduating from Bhutan’s Sherubtse College, and since 2007 he has been especially involved in photography tours, developing his aesthetic and technical skills along the way. His images illustrate the Illuminating Tours website, and were featured in the poster and website of the award-winning German documentary film, ‘The Farmer and I’. He considers his determination, sense of responsibility, willingness to learn and sense of humour as his most important character traits. Namgay is able to share his extensive knowledge of Bhutan and his personal experience of urban life (he lives in Thimphu), village life and (briefly) monastic life, so he is well placed to introduce Bhutan to his guests.
Libby Lloyd
Libby has taken every opportunity to travel after taking the Kathmandu to London bus in 1970. Since retiring from social work, she has especially enjoyed traveling to meet people in the complex transition from ‘traditional’ to/with ‘modern’ lifestyles. Writing ‘Bhutan Heartland’ was an unexpected joy and stimulated an interest in following the narratives of her travel experiences, be they anecdotes, glimpses of culture or historical links. Most trips (eventually) result in an album (or three) of photos with a little text. It has become a vital step in her digesting the experience as well as creating a hard copy to relive the trips in years to come. Mostly her small camera is on auto and she relies on a ‘good eye’, Lightroom to tweek and Blurb to print. Creatively satisfying and relatively simple.
Seeing Bhutan 2021 Detailed Itinerary
Day 1: 22/03/2021 (Mon) Bangkok
Robert and Libby welcome you over dinner in our Bangkok hotel. With probably an early morning departure next day and a full program for our adventure, we recommend you consider arriving the day before so you can feel rested and adjust to time differences.
Overnight at the Novatel Suvarnabhumi Airport Hotel
Day 2: 23/03/2021 (Tue) Bangkok to Paro
The Druk Air flight offers spectacular views of the Himalayan peaks before we descend into Bhutan’s beautiful Paro valley (2200m), one of the most thrilling flights in the world. Namgay and his drivers will welcome us and help us settle into our hotel before driving us to Bhutan’s oldest temple, Kyichu Lhakhang. Reputably one of 108 temples built on the same day in the 7thC by the Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo, to pin a giant ogress to the earth so she could not prevent the spread of Buddhism. So tonight, we enjoy a Bhutanese dinner having met friendly locals, breathed the fresh mountain air, seen awesome scenery, and glimpsed ancient culture. Plenty of photographic stimulation to consider for the days ahead.
Overnight in Paro
Day 3: 24/03/2021 (Wed) Paro – Thimphu
The dramatic Rinpung Dzong has views along the deep Paro valley, making it suitable for its original 17thC purpose as a ‘Fortress on a Heap of Jewels’ and monastery for the Drukpa lineage of the Kagyu Buddhists. Today we go early to the dzong courtyard to find good locations to experience the extraordinary Black Hat and masked dancers on the first morning of their annual five-day Tshechu (festival). Abundant options for images include the colour and energy of the rituals, dancing, locals, and architecture, and of course some movies. After lunch we will drive to the capital, Thimphu, to witness the way Bhutan faces their growing urbanisation.
Overnight in Thimphu
Day 4: 25/03/2021 (Thu) Thimphu
The city offers many visual and cultural delights for photographers. Mornings at the huge National Memorial Chorten feature the old folk gathering to chat, spin the prayer wheels, and join young people heading off to work after circumambulating (making kora) clockwise around the tall Tibetan-style chorten. It was built in 1974 to commemorate the third King, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, who initiated the complex process of modernising the then-kingdom; the current fifth King, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, is their first constitutional monarch.
Later you may visit, for example, the Institute of Zorig Chusem, where students learn the thirteen traditional Bhutanese Arts and Crafts, or the ‘Weekend’ Market of farm produce, or the Textile Museum. Plenty of street photography too, including the famous policeman directing traffic after the community rejected the experimental traffic light. Later in the day there is the option to visit the majestic Tashichho Dzong, location of the richly decorated throne room and, since 1952, the offices of the King, and several ministries of the central government.
Overnight in Thimphu
Day 5: 26/03/2021 (Fri) Thimphu – Punakha
Now we head through the countryside and forests to beautiful Dochu-La, (3140m) and its 108 small chorten built in 2004 to commemorate those who died fighting Assamese insurgents near the Indian border. Spectacular views of the eastern Himalayas could be revealed between clouds and blossoming rhododendrons.
Further east we will lunch near Chimi Lhakhang, temple to the Divine Madman, source of many stories and ribald poems; some may like to take a short walk beside the fields to the small temple.
At the confluence of the Pho (father) and Mo (mother) rivers is the magnificent 17thC Punakha Dzong, ‘Palace of Great Happiness’, considered Bhutan’s most beautiful dzong. Namgay will delight us with stories about it before we wander through its courtyards and chapels, and maybe engage with some monks; panoramas of the outside are options too.
Overnight in Punakha
Day 6: 27/03/2021 (Sat) Punakha – Phobjikha - Tshangkha
We travel through very different landscape and beside some waterfalls this morning, by taking a side road south from the main west-east road and into the broad glacial valley of Phobjikha and its unusual Gangtey Gomba, a Nyingmapa Buddhist monastery. Some may enjoy a small hike on the nature trails in the valley. Returning to the main road we will go over Pele La (3420m), maybe meeting some yak herders at their stalls.
Then we descend to Tshangkha village, where Namgay was raised. We’ll have tea with his mother and meet our three host families for the next two nights; there are just 30 households in Tshangkha. We each have a mattress, pillow, and snug blankets in the spare rooms of the three farmhouses. This is a really special opportunity to meet the locals and get a sense of their lifestyle and thoughts about how Bhutan has changed and its future. Bathrooms will be basic. Our group will eat together with food Namgay will bring.
Overnight in Tshangkha village farmhouses
Day 7: 28/03/2021 (Sun) Tshangkha
Today will be a unique opportunity to observe and photograph the morning rituals and domestic tasks in the farmhouses and how the villagers connect with each other as the day unfolds. Namgay has commissioned a special ritual day involving local monks chanting scriptures and performing rituals, villagers praying and chanting, a community meal, and ladies dancing. It will be a true Bhutanese experience, with opportunities for images of domestic life, devotion, rituals, farmhouses, temple, and portraits.
Overnight in Tshangkha village farmhouses
Day 8: 29/03/2021 (Mon) Tshangkha – Jakar
This morning we drive a short way to the imposing Trongsa Dzong, strategically located overlooking the gorge of the fast-flowing Mangde River in the centre of Bhutan. It begun in the 16thC, and for centuries was the seat of the Wangchuck dynasty who effectively ruled over much of eastern and central Bhutan, and from 1907 have been Kings of Bhutan. The Royal Heritage Museum in the watchtower of the dzong is fascinating and the view is spectacular. We may take opportunities to engage with monks and other locals as we wander the dzong. After lunch, we drive to busy Jakar town in the Bumthang District.
Overnight in Jakar
Day 9: 30/03/2021 (Tue) Jakar – Ogyencholing
This morning we have an excursion to peaceful Ura Valley, having lunch at a farmhouse. Then we drive through the beautiful Tang Valley to Ogyencholing village. This hillside village features a fascinating private museum in the old manor house (aka the Palace) that gives us glimpses of the feudal era. Incidentally, Robert and Libby’s book ‘Bhutan Heartland’ has a whole chapter on this village, with stories from villagers about the transition from feudal to modern times. Perhaps we shall meet up with Kunzang Choden, author and 20th generation raised in the manor house. She has recently added some guest accommodation to the Palace complex, so we should be comfortable here.
Overnight in Ogyencholing
Day 10: 31/03/2021 (Wed) Ogyencholing
While exploring the village, including the former feudal manor house, there will be options to create photographic stories about feudal or village life as well as portraits and landscapes. It can also be a restful opportunity for photographic discussion and learning.
Overnight in Ogyencholing
Day 11: 01/04/2021 (Thu) Ogyencholing – Jakar
After breakfast, we return to Jakar to take a pilgrim’s walk/drive to the fascinating old temples and monasteries along the riverside. Jambay Lhakhang has remnants of the original 7thC temple. One building in the Kurjey Lhakhang complex encloses a sacred site as Padmasambhava (aka Guru Rinpoche or the Second Buddha), who brought Tibetan Buddhism to Bhutan in 8thC, meditated there and left an imprint of his body on a cave wall. Tamshing Lhakhang and monastery, was originally built in 1501 by Pema Lingpa, a Buddhist saint; his current speech incarnation, Sungtrul Rinpoche, is based here. Although we will usually not take photos of altars, there will be many opportunities for images inside and outside these precious buildings, the pilgrims who visit them, and the emotions they evoke.
Overnight in Jakar
Day 12: 02/04/2021 (Fri) Jakar – Paro – Haa
We take a short flight from Bumthang back to Paro, so we maximise time for our final few days. Driving up to Chele La (3988m) we will be enthralled by the forest of prayer flags and the challenge to create the ultimate image of their messages that are blown through the valley, along the rivers, out to sea and all around the planet for the well-being of all sentient beings. Could be a bit chilly up there. On the other side of the pass we descend to the small town of Haa in a peaceful valley there.
Overnight in Haa
Day 13: 03/04/2021 (Sat) Haa – Paro
Driving back to Paro there will be various landscape opportunities. Paro Dzong may be interesting to re-visit post-festival. Street photography in the shopping area could be fun and maybe the archery will be happening. Photography discussions and learning may be useful in preparation for tomorrow’s hike.
Overnight in Paro
Day 14: 04/04/2021 (Sun) Paro
Finally, we are ready – physically, culturally and photographically – for Taktsang, the Tiger’s Nest or Lair. Guru Rinpoche flew to the site in the 8thC on the back of a tigress, (a manifestation of one of his consorts) to subdue the local demon Sengay Samdrup. Afterwards he meditated in a cave, that has been a pilgrimage site ever since and was incorporated in a temple in the 17thC. However, we must drive to the base of the 900m cliff and either walk or go on the back of pony walking up the broad dirt zig-zag path to the welcomed cafeteria. Then we must walk along the final level stage, and down the 150 cliff-side steps to the little bridge by the waterfall and up the steps on the other side of the gorge to the entrance. There we must surrender our cameras to security. It has taken us about 1.5 - 2 hours to get up there. Sturdy shoes are important, and for some, a walking stick is useful, especially going down the mountain as there are no ponies going down. Some folk decide to just sit at the cafeteria and enjoy the glorious view across the gorge to Taktsang. Inside the monastery we take our time to enjoy many beautiful chapels, rooms and views, including peering down into Guru Rinpoche’s cave. The careful and complex restoration since the 1998 fire has enabled us all to appreciate the beauty and beliefs that created this place. The chapter in ‘Bhutan Heartland’ about Taktsang will give you further interesting background about this memorable place.
We have a celebratory farewell dinner in Paro tonight.
Overnight in Paro
Day 15: 05/04/2021 (Mon) Paro – Bangkok
Departure
** This itinerary is the plan. The actual tour may vary slightly due to new cultural opportunities, weather, road conditions or other things beyond our control. We also have built in some flexibility and will decide some details based on the best options on the day. Local flight timetables are not yet available, so we have built-in flexibility to work with this. Whatever happens, we will ensure you get the best photographic and cultural experience that we can provide, and you will come away with fantastic images and memories.