Lopen Neten Dorji was our minder for the whole trip. he was the big brother who watched over our shoulders making sure that we respected the bhutanese way of life and their environment. a minder is basically a tour guide assigned to us by their government. and, neten (we eventually dropped the deferential title of lopen as we grew familiar) is a senior monk who works as an auditor for the dratshang (monastic body). he holds office in the beautiful dzong (monastery-fortress) of punakha. if i understood him correctly, he is tasked with checking the financial books of several monasteries. his being assigned to us was a requirement of government for the cross-country photographic expedition. we were six filipino photographers. we formed ourselves into three teams entering bhutan through three entry points. one team from phuentsholing in the west, a one-woman team into the usual paro route through the lone international airport. and my team through the east. each team had a minder. and we rendezvoused in thimphu, the capital. the original plan was to meet in bumthang, central bhutan. an untoward incident with one of the teams forced a change of plan -- and this is a story for another day.
on day 1, neten welcomed my team at the guahati airport in assam, northern india. my team had just arrived from bangkok via kolkata. in guahati, a rickety india-made asian utility vehicle drove us through northern india and into samdrup jongkhar, east bhutan. neten hired a driver, an indian national. neten also had another companion, a bhutanese who was to drive another vehicle that was waiting on the bhutanese border. keith sundiang and garrie david, my two other team mates, are burly guys who were worried if the cab could fit all six of us. the cab could sit five medium-sized men comfortably. it was a cab with missing side mirrors -- a common site in the driving world of india. and we drove up through the northern troubled assamese territory. prior to the trip, we were informed that assam did have some peace and order problems. but we were assured that they were under control. the only clear danger we saw was the notorious indian driving which was slightly more desultory than ours here in the philippines. anyway, we made it to the border in six hours. yeshi, the bhutanese driver, sat at the back on the floor with the luggage. on the week after our arrival, the bhutanese TV news showed a cab burning on the same route that we took. they said rebels were responsible. and as of this writing, ethnic riots have again erupted in that troubled northern indian territory. and, imagine such great pleasure and relief for all of us to have reached samdrup jongkhar and to see a spanking new hyundai santa fe waiting for the long and definitely safer (exciting) trip inside bhutan.
on day 1, neten welcomed my team at the guahati airport in assam, northern india. my team had just arrived from bangkok via kolkata. in guahati, a rickety india-made asian utility vehicle drove us through northern india and into samdrup jongkhar, east bhutan. neten hired a driver, an indian national. neten also had another companion, a bhutanese who was to drive another vehicle that was waiting on the bhutanese border. keith sundiang and garrie david, my two other team mates, are burly guys who were worried if the cab could fit all six of us. the cab could sit five medium-sized men comfortably. it was a cab with missing side mirrors -- a common site in the driving world of india. and we drove up through the northern troubled assamese territory. prior to the trip, we were informed that assam did have some peace and order problems. but we were assured that they were under control. the only clear danger we saw was the notorious indian driving which was slightly more desultory than ours here in the philippines. anyway, we made it to the border in six hours. yeshi, the bhutanese driver, sat at the back on the floor with the luggage. on the week after our arrival, the bhutanese TV news showed a cab burning on the same route that we took. they said rebels were responsible. and as of this writing, ethnic riots have again erupted in that troubled northern indian territory. and, imagine such great pleasure and relief for all of us to have reached samdrup jongkhar and to see a spanking new hyundai santa fe waiting for the long and definitely safer (exciting) trip inside bhutan.
neten kept us company for the 16 days that my team and i covered over a thousand kilometers that comprised almost the whole breadth of bhutan. and neten patiently and politely reminded us when to remove our shoes and our caps as we entered the temples, when to wear long sleeved shirts and leather shoes, and what not to take photographs of. he had adequate command of english which was a rare skill among monks in bhutan. and, presumably because of our good behavior, he took us to places that are normally off limits to tourists. and true to auditor-form, he also made sure that we were billeted in the most affordable hotels.
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top photo: neten in our hotel room in thimphu. middle photo: neten viewing garrie david's photo on his dslr. above photo: neten with relatives in trashi yangtse, east bhutan. right photo: neten in punakha dzhong where he works.
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