I recently went on my first tour with Little Bhutan. The driver and I arrived at the airport far ahead of time, which gave me the time to practice my waiting skills, politely put. It was also intimidating to be around other senior guides, who wouldn’t stop staring at me, mostly with judgment. When I brought this up to my guest, she encouraged me to stare back – twofold.
My guest was British, a nationality I repeated at the entry of various monasteries. Right from the start, there was a special bond between us, even if I couldn’t tell then. Minutes after driving from the airport to the hotel, she asked me how long I had been a guide for. Unable to lie, I told her that I was fairly new. Upon further questioning, I told her that she was my first guest.
Heading East
After spending a day in Thimphu, we headed to Punakha. We later drove east, to Bumthang. The drive to Bumthang – 214 kms – was the longest. Plus, I had only travelled on that road once before. On our way, we crossed two districts – Wangdu Phodrang and Trongsa, and two mountain passes – Pele La and Yotong La. When we reached Trongsa, my guest had a meltdown, prompting me to have mine. The winding roads and rapidly changing climate had taken a toll on her. Also, according to her, Bhutan had too many steps to climb. Earlier in the drive, we had been talking about a range of topics, including Africa — a continent she was familiar with. She cited the instability in Africa, to which I responded that “occupation” played a role in creating that instability. After the meltdown, our conversation shifted to American politics — Trump, the Black Lives Matter movement, among other topics. Both of us had lived in the U.S., one of the many things we shared in common. We were also both fiercely independent.
The drive back from Bumthang was different. I remember telling my guest that something about heading West automatically helped improve one’s mood.
Learning from Her
My guest liked to take pictures. So I developed an interest in photography. She used the word “composition” while describing her pictures. Over the span of our tour, I learnt to take pictures using the sun’s light; I learnt that light was crucial for good photography. Though not always. At a restaurant, after the owner spoke to me in a belittling tone and when I felt disrespected, she told me two things: to always keep the focus on the client i.e., her, and to not take any shit from people. On her last day in Bhutan, we had breakfast together and even then I didn’t tell her that she reminded me of my American host mother, or an old friend. At the airport, right before she left, we hugged a messy hug and she reminded me once again to stand up for myself.
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