Rainbow Photo Tours of

Why Bhutan?

If you are reading this, chances are you already know something about this tiny and magical "Last Shangri-La."   Perhaps you know about Bhutan from world press reports that recently covered Bhutan's first democratic election or the King of Bhutan's marriage and birth of his first son. 

Most of the articles about the election also mentioned the government's cautious attempt to open the door to the Western world by controlling the number of tourist visas issued and setting a high price on what it calls the "government royalty." Back in the seventies when the fourth king of Bhutan set this policy he knew this tiny kingdom could not arm-wrestle with unabated tourism and win.

Or maybe you saw the 60-Minutes feature on Bhutan back in 2000 when Morley Safer said, "...we found a place, perhaps the only place on Earth, where the government's first priority is something it calls Gross National Happiness." The program went on to document how Bhutan had just then allowed the installation of its first network of television cables. "We have to go there!" was my wife's comment when she heard that report. And we did, in April 2001.

I can say that for me, in all of my world travels, Bhutan is the most fascinating country I have ever visited and I can hardly wait to return in September 2017 for the thirty-fourth time.

I hope the pages of our web site will give you some sense of what this unique country has to offer the adventure traveler who enjoys furthering photographic skills—we welcome all levels of photographers, professional to point-and-shoot, digital and film.

Our web site offers very detailed itineraries to help you discover if we are a good fit and I am confident that if you read those details you will want to join us. Please call me or email for more details and to discuss your personal travel and photography goals. (robin@rainbowphototours.com)

Why Bhutan Now?

Bhutan is changing quickly, in spite of its best effort to move gradually, maintaining its Buddhist culture and pristine environment.  School girls wear traditional government-mandated kiras and giggle their way down a rocky path from home—in platform shoes straight out of a Western shopping mall.

Small shops line the street in isolated villages selling betel nut and rice from open baskets—with pictures of Spiderman tacked to the wall.

And as the photo to the left illustrates, many images of Bhutan now juxtapose the ancient with the modern—the white sign between strips of drying yak meat outside of a shop in Haa refers to purchasing additional minutes for your cell phone.

Now is the time to visit Bhutan, before more Westernization changes the face of this serene country.