The Photographer's Tour of Bhutan was
outstanding in every respect. The locations were well chosen:
unique, spectacular and bustling with photo opportunities. There
was a sense of intimacy in most of the locations we visited
which was probably due to the low tourist traffic. The
setup with the cars and the one-on-one guides and
drivers was a pleasant departure from the traditional bus
ride of other tours. The daily rotating of the cars
with the participants helped to create an excellent
group dynamic--many of us came home as friends with the hope
of keeping in touch after the tour. The only problem is,
how on earth can we ever go back to a traditional bus tour
after this!? The guides quickly became our friends
and were very eager to share the great variety of their knowledge
and experience with us. I liked the food a lot, without exception!
Nonetheless, knowing that food preference is very individual,
I think that recommending some non-perishable food supply
brought from home may be a good idea, though I never felt
the need for such food supplement. The resorts and guest
houses were very good-to-outstanding with a few totally unique,
probably once-in-a life time accommodations such as in Ugen
Choling. (I did not make it to Ura, so I don't know about
the night at Shinkar). I cannot say anything to
improve on the tour, I liked it that much. About the only
advice I could give is for the sake of the few more "finicky" participants;
perhaps the simple conditions at Ugen Choling should
be better explained.
Nikon D200
10.5mm fish eye lens
12-24, 18-70, 70-300 lenses plus a fast 50mm primary lens
(f1.4)
2 batteries - 3 would have been better for the 2 days w/o
electricity
CF cards: 8Gb and 4Gb as a backup
Epson P5000 that I used every night to download images from
the CF cards
Tripod - I really think that for a photo tour like this,
a tripod would be highly desirable. There was no day that
I didn't use mine. With the guides willingness to carry gear,
the extra load really should not be a concern.
Battery chargers
Lens cleaning stuff
Leveling bubble
As an add-on option, I also had a video camera with me that
saw very good use
What I wish I had with me:
A sensor cleaning brush - on digital SLR cameras you will
end up changing the lenses many times a day and dust on the
sensor will be unavoidable.
A good dedicated flash.
Best wishes, Laszlo
lhopp@charter.net
