On the second day of my three week trip to Bhutan, I had to sit my guide down. “We’re not typical tourists. We’re different” I told him. “Rather than going to all the same places that every other tourist to Bhutan goes to, we want to see the real Bhutan”. That sitting down made all the difference for the remainder of our trip. Whenever we had a chance to get off the beaten path and just wander, we did! Once of my favorite things became wandering through rural agricultural areas and visiting with and photographing people while they did their day’s work.
This particular day, we were slowly making our way down the narrow, windy road from Cheli La pass and I spied a beautiful farmhouse surrounded by apple trees. “Phuentsho, can we go check that out?” Phuentsho, my guide, nodded: “Absolutely, let’s go!”. Tshering, our driver, quickly stopped the van, I grabbed my camera bag and we were off. 
We spent about a half hour at and around the farmstead, chatting with the woman who lived there. She had many projects going. Phuentsho translated and after securing permission for me to photograph, my photography field day began. At last, the real Bhutan.
The family had recently harvested all of their red rice, a hearty, nutty tasting variety, and the woman had the rice drying on the concrete slabs in front of her home. Twice daily, she would turn the rice so that it dried properly. I photographed her as she 
did this. It took a while so I was able to shoot from several angles as well as shoot a bunch of verticals and horizontals from each spot. I ended with a lot to choose from when I was finished.
We then moved on to an area behind the house where the local distilled spirit called arra was being made. Home brewed arra remains the most popular liquor in Bhutan because it is natural and manufactured locally. For centuries arra has played a significant role in the Bhutanese way of life, being consumed on numerous occasions such as religious ceremonies, marriages and festivals. It is distilled from a fermented grain mixture. While we chatted, the woman changed the water in the Khataw, the aluminum condensing pot, which has to be kept cold for condensation to occur. A cold Khataw causes vapors from the heated fermented mixture below it to condense on its bottom. This fluid, arra, then drips down into a collection vessel.
This was all so fascinating to me. I photographed, recomposed and thought of little else. I was in the moment. I was in the zone. The “real Bhutan” was starting to unfold. 
This image reminds me of the scene in the movie, The Sound of Music, where the Mother Superior is singing “Climb Every Mountain.” Okay, a bit of an obscure reference but I am sticking with it. It was a beautiful situation and the kind woman was a wonderful, dear soul.
Yes, I know there are other bird photographers better known but the only thing Jeff lacks is an ego the size of Florida and the arrogance to tell you how good he is.
Okay, a pretty picture to soften the last rant. Rant still stands but I didn’t want you to leave with that rattling around in your head.
