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A curated reading and viewing list — articles, essays, films, and video about Bhutan, picked for the quality of the work rather than because the writer or filmmaker came through us. Many did not. The country deserves more than a single voice; this is where we surface the ones we think are most worth your time.
The first issue — 8 pieces
Book · Jamie Zeppa · 1999
If a visitor reads one memoir set in Bhutan, this is the one we most-recommend. Zeppa's register is the warm-but-honest one — she stayed long enough to see the country whole, learned the language, and writes with an attentiveness that the better Bhutan writing reaches for. Especially worth reading for visitors going to the eastern circuit; Zeppa's Pemagatshel posting gives an inside view of the eastern register that the typical western-circuit visitor never quite encounters.
Riverhead Books (1999) · 320 pages · English
Photography · John Wehrheim · 2008
Visitors planning a photography-led Bhutan trip should look at this book before they leave. Wehrheim's eye is for the long take rather than the iconic shot — he photographed villages and valleys at a pace that lets the country answer back. The book is also useful as a reference for the kind of trip we plan; visitors who want to know what the photographer's Bhutan looks like can study Wehrheim's work and tell us where they want to go.
Serindia Publications (2008) · 240 pages, large format · English
Film · Pawo Choyning Dorji · 2019
If a visitor watches one Bhutanese film before arriving, this is the one. The pacing is unhurried, the landscape is the real Lunana (8 days' walk from the road-head), and the cast is largely local non-actors. It teaches more about contemporary Bhutan than any documentary we know — the tension between the village and the city, the seriousness with which education is regarded, the place of the yak in the highland economy.
Bhutan / Dangphu Dingphu (2019) — Academy Award nomination 2022 · 1h 49m · Dzongkha (with English subtitles)
Film · Khyentse Norbu (Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche) · 1999
The Cup is the first feature film by a Tibetan-Bhutanese lama to receive international release. Khyentse Norbu directed it as a way of meeting his international audience on terms they recognised — the comic-drama register, real young monk-actors, the substantial humanity of monastic life. For visitors planning a Vajrayana-Buddhist itinerary, this is the warmest entry-point we know to the texture of monastic life.
Bhutan / Coffee Stain Productions (1999) — Cannes Directors' Fortnight · 1h 33m · Tibetan and Hindi (with English subtitles)
Book · Karma Phuntsho · 2013
If a visitor reads one book on Bhutanese history, this is the one. Karma Phuntsho is a Bhutanese historian (Cambridge, Oxford) writing for the international reader without flattening the country. The book is dense but not academic-difficult; visitors with serious interest in the dynastic narrative, the Zhabdrung's consolidation, the 1907 founding, and the 2008 transition will find every entry on private.bt is built on its scholarship.
Random House India / Vintage Books (2013) · 704 pages · English
Talk · Tshering Tobgay · 2016
If a visitor watches one piece of contemporary Bhutanese non-fiction before arriving, this is the one. Tshering Tobgay (see [[tshering-tobgay|the full entry]]) is the principal Bhutanese international voice on environment and Gross National Happiness; the 2016 TED stage is where he chose to put the country's position to the widest audience. Worth 19 minutes before any Bhutan trip.
TED 2016, Vancouver · 19 minutes · English
Film · Khyentse Norbu (Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche) · 2003
If The Cup is the warm comedy, this is the contemplative companion piece. Travellers and Magicians is a road film that crosses the western Bhutanese landscape a visitor will themselves cross — the cantilever bridges, the road over the passes, the substantial silence between villages. The film teaches the eye what to look for. We recommend visitors watch it about a week before they arrive.
Bhutan / Prayer Flag Pictures (2003) · 1h 48m · Dzongkha (with English subtitles)
Book · Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche · 2007
If a visitor reads one book on Buddhism before a Bhutan trip, this is the one. Rinpoche (see [[dzongsar-jamyang-khyentse|the full entry]]) writes for the contemporary reader without diluting the tradition. The book's four-chapter structure — built on the Four Seals — gives the visitor a working vocabulary for what they will encounter in the dzongs and lhakhangs without dressing it up. It is also funny, which most introductory Buddhist books are not.
Shambhala Publications (2007) · 144 pages · English
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If you have written or filmed something about Bhutan that you would like us to consider, please send it through the intake form. We will read or watch every submission, and reply whether or not we feature it.