Once a year, I take a small group to Bhutan to explore the textiles, experience the culture, meet my weaver friends and soak up the Himalayan vistas.
These magical journeys wind through fertile valleys and villages, traversing the country to reach the little-visited textile heartland of ‘kushutara’ in Eastern Bhutan. These trips are designed to deepen your experience of this fascinating country with a focus on Bhutanese textiles and interactions with locals.
These tours are crafted especially for people who love textiles, craft and local culture and who seek the immersive experience of travelling with Wendy, who has lived and breathed Bhutan and is passionate about the Bhutanese people, their culture, and particularly their weaving. Wendy is always alert to the “thunk thunk” of the heavy beater used with a backstrap loom, and for those who are interested in learning the details of kushutara, Wendy will bring a teaching loom to share the knowledge she gained when learning kushutara for 8 months in Thimphu.
In the US & Canada, Wendy has developed a reputation as a wonderful teacher in the workshops she teaches on Bhutanese weaving adapted to Western looms, and she will travel with us to share her unique knowledge. One tour member observed that having Wendy along on this tour is a little like a mobile workshop.
Together with our local Bhutanese guide, we use our local contacts to help you experience the real Bhutan, providing unique windows into Bhutanese culture and the way home-based textile production empowers women as we journey through the mysterious folds of the Bhutanese Himalaya.
Our tours are particularly suited to those who seek hands-on learning opportunities. Wendy enjoys learning by doing as well as learning from & interacting with locals, and loves facilitating such opportunities for others. This tour includes workshops in weaving & natural dyeing, optional extra weaving lessons and as many impromptu opportunities as we can find along the way. We have built in several 2-3 day stops to allow for more immersion at a relaxed pace. We will visit the major sights, but also help you experience the real Bhutan as much as possible.
If you have an adventurous spirit and this sounds like your kind of experience, we would love to have you join us on this journey of a lifetime!
To see images from previous tours, visit Previous Tours
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