BHUTAN -- As it emerges from isolation, the land-locked, central Himalayan country of Bhutan still maintains an annual maximum number of tourists allowed to visit. With arrangements made and paid for in advance, tourists fly in to Paro by Druk Air, the only airline serving Bhutan's only airport. Guide-interpreters and drivers, wearing their required national dress, wait at the airport to pick up their clients and whisk them away on their travels.
Jigme Goenpo Dorji is a freelance guide and gifted linguist. As well as his mother tongue of Dzongkha, he speaks immaculate English, very good Thai, and some Nepali, Tibetan and Hindi. He said, "I think the most beautiful languages in Asia are Chinese and Japanese." He wants to learn to speak them so badly that, when he is not working, he studies them with the aid of tapes.
Born in a Paro village 30 years ago, Goenpo comes from a large family. He left school after his eighth grade, and entered a monastery. "In the monastery I had to chop wood, do the cooking and washing, walk for more than three hours carrying the food supplies up the mountain," he said. "There was no electricity. Sometimes I had to get up at 3 a.m. for ceremonies. We had classes from 7, when we were taught Buddhist philosophies. Sometimes we went to a meditation center, sometimes to a retreat. It was totally a nonluxurious life." Nonetheless he appreciates the tuition and the disciplines. He had been in the monastery for nearly eight years when his home circumstances changed. "My mother was left with my younger sisters and brother to care for. I had to go and help them," Goenpo said.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.