Few tourists, mixed reviews
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| Yak rides were part of the festival |
Nomad’s Festival 28 December, 2009 – The first nomad’s festival in Bumthang did not draw as many tourists as hoped, mainly because not many knew about it, but did receive mixed responses from the few that attended.
While some tourists applauded the idea of show-casing the nomads and their culture, some did not appreciate that the nomadic people were also a part of the exhibit, along with the 150 yaks, livestock products, 12 horses and six mountain dogs (bjobchis).
“I feel sad to see the nomads being used for a show like any other tourist attraction,” said Michiko Wakita, who first visited Bhutan in 1974. “It’s okay for the first time, but I think Bhutan first needs to work on developing basic tourism infrastructure.”
“When people become an exhibit, it looks like you’ve run out of things to attract tourists, which isn’t true for Bhutan,” said another.
Harald Frithjof Finn from Norway said that the idea was similar to what they did in Norway. “Those people are today respected,” he said. “They have their own identity, language, and so it has worked for us and I hope it would be the same for Bhutan.”
Michel Rosenfeld, from the USA, feels okay with the idea. “Sometimes there’s tension between local people and tourists, but here people are eager to be photographed, which is pleasant for the tourist,” said Michel Rosenfeld, who is on a 14-day visit with his wife. “I learnt about the festival last night and changed my plans to attend,” he said.
“The people, who I thought were forgotten, are getting the attention they deserve and I think that’s good,” said Otany from Japan, who is visiting Bhutan for the 15th time. “But I don’t know if the nomads like the idea.”
Michiko Wakita and her three friends were among the few tourists, who knew about the festival a week ahead. “Even the tourism people, with whom I keep in touch to bring in tourists from Japan, didn’t know about the festival. Maybe there’s a lack of communication between the organising agencies,” she said, surprised. “But I had to make it because I wanted to see how this festival would help the nomads in Bhutan.”
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| The bjobchis were one of the main attractions |
The chief forestry officer of Wangchuck Centennial park, D S Rai said that the idea to organise such a festival came up only about two months ago. “We couldn’t advertise because of the short time period and also because the date couldn’t be fixed,” he said. “And we posted it on our website about two weeks before the festival began.”
Even though the festival, which ends today, goes on non-stop from 9 am to 9 pm, the 90 nomads meanwhile are more worried about selling off all the livestock products they brought with them than being a part of the exhibit.
Most of them have only sold the chains of hardened cheese (chugo) and bamboo baskets and not the clothes because of few tourists. “They buy the clothes usually and there aren’t much tourists,” said a nomad from Laya. “I still have two sacks of chugo to sell,” added a 76-year old Dhendup, from Soe, Thimphu, who walked for three days with his three friends to participate in the festival. “I won’t sell them here because the shops are flooded with Indian products,” said Gyeltshen from Sephu, Wangdue.
Some nomads plan to sell their products at a lower price at Chamkhar town, as taking them back would be a hassle. “We’ve sold about 200 bottles of zoetey, fermented cheese, of the 600 we brought with us, but I don’t think we’ll finish selling them all,” said Lhendup from Sakteng. “If we can’t sell it here, we’ll take it to Thimphu.”
The three-day festival from December 26-28, which was organised to make people understand the importance of coexistence between nature and the nomadic culture, at Nasiphel, an hour-long drive up a rough dirt road, did however attract hundreds of local visitors, both young and old.
Source: kuenselonline