Staff | Bhutan Himalaya

MEET SOME OF OUR WONDERFUL FIELD STAFF

Click or tap on an image to learn more about the featured staff member

Sangay Rinzin, Senior Staffing Coordinator & Leader

Sangay’s leadership, knowledge of the terrain and personal connections, especially in his home region of Eastern Bhutan, are crucial to the smooth running of our travel programs and featured trips.

Playful & Witty

Resourceful and charming, Sangay brings a boundless sense of playfulness to our journeys. His natural wit and exuberant sense of humor combine make him a quick hit among our guests. While he may seem lighthearted, Sangay’s knowledge of Bhutanese culture, history and customs can only be described as encyclopedic. Sangay is one of our most valuable assets.

Tashi Trekking & Adventures Coordinator

Tashi Trekking & Adventures Coordinator

Tashi, a devil on a motorcycle, and the steadiest, most respected member of our team is mainly responsible for managing the details of our trekking expeditions. He has also led some exceptional cultural tours for us and always keeps a sharp eye on the morale and well-being of our camp crew. He can always be trusted to maintain a fun vibe around camp and his dedication to his crew is legendary.

Mountain Man

Tashi has been trekking in the Bhutan Himalaya for over a decade now, supporting film and nature research expeditions, and later as an expert trekking guide for reputed tour agencies. He is an important member of our team and we rely on him as well as out longtsanding connections in the nomadic communities where we travel for the success of our trekking operations.

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Dorji Phuba, Trip Leader, Western Bhutan

With his youthful sense of flair and fun, Dorji can always be trusted to keep things lively. His stream of funny anecdotes and playful antics hide an extensive knowledge of the history, culture and customs of Bhutan and the Himalayas.

Lay-of-the-land Expertise

Dorji has an especially expert knowledge of the local geography and climate, something he gets from his family’s close ties to the land. In fact, between trips, the fastest way to find Dorji is to visit his father’s beautiful estate by the Paro river where they grow golden delicious apples, Bhutan’s famous red rice and, as often as they can, practice their archery.

Karma Dorji, Travel Programs Coordinator

Karma was was privately tutored by Buddhist monks in Bhutan before attending high school in India and studying journalism in Germany. His early career practicing western-style journalism in Bhutan resulted in the rare opportunity that eventually changed his life.

For 5 years in the beginning of the ’90s, Karma was assigned to cover the epic development plans of Bhutan’s Fourth King, His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck–a nation-wide undertaking based on the monarch’s vision of “Gross National Happiness” for all Bhutanese people.

Inspired by a King

Following the footsteps of Bhutan’s visionary king, Karma drove, hiked and trekked to the remotest corners of all 20 districts in the country, meeting many extraordinary people and profiling their lives in what he describes as “some of the most formative years of my life.” In 1995, Karma received the Dag Hammarskjöld Award for Journalism from the UN Correspondents Association.

As a result of these unique experiences, Karma decided to share the beautiful geography, people and stories of Bhutan with the wider world of travelers. In 1999 he began designing, coordinating and leading cultural journeys and Himalayan treks to Bhutan.

Today, Karma divides his time between Bhutan and the rugged central coast of California (just south of Big Sur), where his American-born wife Linda grew up. Karma & Linda met in Bhutan while she was working for the United Nations and the royal government’s health services ministry on a project to expand physical therapy and rehabilitation services. They have two sons, both of whom are avid hikers and surfers and enjoy a bi-cultural upbringing in Bhutan and California.

Book & Lectures on Bhutan

Karma has lectured on Bhutanese culture at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco (watch the video of a talk titled The Raven Crown of Bhutan’s Buddhist Kings by Karma at the Asian Art Museum).

Karma’s book Dreaming of Prayer Flags: Stories and Images from Bhutan was released July 2008 at the Bhutan Folklife Festival co-sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and the Royal Government of Bhutan.

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“Karma carries in him the spiritual heritage and wisdom of his Buddhist ancestors” ~ Elvi Ruottinnen, Founder of Earthpeace Communications

Rinchen, Trip Leader, Eastern Bhutan Operations

Born and raised among the highland nomads of Eastern Bhutan’s fabled Merak-Sakten region, Rinchen is an indispensable part of our operations, especially our extensions into far-eastern Bhutan.

Homecoming with a Community Insider

Rinchen’s deep ties within the communities there truly enhance our journeys, giving them the air of returning home with a celebrated son. This self-effacing young man is wise beyond his years and anyone with the luck to travel with him quickly learns that Rinchen’s humility masks an intense knowledge of the customs and landscape of his birth.

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Yeshey Wangchuk, Country Coordinator

Our sweet-natured but immensely capable Country Coordinator, Yeshey Wangchuk (kneeling, front), has led some of the most challenging and exciting journeys for us.

Yeshey is widely connected in Bhutan and his family members include well-loved government and civil service figures as well as some of the most respected farmers in western Bhutan.

Gracefully Efficient

Yeshey combines effortless Buddhist grace with an unflappable sense of direction, the influence of his guardian, His Eminence Lama Dorji Wangchuk, one of the top five Buddhist abbots in the country (seated, behind Yeshey) charged with guiding national spiritual matters as well as a network of Buddhist monasteries that have been operating since the late 16th century.

From arranging special entries to remote monasteries to securing our seats on the limited number of flights to Bhutan to smoothing over logistics feathers, Yeshey does it all, only ever revealing the very broadest of smiles!

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Pema, Head of Transport Logistics

Despite his physically intimidating presence, Pema (foreground, sunglasses) has a way of cutting through excess verbiage to grasp the precise humor of almost any situation. Although his English is somewhat limited, he has no problems connecting in a direct manner with our guests.

From Tour Buses to Four-Wheel Drives

In addition to being the immensely capable manager of our Transport Logistics Pema is also one of our most reliant and stalwart drivers. A native of the Paro Valley, his wonderful sense of humor is rivaled only by his immense skill & captainship negotiating the tricky roads of Bhutan in a wide variety of vehicles ranging from heavy buses and trucks to four-wheel drives and passenger vans. Pema is a beloved member of our team.

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Chencho, Senior Trekking Leader

Chencho (sitting), our trekking expeditions leader for many years, has been a favorite of many of our past guests. After many years of hiking and leading our most challenging groups over most of the major trails in Bhutan, he has given up trekking to spend more time with his family and pursue other career directions.

Serious Dedication

Chencho once walked five hours out of the mountains near the end of a trek to get a thirsty guest some Red Panda beer. Following his reappearance in camp later that evening, it was discovered that the beer had been mentioned in jest! Chencho was an important member of our team and his cheerful absence on our expeditions will be sorely missed!

Tashi Namgay, Bhutan Birding Expert

While Tashi can be relied on to ably lead any type of journey, his true passion is reserved for birding. In the course of a decade or more of leading birding trips to Bhutan, Tashi has worked his way up first as an apprentice guide, then a full-fledged guide and is now an independent Trip Leader.

Keen Birder

Today, Tashi has amassed a wide-ranging and keen first-hand knowledge of when and where to spot the most colorful and exotic birds of Bhutan, making him a natural choice for our birding expeditions in Bhutan.

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MEET SOME OF OUR WONDERFUL FIELD STAFF

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