Tarayana Fair

If you are planning a trip to Bhutan in early May and can stay in Thimphu for a night or two, treat yourself by heading to the Tarayana Fair. It's the annual fundraiser for Tarayana Foundation (MyBhutan's nonprofit partner) that started in 2003 as a chance for the handicraft artisans that Tarayana sponsors to display their creations. It's grown into a three-day-long party with the feel of a small county fair that for many foreigners will have an air of innocence from days past. The fairgrounds, open all year long, are down by the banks of the Wang Chhu next to the foundation's headquarters. The fair has bunches of activities for kids, handicrafts shopping and a jumble sale for adults, games, a mini archery field for trying the national sport, a demonstration area showcasing Tarayana projects, pop tunes playing over loudspeakers, and lots of food — cheese and beef momos, of course, but also roasted barley flour, puffed raw zaw, and dried cottage cheese (datsi kam). It's a chance to see a wider cross-section of Bhutanese in one place than you are likely to encounter anywhere else. The fair has family-friendly fun at its most charming. Kids in pint-sized kiras and ghos sit patiently to get their faces painted as parents look on (girls go for intricate floral patterns, boys for su...