The Internet Movie Database reports that "Travellers & Magicians" is the first feature film ever made in Dzongkha, a language
spoken by some 160,000 people in the Himalayan nation of Bhutan. It is also one of very few movies to be shot in the pristine, unspoiled beauty of that region. Little wonder this area was the inspiration for Shangri-La in "Paradise Lost." But Dondup (Tsewang Dandup) doesn't consider it paradise. Having recently moved to a remote village from the big city and taken a government job, he finds he is bored and unsatisfied there. He smokes cigarettes and listens to Western rock 'n' roll and anxiously awaits word from his friend who has already moved to America. When the letter finally comes, Dondup leaves the village for Thinphu, and from there he will proceed to the United States. Why, you can do anything you want there, and make more money at it! He misses the one bus that passes the outskirts of the village and must wait for another ride. Hitchhiking appears to be an acceptable means of transportation, as there is also an elderly apple salesman (Ap Dochu) and a Buddhist monk (Sonam Kinga) waiting alongside him. They are bemused by Dondup's disdain for village life and by his fervent, outspoken desire to find something better in the West.
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