Khoma

Khoma is a small village above the Kuri Chhu where the households weave kishuthara, a silk-on-silk brocade woven on backstrap looms in patterns of great density, used for women's kira. The technique is supplementary weft, with each motif picked out by hand, and a single high-quality piece can take a weaver the better part of a year, which is why the finest examples cost as much as a car in local terms and are treated as family assets. Almost every house has a loom on the veranda and weaving goes on through the day; visitors are usually welcome to watch and to buy directly, which sends more of the price to the weaver. The village is reached by a rough road from Lhuentse and a short walk up.

What you actually see

• Backstrap looms - weavers working on verandas throughout the village.
• Kishuthara in progress - dense silk brocade built up motif by motif.
• The pace of the work - months of labour visible in a partly finished piece.
• Direct sales - cloth bought from the weaver rather than a shop.

When to go

March to May and October to November for the roads. Weaving continues year round, though households are busier with farm work at planting and harvest. Monsoon makes the approach road difficult.

Honest expectations

Genuine kishuthara is very expensive and cheaper machine-made imitations circulate widely. This is a working village, so photographing weavers and houses needs asking. The road in is rough. There are no facilities in the village.

Nearby

Lhuentse Dzong lies southwest; Mongar is further south.