Category: Bhutan

The sound of a siren dug its way into my work trance today. Actually, it didn’t take much. A siren is such a rare sound here. I think this was the first ever in my entire time in Bhutan. I ran to the window, trying to work out whether it was a police car /… Continue reading Siren

I’ve had enough. I don’t want to code any more. I’ve gotten to the point where I know that I can do almost anything, but I just can’t be bothered. I want to work on my books. I want to spend my evenings reading. I want to get out and be in Bhutan more. I’ve… Continue reading End of Coding

After a 5am ride up to Dochu La this morning, I was energised for a day of religion. OK. There’s very little connection there, but I did feel like heading into a bookstore for a look at some books on Bhuddism. I chose a couple of titles to help me overcome guilt at having lived… Continue reading Philosophy or Superstition

Marie’s due back tomorrow so I’ve been finishing all the domestic tasks that needed doing. She’s not going to walk in the door and say, ‘It looks like a bachelor’s house’ this time. – shelves all put up – balcony cleaned – washing done – living room clean and tidy – study clean and tidy… Continue reading Domesticated

Last year it generally rained at night, leaving beautiful sunny days. This year it’s been raining many days, but never too hard. Not much harder than what we called ‘Brusseling’ – the rain that hangs in the air like a mist. But a couple of times this year, I’ve felt the power of a monsoon… Continue reading Himalayan Monsoon

I was going to write about the monsoon deluge we had yesterday and the rubble and rubbish strewn around town as a result, but I changed my mind during dinner tonight. We were having the usual expat gripe / wow session about life in Bhutan and Nathan and Andrea kept telling me to shush when… Continue reading The other side

It’s been a long slow recovery. Marie is still away on her trip to survey a cross section of Bhutanese farmers and distributers to better understand the dairy chain. It’s her first time leading a team and she’s loving it. I, on the other hand, have been moping around the house for a couple of… Continue reading Recovery

The one thing that I enjoyed on the way back from India was reading a book I’d picked up at a shop in Varanasi. It’s called Turning Point by Fritjof Capra, one of my favourite science writers. He talks about some of the major problems the world is facing – health, environment, economic – as… Continue reading The Turning Point

Yesterday I spent a long day judging the RIM student projects. I thought it would be fun and a great experience, but I didn’t think about how tough it would be. We worked from 9am until 8:30pm to get them all done and in that time, as well as looking at every part of their… Continue reading Judge

I can’t believe that I missed Australia’s first world cup match in 32 years. Especially when it was against my second home, Japan. I went to Zone at 6pm to join the festivities and to playfully demoralise the Japanese in town. I mean, how could Australia suddenly become good enough to beat Japan? Michelle and… Continue reading Insects