Category: Bhutan

I came home for lunch today, having forgotten my wallet. My favourite restaurant would have been happy to put lunch on my account, I’m sure, but something drew me home. It was no real surprise then, to find our landlord, one of the most respected men in the country, chopping meat in our car park.… Continue reading Shameless Meating

Something like 80% of Bhutan’s export revenue comes from power. The huge amounts of water coming off the mountains is easily converted to power with a little diversion and a drop of almost a kilometre before rejoining the main river. But today a Canadian joined us at rock climbing and he’s working on a problem… Continue reading Winter power problems

I made the effort to get my bow working again today, but it seems it’s not as simple as I expected. Or perhaps it will be simpler. First problem was the string. I took the broken piece back to the market and was sold a better replacement. This one is waxed and has a loop… Continue reading Sweet archery

Winter starts this week in Bhutan. At least, it does for government workers. The office I share with a growing community in the base of Thimphu is quite bright and warm, getting the sun all day. In winter, particularly because of its southerly aspect (northern hemisphere, remember) and we had curtains installed recently so people… Continue reading Winter Time

It’s taken a few days to get up the courage to write this as it’s not a view I want people to have of Bhutan, but it’s real. One of my old students, who now works for Marie, has a brother in intensive care. Marie went to see him the other day and just made… Continue reading Street gangs

My day was rescued in part by finally gaining the throne in the war campaign of Stronghold2, but mostly by a visit to the handicraft fair in the late afternoon. I’d been watching stalls being erected in the Clock Tower Square for the past week with no knowledge of what they were for. It was… Continue reading Handicraft Fair

I’ve never seen the Japanese sport of archery, so when I heard it was being demonstrated yesterday on the local archery ground, I jumped at the chance. I was late, but the first 45 minutes seemed to just be a presentation on the history of the sport. When they finally got started, 3 elderly Japanese… Continue reading Kyudo

Yesterday began cold and wet so we forewent a long walk or bike ride and Marie decided she’d try to join the over 40 run against poverty in celebration of UN day. She joined Michelle to complete the contingent of expats. For some reason (possibly the rain) no UN expats joined. The registered along with… Continue reading Run against poverty

I lost it yesterday. My tolerance finally cracked and I ended up in an loud argument with the driver of a large car. I’d rushed up to Shop No 7 to buy some butter and cream so Marie could make a cake for the French guests we have coming tonight. I parked neatly in their… Continue reading Parked in

There was one more interesting person I met last night – they were all women for some reason. Dorji Yanki (I have no idea about the spelling of this) is a young woman who leads the team that manages renovations to all cultural buildings in Bhutan. Her team consists of 2 Bhutanese architects, 2 Japanese… Continue reading Architect