Category: Countries

Marie wrote last night to say that her boss in the Embassy isn’t motivated to work on her extension, so it seems we won’t be staying another year in Bhutan. Part of me doesn’t want to believe it. Surely it’s more work for him to find a replacement and arrange the transfer, paying the shipping… Continue reading Moving out

Today was the day that the great tapestry is displayed to the world in Thimphu dzong. It has to be rolled up before sunrise, so people rush down at 4am to get a look. I decided not to go because I think, like the Tsetchu, once would be enough and I’d rather do it with… Continue reading Missed chance

The trek didn’t go as planned. The taxi driver tried to rip us off, our Bhutanese partner wasn’t available, it was cold, wet and foggy, I slept with rocks in my back, we got lost, some of my equipment was broken and my knees were pushed to the limit. But it wasn’t all bad. We… Continue reading Dagala Trek

Yesterday was the Damchen, a religious festival before the three day Tsetchu. I’d never been to one before so I joined a few friends and headed down at about 10am. The crowds were much smaller and we easily got a seat in the hot sun. About 10:30, a group of monks dressed in masks and… Continue reading Damchen

I’ve often raved about the driving skills and ethics of Bhutanese, who drive as if they were walking around a village. When driving along the one lane roads, trucks keep to the centre, forcing the little cars with no clearance and less suspension to drive on the road fringes, wheels scraping cliffs or finding air.… Continue reading Fallen

Robin, Karma’s lead technician has been working at Athang since it started a year ago, but he’s been quite deferential and I haven’t had much of a chance to get to know him. Yesterday, away from Karma’s ears and with me chatting idly, he opened up a bit more. He’s third generation Nepali and hinted… Continue reading Flash

It’s been another one of those days with too much to fit in one entry. Karma is overworked, so he asked me to go to Paro dzong in his stead. They were complaining of viruses and not being able to access the internet. Since the internet was working when it was set up a few… Continue reading History vs urine

I don’t have many opportunities to test customer service in the private sector, but the experiences I’ve had have all been frustrating. The first was when my new laptop hard drive crashed. I didn’t know it was the hard drive – it looked more like BIOS and the support staff on the phone agreed with… Continue reading Customer Service?

I’ve just finished watching Krrish, a bollywood film about a boy with extraordinary abilities who grows up in the mountains where he can’t be exploited. The isolation and his grandmother’s love keep him honest and pure hearted. When he meets the gorgeous Priyanka Chopra, he follows her to Singapore where he dons a mask and… Continue reading Bollywood Superheroes

My little brother and I have never been close. While I wanted to learn languages, get out in nature and travel the world to see the way people from different cultures live, he wanted to hang around with his white Australia mates at home and smoke pot. He’s had a pretty tough life – always… Continue reading Back from Afghanistan