Another good day. The weather remained beautiful as Marie and her parents left for their trip. I had brunch (the meal you have when you’ve eaten breakfast hours ago but it’s too early for lunch) with a fellow Aussie who has plenty of tips for running a company as an eternal traveller, then went shopping.
It’s time. After a year in Bhutan, I’ve never fired a bow. Archery is the national sport and I’ve loved archery since reading Robin Hood as a kid. I was going to start just after we arrived, but what with the knee and all my other projects, it just didn’t happen. Now we live closer and I work near the archery ground. It’s time!
Of course I choose to use the traditional bow rather than the Reflex bows most Bhutanese use now. It’s more ‘cultural’ in my opinion (though I’m not sure I can justify that view) and not so dangerous.
It’s also a lot cheaper. The bow is two sections of shaped bamboo joined by a bamboo rivet and bound together with wire. It’s drawn with a piece of ordinary string and the arrows are baby bamboo with feathers and a metal tip that needs to be glued on. The bow, string and 4 arrows cost 600 Nu – something like A$18.
I still need to glue the tips on, but then I’m in business. I wonder if Robin Hood ever wore a gho.