One People, Many Cultures

Marie’s parents arrive tomorrow, so today is cleaning day. We haven’t given the place a thorough clean since we arrived and it really needs it. Bhutan is a very dusty country before the rainy season. While on a trip to the supermarket to buy some cleaning products, I bumped into Marianne and her monkey. Marianne… Continue reading Home for the Dogs

I missed yesterday because I was trying to create a new design for the site. I thought I had it, but when I tried using real content it looked ugly. Back to the drawing board. The power was out last night, so although we have our water this morning, we can’t heat it except on… Continue reading Water no Power

This is my second post today. Consider it an attempt to make up for the lack of posts over the weekend. Actually, I feel compelled to write to mention that we have no running water. It’s the second time in as many days. Quite a shock for someone who’s never lacked water more than a… Continue reading Drought

Water’s back. When I woke up, there was nothing in the taps, but plenty falling from the sky. I ran downstairs with a bucket, but had to wait my turn to set under the drips from the roof. I got enough for Marie’s coffee, but not enough for a wash. Despite all the protests of… Continue reading Guarded Welcome

Our new flat is starting to feel like home, but until this morning, we had a cable running from our bedroom window, out and across the living room and into the study for the internet connection. Today it had to go. I asked the landlord to show me how to access the roof and he… Continue reading Rooftops

It’s been three days since my last entry. Not a good start, I know, but I have an excuse. The local DNS server was down and I spent the last 2 days trying to find the problem on my own PC. Anyway, all done now. I’ve recovered, been back outside for a bike ride in… Continue reading Internet Hell

I spent all yesterday getting the internet working on Linux since I’d been forced to use Windows for the last post. Today I’ve installed Ubuntu on my home laptop and am close to getting it settled. It’s Barbara’s (Marie’s friend) last day in Thimphu today, so I just had to show her the hassles of… Continue reading Breezy Bureaucracy

I got the answers to all my questions last night when a strange man rang our doorbell at 10:30. I was already asleep with a cold and Marie was trying to finish up some work before crashing herself. Neither of us were happy with the intrusion. It turned out to be the installer come to… Continue reading Connected

It turned out there was something I could do. I could ask the other wireless ISP to set me up with a higher speed account. They agreed and arranged to install the antenna today. But this is Bhutan. Early today, as I sat in my office in town, I was told to expect a call… Continue reading Antenna

Our broadband internet connection still isn’t ready. Despite giving the provider a month’s notice, they only realised on the day of installation that they were missing the power supply for the antenna. There’s nothing I can do, so I have to practice my Bhutanese patience and wait. The new flat is being painted today to… Continue reading Home Hassles