Mish In Bhutan

Charming Men

2006-11-15T05:33:00.001+06:30

The men in Bhutan are very charming indeed. It is not unusual to have men stop western women and tell them they look very beautiful in kira. In fact, it’s not limited to men either. Many women also stop you to say you look very nice. I think it just shows how important their culture and national dress is to them, that they encourage others to wear it.

I must say tho’, the kira is quite a nice national dress for women. It is very elegant, ladylike and you do feel feminine wearing it. Today I had one of the senior health staff stop me and say I look much better in kira than in my suit. This is not the first time this has happened. He said if I were to wear it every day I would take his heart. How lovely is that? How many times would that happen in the corridors of your workplace?

Some of my female Bhutanese friends have been very sweet and said to me ‘I think you should marry a Bhutanese man, so you can stay here in Bhutan’. The closer I get to leaving, the more that say it. So little do they know about me.

My work colleague Pema often jokes about it ‘Ahh.. Michelle…she likes her own species..’ which is great. It gets me off the hook without offending anyone.

Tashi Delek

Dasho, Rinpoche and Yak

2006-11-15T05:24:00.000+06:30

Last week I had dinner with Dasho Kado. It is Carolyn’s boyfriends father. He is a Colonel in the Army, a business man, and sometimes an actor. In the movie Travellers and Magicians he was the ‘official’ and archer in the opening scene of the film.

I had met him once before at the Veterans Run, and not having met previously, he rang Carolyn to arrange a more formal dinner where we could met and have a chat. At the dinner, there was also a very revered Rinpoche from Bumthang, his consort (wife), and two senior monks to assist him.

The Rinpoche was great. He even gave me his business card. Classic huh? Where else in the world are you going to find monks that hand out their business card along with mobile number and contact details? He told us we are welcome to his monestry anytime I visit Bumthang, and am free to ask any questions related to Buddhism via Dasho Kado (as the Rinpoche’s English isn’t so good). I’m only sorry I didn’t get a photo with him – but I do have it on his business card ;-).

Dasho gave me a brief background about him, he quite openly told me that Rinpoche was an alcoholic for many years, going on benders for about four days at a time, then he gave it up a few years ago and now doesn’t touch a drop. Obviously tho’ he has an addictive personality as his teeth were basically maroon in colour from all the doma he chews, and his ‘consort’ was feeding him doma most of the night.

I had not seen maroon teeth before. Red and pink yes, but maroon.. well that takes doma chewing to a new level. I just can’t imagine how his wife manages to kiss him. YUK. Now I have his contact details maybe I should send him a toothbrush?

I must say tho’, dinner and all that day really was quite tough. The night before I went to a ‘dance party’ and basically danced all night. It was great exercise. We danced to old classics like ‘I will survive’, ‘dancing queen’, though to new music like ‘Hips don’t lie’ and even the latest Hindi dance hits. I’m getting used to shaking my hips like the Indians do in those Bollywood films.. it’s quite a giggle.

So on Sunday I was quite tired from all the dancing, and the millions of drinks I consumed, but none-the-less dinner with the Dasho had been prearranged and I wanted to go. I am glad I did. Carolyn and I had a great time. I’m going to miss the informal formal dinners that they do here.

Dinners in Bhutan are quite an event. They spend hours cooking and people serve you quite formally yet you sit around the lounge suite and it feels quite like you're having an informal bite to eat. It’s completely the opposite to how I do things. When I have people for dinner I usually go for a simple meal, but eat at the table with a good bottle of wine and have a good chat.

Oh well maybe I can integrate the two when I get home.. a Bhutanese meal around the table drinking red wine and ara? Who knows..more to the point.. who knows how I am going to integrate this life back into the life I live in Perth..

Tashi Delek

Working in Bhutan

2006-10-31T07:41:00.000+06:30

This is just a short comment about working in Bhutan. You have to report at your 'station' by 9am, then you work till 1pm and have lunch until 2pm.

Everyone in the entire country takes the lunch break. So basically you can't do anything or access any services other than restaurants. It can make it quite frustrating for the Westerner, but now I'm used to it.

If you take the normal Western work ethic, lunch (if you have it), is usually the time you tear around doing all those things that you need to do during the working week that you simply must do to ensure your life is on track. It could be paying bills, dropping off the drycleaning, buying that emergency birthday present, buying groceries for dinner etc...

In Bhutan, where the world stops, you can do none of that. You can either 1) continue to work (and they think you are CRAZY) or 2) eat lunch. There are no banks open, most shops shut and nothing is accessable. So you have to do all the things you would normally do during work hours.

Crikey.. so much for productivity. So anyway.. it's taken me a while to get used to, but now I either eat at my desk and continue my work or I meet up with one of the expats and catch up somewhere.

Another quirky thing are the change in working hours. During summer you start at 9am and finish at 5pm. During winter you start at 9am and finish at 4pm. Classic. So as of tomorrow, the winter hours set in. I'll be finishing at 4pm (supposedly). What a giggle.

Maybe that's why they have gross national happiness before gross national product. If they were to change this situation and actually increase productivity, people would riot and they country would become very unhappy indeed! HA!

The real reason behind the winter hours is that the days get shorter. It now gets dark at 5.45pm. I guess finishing early gives people time to walk home safely without getting mauled by the packs of dogs that roam this town.

All I know is that I'll probably be radical and stay back to.. maybe 5pm.. then walk home myself. Ahh.. this is the life. I'll enjoy it while it lasts.. not long now until it's back to a Western working reality.

Tashi Delek

And the winner is...

2006-10-22T10:28:00.000+06:30

I have just come back from the Veteran Run for Poverty to celebrate the 60 years of the UN in Bhutan.

It was a pretty miserably wet morning, and for a little while I thought I was going to be the only person I knew there! Marie had pulled out the night before, and after calling Verdell at 7am she said it was too wet for her. Well like I said, rain hail or shine I was going to do it, Thankfully Marie had a change or heart and joined me and brought Mag along as support crew.

So we arrived, registered and I was happy to say it was a very well organised event. We were given a t-shirt, hat and number and were ready for an 8.30am start. There were 105 competitors which is pretty good for a wet day in Thimphu where running isn't exactly the most popular sport.

So after the offical opening by the UN, all the ceremony that goes with doing anything in Bhutan, we were off. It was only a 4K event, so it was nice to have a quick morning run with others! There were about 80 blokes and only a few women, so the odds were looking good for both Marie and I to get a place.

Unfortunately for a UN event the representation of other nations were limited to Australia and France (Marie and I!), however we did come in first and second for the womens category so we were pretty pleased. [Yes, keen observers.. not too difficult considering the odds, the fact that it was a veterans event (Marie is 24) and it was a poor turn out.. but it's about participation right? ;-)]

For Marie it was her first ever running event and she had a great time chatting to everyone. I hope she gets into then from now on, I love them. I'm just pleased I could actually participate in an organised run in Thimphu. The irony is I usually do the annual Rottnest Run in Perth with my sister Maryanne which is also happening today. So I'm just glad I was able to participate and be with her in spirit while she was doing those hills at rotto.

So back to the organisation of the event - I must say I was impressed. There was a water stop (not that they needed it), traffic control, an ambulance and members of the Royal Bodyguard patrolling to assist people if they needed it. Well done Bhutan Athletics Federation for a well organised event. Here's to more of them, and more participation, particularly by the women.

I wonder if there is a bigger international running event that could be coordinated here? Hmm..something to think about.

Tashi Delek.

Missing Bhutan

2006-10-22T00:33:00.000+06:30

I talked to Mathias today. He has been back in Switzerland for three weeks, and of course, I am interested to know what he is missing about this country.

He has left me some wise words. To enjoy my last few months here. I can proudly attest to aiming to do so,by enjoying each and every moment and opportunity that arises for me. Thankfully, as I plan to leave, there are still new opportunities that are arising for me - including a fun run tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning I have a fun run, which is excellent and I am so looking forward to. I wanted to participate in an organised run here, so I am glad to be able to say that I will be able to. Whilst it's only a 4K event, it will be right up my ally and I am looking forward to the participation and the giggle-factor as I think about comparing this to all the highly organised WAMC (WA Marathon Club) events I have been to. It's a shame it's pouring with rain outside, but as a physical activity advocate - that won't stop me.

I also wanted to join the ex-pat choir which is also becoming a reality. We have met for a couple of weeks now, and belted out a few tunes. It is great fun and gets the endorphins rushing. We are planning to have a 'performance' [Read - informal bash at someone's house] before I leave! Now.. that should be fun! I am so glad that I can do this before I leave.

So for me things are starting to come to a close. I have organised for a friend of mine to assist me with some last minute shopping of Bhutanese style gifts for people in Perth, and that for me is almost the last thing on my list. All I need to do is trek a couple more mountains, go for a few more bike rides, circumambulate the Memorial Chorten a few times and do my final trek, then it's all done. Apart from work that is ;-). Nothing like finally getting my priorities right - huh?.

So back to Mathias.. for someone who has lived here for six months, and is now back to the realiyt of life in the Western world.. what does he miss? What are the things I should be enjoying and soaking in before I return to my home town?

Well he mentioned the kids, the open heartedness of people and the open and ready smiles. He mentioned the dirty streets, the action on the street, and he even mentioned the dogs. Well.. I'm not so sure I'll miss the dogs (particularly at night).. but who knows. The fact is, I have gotten used to them.. and they are such a central part of this place.

So I guess I am doing my best to take in all those special moments that happen along the way. That happen when you walk the streets of Thimphu. Now I have returned my car, there will be more opportunity. More time to bump into children who say 'Hello Madam, how are you?', who are just aching to practice their English, and expect nothing in return.

It is such a lovely thing, and I want to soak up some of this positive energy to take home with me. I don't want this fervor to fade away, and become another one of those memories that you have, but over time lose their meaning. So in the time I have, I want to record the small things, in detail, so they remain vivid.

So over the next two months I'll be taking my own mental pictures. Absorbing the sights, sounds, smells and energy of this place and being exactly in the moment. It's the only way to remember things in the years to come - by keeping distinct pictures and moments conciously in your mind. Oh what fun mental photography to come.

Tashi Delek.

Tashi Delek

Brr Brr

2006-10-21T18:12:00.000+06:30

Sheesh.. it's getting cold. It does give me crisp mornings for running, which I love, but it keeps cold for most of the day. Of an evening it's immediately into the ugg boots and time to fire up the bukari.

A bukari is a wood stove, and ours has river stones on it to radiate the heat. It is going to be so valuable in winter. I plan to be a real grandma and cook on it at some stage. I think Carolyn has other plans, like us having a few nights around it sipping whisky or baileys and wondering what life will bring us next. Both of us will be leaving Bhutan in the next six months, so life will be changing a plenty for both of us.

It is getting so cold here that it even snowed the other day. Not in Thimphu, but on the mountains surrounding it. I could see snow on the peaks of the mountains. It is spectacular, however it also means that the wind is icy cold and blows the right into your bones.

On my morning runs, I wear tracky daks, tshirt, polartec, beanie, scarf and gloves. It's pretty serious stuff, but the days are so clear and there are so few people about that it makes it all worth it. It's a magical time of the day here and even moreso when you see the scenery change around you.

Last year they did not get any snow in Thimphu which is not very 'auspicious', so with the onset of an early winter, they are tipping snow for sure in Thimphu this season. I seriously hope it happens before I leave. How cool will that be?

Could that mean that my year ahead will be 'auspicious' for me? Nothing like a bit of auspiciousness in the air to keep you positive, motivated and optimistic ;-).

So with my time coming close to an end, I am really starting to relax. Perhaps the gross national happiness that is starting to settle into my bones, or perhaps it's the thought of seeing family, friends, and finishing this project. All I know is I like it.

My goal is to take the happiness home, spread it around and keep it up. What a wonderful gift to take away with me.

Tashi delek.

One Perfect Day

2006-10-15T13:26:00.000+06:30

Well my family have left, and I will post more about the wonderful times I had with them, but I must blog the day I had today...

Today was one of those perfect days in Bhutan. We are now in autumn so the days are clear making the mountains look stunning as ever and showing off all they have to offer. The temperature is warm with the sun shining, but not too hot that you feel like you are being burnt to cinders by the sun.

So I am glad that today was the day I had arranged to go cyling to Cheri Monestry with Verdell and Marie. Cheri Monestry is located just outside of Thimphu and is perched on a hillside.

I have walked up to it before with Mathias and Nathalie and it is only a very short walk and a very lovely place to visit. However, today we were only going to cycle to the carpark below it and return to Thimphu. All up the cycle is about 30 kilometres, but with all the mountain climbing it takes ages. Some of these hills are killers to climb, and going with the two fittest women in Bhutan, this was going to be quite a challenge for me.

So I borrowed my Marie’s partner Mag’s mountain bike, and we started out at 9am, we returned at 1pm, having had about a 45minute break at the carpark. When we stopped at the carpark some of the local children came out to see us. They were little ragamuffins actually. Dirty and scruffy but kids all the same. We gave them rides on our bikes which they loved.

The actual ride to get there was tough. In fact I had not worked out my lungs like that in such a long time, and they were hurting but it was great, I’m back on the road to fitness again. I’m just pleased I didn’t stop on all those hill climbs. Returning to Thimphu however was not so bad as it was downhill most of the way.

I was trailing the other two for most of the ride, and I put it down to my poor fitness. However after reaching home, and blaming my fitness for poor performance, I felt some slight relief as Mag sent me a message to say that his minor repairs from this morning were dodgy and would explain why I was trailing the girls. Phew.. still.. I KNOW I am not as fit as them. Oh well, there is always room for improvement.

So back to the perfect day… the ride was delightful. Leaves were floating through the air, the sun was shining, the fields were golden, the villages looked beautiful and peaceful, and the company of both the girls was just great. Whilst giving my lungs a workout, I did make it pretty clear that I just wanted a leisurely ride to enjoy myself, so enjoy and take in the sights, smells and sounds I did. Ahh… beautiful Bhutan.

After that it was back to Marie and Mag’s for a healthy lunch, topped off with some French coffee (she had just returned from France with some REAL coffee. Excellent) and a couple of Swiss chocolates. Then to top off this wonderful day, I returned home to a man cooking me dinner in my kitchen.

The man was Prakesh a friend Carolyn knows that we had hired to teach us Indian, Chinese and Bhutanese cooking. So the afternoon was spent preparing and learning how to cook Yak momos, Yak Curry, Rogan Josh, Manchurian Fish, Kewa Datsi, Bamboo and Mushroom and Chinese style mixed vegetables amongst others.

I’d love to be able to do some of this cooking at home, but finding Yak meat may be a little tricky. I’d also need to cut down on the amount of oil used.

We were all shocked to see how much oil was used in the cooking. Honestly my arteries were screaming while Prakesh was pouring it in. I was scribing the recipes down so it was Half a cup of oil here, one cup of oil there..in EVERY dish. It’s no wonder the Bhutanese don’t have high cardiovascular disease problems.

It was great fun afternoon tho’. I can barely believe that all this action happened in our tiny kitchen. Just toward the end of the marathon cooking session when I was in the shower, we had a power blackout. Thoughts of all this half cooked food being spoiled was creating momentary angst, but after lighting all the candles, and getting used to cooking by candle light, power was restored. Phew – dinner was saved!

To eat all this food we invited some Bhutanese guests over for dinner, and they were all so happy with the tasty dishes. It was an enjoyable evening topped with my favourite Bhutanese tipple - Ara with butter and egg. It’s another artery hardener, but it’s quite unique to this country and very potent.

So my perfect Bhutanese day was a sensory delight. Jam packed with exercise, sunshine, beauty, people, and cooking. For me, you can’t ask much more than that.

Tashi Delek

Teaching the Monks

2006-09-26T19:07:00.000+06:30

A couple of weeks ago I asked my Canuk friend Verdell is we could join in on her class to teach some little monks English. She was stoked with the suggestion, as she is always looking for new material to teach them.

Teaching the monks at one of the Thimphu monestries is a volunteer role that quite a few chillips do here. As the boys become monks at a young age, they don't get such a great schooling and their levels of English are quite poor. For example in Verdells class, where she teaches those with the poorest English, she has students aged from 5 - 25.

But after witnessing what she does today, she is a marvel! Despite never having been a formally qualified teacher.

So today was 'The Brearley's plus Mish' Aussie English lesson # 1 at Dechenphadrang Monestary. It was one of the most memorable experiences I have had here.

As part of our 'lesson' (completely impromptu), we talked through a calendar they bought over with them that had pictures of Aussi animals in it. We did the actions associated with each animal such as hopping for kangaroos, created big flapping jaws for the crocs, Kookaburra laughs and other things and it was great fun.

These little monks don’t get much play and they have no regular contact with their mothers, so this place is lacking a bit of love. Many begin monastic life from the age of five, so while they are really cute, dressed in red, with shaven heads and with big smiles, they are also usually dirty, anemic, craving love and have no female attention. Poor loves.

So to bring some cheer, genuine smiles and laughter back into the lesson we played games. What a crack up! We played ‘If you’re happy and your know it clap your hands’ which is quite fun (and ironic with Gross National Happiness and all!), Cat and Rabbit, ABC, I’m a little teapot, and my favourite.. ‘Hokey Pokey’, Geez.. that was great! We also played a modified ‘Simon says’, which became ‘Dorji says’ which was great fun as well.

The kids had a crack up, and as is expected in Bhutan there were moments when we had to shoo away the cat and dog that happened to wander into class. I love these moments, and I loved that my family was there to see them too!

It was such fun to see the littlies interacting, having fun and just playing. For me, it was such fun to see my family enjoying themselves and taking part in this, and event so few tourists (actually none!) get to do.

I’m not sure how much English the kids picked up, or if they remember much about Australia, but they had fun. As Verdell says, having fun is her main mission when she goes to teach classes. If she can make them smile, laugh and giggle – then it’s mission accomplished.

It’s a far cry from the chants, structure and discipline they receive in the monastery, and I give her full credit, along with all the others that volunteer their time for doing it.

In Verdell's mind, giving one hour once a week to provide a bunch of kids a bit of light and loving is a marvellous thing. She says she gets more out of it than she gives. No wonder she wants to do it all the time.

Tashi Delek.

Looking for the silver lining

2006-09-24T22:58:00.000+06:30

They say that every cloud has a sliver lining...well i've been looking for it here, and there are many many clouds to choose from.

Since my family arrived on Friday, it has been raining. Non stop. Rain, rain, rain, rain and more rain. The irony is today is 'Blessed Rainy Day' which doesn't really help the situation either.

It has not rained for three consecutive days the entire time I have been here. So the position I am taking is that the rain is here to show my family the 'diversity in weather patterns' this country has ;-) and appreciate the 'silver lining' that it brings.

To be perfectly honest, with all the rain comes raincloud and the raincloud makes this place look even more mystical. When you are up this high, there is cloud everywhere, and I know it is not going to last for the next two weeks, so it does give a different comparison for these guys to compare the future sunny days to.

Secretly I am hoping it will not rain on the Druk Path trek which starts on Thursday as no one likes camping when they're wet.. in any country! Oh well..I'll make the best of it if it does. There will be plenty of card games to learn, whisky and coffee to drink and time spent catching up with the family.

Maudie, John and the kids have been just wonderful to be with. The kids are just excellent. Well mannered, intelligent, respectful and just good natured. A total credit to their parents and their excellent parenting. 'Just go with the flow', has been the Brearley motto, and it has been just tops. I couldn't have asked for better guests.

They loved the accom I booked for them (which incidently was where I stayed for the first four months), and have just been absorbing and 'oo'hing and ahh'ing' for the past three days - despite the rain!

I took them to a 'flash' restaurant on Friday night, which I had been wanting to go to for a while, and experienced some really tasty Bhutanese cuisine. The next day, we hooked up with a very excited Tashi (Lobzang and Kinzang's eldest daugter) and watched her school performance. The school principal greeted us, and we felt like the chief guests!

Then it was an afternoon of momos, excitement at the vegie market, buying kira for Annabelle, memorabilia for Joseph, watching a traditional archery match, then to top it off the final of the district school dancing competition.

We saw all this traditional dancing done by the kids and it was great. Seeing all the littlies dressed in weeny kira and gho is so cute.

Today they did their own thing in the morning, then I drove them to Tango Monestary for a short hike, some mystical views and some rare encounters with squirrels and birds. It was lovely. Then I could show them to the BBS tower, for the best views of Thimphu and lastly dinner with Tashi, Tenzin and Ama (Lobzang and Kinzang's Mum). It was a great day, all 'round.

For me, the best thing about this whole time is having people that know me, seeing me here. It is the best. To see me outside of the context that I have for myself in Australia and seeing how life is for me here is so special. I really feel at ease in this country, and I know they do too.

John (bless 'im) doesn't want to leave, so it will be a little tricky for him to say goodbye methinks. I saw Mathias today and I can feel he is going through a similar thing, and he has been here for six months not three days!

My dear friend Mathias leaves on Sunday. One week today. We are going to have a farewell for him tomorrow night, which will be rather sad. We have had some pretty fun times and shared some amazing experiences, so it will be sad to say 'au revoir' and have the last three cheek kiss from my Swiss friend.

For me it will be another reminder that my time for the same is only around the corner. I know the next three months is going to fly. I'm a little worried and wonder if I'll get it all done, but I guess there is only one way to find out. Dive in and give it a go.

But first things first, I have family to enjoy, treks to do and Tsechu's to dress up for. Ahh.. such is life in Bhutan. I'll keep making the memories, and for the next few weeks so will my family.

Tashi Delek

My Family Arrives

2006-09-22T01:00:00.000+06:30

I am so lucky. Some of my family is arriving tomorrow. I can share this most amazing place with people I know and share the memories forever with them.

Maudie, John, Joseph (aged 10) and Anabelle (aged 8) are arriving tomorrow and Catherine and Rodger are arriving next Wednesday. Rodger was here fifteen years ago as part of a delegation looking at the feasibility of piping in petroleum to Bhutan via Bangladesh. My goodness, he'll be seeing a change or two when he arrives.

They are so excited about coming. The kids have been talking about it at school for ages. This will be the first time they have been on a plane. I've got to give credit to my sister and her husband on deciding to come here. Forget Disneyland, Seaworld or any of those other places to take the kids - let's give them a real lesson in culture, adventure and travel. Let's go to Bhutan.

We are all doing the Druk Path next week, a four day trek across some mountains between Paro and Thimphu. That is trekking in style. When you trek here you have a guide, a cook, a cooks helper, a horseman and about fifteen horses. It's all done in fabulous style. The horses go ahead so do the helpers and they set up all the tents for you, and basically have a cuppa ready for you by the time you finally arrive at the camping spot. Noice. It makes a change from the Bibbuleman Track for me. I have organised a spare horse for the kids (or adults!) if they need it going up the mountains. It can be tough going if you're not used to the altitude.

So we will finish the Trek on the Sunday and the Thimphu Tsechu commences on the Monday. That will be brilliant. I am so looking forward to it. I just want a photo with me and my sisters in kira and the blokes in gho. What a hoot.

On Saturday we are going to visit a school and then on Tuesday morning we are also going to visit the monks who will be being taught English by a friend of mine. I'm so looking forward to seeing the kids reactions to the world here, and also everyone's reactions to a really tall and blond family. What a classic.

So I'll be taking advantage of the time off we are given as part of the Thimphu Tsechu. Everyone in Thimphu is given four days off (except those working for the UN) to enjoy the spiritual festival at the Dzong. I'm taking an additional day so I can go on the trek with them. It will be last bit of 'fun' for me until I finish my contract. Then it's time to buckle down and work my butt off.

So in someways this will be my last post for a while until the craziness finishes and life returns to normal. I hope I get time to write down some of the experiences during the time they are here tho'. I'm really keen to record their first impressions, so I can relive it again too.

Tashi Delek.

Soccer results

2006-09-17T09:04:00.000+06:30

Okay...read the post before this one before you go any further to get the background.

Well..the result was... 1-0! Health won!! Yipee ;-). And guess who scored the winning goal? Yep, the big intimidatory chillip - me. To be frank, it was quite an amazing goal. The Goalie kicked it out from goal - I blocked it, kicked it so it was slightly airborn and passed other player, chased it and kicked it into goal. Considering I had never really played in my life, I was pretty happy!

I ended up playing midfeild, so was running the whole game. I have a whole new respect for soccer players in terms of their fitness.

It was quite a formal event, we had some sort of FIFA flag that was walked onto the oval, the teams lined up as they do in the World Cup, we shook the hands of the players and we started.

I felt terrible tho' as within the first five minutes, I went to chase the ball, and collided with an an opponent player and took her down. Poor love - I felt so clumsy and rough. She practically bounced off me like she had hit a brick wall... I thought she was concussed. I picked her up and brushed her off and there was no blood ;-).

Then Ilka copped it, after I went to get the ball from her. She was the chillip on the opposing side. She went down and there was blood. Oh dear... I think i had everyone scared of me after that one. Y'see the soccer pitch isn't grass here. Well...it's not that it shouldn't be.. it's just that 90% of it is dirt. Hard dirt. It gets used so much the grass does not have time to recuperate and grow back.

So to conclude, health won, there was blood on the field, aching muscles afterwards, and I think i have gained a reputation as a rough player. But seriously, I am double their height, and I'm not afraid to chase the ball..so I guess there was always going to be some risk ;-).

But the real winner (and this is going to sound SO cheesy) - is physical activity. The whole event was organised for it, and as I said to BBS afterwards 'It's all about participation and having fun. Comradierie on the field and getting active'. Meg you would have been proud. I was wearing all my Find Thirty gear (tshirt and hat) and gave it a big plug and encouraged everyone's to do 30 minutes a day.

So Bhutan...go get active! Just watch out for chillips on the soccer pitch while you do it.

Tashi Delek

Soccer in Bhutan

2006-09-16T13:34:00.000+06:30

Last week I watched a movie about Bhutan called 'The Other Final'. It's great. It was shot in Bhutan in 2002, when the last World Cup Soccer series was held. The title refers to the fact that on the same day Brazil and Germany met on the field in Japan, Bhutan and Monseratt - the last two teams on the FIFA ladder - also met on the field to 'battle it out' for last place on the FIFA ranking.

Watch the movie if you can get your hands on it. As you will see from the movie, soccer in Bhutan is BIG. Not as big as archery, but pretty popular nonetheless. When the World Cup was on here, there were many folk not going to work (well.. that's not particularly unusual here..) as they had been up most of the night watching the games. I have also seen scrapbooks made by children with their favourite Euro players, and of course I have seen people practicing at the large stadium in the centre of town.

Personally, I've never played much soccer myself. I remember being taught some of the very basic rules in high school but that's about it. I did like it tho', but at the time it wasn't really the done thing for girls to play soccer. Which brings me to an interesting predicament here.

I have been asked to play in a Soccer exhibition match, in front of all the ministry bigwigs. GREAT. In fact the game is in an hour. I've participated in a few sports here, as the Ministry of Health competes against the 'hospital team' in an effort to encourage physical activity.

So far I've played handball and volleyball. I managed to get out of the basketball game. Lord knows why they want me on their team. Again - I just think they all want to laugh at the chillip.

So, after having a very brief practise kick on Wednesday after work, I have been nominated the goalie for the first half and the striker for the second half. What the? Anyway.. I guess they think a tall strong looking chillip will intimidate the other team. I have no idea. I'm just going to laugh and have a giggle. It is only an exhibition match after all.

I told some of the other chillips in town last night, much to many people's delight. The worst thing is I know a couple of them are going to be there. Aussi's in fact. Oh well. As long as I can manage to kick the soccer ball like I would a footy, there may be some hope (as the goalie that is ;-)). Wish me good luck.

Tashi Delek

White Scarf Ceremony

2006-09-14T20:05:00.000+06:30

In the Government workplace in Bhutan, if you get promoted to a senior level, on the first official day of your new job you are the star of your own show.

A white scarf ceremony or 'kitchu' ceremony is held and EVERYONE in the entire ministry, as well as family, friends, well wishers, the Minister and any other big kahuna's come and wish you well and give you a white scarf. At the end of the day you have a huge pile of white scarves on your desk. What you are to do with them I don't know!

This is a land of respect, formality and tradition. So today being the Director of Public Health's first day on the beat, he was the centre of attention at his own gig.

You arrive early at work pay your 100nu for a white scarf then show the utmost respect and present it to him after bowing in front of him. Then you reverse out the door - without showing your back - and hang out outside and drink cups of suja (butter tea) or normal tea and have something to eat.

People stream in throughout the morning, from dignitories, monks, the wife of the Secretary of Health, down to the general staff, drivers and even the cleaning lady, to present you their scarf. It's actually quite nice.

The ceremony represents a gesture of 'congrat's on getting the job' as well as 'good luck'.

Being a chillip, after I had showed my respect and handed the white scarf (which I always stuff up because there is a certain knack to actually presenting it) they kept me aside and I hung out with the country resident for WHO, senior health officials to have a cuppa and watch the people stream in.

Being the only female chillip in health with no other senior female staff around, it almost feel like I'm on show in those situations. Not so much like 'hey.. check her out' kinda on show, more like I'm novel as I am a female foreigner working as a long term consultant in health. It's quite bizarre actually.. such is the patriacal society here, but I don't let it bother me.

In my opinion all this tradition and ceremony just begets itself. It's good for the Bhutanese and their culture, but I can imagine it could be easily criticised. I think despite democracy arriving in a couple of years and multiple other changes that will be occuring in the years to come, I just don't see these types of things changing.

I reckon it's quite reasurring for the Bhutanese. Despite the changes that democracy, abdication, a new king and development can bring, they can still count on ceremony and tradition to keep them focused. It provides the link from the past to help steer the future.

Tashi Delek

Navel Gazing or Cloud Watching?

2006-09-13T00:01:00.000+06:30

Someone asked me recently to describe the clouds in Bhutan, and ever since then I have been bugged with looking at the clouds, and trying to find the right words to describe them.

Are they whispy? Are they marshmallowy? Are they misty? Are they transparent? Are they grey? How white is white? Are they fast moving?

One this is for sure there are many clouds and they are ever changing.

Today it was quite overcast and there were big heavy rain clouds, but in the distance between the mountains there were whispy clouds that are fast moving. It's a challenge to describe and I realise i have such few adjectives to describe them!

Although a benefit of all this cloud watching is often glances at the mountains and the sky, and a few moments to gather my thoughts, gaze and consider how best to describe them. Quite a nice alternative to the laptop and the paperwork (or the road when running!).

So again I have a chance to appreciate what is around me. Thanks for the challenge.

Tashi Delek.

Oh What A Night

2006-09-09T23:54:00.000+06:30

Tonight I went to Pema Udon's house - my very dear female work colleague - for dinner. I arrived at 6.45pm and was served ara (the ara with fried egg and butter) and proceeded to join in the fun and get merry!

She had arranged to have a dinner at her house and had invited many women to her house to join in. She joked saying that it was the night she was going to announce the name of her second husband, but it was all for a laugh. I think in reality it was her housewarming.

Her sister from Trashigang (the far, far east) was there. She was the eldest sister in the family and stayed in the village as a child, so she was never educated and does not know any English.

Despite this she does know a few words - broken english - and I was encouraging her, so after she had a few whiskys she was chatting away in her broken english and having a wonderful time talking to me and making everyone laugh. It was brilliant.

Pema's cousin Sonam was also there and he has just released a big hit on the Bhutan music scene. He has written a song that is sung with both English and Dzongkha words, he does have a good voice, and all the girls were swooning over him. It was good fun. We sang the obligatory 'Say Nothing At All', by Ronan Keating, 'Country Road', and a couple of other Backstreet Boys songs after he did his songs.

I really don't know why these are the biggest English songs here but they are. EVERYONE knows them - and sings them. It's almost as if there was a compilation tape of Bryan Adams and Backsteet Boys distributed to every person in Bhutan at some stage a few years ago so they all know the words. It's quite funny. I can't wait till someone I know arrives just to experience the same thing.

Amongst all this frivolity I heard quite an interesting story tonight. I heard the story of how Pema's mother who died 13 years ago, has been reincarnated into a girl that was adopted by her sister. It sounds strange, but let me explain. I just had to write this down.

Basically, being Bhuddist everyone believes in reincarnation. Tulkus - which are young reincarnate lamas (high priests) - are discovered when suddenly out of nowhere when they are about 4 or 5 years old (or even younger) they start to say things that are very odd and should not come from the mouth of a person that age.

For example, they may start refering to their husband who is away or that the place they are living is not their home or some such. Anyway.. usually the parents of the child will suspect something and will take them to a lama. They are then given a series of tests to identify the objects of the previous lama and if he identifies them all, and things that he has said match up with the previous lama then he is announced the reincarnate lama and whisked away to a monestary to live the life of a Rinpoche (High Priest).

So armed with that background information I'll start the story..and this by the way is all true.

About five years ago, Pema's younger brother was in Trashiyangtse - the neighbouring district to Trashigang where the family's village is located.

A woman in this village in Trashiyangtse had died during childbirth, however the child had survived. He just happened to be in this village and had heard that the woman's sisters were going to burn the woman's body and the girl child alive as they thought the child had caused the death of the mother.

They thought the child was an evil spirit, and should also die along with the mother. Pema's brother had overheard this and talked to the women about giving the child to her sister Pema who had two sons but no daughter.

Anyway.. to cut a long story short, he rescued the child - which incidentally was still attached to the mothers body by the umbilical cord and was discarded in the bushes. This was about 24 hours after the birth. The child was still alive and he cut the child free, took her and saved its life.

Pema thought it would be best to give the little baby girl to her sister who did not have any children (the one I have mentioned above) who then became the mother of the child in Trashigang.

Suddenly when the child was three, she started saying really strange things. She was saying things like 'My husband is so tired, I think he needs some ara', and 'Where is my sister, she lives near here' and most miraculously she named all of her cousins - which were not actually her cousins but that of Pema's mother.

So to cut a long story short, they are all convinced that this little girl is actually the reincarnation of Pema's mother.

They think the adopted mother (Pema's sister) is actually mothering and nuturing her mother's spirit. If that makes any sense. What a spin out. They are absolutely convinced of it. When you are told this, you just spin out at how absolutely seriously they are about this. Reincarnations are amazing they say, but one thing is for sure they are real!

So I had a great night listening to all of this, singing, dancing, eating and even dancing with the non english speaking Pema's sister. She was a hoot and got so drunk. She was dancing in front of all of us, and kept saying 'I am from a village and you are from Australia, and tonight we meet - I am so happy!'. So how is that for hospitality huh?

At the end of the evening we danced a few Bhutanese dances and she even blessed me and said prayers for me in front of everyone. I had to be told what she was doing as I had no bloody idea.. but it was still an honour. For some reason after the prayers I had to scull a glass of ara (POTENT STUFF), hence I have come home to write this in a glowing ara mood.

So what a night. I kinda went away thinking I love Bhutanese parties. They are so fun, loving, happy and everyone gets into it. Everyone dances, some drink, everyone chats and even though they speak dzongkha about 80% of the time, people do translate for you, and you do get what's going on. The best thing is breaking the cultural divide by dancing and hugging and having fun. It's brilliant.

I think one of the last things I am going to do before I go is have a big party and put on heaps of food and drink and get everyone to come and have a fun time. I just want drinking, eating and dancing bhutanese style and have everyone I have known here to come and join in. I reckon it would be a hoot and one way of giving back to them. To say thank you for everything. I think I'm going to budget for that one.

Tashi Delek

Comment of the day

2006-09-07T13:06:00.000+06:30

I just have to write this one down. Today one of my Bhutanese folk sent me condolences for Steve Irwin. A ridgy didge, true blue message of condolence.

He said he was going to light a butter lamp for Steve. Bless 'em. I can just picture this man going into the monestry and lighting a butter lamp and saying a prayer for him.

In my mind I'm thinking Steve Irwin? Australia's crocodile wrestler?? A butter lamp for him? I can't help but giggle.

Gotta love this place sometimes.

The National Hospital

2006-09-06T21:05:00.000+06:30

The National hospital in Thimphu is named after the king. It is the Jigme Dorji Wangchuk National Referral Hospital or JDWNRH for short. It's quite a mouthful isn't it?

I was there today, and despite working for the Ministry of Health I have only been there about four times. Yet everytime I do go I have counted my blessings.

Ironically the first time I went there coincided with the day my little five day old nephew Issac had a three hour operation at Princess Margaret Hospital in Perth (what is this with Royalty and hospitals?).

I'll never forget the feeling of being here in Bhutan and my heartaching to go home to comfort my sister, family and of course, Issac. But I also had a sense of relief for the fact that he was getting operated on in Perth. There is no way that child would have survived in this country.*

It is just so devastating to see these poor doctors work long hours, day in day out, for very little wages, in an effort to save the lives of the very sick people that make it to the hospital in Thimphu.

The current statistics say there is one doctor per 5000 people in Bhutan. Australia has a ratio of 1:1500.

When you go to the hospital in Thimphu - that is if you make it - then you are very very very sick indeed.

It means the local doctor could not cure you, nor the traditional doctor, nor any other local healer in your village. So if you can imagine, the sickest of the sick arrive at the National Hospital in a very poorly way, and more often than not, they have to wait again to see the doctor to be treated. Some start lining up at the door the night before.

So not only do I feel for the patients, I feel for the well trained doctors who do whatever they can to save these people.

They all know with more staff, more equipment and more training they could save more lives. They must all be frustrated to the hilt.

Even the big kahuna of the Ministry of Health, Dr Gado Tshering (a wonderful man and the equivalent to our DG) whilst running the entire health system - still does outpatient calls on the weekend. What the? Such is the love these people have for one another, and the responsibility that is borne on those who have talent or skill in this country.

So when I was at the hospital today, I felt sick. In some ways I was sickening myself. Whilst I hate to admit it, I didn't want to breathe in the air that was in the hospital for fear of catching something. For me JDWNRH feels like a place to die. It doesn't feel like a place to recover.

So there I was wanting to hold my breath, not touch the handles or - God forbid - bump into anyone in the crowded hallways, and all I could do was think about our health system in WA.

We have it SO BLOODY GOOD, and for free (almost)!! I just get so p*ssed off to think about the AMA and the lobbiest doctors wanting better and better equipment, money etc.. and basically putting their money and interests first and not appreciating what they have got.

They should as part of their compulsory prac or training, go to a third world country and work under those conditions then go home to complain about the system. It's a bloody crime in my opinion.

The only problem is it is difficult to be motivated or feel passionate about these things unless you actually come here and see for yourself.

I wonder if half the doctors were to come here and work would they be so quick to want a payrise? Or would they encourage their work colleagues to come to a place like this and start to count their blessings like me.

When I say this I am not underestimating the amount of hours or commitment of doctors in the
West . They do a marvellous and miraculous job. I know my nephew would not have survived if it wasn't for our health system.

I just think if the bugles at the AMA and those that make unrealistic demands on our system, could get a little bit of perspective and visit a place like this it would do them - and us - the world of good.

Tashi Delek

*Today I visited the neonatal and paediatric ward, and it was so sad. These two tiny babies were there, and to be honest they weren't that small. What I take from this is the really little ones that we see in all the pics at PMH, the bubs that 'fit into the palm of your hand' - just don't even get a chance here. They just don't survive. So sad.

Bhutanese in Oz

2006-09-03T13:00:00.000+06:30

Yesterday I thought about my lovely Bhutanese friends in Australia Lobzang and Kinzang. These are a couple that have left their two children behind here (Tashi aged 13 and Tenzin aged 10), and will be spending the next two years in Perth. Lobzang will be doing his MBA at ECU and Kinzang will be making the hard currency to set them up when they get back to Bhutan.

I was just trying to imagine what it would be like to adjust to Australia after leaving Bhutan where you have spent your whole life. Apart from a trip to Thailand, India and Sri Lanka with work, Lobzang has never left the Asian continent. For Kinzang - she had never been on a plane.

When I was in Oz I saw them quite a bit as we were living in the same house and some of the comments they made about adjusting to life Australia were things I just had not thought about at all.

Now all i do is keep thinking of them as I live in their home town. I wonder how they must find living in mine.

During my brief visit home, some of the 'settling experiences' that I recall were:

Watching them deal with four lanes of traffic (Cambridge St) and wondering how to cross the road with cars travelling so fast toward them.
Seeing them look out for dogs, and then scanning the surrounding area to find a rock to throw at them (this is what you do in Thimphu - the dogs are in packs and they can bite!)
Realising there are no stones on the streets or pathways!
Astounded by the drainage system we have for stormwater (In Thimphu there is no such things. The pathetic drainage system just overflows and floods everything during heavy rain)
Reading a roadmap for the first time
Riding a bike for the first time
Going to Kmart with Kinzang for the first time and seeing her jaw drop!
Watching Kinzang look out over the ocean from the Blue Duck in Cott - she had never seen such a flat horizon.

I guess these just bring home to me how much I take for granted the small things that I have learnt in life and that I accept as a natural in my home town. It has also given me an important reminder how new migrants feel when they arrive in our country. The adjustment must be so hard for people, and let's face it it would be a long awaited journey as its tough these days to be offered to opportunity to settle in Australia.

Considering Australia is a nation made up of so many different cultures and is contantly introducing other nationalities to increase its size (albeit not that fast), we should remember each migrant as a unique person. Some people make the mistake of branding people of a specific ethnic group and missing out on the qualities that make them who they are. By doing that we are dehumanising the person.

More often than not, being in Australia as a new migrant is a struggle. Whether it has been a struggle to get here, to get residency, to understand the language and culture or even the heartache of missing family. I'm not necessarily talking about refugees, we have many skilled professionals that are welcomed to Oz that have also struggled to get there and to adjust.

I guess the reminder is that we all share the same human qualities as each other and we should never forget that. We all love our parents (or should at least!), we all love to see children smile and giggle, we all have humour, we all miss things from our home, we all know what it is like to love and be loved. We all share a bond and that is our humanity.

I know this sounds a bit preachy, and maybe you know it anyway, but for me it has become more real. Having this interaction and experience with Bhutanese has reminded me that really underneath it all, we are all so the same. I love it, it is so wonderful when it dawns on you. Culture is just a layer, and when you cut through it, there is such joy and happiness to be shared by laughing, smiling, eating together and just being.

Tashi Delek

Kira in the rain

2006-08-30T20:41:00.000+06:30

Today I walked back from work in the rain dressed in Kira. Big deal you may think. But you should try dodging the pot holes, puddles and stones carrying a heavy daypack and juggling an umbrella while you avoid the metres of cloth wound around you from dragging on the ground and getting wet! [All in wet and slippery shoes none-the-less!]

The funny thing was I loved it. Apart from my kira being rather cumbersome to try and avoid getting wet, I enjoyed it so much I even refused people offering me lifts home. Bless 'em.

They were probably thinking what is that crazy chillip doing walking home when she can be taking a lift - but for me it was all part of enjoying some of the things that make this place special, as well as taking the opportunity to move my butt!

It is quite cloudy here at the moment, but again gives the mountain a new look everytime I see them. Bhutan is also called the Land of the Thunder Dragon. I often look at the cloud surrounding different mountains or peeping around the corners of others, and wonder if that is just the dragon's mark.

Has he been breathing all around and leaving trails for us to remember it's his territory? It's a quaint thought, and in this place you could even believe those fairy tale stories at times. It really is a land like no other.

Tashi Delek.

So much to do. What to do?

2006-08-27T21:37:00.000+06:30

The phrase 'What to do?' is a common expression in Bhutan. It's quite funny when you hear it in conversation. It refers to a mixture of exasperation and frustration. More often than not, it is said with a complacent tone and for some it is used as an excuse.

A conversation could go along the lines of 'There is high unemployment in Bhutan, but what to do?' or 'We tried to teach drivers to use a roundabout, but they ignore us and we have many confused chillips - but what to do?'. The reason I mention this expression, is that I used it today.

I was discussing Bhutan, work and the state of this country with some people and felt an almost overwhelming feeling of loss, depression and hopelessness. When you spend time here and take time to think about some of the social, health and education problems this country faces it is hard not to get disheartened.

For someone like me who wants to help and make an impact, it is particularly difficult as there are so many causes that can use your time and efforts. The problem is there is just not enough time.

Bhutan can use assistance in relation to womens issues, environment, youth employment, youth recreation, education, cervical cancer prevention, disability, reducing domestic violence, alcohol abuse, littering, or just about anything you can think of. Those that I have listed above are just the topics I have discussed today.

So for me, this experience is somewhat overwhelming, and with so much to do, I ask myself.. 'What to do?'

As I mentioned in earlier blogs, my priority is to do my job the best of my ability, so aside from this - where I can - I am donating some time to RENEW, Bhutan's fledgling women's non government organisation. RENEW is an acronym for Respect, Empower, Nurture, Educate Women.

I met some of the women when I went to Bumthang with the Queen. I have helped them write and produce a brochure and will assist them with some advocacy work to raise the awareness of domestic violence in Bhutan which will hopefully get them some donor funding.

When I return to Australia I'll also look at doing some fundraising for them, so they can use the money for advocacy back in Bhutan.

So I'm putting aside the hopelessness, visualising a positive future for Bhutan and doing what I can in the time that I have. Please be aware, it is certainly not all that bad here. There are organisations that have been developed for most social issues, they are just at an early stage of development. I guess I'm just impatient.

I guess the moral of this experience is that whilst it is good to know of the different social issues that are occuring in any society, the challenge is to do something about it. Anything. Some people can get on their soapbox about different issues, but what you need to ask what are they actually doing.

My parting thought is while talk is good, action is louder.

Tashi Delek.

Hanging with the Queen

2006-08-26T17:08:00.000+06:30

As I have been such a poor blogger in days gone by, I have decided to rehash some of my experiences to give this blog some more depth.

Below is a snapshot of thoughts and experiences relating to my time with the Queen which occured in my third week of arrival in Bhutan.

Hangin’ with the Queen

For those of you who don’t know Bhutan is the last remaining Buddist kingdom in the world. It ruled by a king who has four wives – and wait for it – they are all sisters! He is quite a remarkable leader to be honest and despite the apparently unusual practice of polygamy – he has put his wives to good work!

To some extent ‘The Queens’ are all advocates for one cause or another. If you can imagine the good work that Lady Diana did with promoting HIV and AIDS in the 1980’s, multiply that by four and include issues including youth, the environment, culture, the aged, the disadvantaged, and health, you can see the potential positive impact that high profile support can provide to the country.

It was this high level support for Bhutan’s HIV/AIDS campaign and for women’s issues, that gave me the opportunity to join with the youngest Queen entourage in my third week of being in Bhutan. Honestly, if I thought the ‘opportunity of a lifetime’ was to come to Bhutan as a volunteer for three months, then this opportunity in my third week was something else!

I joined the Queen – Ashi Sangay Choden Wangchuck - and her entourage as part of a one week tour to Bumthang. Bumthang is one of the most beautiful and spiritually sacred regions within the country. She was touring to have public meetings with the villagers and promote health messages, take feedback from her subjects and also to celebrate International Women’s Day.

I was the only foreigner and was basically an honourary ‘sister’ or handmaiden. There were some other women there as part of her advocacy work for women within Bhutan so I was with them and had an honorary role with them and joined the queen for most meals and meetings. It really was something else. I was honoured to be there, and to witness the Bhutanese love for their Queen, her genuine concern for them and how the culture worked from an inside perspective. I don’t think many chilops get to have this chance.

It was an honour and certainly shaped my opinion of the royal family, the Bhutanese people and the warmheartedness they show for one another. Upon reflection I would often think other world leaders should come here and take a look at a different way of leading.

I am sure this spirit of Bhutan, along with their policy of Gross National Happiness before Gross National Profit, can show the world an alternative way of a functioning society.

Tashi Delek

Bhutanese Boyfriend?

2006-08-24T19:09:00.000+06:30

So the word around town is that I have a Bhutanese boyfriend. Hmm..that sounds good I think, I'd love to meet him. Don't forget to let me know who it is so I can know for myself.

Two people today have made reference to me and my Bhutanese 'better half'. What the? Where did this come from? I have not been in the country for the past two weeks, so how did this rumour start?

On first arrival in Bhutan the first question people ask you is 'Are you married?'. If you answer no then the second question is 'Do you want a Bhutanese boyfriend?' The minute they find out you are not 'taken' you are seen as a challenge to conquor. Western women are seen as exotic here.

The Bhutanese can be quite flirtatious and with sexual norms different to those that we find in the Western world, affairs are commonplace. Recently, in one interview I conducted, one married women said that 'Every married person has affairs. Those who say they are not, are lying. It's part of the Bhutanese way'. It was said like it was completely normal and accepted. She went on to say while she does not like to think her husband is having one, she accepts it, and she also has affairs as well. Hmm.. interesting point of view. Hence one of the reasons I am here to educate about HIV.

Due to the size of this country and these sexual norms, rumours are rife and suspicion - along with innuendo - abound. Within one month of being here, I had already experienced how these rumours can go out of control. Apparently I was having an affair with quite a well respected and recently separated man, as I had been at the same dinner with him (and about ten others). Of course it was completely untrue. I only found out as FOUR WEEKS later this guy had to actually contact me, and get me to speak to his best friends wife to clear up the mess. Such is the rumour mill. I also had to mend the relationship with his ex-wife and smooth things over too. Crikey I had never realised how hard it was to be a single western woman sometimes.

Basically in Bhutan if you are seen out alone with a man you ARE having an affair. There is no doubt in anyones mind. You could be having lunch, going for a walk, sitting in a car as a passenger or get this - talking about work!

I didn't know about this upon first arrival so I was probably considered the local floosie with the amount of lunches, coffees and catch ups I was having with my new work colleagues.

Some of my male colleagues were smart however, and bought along a friend for lunch, so they could not be accused of infidelity. With others we ate at some out-of-the-way place, and on reflection I think they just didn't want anyone to see us together. It was all totally innocent of course, but drives home the small town nature of place, and the impact rumours can have. Now I am a little more considerate of my male Bhutanese friends when I want to catch up with them.

It didn't take me long to realise that life in Thimphu would be a lot easier if I was 'married' or 'spoken for'. That's where Mathias comes in.

Mathias has been my decoy for the past few months which has been great. He is a Swiss friend of mine and we hang out quite a bit and our friendship is purely platonic. It has proven to be sweet relief for me. People think we are together (because they are Bhutanese and remember if you are with one person then he is your boyfriend!). Consequently people have stopped asking me about Bhutanese boyfriends, I am not accused of having affairs, and life goes on - until now.

As Mathias is obviously not Bhutanese the question remains who is my Bhutanese boyfriend?

Some poor random bloke I chatted to for two seconds on the street has probably now been pegged as my new fella, and no doubt is currently trying to explain to his wife that our chat is completely innocent. Seriously - it is that bad. That's all you have to do in this town to have rumours start - just chat to someone of the opposite sex.

Oh well, there is no point worrying about it. I'll never figure it out who this 'mystery man' was anyway. Being a foreigner I can get away with a multitude of sins, so I'll let them continue to circulate rumours and provide some entertainment and gossip for the people of Thimphu.

It does intrigue me tho' and is quite fun actually. I'd love to know what the gossip mongers are saying. I'd love to know how tall the story gets. So cool. I reckon it would be great fodder for this blog.

Tashi Delek.

Morning Run

2006-08-22T09:16:00.000+06:30

Well I prised myself out of bed this morning to go for a jog, with the mental thought being 'you'll be so glad you did it...don't put it off', and as usual -I am so glad I did.

Jogging in Bhutan is amazing. The scenery is stunning. I just need to look out from my balcony or even walk to the top of my street, to see all the mountains that surround this tiny city. In the mornings, there are few people around, the streets are quiet and the sun is barely up. It is great. Those that you do see are going for a morning walk, meditating or praying with their Mala beads or just on their way to work. You do see the occasional jogger, but not that many.

It is hard to describe the mountains other than to say they are huge, covered in trees, and have undulating sides giving them depth. Pictures don't capture them, you must come here to see them. What is so cool, is that they appear to be constantly changing. The sunlight hits them at different parts of the day and they look different. Parts of the mountain are highlighted that you have never seen before, it is so beautiful.

I have some Swiss friends here, who are a bit over me 'oo'ing and ahh'ing', as they have mountains all around them at home. Is it just an Australian thing? My flattie Carolyn (another Australian) and I often talk about the mountains, which is good as we never take them for granted. We know we may not be in this place again, and the mountians won't always be there to greet us each morning.

So I am glad I went for my run, and those mountains will be my inspiration each day. With limited time left, I'll be appreciating each hill I climb, each corner I turn and raise my head to see what mountain I have not discovered yet.

Tashi Delek

Back in Bhutan

2006-08-20T22:55:00.000+06:30

Ah yes I have returned. After two hectic weeks in Perth, I have returned to the sweet serenity of Bhutan. It hit me the instant I saw the mountains from the air. Another magical landing by the pilot (he turns the plane around a corner [READ mountain], then places the plane gently on the tarmac) and I was back in my comfort zone.

It felt strange arriving this time. Obviously my first arrival will remain with me forever, the sight of the Himalaya, the unique Bhutanese architecture I could see from the air, the landing (see my first blog for a better description), however this time I felt I could be more of an observer.

When flying in I felt the warm recollection of memories of Bhutan and of returning to a peaceful and serene place. However I also felt I was a seasoned chillip*. Someone who had been here before and knew their way around. I lacked the excitement of someone arriving in a place they have never seen. I just felt peaceful. I felt somewhat at home.

I reluctantly say the 'h' word, as Bhutan is not my home nor can it ever be. However it is just so comfortably familiar and accepting. There are not the same distractions that compete for my attention in my actual home town. Perhaps it is more a lesson about me more than anything - time to come back to balance.

So I have decided to rejoice in the moment over the next four and a half months. I do realise that the trip to Perth was a good idea. I did get my 'reality check' [and a whole load of clothing!] so now I have renewed fervour for appreciating all the things that make this place unique.

Over the next few months my priorities are to 1) do my job 2) get running again and find that balance between work and health. Health meaning a healthy body and a healthy mind. This is what I want to return to Perth with. A job done to the best of my ability, and a healthy mind and body. I don't think it is that much to ask.

So it's time for me to put the 'Busy Mish' in check and take some deep breaths and enjoy the rain on my face, the instant smiles of the locals and the big brown eyes of the children dressed ready for school. I don't think I'll hire a car for another month and may just walk to work for a little while, and take things a day at a time and take in the pace of the locals.

I am so looking forward to it.

Tashi Delek

*Chillip means 'foreigner' in Dzongkha.

A brief return to Oz

2006-07-30T11:23:00.000+06:30

Today I am at home with a bit of a quesy stomach, the result of eating two unwashed plums yesterday. Not good. I have become very good friends with Mr Porcelain Bowl. I should know better than to eat any unwashed fruit in this country, so I know I was tempting fate when I did it.
For me little bit of gastro is like my attitude towards hangovers. It is okay to have them every now and again, as it actually forces me to stop, stay at home, rest and do not much. So thankfully I have my Lord of the Rings novel to keep me company and also my overdue blog to update.
It's a shame it has happened today as Mag (my other Aussie mate here) rang me about rockclimbing. I have been wanting to go for ages, and I really felt like going today, but alas it will have to wait until I come back.

Next Saturday I am leaving for a quick jaunt back to Oz to attend to a couple of things. Now that will be in interesting experience. Two weeks back in the land of rush. Appointments, catchups and endless retelling of stories about my experience in Bhutan. I have already thought I would just prepare a briefing note and give it to everyone before I get home, so that all the common questions are answered! Such a cynic I am!

I've only had time to think about my return home yesterday and now (due to gastro) today. I have written a list of all the things I am taking home, and now I have just got to think about what I want to do when I go there, and what is it that I'll want to bring back. What is it that I actually miss?

Apart from the obvious - family, friends and significant moments (the birth of my nephew Issac, three engagement parties and a wedding), what is it that would make my life a little easier here in Bhutan?

In the first week I arrived I started a list, so I'll review that and see what is still relevant. Now that I have an oven, I want some baking trays, vanilla essence and a few other kitchen essentials so I can get baking! I have missed that. I'm also looking forward to a new pair of running shoes, getting my hair done and bringing back some clothes.

I also so looking forward to going to Karrinyup Shopping Centre just so I don't have to fossick through shops and to find clothing in my size easily. Ah it's the small things I miss. The shopping centre experience will be savoured in Perth as shopping in Thimphu needs to be experienced to be believed.

I love discussing Thimphus weird and whacky shops here with the other expats. We often discuss the most random shops we have found. It's great fun. Let me explain why.

At the top of the list of 'most random shops in Thimphu' is the Zimdra Automobile Shop in the heart of town. It is located right next to the Art Cafe a favoured hangout to get soup and salad, so there is lots of expat throughput to verify it's place at the top of the list.

This car show room not only sells the latest Suzuki Maruti or Suzuki Alto car, it also has a nice selection of mango juice, tinned fruit and other such delectables you can purchase. You got it. Out the front of the shop there are cars ready for you to test drive or to pick up, and in the window is a couple of asles of juices. Such a classic, and not atypical let me tell you.

We often chat about it when we wander past. I mean surely the grocery stock must move else they wouldn't have it there. Perhaps we underestimate the power of food when looking at the next auto investment you are going to make. You know a prospective customer could be feeling a little peckish, they could fancy some tinned fruit cocktail and you could offer it to them in the store, and have enough time to close the deal! Another reasonable explaination could be that if you're with your wife, the hubbie could be looking at the latest auto action and she can do a spot of shopping. Who knows.. but many a hypothesis is made!

Running a close second is the shop in Changlam Plaza. It sells frozen pork, beef or fish - (imported from India) along with some sports water bottles, cheap imitiation Gucci sunglasses and sports trophys. Yes.. you got it.. sports tropies. It's not like they are the biggest sporting nation around - anyone who has watched the movie The Cup can verify that one.

In third place is the shop that sell Dunlop car tyres that also sells hiking boots. Now that I can understand...at a stretch. Think about it....Shoes for your car.. shoes for your feet. It could work. There is some logic there. It still makes third place tho'.

Some other interesting shops include the Shop that sells and makes 'garments for monks'. This is an entire shop full of red, yellow and orange clothing. Love it. It's my personal favourite. Then there is the 8/11. I'm sure that's Thimphu's version of the 7/11 shops in the US, but operating on BST (Bhutan Stretchable Time), 8am is a more appropriate time to open for business. Nothing like capitalising on an already established international brand. Smart move.

So back to my 'what do I miss from Australia' question. On the top of the list of things that I miss is actually swimming. I haven't broken it to my sister yet, but I have been missing the pool so much I want her to stop by Beatty Park on the way home from the airport so I can have a quick dip and do a few laps. Is that crazy? I know it sounds a little unusual, but I just need a fix, I swear!

I have been so suprised by how not having a pool here has affected me - oh how I am looking forward to swimming each morning, a dip at Cott beach, followed by coffee and brekkie at the Blue Duck..Ahh.. the simple things in life.

Carolyn is also leaving to spend four weeks in Australia. She arrives in Oz, the day I leave. This morning we were discussing what we were looking forward to. She is going direct from the airport to Bondi for a coffee and brekky, me..the pool then hopefully mum's for a roast.

That will be great. In fact two weeks off will be great, but I know I'll be pretty manic when I'm there. I'm going to make a point to chill out and rest. Who would have thought I would be needing to chill out and rest having just left Bhutan.

What I am most looking forward to however is what I will miss most about Bhutan. For me it will be two weeks back home, then returning for the final four and a half months in the Land of the Thunder Dragon. I think my time home will be a timely cultural shock so I can fully appreciate all the amazing things that I experience and take for granted in Bhutan that are now been so integrated into my current way of life.

My trip back will give me the opportunity most expats or visitors to Bhutan don't have. To leave, get a reality check, then come back with time to fully explore and experience the best of what country is about.

Tashi Delek.

Driving In Bhutan

2006-07-12T19:15:00.000+06:30

Okay, I thought i would just give you some of my insights and detail some of the more peculiar happenings in this country.

I have been driving in Bhutan for the past four weeks. It has been great. Liberating, adventurous and suprisingly slow.

The maximum speed that anyone travels here is about 45k's per hour. This is due to the mountainous terrain, the buddhist easy going attitude and probably the need to be alert about everyone else on the road. The majority of cars only have four gears (The Indian Maruti) so there is probably no point going fast anyway!

However it appears that there are only three types of cars on the road. The Indian Maruti, which I would compare to driving a human sized sardine tin, The 4WD for the expat residents, the wealthy bhutanese or government cars, and the standard minivan taxi's.

These cars clog up the roads and without any traffic lights, stop signs or use of indicators a unique method of informing other drivers of your direction has evolved. Basically when coming to an intersection you flash your lights twice to indicate to other drivers you are going straight. Now that makes sense.

When you are at a roundabout, of which they have a few in this country, you flash twice to show that you are going straight through. It actually works which is good. However the whole concept of roundabout seem to have missed the mark. People are so courteous here, that instead of giving way to the right, people wait for you mid round about to enter the roundabout then exit. It's bloody frustrating at times, especially at 'peak hour'.

My Maurit is certainly like nothing else I have driven before. It is two years old, but conks out when I start it every morning, just like my 30 year old Mini Cooper S did when I was a student. It has the same tinny exterior, is tiny and when you fit your family and friends in (aka.. sitting on everyones lap) you can relate to the feeling of discomfort the marine life felt when shoved in their burial box. But I swear my mini had a huge 'cool factor' that the Maruti 800 just does not have!

Getting your licence here is easy. I showed my Aussi licence, flashed some cash and they have provided me with a sparkling new Bhutanese drivers licence - it even has a computerised photo of me on it. Quite a rare treat for the Westerner here, and quite a technological marvel for Bhutan! It's definately a souviner.

I'll be upgrading my car soon, to perhaps a Suzuki Maruti Alto. I am so looking forward to discovering if it has any more torque than the 800. Actually driving a car where you don't have to wonder if you are going to make it up steep driveways or hills will be quite novel.

Who knows, maybe I'll want the Maruti 800 back. It's certainly providing me a lot of entertainment. One of my Bhutanese work colleagues says driving with me is like driving with Michael Schumaker. Bless him. He's only seen me going up to 40k's an hour!

Tashi Delek

I'm Back

2006-07-08T13:36:00.000+06:30

Well after a long absence I am firing up the blog again, however this time it will take the format of an online diary and have less editing than previous posts.

For those confused, the last post was made on 27 March, approximately four weeks after I actually wrote the copy. I was having a few problems with email, adjusting to a new country and meeting new people led me to neglect my writings.

Since then I have not been much better. I have managed to write some highlights of the various trips I have taken, although they are not in any format to publish yet.. so I am going to do my best over the course of this Bhutan experience to recall some of these events and publish them online over the course of the next few months.

Which brings me to another update. I have been given the opportunity to extend my stay in Bhutan for the next six months. This means that I have moved house with the view to settle more and establish some deeper roots in this country.

To assist with this I have splurged and purchased the best internet connection I can buy in this country. I am so happy. I now have satellite broadband at home and can use the internet whenever I want and also use skype.

How cool is that? You can be in a tiny kingdom in the middle of the Himalayas and still communicate as clear as day to people across the world. I love converging technology.

So from this day forth, there will be more blog action. Tales of meetings with Rinpoches, tours with royalty, treks to villages in remote parts of Bhutan, and generally a retelling of the story of my last four and a half months in Bhutan. And what a once-in-a-lifetime experience it has been.

Please feel free to register, so you can leave any comments. I am more than happy to answer any questions or for people to comment on my blogs.

Tashi Delek!

Days Seven and Eight

2006-03-27T18:10:00.000+06:30

The day starts slowly with a decision to walk into town to buy some desperately needed vegetables.

You can only buy vegetables on the weekend in this city, when all the sellers come into the country and congregate in the central city markets. I had heard about this congregation and was so looking forward to the experience.

The only tip I was given was to purchase from the Bhutanese sellers on the outside of the markets not the Indian sellers in the centre. The Bhutanese produce was a little less than perfect, with the Indian produce the epitome of the ultimate in fruit and vegetables. The reason why they were so good, is because they were sprayed to high heaven with pesticides.

Me, I like my vegies organic if I can get it. I can deal with the occasional bug in my apple. It’s only extra protein after all!

So I ventured to the market and had a good look around. It was just wonderful. Colour, variety,character, worn rustic rural faces and the smell of fresh produce. It was fabulous. I’m taking my camera down in a few weeks to capture what I can.

In an amazing coincidence I managed to bump into the American guy Michael who was sitting on the seat behind me on the plane. We had shared a few words on the plane, and were both excited about visiting this amazing country. Well, was he pleased to see me – well actually any westerner to be honest!

He later confessed over lunch that day that he kept looking out of the window in Thimphu looking for me, desperate that we could bump into each other and catch up. It was only after he had given up, that I called out to him in the market.

Poor Michael. He had just spent the last six days with his tour guide Sangay and a driver, driving through Bhutan. Just him and them. No other tourists. No one else to experience his with, and more importantly no one else to debrief with.

More often than not he was also the only person in the hotels they stayed in, so he was absolutely dying to talk to someone.

So Michael and I went for a quick bite for lunch and made plans to have dinner. I guess I was keen to debrief with someone as well, and to have the opportunity to do it with someone whom you had experienced the amazing plane ride with - who also had amazing anticipation of this place as I did, it was a opportunity not to be missed.

So we went for dinner. We had a few Tiger beers and had a darn good laugh. It was great for both of us. We also went for a three hour trek the following Sunday, which was also pleasant.

The trek was up a mountain that overlooks Thimphu. It takes you to a small private monastery and finishes at a larger monastery that houses monks.

At the time the trek puffed me out, and I started to feel altitude sickness again. However we trekked for about three hours, and it was worth the time to see some amazing sights. The private monestry was built in the 15 Century. It was amazing. The ladder into the place was made from two long pieces of wood that had steps etched into it. It must have been hundreds of years old. To think that over time it had countless numbers of people walking up it to worship at the monastery over the years it was amazing. You could seen where their shoes had worn away the wood. I guess 500 years will do that.

There were four clay statues in the Monestry. One of the traditional Buddha, one of the compassionate buddha, of Guru Shabdrug Rinpoche and another who’s name evades me.

We also saw a traditional Bhutanese stone bath. Perhaps this is where the current fad of outside bathrooms started. Basically it is a wooden bath located outside, that you pour water into (cold) and nearby there is a fire that you placed stones in.

To warm up the bathwater you simply add these hot stones to it. You can also add local herbs to the water to make it medicinal or even special stones to heat up and add to the water that have healing properties. They say it can cure ails or aching bones. I think it sounds great. I’m definitely going to have to give that a go.

However, as I find in my current bath in the place I live it, I don’t expect that you come out much cleaner than when you went in.

The water in this place is certainly not treated, so the colour is a murky brown. I like to think it’s full of minerals.

Day Six

2006-03-27T18:04:00.001+06:30

Sonam is going to be at work today. He is my official contact whom I have been liaising with over the past five months, and I had previously dubbed him ‘Mr Bhutan’.

His real name is Sonam Phuntsho and he has been great to deal with via the phone and email. He is the Joint Director of ICB, and in some ways is the equivalent to the Marketing Manager at DOH.

He had not arrived by 11am, so Rinchen and Wangchuck took me to lunch at the Bhutan Kitchen which was a great authentic place to eat in the centre of town. Oh today is the day that I decide that vegetarianism isn't for me, and I give it up. I mean seriously..anyone who knows me knows that was a big ask.. and you know what? I'm going to risk it - when in Bhutan eat as Bhutanese do!

We had butter tea and a range of vegetarian and meat dishes for lunch. There was red rice again and it was yummy! The butter tea, is just that. Butter and tea. As a result it is quite salty, oily and not good for the heart! I can’t say I’ll order it again, but it wasn’t distasteful so I did the polite thing and drank some of it.

It was nice to have a chat to them about all things sport, the constitution (thank God I did Australian Politics at Uni) and what life is like in the villages. By the time I got back it was almost one and Sonam had arrived at work.

Mr Sonam Phuntsho is a man with a large personality. He does seem like a nice and fun man and he made it official that I am going to be doing ‘capacity building’ with Pema. That is good news for me as I like her. We can work together on this project.

He also wants me to work on any other projects as they come up. I think he wants me to develop other materials on an ‘as needs basis’ and liaise with the team. It sounds great!

Sonam also said that I won’t really be working with Rinchen much, moreso Dr Gampo who is really the program manager on the HIV/AIDS project. It’s a bummer as I like Rinchen.

My new boss Sonam invited me to dinner to his house that night, which was quite unexpected.

I’ve been told the usual etiquette is to bring a gift to dinner, however I was caught unaware as I went directly from his work. Dinner at my first Bhutanese home was quite an experience.

Firstly his home is quite modest. It looks like an asbestos home, with quite a large garden. It almost looks like he has a small plot of land next to his house for growing vegetables, a drying coop for meat, and another cage, which weirdly enough had a dog in. I found out later the dog in the cage is not a permanent living arrangement, he is just keeping his male dog away from the female dog who has just had pups the day before.

I sat with Sonam and had some nibblies which consisted of some whitebait that they had just bought from Bangkok, as well as dried beef (like beef jerky minus any spices) and some of the local flattened corn that is then baked. It was just so nice to be in a Bhtuanese home, I soaked in the surroundings while I could.

The furnishings were rather modest, and in some ways appeared kind of kitch. I was surprised to see a kangaroo skin hanging on the wall, which I was told someone had obviously brought for him in Australia. The curtains were blue satin with frills and a bow to tie them back, so they fit well with the kangaroo skin. This place had a real 1950’s feel to it, but it was unintentional I would guess.

His wife Karma hosted us, and I felt very much like the guest. I had my first taste of ara, which is their local moonshine.

Ara is fermented rice (I think) and is actually quite a smooth tasting spirit. Most homes distill it for personal use. However what is unusual about it is that it is served warm with butter, and - wait for it - egg. Yes, there are floaty bits of egg in your alcoholic drink. Hmmm, it was quite a unique experience, and to be honest, it wasn’t that bad. I made sure I only had one and a half glasses to be sure I made the right impression on the boss.

It was an interesting evening of conversation about the King and his military exploits that he participated in a few years ago. The more I hear about him, the more I like him.

In a nutshell, Bhutan participated in a military exercise to rid their country of some Indian militants that had decided to set up home along the border in Southern Bhutan. The militants were from Assam (I believe) and were raiding India from inside the boarder.

Basically the King went and did a reconnaissance mission – by himself - to scope out the situation. We are talking the king of this country put a backpack on and walked up and down the mountains along the border. To make a true on the ground assessment of the situation and plan his military approach.

Now in terms of size, we are talking the militants were approximately 10 000 in number. The King had previously asked the Indian army what it would take for them to defeat the group. (Mind you the Indians had failed in two attempts previously against this group in India ), who said that it would take 30 000 troops and two years to overcome them.

So the King knowing this prepared his army. This man would make any military strategist proud. He personally hand wrote instruction to his different generals, and planned a surprise attack, which has all the hallmarks of a legendary story.

His small army of 5000 Bhutanese personnel defeated the 10 000 militants in - get this - three days. Yep, Bhutan’s three day war outsted the miltants from the Bhutan and proved the point that size does not count. Strategy, planning and timing were key to its success.

So I like the King. He really is such a strong leader. I believe any country would be proud of him. I just like a person who is courageous, bold and intelligent. It is no wonder the country are concerned about him abdicating in 2008.

So apart from discussions about the King, I was also interested in Sonam’s family.

His sister (along with Sonam’s wife) is a schoolteacher. They sound like they have a busy job, teaching up to 35 children in one class. This includes children with special needs, and without any teacher or parent assistance, it sounds like a tough job.

His brother-in-law, was also an interesting character. He was a Fulbright scholar and studied in the US and in England. I forget now what he studied exactly, however he is a technological guru.

It was quite unexpected to be having dinner with a Fulbright scholar, but to be honest, experiencing the unexpected is something I am getting used to in this country.

His brother-in-law had opened Bhutan’s first wireless broadband company (I was quite relieved to know that this existed!), and had recently sold out of it, to start working with the postal system. It appears the postal system is going through a radical product diversification, not unlike what has become to the now privatised Australia Post.

Basically it is going to be a government owned entity; however each outlet will be the point of sale for insurance, couriers and other products across the country. This type of service currently does not exist in Bhutan, so it is quite revolutionary.

His family were hassling him about his move from a private company to go back into government, however I don’t think they could see the potential. I just thought he was a smart man, and could see the long term benefits. Good luck to him.

Dinner was interesting as well. As I was the guest of honour, I went first, and did the correct thing and had a taste of everything. Goodness, it was almost like they had used every pot in the house and created wonderful dishes.

The highlight of the meal (for me) was tasting tripe for the first time. Tripe-a-la-bhutan (I made that up!). It’s not too bad too be honest, but I didn’t think it would be regular dish on the Bhutanese menu. How wrong I was.

After feeling very sated after dinner, we got onto the topics of Ghos and Kiras. Sonam’s wife Karma is a clothes and shoes hound. They call her Imelda after Imelda Marcos, who reportedly had about 3000 pairs of shoes (it’s an old nick-name I had for a while there as well!).

The best kiras are hand woven with silk thread and are then silk embroidered on top. Some of these take twelve months to make and cost almost $1000USD. These kiras are used for special occasions including festivals and weddings. They really are a work of art.

With the wearing of national dress compulsory in this country not everyone can weave or can afford to make their kiras and ghos there are also machine made kiras available in the shops India. These machine made kiras cost about 1000 ngultrum and can be worn for everyday. This is the type I’ll be buying to wear to work.

2006-03-27T18:00:00.000+06:30

I went to bed early last night after watching some of Bucky’s DVD’s about depleted uranium. Can someone remind me to take some less intense movies with me next time I go away? My plans to do my Pilates DVD were thwarted this morning, when my DVD would not work in my laptop. I was quite disappointed, and hopefully it can be resolved tomorrow at work. So I had to do those boring physio exercises I was doing about six months back.

I need to sort this DVD out and also suss out what is wrong with my Ipod Shuffle. I was only given it by my brother Mark the day I left Perth, and so far I have managed to wipe all the songs from it (intentionally) and now I can’t seem to upload anything from my iTunes. It’s driving me nuts. I should have scoped it all out before I left Perth. Oh well there is never enough time to do everything. At least I have some music on my laptop and can listen to something.

I don’t have a TV yet, and it is something I am going to need if I am going to get a handle on their media. A TV and a radio - I need both. Hopefully I can borrow them from the (Ministry of Health) MoH, but I am not too sure. I will check with Sonam tomorrow.

Apologies for the lack of emails, or any blog action. Email has been driving me ABSOLUTELY NUTS as everything is on dial up and is SOOOOO SSSLLLOOOOWWWW. Honestly it is mind-numbingly boring to wait for a webpage to upload. I had forgotten all about it. I guess it is going to teach me patience.

The other thing with learning patience is I am slowing learning how things work around here. I was a little surprised to have both Rinchen and Wanchuck in my office until about 10.30 this morning. They were honestly just ginning around. Admittedly Wanchuck has given me his son’s mobile on loan until I can get mine working again and we spent about twenty minutes doing that.. but honestly.. I wanted to get some work done and they were just hanging out. I felt like kicking them out. Sonam is back tomorrow and will be back in his office, so I have no idea how I am going to operate in an open plan office.

I met with Megan after work this evening to go through some things and she gave me some very interesting insights into working with the Bhutanese. Firstly she told me that when you are in the Royal Civil Service, you have a job for life, and get this.. you are not allowed to resign. They simply will not let you. For example Rinchen’s wife is currently working in Washington as she was offered an amazing job there, and so she left Bhutan to work and took their children. Rinchen, because of his job, he cannot join them.

In the Civil Service there is absolutely no incentive to do any work or to want to get promoted, as you just get moved around. Rinchen told me today he came from the Ministry of Finance before the Ministry of Health. So here was I thinking he was a ‘public health man’ and really he probably knows more about figures than I’ll ever know. Don’t quote me on that!

Basically every year, they get an increment and you just move up the ranks. From what I am told not a whole lot of work gets done either. So it doesn’t sound like you have to be particularly good at what you do to move up the ranks. How it functions puzzles me. Or does it? Is that similar to the Department of Health? No comment.

Megan mentioned that she has been here two years, and what she has managed to do in this time, is the equivalent to what she has been able to do in two months in the West. GREAT. I see many many frustrations ahead.

I’m thinking if I am here to ‘build capacity’ within the MoH, how does one do it when there is no incentive to learn in the first place? Hmm.. perhaps this is the eternal question managers who are civil servants face across the world. Ha – from my own experience I know it is.

Rinchen seems pretty switched on as he mentioned yesterday that Bhutanese don’t really show much initiative. They don’t know how to. They liked to be told what to do, and then they will do it. Hmm this is going to make the creative process for my work an interesting one.

There is one girl within the office who shows promise, and that is Pema. She has just returned form Thailand where she has completed a Bsc in Nursing. She has done a health promotion unit as part of her studies, so perhaps I can talk with Sonam about recruiting her to assist me with my work. I’ll find out tomorrow.

Other than that, my diet has been decidedly boring, and I have got to admit I am eating particularly badly. Last night I two rounds of vegemite with cheese sandwiches and for lunch today I had a packet of chips. Hmm.. no gastronomic adventure here.

While I have been shopping I haven’t managed to find all the bits and pieces that you need to make a meal. For example I have bought rice, chickpeas, a tin of tomato puree, salt and pepper but nothing else.. I don’t have any spices etc. or vegies for that matter.

The lack of vegies is driving me nuts and I can’t wait until the weekend markets to buy some. There is no other place to buy them. It is visiting the weekend markets or buying very expensive tinned stuff. I did buy a tin of baked beans the other day, I think I’ll have them for dinner tomorrow night. Poor Christina – I’m not really neglecting the premise of the Go for 2 & 5 campaign, it’s just a temporary thing.. really ;-).

I can’t believe I am writing this about food, but anyone who knows me knows I like to cook, so the lack of creativity in the kitchen is frustrating. I think I just need to go for a run and let off some steam.

I felt okay this morning, although my pulse rate had risen. It was around 59 beats per minute. I’m not sure what that is all about. I’m a little less puffy and my headache has gone. I’ll probably go for a run on Friday morning.

The other thing about this place is the amount of stairs around. It’s no surprise really considering how hilly it is, but it is taking a bit to get used to. Honestly I consider myself reasonably fit, yet I’m a little puffed when I reach the top of a few flights of stairs. I’m wondering how seriously unfit people do it.

Anyway back to all things Bhutan, another funky thing happened today. When I bought my packet of chips for lunch (and NO it was not intentional to eat chips for lunch, it’s just that I wanted to get back to the office to actually do some work and the closest place was a grocer with dried noodles, chips and cracker biscuits. So I bought the cracker biscuits for dinner and the chips for lunch.), the packet was a really really puffed packet of chips. I’ll get a photo so you know what I mean.

Basically the chips are made in India and when they are bought up here, the air expands and the packet puffs out! How cool is that!! They are a bit of a bugger to open too, particularly when you don’t want the people in the next office to know you are having chips for lunch.

Now another expose into Bhutanese culture, I have just been reading a research report about the sexual behaviour of youth. Well from what I have read they are a promiscuous society and they don’t deny that, so in a nutshell they like to shag a lot.

This report outlined that of those interviewed the males (aged 15 – 25) had on average nine partners since their sexual debut which was average age 16. Now get this – the girls had on equivalent one partner since their sexual debut which was average age 18. Hmm… methinks those figures don’t add up. Methinks the ladies are holding back on the real figures. Anyway, I was alert to this then I had a conversation with Megan.

Megan said the Bhutanese talk about sex all the time (again in conflict to the report and what Rinchen said) and that yes they all do shag a lot. Men have more than one wife, and women have more than one husband, and infidelity is rife. I’m sorry, but that’s pretty confusing to me. How do they manage it all and keep up with everything? I have no idea. I have trouble managing one relationship let alone four!! HA! I’m going to have to get clarification on this, as one of the key messages with HIV/AIDS education is ‘be faithful’. So the question is do I localise the message so it is ‘Be Faithful…… to all of your four wives/husbands’? Hmm.. I’m thinking it probably is.

I’m going to have to go into the regional areas to get a better handle on the message communication and to see how it really is for 80% of the inhabitants. I kinda get the feeling that all these reports, and the city of Thimphu is quite different from what is really going on in regional areas. There is only one way to find out.

I was hoping to go to Phobjoka Valley next week to see the Black Necked Cranes before they migrate back to Tibet. So maybe this can be my first foray into the regional areas. The cranes are an endangered species, and supposedly seeing them is on the list of things to do in Bhutan. They fly back in March so I only have a few days left. Next Tuesday and Wednesday is Losar – the Buddhist new year, and there is two days off work, so I’ll look to do it then. I just need to get organised for it.

Day Four

2006-03-27T17:57:00.000+06:30

Needless to say, when I got to work today, the first thing I did was call Tshering Tashi. When I spoke to him, I felt absolutely terrible as about 10 Australians had showed up (the entire contingent from what I can gather), he had worn his Gho and even prepared a speech for me to welcome me to Bhutan.

AARRRGGHHH how bad can one feel. Anyway, we went for lunch later that day and all was forgiven. He is a really nice guy and also belongs to the Mountain bike club, so I’m going to investigate this as well.

I’m also going to check out the golf course (I think), as who can pass up the opportunity of playing golf at 2350 metres? It’s the highest golf course in the world, and from what I can gather the thin air has some effect on how fast the ball travels through the air and so you need to adjust your drive (I have no bloody idea what you have to adjust as I am not a golf player – needless to say it effects something and it’s because of the air).

I also spoke with Megan and after many apologies, I have bribed her with Tim Tams and we are meeting for a cuppa tomorrow afternoon, so we can catch up.

I haven’t emailed all the other ABFA members yet as the email access at work is painful to say the least, but I will tomorrow as soon as I get a work email address. At least I prepared myself when I knew I would be leaving my beloved broadband at home.

So I started work today and after a brief moment of hesitation, I have submersed myself in reports and other information to set me on the road to develop campaign materials for their National HIV/AIDS program. I won’t go into too much detail, other than to say that they have one radio station, one TV station, one newspaper and not may other methods for promotion. I think I’m going to have to set up some other methods.

Awareness amongst those aged between 15 – 25 years of HIV/AIDS is quite high with 90%+ awareness of the disease in both urban and regional areas. This is due to the message being widely promoted via these media and also via health workers. The Health workers however do not have any materials to leave with youth, and motivation and capacity within the local government areas is lacking.

At a first glance, it appears that education materials may need to be developed, appropriate health promotion program materials need to be developed (for community based education workshops), advocacy and education needs to occur within government, campaign materials need to be developed, and we need to overcome the societal reluctance to talk about sex and condoms..oh.. then there is condom social marketing and improving accessibility to condoms as well. Hmm.. methinks my three months will be very very busy.

I’m waiting for Sonam to get back from Geneva before we meet and discuss what it is they actually want me to do. I’m pretty sure I’ll stick with the first plan to develop the education materials and develop the nationwide campaign in the time that I have.

As to the Bhutan experience, I am still loving it. I had my first experience of the dogs last night. The dog that lives at this house was barking ALL night and I’m pretty sure he was outside my room. I’m pretty sure he stopped at about 4.30, as I got my ear plugs out at 4am. I had heard about the dogs and their barking at night before I arrived, but again it’s another one of those things where you need to experience it to believe it.

On the first night I heard a choir of dogs barking and the sound reverberates throughout the valley. They were loud and there was many. There are loads of stray dogs around and I guess they all like to have a chat, and all at once mind you. It was at that point I was stoked Rinchen had chosen this guesthouse which is just on the outskirts of the city and away from the majority of our canine friends. It would be sleeping hell to be living in the centre of the city.

So I was a bit bummed last night when the house dog wanted to join in the sing-a-long, but hey I didn’t pack four packets of earplugs for nothing. I had been forewarned. Thanks to Chris and Steve!

Okay going back to a first impression I had on day one, but forgot to write, and that was my impressions about the Bhutanese people. They are the friendliest, most hospitable people and are just lovely to deal with.

I know this is going to sounds strange, simplistic and is not intended to be patronising, however the Bhutanese remind me of Santa’s elves. Now I know that does sound patronising, and I am only four days into this stay, but hear me out.

They are small in height, live in a remote and hidden valley, have wonderfully painted and cute houses, they do wonderful things to help you and are always ready to smile. Seriously, they could be like elves, not oopa loompas, elves. And from what I can gather their King could almost be described as Santa they love him so much.

The King is just so loved by his people. From what I have read he really puts his people first. Rinchen has also told me that if someone isn’t happy for whatever reason and feels they have been unfairly treated, they can actually ask to see the King, and he will meet with them! How cool is that?!.. and oh.. the King’s phone number is in the phone book.. no word of a lie.

However this accessibility does not assume that he has plenty of time on his hands, he is a very busy man, and people would have to be particularly aggrieved to want to see him.

I have read old reports in the local paper that when the King announced his abdication (only in December 2005), many tears were shed by his people. They really do not want him to step down. It is so touching and refreshing to know the country is lead by such a strong leader and that the people love him for it. I feel there are so many things we can learn from a man like this and from a country like this. Not the least being more elf like.

Day Three

2006-03-27T17:52:00.000+06:30

Today was the first day of the exercise regime. I got up at six thirty, did some stretches and went for a run.

Okay, it was only a small run, but run I did. I went for 10 minutes up some pretty long hills. Actually I’ll rephrase that, the one long hill was actually a mountain. Then I walked for about another 40 minutes. I thought best not to push it, as I am at 2350 metres altitude and I’m not sure how it was going to effect me. Wise words as it later turned out.

When I woke I took my resting heart which I calculated to be 54 beats per minute. I thought this was okay, but on reflection it is a little higher than normal and I was also a little dehydrated as well.

On my run I also noticed I was quite ‘puffy’. My eyes looked and felt shocking, and my normally loose ring was difficult to remove, so that indicated to me I was retaining water.

Anyway, after returning home I prepared for work and by about eight thirty I felt terrible. I was just not feeling well at all. I was pretty dizzy, and just felt light headed and not so flash at all. So I’m pretty sure that this is how the altitude affected me.

I’m glad I didn’t run any further, and have decided I’m going to give the running a rest until I get used to things a little more.

Richen picked me up for work and I went to start my first day at the office! The building is so impressive as I mentioned above, and walking into that foyer, I thought, “You are joking. This can’t be a government building! Where is the crappy carpet, the multitudes of staff wondering around looking for something to justify their existence, and the lockers from 1956!”

I go to Rinchen’s office and take in a breath. You know how I mentioned I was on the first floor?? Well you should see the view.

I am looking directly at a mountain and overlooking the city. How the heck am I going to get any work done in this place, with a view like that?? It sure beats looking over Wellington Square and the local drug rehab clinic in East Perth.

I met the other senior official, Wanchuck who is doing Sonam’s job whilst he is in Geneva. Sonam will be back on the 24^th, so I have a few days to get acquainted and start preparing myself.

I was introduced into the other office staff, who seem lovely and welcomed me, and was also taken to another area off site where the audio-visual group were.

I am working for the ICB – the Information Communications Bureau within the Ministry for Health. This is basically their marketing department. I’m not sure if they have a PR department, but my hunch is telling me they don’t.

In terms of marketing what they do is they planning and development of communications materials, whilst the audio visual team produce TV animations, DVDs and videos. They also have a graphics area that produces brochures and posters.

On the day I arrived, they had received a brochure about Avian Influenza as it had finally hit India, and as Wanchuck told me “If it has hit India, it won’t be long until it gets to Bhutan”.

Personally it scares me. Not so much contracting Avian Influenza (Now that I’m vegetarian!), it scares me for this country and the potential impact it could have here. I can’t imagine they are stockpiling Tamiflu or any other vaccines here!

I met the manager of the audio visual department within ICB. That too was an experience. I know I am going to like this bloke. He is just like a production coordinator.

He is the busiest man in the area, and like the Department of Health production area, just gets lumped with jobs to turn around in very short time. His criticism was that they do not work to a work plan, and just need to create and work multitudes of jobs in the system. It sounds familiar.

He explained they have a wide level of bureaucracy to approve resources. They need to have all things approved by the Minister before distribution. It sounds like a nightmare. I’m sure I’ll learn more about this in due course.

There was a library next door and I took out the book ‘The Divine Madman’ which is the story of Drukpa Kinley a revered Bhutanese holy man.

I couldn’t get the book in Australia or via Amazon.com, so I thought I had better pick it up here, just to get more of a handle on some of the unique cultural oddities about the place.

From what I can gather, Drukpa Kinley is also the reason why there are fallic symbols everywhere here (for the record, I haven’t seen one painted on a house or building yet – but I haven’t left the capital yet, so I’m sure they are hordes of them just outside the city, just waiting to be seen!). I’m looking forward to the read.

After my short tour, I head back to the office and had a quick chat with Rinchen and decided that as I was not feeling well (I was still feeling like crap, and needed a headache tablet) I should go home, and do a little bit of shopping and banking on the way.

There is so much change to get used to, whilst it is a great experience, I can’t underestimate the impact this is having both physically and mentally. I’m looking forward to meeting up with the Australians tonight to off load and just have a general chat.

Prior to my arrival, I had made contact with the representatives of the Australia Bhutan Friendship Association. This is a group that was set up in 2003 just after diplomatic relations commenced between Australia and Bhutan.

The Director in Bhutan is a young guy called Tshering Tashi and the Director in Australia is Tim Fischer (Chair of Tourism Australia and ex Deputy Prime Minister of Australia). This is how I had met the few people I ‘knew’ in Bhutan – via this group and email.

So I was very honoured that they had delayed their Australia Day celebrations until I arrived, and also dubbed it a ‘Welcome to Bhutan Dinner for Michelle Hogan’. As you can imagine I was quite excited to go.

After my brief liaison with Megan I had arranged with her to collect me at the place I was staying, which was a difficult task at the time as I didn’t have an address.

From what I can gather there are no addresses in Bhutan. Great. That’s problem number one. Anyone who knows me, knows that giving directions is one of the tasks I fear the most. I’m just hopeless at it.

It takes me ages to think about what to say, half the time I struggle with explaining my left from right, and more often than not send most people on a wild goose chase. If handled by a less directionally challenged person, the task could be explained very succinctly in two sentences.

So combine the fact that I am appalling at giving directions, along with a location that had no address, and a headache when I was talking to Megan the day before and you have a recipe for disaster.

And yep, a disaster it was. Poor Megan couldn’t find me. It is no fault of hers, and mostly mine, and the worst thing is I think I had half of Bhutan wondering where I was.

I also didn’t have anyone’s phone number on me to call them, nor a phone to use for that matter. So I couldn’t contact anyone to let them know I couldn’t make it.

I also didn’t feel comfortable catching a taxi at 8pm in a foreign city, or going to a restaurant where I didn’t know where it was (remember – no addresses here!).

So I just stayed home. I did wait outside for an hour tho’, thinking by pure luck she may be able to find the house.

Nonetheless, I think I made a pretty good first impression. I’m the guest of honour didn’t even make her own dinner. Bugger.

Day Two

2006-03-27T17:48:00.000+06:30

Day Two

Well I am writing day two on day three, so please excuse the past tense. The day started well after a visit at 10am from the MoH’s driver to take me to the bank to get some money.

As I recently discovered the compulsory Gho that men must wear (kinda like a very smart dressing gown with long socks) is something that the majority do not like to wear by choice.

From where I had been living I had gotten used to seeing men and women in normal western clothes. I am now told that as wearing traditional national costume is compulsory, they can actually get fined by police and sometimes ‘held’ if they do not wear their gho and kira.

In the city everyone must wear the gho and kira, and it is compulsory to wear it in government buildings as well.

The city is again another one of those experiences that needs to be seen to be believed. There are a couple of main streets, however they are lined with these excellent buildings that are elaborately painted (a painstaking task I would think) and are no more than four stories high. They look excellent.

There are no shopping malls, no garish signs, nothing that a westerner would relate to other than the fact that there were traders on the main street and they were hidden away in little dark and dusty looking shops.

I went to the bank to exchange some travellers cheques and was just blown away by the banking processes. Firstly, in my research I need to point out on the Bank of Bhutan website it mentioned that they were proud to have installed their first ATM for their customers. I should have taken this as a warning.

Banking in Bhutan is banking old style. Honestly, this could have been a different cultural interpretation of a ‘Back to the Future’ movie. When I first entered the bank it looked like mayhem.

There were tellers in a U shape around the room, and only one queue at one teller. It appeared.There was no obvious order whatsoever however there was no anxiousness amongst customers and things just seemed to happen.

I am taking this ease, patience and organised mayhem in all very well. Apparently what happens is you visit your teller and you do your work with them, but they also serve about three people at the same time, so there are always people pushing bits of paper past you to get to the teller.

This westerner was a little bewildered at the process or apparent disorganisation, however it worked. After entering and taking in the view, a lovely Bhutanese man helped me (as I was obviously looking bewildered) and pointed me to the correct teller to exchange travellers cheques.

The teller passed me a paper that had handwritten on one side: ‘Name, Local address, Passport number, signature’. There are no PIN numbers here, it’s all signature, just like when I first opened my original Commonwealth Bank Account when I was six.

So this is where the fun starts. So they took my passport, my cheque did the calculation, and gave me a very official looking brass token (I’m wondering if this was their money, but I was wrong!).

I was instructed to go to another teller to collect my money. So I go back near the entrance, and sit on the bench, and join the other fifteen men (all in gho’s) and wait for my number to come up on an LCD screen (this is the only sign of modernity – and a nice services marketing touch, mind you!).

I also register that I’m the only female in the queue, but I tell you there is no uncomfortable feeling here whatsoever. Perhaps it’s because I am comparatively taller than them and any other woman in this country, and they find me threatening – who knows!

Prior to this I enquired about getting a bank account and they told me that I needed to bring in a photocopy of my passport and two photos (thankfully I brought a couple from Australia!). So I waited for my number to be called and collected my money.

The local currency in Bhutan is the Ngultrum. They have excellent looking banknotes with their very handsome king on them.

According to the men here, a lot of western women comment on how handsome he is, and even refer to him as having ‘movie star looks’. He is revered here and loved by all. He is actually abdicating in 2008, at the same time the new democratically elected government will come into power.

It is an interesting time for Bhutan at the moment. They are at the crux of integrating TV having received it in 1999, adjusting to modern influence and rapid development, preparing for a new government system in 2008 and dealing with potential health issues including HIV/AIDS and Avian Influenza. I’m just glad to be here to witness some of it.

Okay, back to the city.. so after my banking expedition, I thought I had better inform my family that I am alive and well so I managed to find an Internet café to message my sister quickly and tell her I’m here. I manage to find the internet shop, which is run by a young Indian man (Indians are the only other nationals that do not need a visa to enter Bhutan). I was surprised that the access was okay, even tho’ it was a dial-up connection.

I checked out the ‘favourites’ menu in Internet Explorer thinking that some other Westerner must have created a link to ‘Hotmail’ as a favourite, however I was not in luck.

However I did note -as one does - that of the six ‘favourites’ bookmarked, two were for porn sites. ‘Wild Sex’ to be exact. Now I am assuming they were porn sites unless this man has a particular interest in the reproductive habits of native animals. But I don’t think so, He didn’t look like the type.

So that again was another interesting moment, and I now know a little more about what the Internet has brought to this country as well as the habits of my little Indian internet entrepreneur.

As I am in a self contained flat, I also needed to get some food, as all this adjusting to the altitude adjusting was making me hungry.

I managed to find a grocery shop and purchased a couple of things which I didn’t realise at the time, cost me a lot of money.

As I had only exchanged my money, I was still getting used to the huge quantity of ngultrum I was carrying. The exchange rate is 42 ngultrum to one US dollar, and I had exchanged $50USD. In the end, my muesli cost me close to $10 to buy. I think I’ll be rationing that meal.

After my first shop, I decided to go for a walk to find Megan Ritchie the only other Australian I knew in this country to drop off a few things I had bought for her.

I was wandering along, when who should drive past me – the only man in the country I know – Mr Rinchen Yoezer. He helped me find Megan, and I arranged for her to pick me up to go to the Thai Restaurant on Tuesday for a welcome to Bhutan dinner for me.

Rinchen offered to drive me home so on the way he took me past the government buildings in particular the Ministry for Health where I will be working.

The Ministry for Health – well there is an ode to design and architecture. It is like no other government building I have seen before. It is just beautiful. I have never used the word beautiful to describe anything in relation to government before, but in Bhutan you can!

It is the largest government building in Thimphu (beside the Thimphu Dzong of course) and has an entrance that could only be compared to a hotel foyer. It has a winding circular marble staircase, marble floors and is about three stories high. Just wait for the pictures. My office will be on the first floor, and I’ll describe more of this on day three!

Rinchen also drove me past the Thimphu Dzong, and pointed out the Kings Office. He then drove me around the Assembly Hall, where will also attend the Health Conference to be held in April.

In March they are doing a nation wide Rubella Vaccination over five days, which will be so very interesting to witness. This is going to be such a great experience.

So back home I arrive and hit the bed I did – for two hours in fact. I was knackered. The flying and altitude had hit home. I got up at about four and went for a walk, came home and started preparing for my first day at work the next day.

The Adventure Begins

2006-02-27T17:47:00.000+06:30

Day One - The Adventure Begins

Wow, wow, wow. The adventure has begun. Okay.. let’s start at the beginning. Firstly I want to say thanks to Ned for the loan of Michael Palin’s CD set – The Himalaya. I had only just finished listening to it the week before last.

I sat next to a Pakastani student on the way from Perth to Bangkok and had some pretty fascinating conversation about Islamabad, life of Pakistan etc. Thanks to Ned (and Michael Palin) I actually had somewhat of a clue of what he was talking about and could ask some semi-intelligent questions. His name was Haroon and had finished his postgraduate certificate in Petroleum engineering at Curtin University and was returning home.

After saying goodbye to Haroon and my mate Dave who coincidentally was on the same flight as me ( I hope you made it to the wedding Davio!), I made my way to the hotel and CRASHED. After eating Pad Thai of course (when in Rome..do what the Romans do!). It was an eight hour flight and I only had four hours sleep the night before.

Entering Thailand I a Japanese girl Sayo and her Father met in the immigration line. He was most impressed I was off to Bhutan and Sayo and I had a chat and she interpreted for him. It was just wonderful. I am just loving the cultural exchange.

He was very interested in Bhutan and wanted to visit – it was on his list of things to do in his life. He also told me that a Japanese man had reached the level of Dasho in Bhutan, which is a very senior recognition by the King. He had taught the Bhutanese about modern agricultural methods, and was recognised for his efforts.

It was quite a surprise to get this information, and I have tucked it away in my memory about all things Bhutan. I was able to tell him that of the few ex-patriots in Bhutan, the Japanese make up the majority, which is probably due to the efforts of this Japanese Dasho. It was so nice that this Japanese man and I could learn from each other, despite an obvious language barrier. Love it.

I managed to get stung for excess baggage in Thailand, but it was far from what I thought I was going to pay. It was only 2500 baht, about $55USD. I managed to get the extra weight for free from Perth to Thailand (Thanks Paul!) and considering I had about 50 kilos (including hand luggage) I think I was pretty lucky.

The excess baggage was for all the education materials I had purchased and bought with me from Perth to take to Bhutan. Thanks to the Rotary Club of Scarborough for their help to purchase these books.

The flight from Bangkok to Paro was an early wake up – 3.30am to be exact. On this flight I sat next to an Indian lady whom had exactly the same seat as me. There must have been a misprint with the Druk air tickets.

She and half her extended family (it felt like when I was on the plane) had been to Thailand on business – she sells jewellery, and was very proud to tell me she lives in Kolcutta and is Bengali. Obviously being a Bengali a good thing, as I certainly didn’t know.

A flight to remember - Kolcutta to Paro

The flight into Paro has been the highlight of the trip so far. It must be experienced to be believed.

I had arranged to sit on the right of the plane as I was told there was a view of the Himalaya. At first thought there was a mix up and I should be sitting on the left of the plane, as I saw the top of a mountain peaking out of the clouds on the left side of the plane. It was such a spin out.

I was flying at I have no idea what height, and was looking at the peak of a mountain. I thought to myself “Wow check that out, it must be Mt Everest” It was the only mountain you could see, and the American behind me and I were in awe of the view and spinning out about this ‘Mt Everest’, then just into vision came this MASSIVE mountain that was double the width of previous one and much higher.

My mouth dropped and I thought, “Now THAT’s a mountain” and lo and behold it was Mt Everest.

It was beautiful, impressive and looked fierce. How Edmund and Norgay managed to climb it without any oxygen and lived to tell the tale amazes me. Mt Everest is over 8500 metres above sea level, and take it from me, it’s bloody high and bloody huge.

So having been very happy that I’d seen the big one I settled back to my seat on the right of the plane and was slightly disappointed I had got mixed up with the seats. Still content I had just seen one of the most amazing things in the world, I was looking out the window, when I gasped again. The Himalayas came into view.

Majestic and honoured are the words that come to mind. I never thought in my lifetime I would ever get to see the Himalaya but now I have.

They say this flight is one of the best flights in the world. And in my humble opinion I’d have to agree. This is the flight from Kolcutta to Paro and the Druk air is the only carrier that does it. The other flight that is rated highly is the flight from Kathmandu to Paro, which comes in from the other side. The view is just amazing and leaves you speechless.

We flew along the Himalayas for about ten minutes before we started the descent into Paro, and what a descent that was. The experience just gets better and better.

Okay, close your eyes and picture this. The music in the plane is soft sounding Himalayan music – obviously Bhutanese music and it is reminiscent of pan pipes. Imagine soft Andean music, or if you cannot conjure that up, think of the music to that Nescafe ad from years ago, anyway the music is playing just softly in the background and sets the mood.

You are still feeling humbled having just seen the most amazing view of your life, and you also know after reading about Bhutan for the past four months, it is often described as ‘The Last Shangri-La’ or ‘The cutest kingdom in the world’.

So you have an inkling of the magic, majesty and wonder that is ahead, and are a little excited by it all, but you really don’t know for sure, as it seems too good to be true. All you do know is that you have not come across one reference that has ever had anything bad to say about the country.

So keep this feeling in your mind, and I’ll take you through the descent.

We are above the cloud line and it is a beautiful clear day (it would have to be and I’ll explain why later). You can see everything below you and it is just like a land from a fairytale.

We are flying above the mountains, and there is pristine forest below. You can see a magical waterfall from the air (must have been a drop of about 500m), and there are houses dotted across the mountains that look like swiss chalets (that are authentic Bhutanese homes I may add!). You are half expecting to see a gingerbread house come into view, because it is that surreal.

Now let me state - there was a reason why it was a clear day for the flight – it had to be to see the mountains. I thanked the captain afterwards for the flight, as he was a very skilled man. I should know because WE DODGED MOUNTAINS.

No word of a lie. I’m talking we took corners like we were in a Subaru WRX. Well, maybe not as tightly executed, but you get the picture.

I’m telling you this plane (not sure what size – but it was six seats across in the back with an aisle down the middle), was coming VERY VERY close to mountains as we entered Paro airport.

It was like I was on a bus tour, looking at the backyards of the village houses, checking out the tractors in the paddock and looking at the crops growing in the field. BUT I WAS ON A PLANE. It was UNREAL. I loved it (obviously by the amount of capital letters.) There was certainly no autopilot on here.

So anyway, the flight was amazing and I clapped when we landed. It was just marvellous, and was well worth it.

I would recommend visiting Bhutan even for one week, just to experience the flight. I took in the moment during that point as I’m sure that flight was a once and a lifetime event.

A drive to remember – Paro to Thimphu

So, after arriving and being picked up in Paro, the driver from the Ministry for Health took me to Thimphu and dropped me at my accommodation. The drive was also an experience to remember.

We exited Paro, which was pretty much like a country town, and took a winding twisting road that followed a river to Thimphu. The road is in the side of a mountain with sheer drops to the river below. I estimated some of the sides of these mountains to be on an angle of about 70-75 degrees. They were darn steep.

I think the distance to Thimphu is about 56 kilometres, but it took us an hour and a half to get there. That’s an indication of how many twists and turns there were in the road. I was almost nauseous toward the end. I’m glad I bought Travacalm bring with me to take for any more regional trips.

Welcome to home

The place I am staying in is like one of those swiss chalets I described earlier.

I have the upstairs guestroom of a family home. It is almost like an apartment. I have my own spacious bedroom, a spare room for my guests, a sitting room for hanging out, a great bathroom with a walk-in wardrobe and bath, and a little kitchenette. Pictures will be coming soon.

I am sharing the house with a family, and I don’t know how many people live here yet. All I know is it is a busy house, and they have lots of extended family come over. About five boys helped me with my bags to my room, it was all a little overwhelming to be honest, I think they just wanted to check out the new chillip.

It will be nice to have good family energy around and to hear voices in the background.

My apartment has a great view of the Thimphu Dzong, which is a monastic and administrative headquarters for the City. It is the largest Dzong in the country and being a ‘view girl’ I am so happy to have something to look at. I have superb views to be honest. I am high on a hill so I can look over to the heart of the city and see all the houses built up the side of the mountain. It really is spectacular.

I live in an area called Langshochopa (that’s a phonetic pronunciation) and it is just on the outskirts of town. It’s only about a five minute drive to town, so the thought of walking to work each day is suiting me well.

I am just down the road from the Institute for Bhutanese Studies, the Indian Consulate and also the home of the Minister for Health. I’m also close to the river that runs next to the city, so I’m looking forward to going down to visit that soon.

The Food

Amongst other things, this tour may be a bit of a gastronomic adventure for those reading this. Anyone that knows me, knows I’m a foodie at heart, so you may end up getting a blow by blow account of breakfast, lunch and dinner (assuming there is variety!).

To preface this, I have decided to go ‘vegetarian’. This is the second time in my life I am going vegetarian. The first was a 3 month stint when I was 16 after visiting my vegetarian brother who lived in an ashram. There is nothing like adding a bit of eastern religion into your world to prompt you to become vego. Either that, or paranoia about food poisoning.

Vegetarianism limits the foodie somewhat, and after just having had my first Bhutanese lunch I’m wondering if this is such a good idea. The food looked great and it was 75% meat. Methinks this foodie being vego is going to be a challenge.

Oh dear, I just got busted. After having just been served a wonderful meal, which was prepared to welcome me to Bhutan, I basically ate everything except the meat.

After I finished my meal, the lovely home help asked me if I was vegetarian and I reluctantly I said yes. I said I was just getting used to the new food so I was vegetarian until I felt more comfortable with the food. Well, it’s true – I just can’t be a vegetarian for ever.

I’m paranoid about getting ill from food and spoiling this great experience! I feel terrible for the home help and all the effort they had made to prepare my lunch. I should have just eaten it, oh well too late.

My first Bhutanese lunch

Background

Before I arrived I was told the landlady wanted to make me lunch, I felt so honoured. I had responded by saying “That sounds lovely, don’t make anything special” – as you do. It was only two days later that I realised, I wanted to be ‘vegetarian’ to save my embarrassment about not wanting to eat meat here.

The menu

Weird cabbage cheese dish – It looked unappetising, but I ate it and it tastes good. It has cheese, vinegar, maybe egg and cabbage. (I’ve since found out the weird cabbage dish was cabbage fried in butter. I’m sure it was cheese)

Drinking water – The water is decidedly discoloured and looks too dodgy to drink.

Beef rib and vege dish – Nice, however it is quite oily. I’m not eating the meat even though it looks GREAT.

Rice – The rice tastes divine. It is locally grown red rice. It has a nutty taste and is yummy.

Broccoli and pork dish – The broccoli-looking vegetable (which I’m not sure if it is broccoli – it’s almost like a wild broccoli. Either that or I’m just eating the flowering bits of the broccoli)

Chicken and asparagus broth – It is quite chilli hot, but I’m loving it. I’m too scared to eat the chicken, so I’m leaving it alone.

Meeting my work colleague Rinchen

For the past two months I have been in liaison with Mr Rinchen Yoezer via email. I had no idea about this man, other than the emails I had received, and he seamed like a pretty switched on bloke and a great guy.

He had put me at ease with a few queries I had, and I knew I was going to be in safe hands and that I had nothing to worry about.

When I arrived I contacted him, and we arranged to meet up for dinner that night. When I met him, I was surprised at how much taller I was than him. This will be something I will eventually get used to.

We drove in his tiny mauriti car (an Indian made car), and chatted along the way. He took me to the Riverview Restaurant which as the name suggests, has a view of the river that runs through the city. However at night it has the best view of Thimphu.

It overlooks the city and from up there, all you can see is the sparkle of the lights in the houses that go all the way up the mountains. It is simply stunning, and if anyone visits me while I’m here, we’ll go for dinner up there as well.

As I did not have time to exchange any money, Rinchen paid for dinner. Weirdly enough, I didn’t see any exchange of cash or coin. I still can’t figure that out. From what he said, you can actually get around in Bhutan with no money if you want.

You kinda pay here and there. I’m going to have to get a better handle on that, or this town is really going to do my head in. I think I may just go western and use cash. Perhaps the Bhutanese way is the ancient form of credit card, where you could actually run up credit at various places. Life here is certainly going to be interesting.

Back onto the gastronomic adventure. Both Rinchen and I had a tomato soup for dinner and we shared some red rice and two dashi dishes. Dashi from what I’m told is cheese. We had a mushroom and cheese dish and a potato and cheese dish, they were yummy and not at all spicy. I think they may have left out the chilli for me. Darn it.

I’m going to get running in the next day or two as I’m not going to fit into my clothes soon with all this lovely food. I simply can’t get fat here, as they don’t sell western clothes in my size. Well, it’s the old equation, energy in and energy out, and I’ll get working on the energy out soon.

Rinchen is such a lovely bloke. We discussed all manner of things including my role, the current situation in Bhutan and life in general. I can tell he will be a good colleague to work with while I am here.

I have decided I’m going to immerse myself into wherever culture I can. I need to get to know the people to learn from them what I can.

As my first day ends, I know from the few hours I have been here already, the next few months will be mind blowing. I can’t wait.

The First Post

2006-01-10T19:50:00.000+06:30

Hi
I'm off to Bhutan at the end of February. Am I excited or what?!