17 May 2012
07:48 pm

Up to the highest heights

The trek has been an amazing couple of weeks, experiencing rural Bhutan, getting to know the bhutanese and understanding the huge challenges of conserving a building a few days walk from anywhere. So much to say that I have split it up into parts.

To the start

We threw our bags in the back of a pickup and headed off to Paro and then north into the valley. When we reached the start of the national park and the 'tourist trek' we were allowed through the checkpoint in car and continued to drive through the park on what appeared to be a new road (although still needed a 4x4). We stopped at the end of the 'road' to pick up our mule and begin the trek. What we had done was drive the first days walk of the standard tourist trek, clearly we were not going to be doing what the tourists do. We had joined with the Dzongkhag (county) team and it was clear they were the ones leading the trek as none of our team had been here before.

Ramming Earth

As we waited for the mule, I heard some singing nearby and went to investigate. It turned out to be a group of people (mainly girls) building a rammed earth house. They were busy standing on the walls with heavy sticks ramming the earth in time with the song. It was really quite something to see and I got to try it out myself, ramming my own layer of earth into their wall. It seems to be tradition that your neighbours help you build your house in return for food and things, but also for passers by to offer gifts. I was given some Doma by my colleague to offer as a gift which they seemed to appreciate. Apparently one of the songs was them asking for Doma or Money. I can really imagine this method of building has hardly changed from 500 years ago with the buildings I am working on.

With or without mule

We soon set off, even though our mule hadn't arrived. This worried me quite a bit as we left everything behind and were off in to the wild. I wondered what would happen if the mule never turned up (due to some misunderstanding) and we were left a days walk away with no food or tents etc. I realised I had not quite packed my day bag well enough for that eventuality as I was not expecting to be far from my mule! The walk took us along a wooded river side with a gentle gradient, the trees were quite ancient with old mans beard growing all over them, the river was crystal clear and rocky. We soon stopped walking though to set up camp, because the mule hadn't caught us. We actually only walked 2 hours which was quite disappointing as it was hardly anywhere. I soon learnt that this also meant tomorrow was now going to have to be a much longer day.

Camp bonfire

Everyone straight away began to collect wood for the camp fire, something I was happy to help with as it was familiar. Although I did lack the big knives everyone seemed to produce from nowhere for this purpose. Within 5 mins we had a huge pile of wood and I sat down, not long until I was asked to help move a tree. We had enough fire wood, but ok if you want to burn this tree too I will help. This kept on going, and we ended up with 3 big trees and a stack of fire wood that would do the village bonfire on nov 5. This saddened me a little as it seemed a waste, and if you remember before there were restrictions in place because of too much firewood being taken, this must be why. Soon the fire was too hot to be near, but good to dry off damp clothes. With such a good fire (and quite expertly made) I expected them to pull out embers to cook on, but unfortunately no, the gas stoves were still used. I struggled to accept the fire, but I soon began to realise that everyone else was enjoying it immensely and busy drying off since they had no waterproofs. No doubt it was also keeping away any wildlife.

Out of the woods

We set off the next day at dawn. This time I packed my day bag with more useful things for a whole day, we again left before the mule. Our walk continued through the wood along the river side and we began to climb gradually. We stopped for lunch where the mule joined us, and we put up a tent and cooked a full meal. Quite a nice surprise that we didn't just eat a quick cold lunch. We continued on and soon we the trees thinned out as did the oxygen. The landscape opened up to huge mountains in the distance and rolling green hills. We passed by an army camp, which was part of the border control with tibet, but really was just a house with a handful of people.

Land of the medicinal plants

As the trees thinned the shrubs thickened. It was suggested I should put on my face mask because all the smells of the plants can trigger altitude sickness (or probably hay fever). These were all medicinal plants of various sorts and I was told tibetens still come over the border to collect them, and likewise bhutenese go the other way to sell them. There still seems to be a little hostility between the two, but I think this is mostly just due to illegal border crossings and a little history rather than real problems.

Deep breaths

We soon hit a real hill to climb to reach our campsite, this was my first real taste of the lack of oxygen. In the morning I had felt a little light headed when I walked to fast, but it disappeared as I slowed down and breathed. I was very worried that this was the start of altitude sickness which everyone had been going on about and was the biggest concern of the trip. If I get sick then we would have to head back, as it can be incredibly dangerous. In fact our colleague from Japan who is over here with an organisation called JICA had to take a proper guide and stick to the prescribed routes to reduce the risk of sickness and could not travel with us. They even had oxygen cylinders. As we climbed the hill, I began to master a technique to deal with the lack of oxygen. I had been told to just take it slow and this does seem to be the key. I also took long deep breaths, so basically ending up 'mindfully trekking', one step breath in, next step breath out tasting what little oxygen there was. My body was not in the slightest bit tired yet, it was purely my head that couldn't keep up, and it wasn't feeling short of breath but light headed. I had to resist the urge to charge up the hill and reach the summit first as I know I would probably pass out. It is really quite a strange thing to have your body limited in a completely new way, and I realised I had some acclimatising to do.

Up in the mountains

As we got close to the top hail started coming down and I felt like I was really trekking, this gave me extra spirit and as we hit the top a plateau opened up between two ridges, a really peaceful place and this was our campsite. I was very happy to be here and to not be sick. We set up our tents at 4000m in this nice secluded place amongst the huge mountains with Jomolhari (7300m) in the distance. It turned out this was quite a sacred place and we weren't allowed to burn anything but wood on the fire for fear of bad weather. We could hear the occasional roar in the distance which was the crashing of ice from the glaciers of Jomolhari, quite spectacular. This place was also out of bounds to tourists and so I felt very fortunate to be there, it also turns out that tourists can't light fires at all so this was already beating an organised trek.

In Safe Hands

We chatted around the fire and I learnt that the two Dzongkhag engineers head out this way almost once a month. I was quite surprised by this as it is quite a hike, but it turns out they do this in substantially less luxury. They travel light in order to save time and money, and usually walk it all in a couple of days, camping out in caves or under trees. This is another reason for the big fires, without a tent you need one. We were also travelling at the best time of year weather wise, but these guys do it all year round. I realised that they really know what they are doing and it would be wise to stick by them, to find ways to avoid altitude paranoia if nothing else.

Jomolhari

The next morning we woke up with an excellent view of Jomolhari, I was told that it was a sacred mountain, and that it was forbidden to climb it. It really did look quite majestic so I could understand its sacredness. A little googling does suggest that it has been climbed several times though… however the highest point in bhutan Gangkhar Puensum at 7570m does have the claim of highest unclimbed mountain. Jomolhari is a rocky and snowy peak which is apparently not how it used to be due to global warming. The tibetan side is said to have lost all its snow due to the chinese using big mirrors to reflect the sun and melt it(!). That morning we walked to the base of the mountain and the temple there, this was a 2 hour walk from camp and a detour from our journey. The valley was stunning, with a huge basin at the base of the mountain clearly an ancient glacier with small glaciers still visible up in the mountain.

Sickness

As we had tea and lunch in the temple I was aware that a headache wasn't going away. We were now at about 4300m. I was also not the only one, two others of the team were feeling sick. We took it easy but I soon realised I was actually far better than the other two, although still the most worried. It was agreed then that we should take the next day as rest and have some ponies to use if necessary the day after. I also learnt that if my spit turns blue/black is when I'm in trouble. All I had was a slight headache, so I figured I wasn't too bad.

We left the temple and snow came down, really quite beautiful and it seemed to clear my head. We headed over a ridge and back down to the valley we started from fro our next nights camp, which turned out to be in a house.

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Cordyceps

That evening we were greeted by the house caretaker and he showed us some cordyceps he had found that morning. I had heard a lot about cordyceps already, they are are a fungus that speeds its spores into caterpillars, the infected caterpillars then walk off and burrow into the ground and the fungus grows out of its head. This leaves a caterpillar shell with fungus inside, and a tiny stalk sticking out the ground just half an inch. There is a similar one elsewhere in the world that attacks ants and makes them climb trees, and I am sure many others too. This type is the tibetan one and is only found up in the mountains. It is believed to be a cure for most things, as well as an aphrodisiac, and being so incredibly hard to find is incredibly expensive. I was then they surprised that we were offered this one cordycep to share between the three of us who were feeling sick that day. (More to come on this)

Resting

The following day was a rest day. There was a plan to head to a mountain lake and fish for dinner, which sound like great fun, and a chance to eat fresh meat! (it is all dried here). This didn't work out though and instead we just relaxed and played games like corram, some backgammon relation and cards. Some locals also played archery down the centre of the village, much like my experience in Thimphu they were shooting over a huge range with little regard to safety. This time however they were using composite bows, these are special hunting ones from the US though as the normal ones don't have the range. They say that it is far easier to hit the target with them, and I can really believe that. I was just amazed that they could afford them.

Marriage

I had asked the evening before if anyone wanted to play cards, I was asked if I knew a game called Marriage and told we could play it tomorrow if we found three packs of cards. I said I had one pack and knew plenty of games we could play with that but was not heard. The next day they managed to source another two packs from the locals and asked for mine and promptly 5 sat down to play without me. This was the first time I felt left out, but soon realised it was a gambling game and was quite happy to watch and understand it first. 2 hours later and they were still at it, I was wondering when it might end. I again suggested that I had a game that more people could play, as there seemed to be a limit of 5. Three packs of cards for five seems like overkill to me.

Beginners Luck

Anyway after pestering a little I was invited to play, the money was pretty small and the game seemed mostly luck so I joined. I worked it out pretty quick and we played for hours, despite my suggestions that other games might also be fun. I began to win money and ended up finishing even which I was pretty happy with. This will turn out to be the first of many games, we played most nights we could. The addiction seemed to be that people weren't allowed to leave on top, and actually unlike most casino games you would win back your money as it seemed to be based on luck. I managed to be up on every game much to the annoyance of everyone. I never managed to sway the devotion away to another game, which was a shame as a few people didn't want to gamble and so were excluded.

Love Songs

Later in the evening we all sang and danced round the campfire drinking whisky. This was great fun, just what I like doing. The bhutanese songs are really tuneful and easy to listen too, and it seems they all know a lot of them. Some also have simple dances which I joined in on which are quite fun. I taught them a few Irish song choruses which they could join in on (like wild rover, molly malone, paddy on the railway) which they enjoyed greatly although I am not sure my teaching of the tune was very successful. This lead us to start singing more western songs and it soon transpired that the only songs they know are love songs, and particularly ones from boy bands in the 90's. Was quite amusing to hear them know all the words to 'when you say nothing at all' by Ronan Keating, and not having ever heard Bohemian Rhapsody.

Divine Madman

After staying up late and drinking heavily, we got up early to attempt the mountain pass to lingzhi, one of the most difficult tests for us and high likelihood of mountain sickness at 4900m. We had picked up two ponies for those to ride who were feeling a bit sick. I was pretty good so I didn't take it up, the other two did though. We continued up the valley where we came across a relic from the Divine Madman, a tibetan buddhist teacher who seems to be very influential in bhutan. This was a huge stone penis, said to be carved with his own hands. If you can lift it up it will increase your the size of your manhood, it turns out none of us needed to give it a try.

The pass

We then climbed up higher to the pass, the path became steeper, the ground turned to shale and it began to snow. I practiced my 'mindful trekking' some more to cope with the altitude. I had no headache, but needed to take it very slow. I managed to keep going and make it all the way to the top and what a relief it was. I was so very happy to survive the altitude and make it up on my own, and was rewarded with an amazing view down the valley.

Lingzhi Dzong

We did not hang around on the frozen peak for long and soon set off down the valley. We stopped off for lunch and then continued on to our destination Lingzhi. After sometime we caught a glimpse of the Dzong. Majestically standing there on a mountain of its own, proudly defending the valleys below. One of the last surviving 'frontier' dzongs defending from tibetan invasion. A quite stunning structure in a remarkable location, well worth the trek.

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To be continued...

07 May 2012
11:57 am

Arrival at Lingzhi

The Dzong is the on the mountain on the left. Altitude 4300m.

04 May 2012
12:33 pm

4000m and going strong

02 May 2012
02:42 pm

Off in to the mountains

This last week has been much quieter in the office as many people have been out on projects. This seems to be the way of things here as it takes time to get anywhere and my office covers all of Bhutan. It has given me a chance to get on with the work in hand and produce thorough reports and even make a start on their website.

This post is filled with photos from my walk on Sunday (see below).

Rock carving and water powered prayer wheel

Paro Ta Dzong

This has been my main concentration so far as it is the most interesting building and needing the most urgent attention. With any luck they should be stabilising the damaged parts and exposing the walls for further inspection over the next few weeks. We can then make a proper assessment and figure out how to fix it, will be quite a challenge. I have managed to work out some of the history of the building which explains some of the damage, typical situation of poor alterations. It is a real challenge to understand when anything has happened as it is only ever aural history.

Some local and remote building a carpark wall, using cement! Why? Because it 'lasts longer'… *sigh*

Trek to Lingzhi

It will be my turn to be away now as I am heading off for a 10+ day trek to Lingzhi to survey the Dzong there. I am incredibly excited about this, just hoping the altitude will not cause a problem. The trek takes us up to almost 5000m (similar height to everest base camp) somewhere close to Tibet. The map below shows the route, we will be doing the Drukgyel to Dodina bit. The Dzong has suffered severely in the recent earthquake, it will be quite a challenge to repair it due to its location. This should mean that there is no choice other than using traditional materials, which is obviously a positive.

Gear here

Went to some gear shops here and managed to get stuff at way lower prices than the UK, was actually amazing. There seems to be little point equipping yourself before you come… whoops. Think I now have everything, the Bhutenese seem quite laid back about any trekking so I think it will be fine.

Tango Monestry

Change

This last week I have been invited to dinner by the guide Chambula who I met before, was very kind and got to meet some british Tourists. One of which was here in the 60s and then visited again 30 years ago. I can't imagine what a change there must have been between visits. All of Thimphu seems to have been built in the last 10 years.

Cheri Monestary

Health

Was also invited to tea with the Health Secretary who is the owner of my building, had a very interesting chat and learned about the health system here. They have a similar system to the UK NHS but also disallow private practise. This is because there is a shortage of doctors and they do not want health care to be only for the rich.

Medics

I also met a British family from sheffield, the parents of which are doctors who have come to work in the hospital for a couple of months. It seems that there is a program from doctors to come out to help educate the doctors here. Like my work too its going to be a challenge to teach rather than work as there is so much work to do.

Typical cantilever bridge

Cycling

The family are keen outdoors people, and are hoping to get mountain bikes to have fun round Thimphu. Really keen on doing this too, but it is almost impossible to get a cheap bike here. They are all brand new and cost £100s. Trying to work out if it is worth it and selling it later, or perhaps I can ship a cheap one from somewhere?

The clubs

Have now experienced the night life of Thimphu. Courtesy of Chambula's daughter whose boyfriend owns a bar, and also the other Chilips. The bar is pretty modern and just like anywhere in the UK, one of the favourite drinks is the local whiskey, which is actually not bad. I was invited out to the clubs after the bar, there were two clubs we visited both which had a theme night one was 'moulin rouge' and the other 'bollywood'. I can't say that I could detect the themes from the music, but some people were dressed up. The clubs were actually pretty modern and just like any nice club in the UK (bar the people and music). Was a fun evening, but struggled to enjoy the music which switched genres every song and was mostly western.

Humble

On Sunday I was invited to Michaels for lunch again, as there was another Brit visiting (Charlotte), the medic family also joined us. We had a very nice day walking to Cheri (a monastery) was wonderful as it was quite remote and perched on a hill. Managed to not take too much in as got into deep conversation with Charlotte. She had come here to set up a relationship with Bhutan to sponsor some children to be educated in the UK, and was fortunate enough to spend a lot of time with the King who is very keen on the project. The more I hear about him the more I am amazed by his humbleness.

Talks

I have somehow now agreed to give a few talks about my work here. A couple persuaded by Michael, firstly to a school group to go over one of my projects, and another for TV. Michael teaches physics and has a physics TV show demonstrating the use of physics in real jobs in bhutan. I will need to work out the interesting and simple physics principals that are used in engineering, am thinking moments (levers), momentum, centre of gravity and load paths etc. Will see how that works. Charlotte also wants me to talk to her students in the UK, by then I hope to be a little more expert at talking.

Karaoke

Later that evening I went to a typical Bhutanese karaoke bar with Sonam, who was the 'guide' looking after Charlotte. This was fun as it was mostly Bhutanese 'film songs' so got to sample real local music, although the films seemed to be based on bollywood and almost entirely love songs. He promised to take me to a live music place, so I look forward to seeing that. I continue to be impressed with how friendly and welcoming people are, it seems to be very genuine and not imposed in anyway.

New Flat

Today I moved into my new flat, which almost went terribly wrong. Apparently they had offered it to someone else as well (a lack of communication between mother and son). This is a time to use the Bhutanese phrase I have learnt 'What-to-do-la'. This would have been an absolute disaster as I am off on my trek tomorrow. It seems to have resolved itself with me getting the flat, but I feel sorry for the other person. I also may have to pay more (what the other person offered). Anyway, I have a new home, and it seems OK, at least it has a much better price, just need to find myself a cooker, or make do with my camp stove.

Archery

Today is a national holiday (the third kings birthday) and there was an archery competition going on at 'the butts' I was really hoping I might be able to try it at some point but now I am really not sure. It is not for a amateurs! They shoot a target which is only 8 inches circular at a range which must be 100m, they also are so confident in their skills that people stand practically holding the target, occasionally hopping out of the way when an arrow lands at their feet. I saw the board that the targets on (10" by 3') hit a few times, when this happens they give a little sing and dance to the target, perhaps to let their teammates at the other end know they hit it. I felt incredibly uneasy with these arrows flying around even we the audience seemed pretty vulnerable, standing about 10m from the target.

Photos showing dancing at the target, waiting to get hit by an arrow, and the distance they shoot at (I can't even see the target).

Thimphu at night, Tashichho Dzong in background.

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23 Apr 2012
02:30 pm

Connections

This last week has been pretty busy, have been hard at work and travelling all over the place. Have also been meeting lots of interesting people including the King and his Queen.

Sunday Lunch

So to start of where I finished last week, I met with the guide Chambula to go to lunch at Michaels with Hannah and Catherine (the Brits I had met again the day before). I was waiting with Chambula when he got a call that the King would be joining the lunch. This suddenly changed the tempo as people began to rush around frantically trying to get everything ready for what was now more than just a lunch. Apparently everything happens last minute here and everything is dropped for the King. I continued to tag along to this lunch, hoping I might also be invited to meet the King. Although I felt a little out of place, it seemed ok. We rushed to Michaels house, passing the King on the way, who was cycling along a hill road with a group of children. There was more frantic preparing at the house, and then the King turned up (in his cycling gear, which is lucky as I wasn't very smart). There were various comings and goings but I was introduced and got a chance to join in conversation with both the King and Queen. They are both incredibly humble and a felt very privileged to be able to meet them.

[Photo to come]

Long drive

On Monday we travelled to Wangdue, we left early as it is a 3 hour drive. Although not very far away the drive is long because of the roads which snake their way along the side of the mountains. The drive was breathtaking and we stopped at a Dochula pass (at 3050m) where there were amazing views of the mountains. I was quite glad to arrive at our destination as I was getting a little travel sick, something I definitely need to sort out!

Farm roads

We stopped briefly and Wangdue Dzong which is one of the big projects which the DCHS are running, was quite surprised how busy it all was. So many workers. We then set off to our first visit of the day which was Chitoka, a monastery on top of a hill (like they all seem to be) this was another 30mins drive up an incredibly windy farm road. It turns out these farm roads are going in all over the place to try and provide better access for farmers to sell there goods. There seems to be a push to increase farming as they apparently have plenty of good quality land, but just can't sell the goods.

Terraces

There is little to no flat land around, they have to terrace it all. This is probably why it is so hard to spot fields from lower in the valleys. The main crop seems to be rice. It still surprises me how spread out all the houses seem to be. I do admire their desire to build up hills though.

Super fast survey

We arrived at my first building to 'survey'. It was quite a nice stone and mud building, with some newer mud and timber bits added. We were shown around and I began to record structural issues and was thinking of ways to solve them, it soon transpired that we had very little time. I began to worry how on earth we could make any assessment in the time.

What is our job?

I had not really worked out what my role was, or what the department's role was here. There were also the local engineers who I think would carry out any project. So I just went along with things. Seemed that the building was fairly old, although it is almost impossible to tell with my untrained eyes and the aural history is somewhat fuzzy.

Rebuild?!?

We stopped for lunch, and then I was asked 'so what is recommendation, rebuild?'. I was shocked, both that they expected some kind of recommendation so quick, and second that they were contemplating rebuilding. It was a fairly sound building, although in need of some repair, and clearly has history! I was confused as to what we were really there for, the local engineer seemed worried about the idea of repairing. I think they are just happier to rebuild as it doesn't require 'engineering'. My proposal was to save the old main block and rebuild the monks quarters (drasha's), but I felt this should really be an architects decision on the merits of the building.

Governor

The Governor of the region then joined us. He was very friendly and seemed happy with our proposals. He took us further up another hill to a small temple very high up which was wonderfully peaceful. This apparently was going to be extended, again I wasn't too sure if I was meant to comment, so waited to be asked, which I wasn't.

Wonderful 16C monestry

We then visited another monastery called Chagayna. This involved a nice 30 min walk to avoid a very long farm road. I walked and chatted with the Governor who told me all about the local farming. It was hard to keep up the pace but I managed ok, in the end we left everyone behind. When we arrived at Chagayna it was very clear this was a much older building, and was quite handsome too. It was a rammed earth building with three floors, with very simple details. Seemed very special straight away. When we looked around we noticed very simple nice carvings on all the timbers, some wonderful murals, and my favourite thing which were the floorboards. I saw some which were about 2' wide and 20' long, which were quite something. Then I found some more which were 4' wide, they were incredible.

The plague of corrugated iron

It transpired that the building must be 16th century and largely unchanged since then. The roof had been rebuilt recently, in the traditional way but with slate rather than shingles, and fortunately not corrugated iron. The roof was in great condition, and was just saying so when I was told that it was going to be replaced with corrugated iron. I was again shocked and asked why, and it seemed to be to reduce weight. They thought that the slates would be too heavy, a quick calculation and the slates would be a similar weight to the shingles they would have used before (due to the three layers and the stones they use to hold them down) this didn't seem to convince them. So I also mentioned how they want to keep the weight up so the roof doesn't blow off like at Chitoka. I could not really understand the desire to replace a perfect slate roof with corrugated iron.

We then were asked the question again, we should rebuild it right? Again surprised (although I probably should be used to it now), such an excellent 16 Century building should definitely be saved. I was beginning to think there must be something else going on.

Super fast reporting

While there we agreed to report on the building within 24 hours (!) Of course this is possible, it just means the report is very limited. The next day I proceeded to write up what I thought about the structure in a very brief way, naturally as these things go we ended up compiling the report until late in the evening as I helped with the architecture side too. This report was then submitted to the Prime Minister, apparently it did not go down well as his mind was set on 'reconstruction' and we were saying it should be saved. There is clearly a lot going on in the background that I really don't understand. The prime minister then planned to visit with a couple of my colleagues on friday, so I prepared a structural argument for them (e.g. It has stood for 400 years already! Here are some examples of repairs used else where etc etc).

A proper visit

On thursday I made another visit. This was to Paro Ta Dzong which is the national museum of Bhutan, it is a wonderful circular Dzong dating back to 17 Century. This had some serious damage in the earthquake, with part of the wall collapsing, little has been done except empty the building and prevent people from entering. This visit was far more to my liking as we had time to go over every inch and record properly, we also had existing drawings to use, and there were just two of us and the curator so no rushing about.

Founder of Conservation in Bhutan

Later that evening I had a call from Michael Rutland saying I should come and meet Dorji Yangtse. This was great as she was the originator of my department, and retired just recently. I really needed some advice on how this place works as I was struggling to understand it from my colleagues. We met and she gave me the most amazing advice, I just hope I can follow it. The problem stems from the fact that this whole concept of conservation is really very new and no one knows how to deal with it (and contradicts the buddhist teaching of impermanence). This means that the department can't really operate in the conventional way, and so we need to go about it all backwards to get people on side.

Monks desires

Particularly the owners/users of many of the buildings are the monks, and they are not at all clear on what they want. They have never had to ask permission do to works before so they don't understand how to, they don't express what there desires are for example a bigger meditation hall or more accommodation but rather say this building is damaged so lets tear it down. The real key seems to be finding out what the various parties are after and working to that, rather than just fighting to save the building. I was told that we shouldn't fight at all, as that does not achieve anything here, everything needs to be far more sensitive. I was also surprised to hear that I should not say too much too soon, as my word may be taken too literally, for example if I say this wall is dangerous it may get torn down the next day. Lastly I was also told not to contradict people in public, this I had heard already, but was worth reminding me. I am willing to stand up to anyone (be it Prime Minister of King) if I believe in my cause, I must refrain from doing so!

Leave drawings in the office

Another interesting thing that Dorji said was that when they restored Tigers Nest monastery, she never once took the drawings to site. As they were working with craftsmen who didn't know how to read drawings, they felt threaded when they saw them. This practice I admire greatly, as it is very difficult for professionals to work without drawings as this is the heart of modern construction projects.

Archaeology

Friday and saturday I attended an Archaeology conference. The department are trying to learn about archaeology as it is another crucial part of cultural heritage, and something they have very little experience in. They are also including it in a new Act of Parliament they are drafting in order to protect monuments and sites. A lot of the conference covered the details of the act which was quite interesting as it also covers buildings. Prefer crawling around old buildings to be honest though…

Big Buddha

On sunday I went for a walk to Buddha point and the huge Shakyamuni Buddha statue. It was a nice walk and I met a tourist guide on the way, we chatted about trekking and he told me that the trek to Lingzhi takes 6 days, this worried me again that we were intending on doing it in 3! The statue itself was quite incredible, although the surrounding area was still a construction site the statue was finished. It is 169' tall, made from bronze and gilded, making it one of the biggest in the world.

Nature reserve

Behind the statue I found a nature reserve that had several nice paths through the woods and benches with amazing views over Thimphu. I walked back into town and ended up getting a lift with some locals.

Chileps

I then went to try out another cafe in town in an attempt to meet more people. I met a group of young westerns who were working for various NGOs, finally found people doing a similar thing to make life a bit easier. They identified themselves as Chileps (or something similar) which is apparently what westerners are to the bhutanese. I had not come across this yet, I hope they will be able to give me plenty more good advice.

14 Apr 2012
09:17 pm

One week in

I have now been in Thimphu for 1 week, and I am beginning to get a grasp on the lifestyle. It all seems to suit me quite well.

Today I found a four leafed clover and it made me realise how fortunate I have been. Of course it is actually about taking opportunities when you see them, but I feel that the right opportunities seemed to have made it my way. I am very thankful for that.

Studying

Much of this working week has been studying, I have been reading all the publications of the Division for Conservation of Heritage Sites (DCHS) in order to get a grasp on the workings of the division, the architectural styles, the common problems and the work undertaken so far. It has been really very interesting, but also gave me an insight into how much work their really is to do. I think that I will get quite busy quite quickly.

My Project List

I have now been given a list of the projects in the office and the ones that I will be working on. This includes:

1. Helping the research good understand the structural properties of the traditional building style.

2. Structural assessment of Para Ta Dzong, which is a circular Dzong damaged in the last earthquake.

3. Technical support for a proposal to conserve Wangditse lhakhang (in Thimphu)

4. Waterproof study, which is the bathroom waterproofing I mentioned before, I have now realised how important that is, more on this below.

5. Website. Surprise surprise… yet another website to make!

I have also now found a couple of personal goals, although prompted by others. One is the waterproofing, and the other is saving Old Thimphu.

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Waterproofing

It seems that the biggest reason for using concrete to either replace or to integrate with the old buildings is to be able to waterproof the bathrooms. Now this at first seems silly, because many bathrooms in the UK do not use concrete, and it is clearly not necessary. However the bathroom use here is very different, they do not care for keeping it clean and tidy, and apparently monks are the worst. They have not been taught how to use toilets, and so manage to make a mess of the whole room, with water everywhere. This creates the need for a 'wet room'. On top of this, plumbing is very poor quality and so prone to leaks. Creating a concrete frame in a building just to house the toilets seems like an awful expense to me and so I intend to find the solution of how to make a wet room with timber floor and to safeguard the plumbing. It can't be too complicated right? Any suggestions from Architect types are welcome (as this really isn't a structure problem!). I believe solving this will definitely encourage concrete to never be used in historic sites.

Old Thimphu

The more I have walked around Thimphu and chatted to locals, the more I have realised how important it is to save the remaining old houses. This doesn't seem to appear on many agendas as much of Thimphu has been lost already and so concentration is on other villages. There is also the fact that it will be a huge challenge to persuade the house owners the value of the house and not to replace it with concrete like their neighbours. I am sure this could be made into a positive for them, for example by making it into a tourist area. I should thank Michael Rutland (the Consul here) for being very passionate about wanting to save these and telling me that there is a chance I could do it.

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Ex Pats

I met with Michael on Wednesday evening, it was very helpful to get a Brit's view of the place and I got a few introductions to useful people and places, I now know the expats hangout. He came to Thimphu first in 1970 and taught the 4th King, he pointed out that back then there were only 42 cars in the entire country and how much it had changed. Reminded me of people talking about Kathmandu, but this really isn't on the same scale. He was very happy that I was volunteering and self funding, as he said that means I really must want to do it. I had never thought of that before, but its true, I do. I was also introduced to a couple of Brits who had just flown in (as tourists), they were very interested in what I was up to and may well prove to me a good connection.

Expensive Flat

Another good outcome of the meeting was that they nearly fell over when I told them how much I was paying for my flat (I have been asking everyone for help finding somewhere cheaper). I knew it was expensive but that really helped me understand how expensive! They encouraged me to go for somewhere unfurnished, and actually had a couple of suggestions for places. I could get somewhere for under half the price. So I decided to up my game to find somewhere, as my office were not being very successful so far. I chatted to the friends I had made in the cafe in my building and they said that actually the neighbouring building had an apartment free, I checked it out it was pretty good, semi furnished same size as my current place but not half as flash. Price under half the current place so I haggled down further and went for it. Will be moving at the beginning of May.

Directions

This means I will have to buy a few bits, but I am now getting the hang of shopping here. That took longer to work out than expected. The first problem is directions, people are incredibly vague when you ask how to get somewhere. Street names are not really used, and they instead use familiar places, for example I have worked out that my address is 'Next to Druk Pizza'. One of the main familiar places is 'Main Traffic' or just 'Traffic', what this is is the box in the middle of town where a policemen stands to direct traffic. I heard that they used to have a traffic light but got rid of it because no one liked it. I guess thats where the name comes from, and they just dropped the 'light' because that no longer exists. I have managed to get led here, there and everywhere by directions, but I now just either work out where I am going myself or ask repeatedly on the way.

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The shops

The shops were also quite confusing to me, as many seem to be inside what I would consider apartment buildings. It took me a while to realise this and when I did the number of shops the town centre suddenly increased 4 fold (the number of floors they use!). They are not very well signed, and its difficult to know if you are just walking into someones house. People don't seem to mind the wondering around though, but the lack of welcoming (as explained before) still gets me.

How much?

I really do not understand how much anything should cost here. I was really disheartened by a couple of trips when I spent so much more than I could have imagined. Then on the other hand elated when some things were incredibly cheap. I don't think I am being duped (well not often) as the prices are usually marked, but if I am then maybe its just charity. I have now decided that I will just accept whatever the prices are and soon I will work out what is what.

Everything is spicy

One of my successful restaurant trips ended up in a very cheap and tasty meal. This was in a apartment style building and very friendly people, a few other people there drinking some beers and watching the TV (more on that later). There are so many restaurants most of them 'Restaurant cum Bar'. I am using them to slowly building up my spice tolerance, as really everything is hot, and I have always been asking for the least hot option. Even when we got chips in a bar, they came covered in chilli. More surprisingly however, when I tried to cook 'bhutanese style' with my own measure of spices it came out too hot!

What to cook

The reason I tried to cook bhutanese is because it is incredibly difficult to find any other ingredients, they have some common vegetables, but really no other ways to flavour than with spice it seems. I have been experimenting, and now have had some tips from people so tonight I intend to try out some unknown vegetables with some unknown cheese type thing. The most tricky thing has been lunch though, most people bring in rice with spicy veg/meat. Since I can't cook it yet I can't do this. I managed to find ingredients to make basic sandwiches, but I feel so ridiculously British its silly. I need to learn to cook this way and fast.

Appreciation of time

I eat my packed lunch with my colleagues for the first time on Friday, yes it took me that long to realise they had a social lunch time. Although I was away for a couple of lunches. It was actually very nice as we shared food and had good conversation. I realised that they see the importance of this kind of time to break away from work. It seems that they try hard to keep the work/play balance correct. Really very nice.

Night life

A couple of colleagues Yeshi (24) and Choening (32) to me out for drinks on Friday. Was a great fun evening, we went to a quite big bar which had some karaoke and then a live band. To me it was incredibly 'quiet' for a bar of its size on a friday night, but for them they thought it was too busy. We chatted a lot about Bhutan while drinking beers and eating spicy nibbles. I learned more about the country and it was fascinating. I also learned about their beers, later in the evening I felt like I had drunk twice as much as I actually had, I was feeling twice as tipsy as I should. I looked at the beer and saw it said 'Super Strong' and then looked and saw it was 8%. This was just the standard Bhutanese beer.

Material world

We discussed a lot of things, and it was really very interesting how strong the Buddhist principles are. Perhaps I should't be surprised, since it is the only remaining Buddhist country, but I was. One particular thing that they were aware of is the increasing desire for material things, I think that this must party be down the introduction of television. It seems that they introduced TV with 40+ channels straight away and this must have been a huge shock to their culture to suddenly be exposed to the material world, with all the adverts telling you you need this and that.

Gross National Happiness

This naturally led on to discussing Gross National Happiness, which they both were very supportive of and believe could work despite all the sceptics. I really hope they are right as to me it is a wonderful concept. The battle is really against the desires of development and material things, as they are often considered to create happiness, but in reality don't. This is well understood by many, as a core buddhist principal but don't seem to be coming out in practice. I was told a story of one sceptic at a conference in Japan, who said they visited Bhutan and saw people working hard in the fields by hand, clearly they were not happy and it was not working. In response the Bhutanese man said that if you had gone a talked to these people you would have seen that they sing while they work, they enjoy being close to nature, they eat dinner as a family etc etc… they are very happy. My colleagues agreed that actually many people in the countryside are happier than the city, which I can see to be true and I hope to find out when I travel. Both colleagues have lived overseas so I was curious to find out what they thought of that. It seems that they think highly of Bhutan, and were keen to come back. They did not like the lifestyle, and particularly the rushed way of the modern life was really not appealing. However they were curious to travel more. It seems like the younger generations are loosing this understanding.

Long Walk

Today I went for a long work to see some of the sites around Thimphu, this involved a climb of about 700m. I again struggled to find my way, with very vague directions that sounded simple until you tried to follow them. It was a great walk as you can see from the photos. When I reached the end of the tarmac road, half way up the hill, I bumped into the two Brits with their guide who I had met with Michael a couple of days before, so I tagged which helped find the way much easier and provided more interesting conversation. This was a very lucky chance (this was just after I found the four leafed clover!). From the guide I learned a bit more about the Kings of Bhutan, it is fascinating to here peoples personal feelings about them. They really seem respected. One particular thing I liked is that the King lives in a very small simple house near the parliament, and his father lives in a log cabin in the woods. Neither have ever lived in the palace. I appreciated having a guide, but also realised that those who were guided were not very free with what they could do and had to go along with the rest of the group. I am glad I don't have to do that.

In this photo, the kings house can be seen just behind the Dzong next to the river with little gold top to the roof.

Littering

On this walk I saw several nice slogans trying to educate people not to litter, I thought they were quite fun so here is a selection. I also found out that they are going to start fining people for littering, which will be monitored by the traffic police and taxi drivers. Apparently half the fine will go to the person who reports it. Seems like a good idea but I wonder how it will work in practice.

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Next...

I should be meeting the Brits, the Guide and Michael again tomorrow, should prove interesting. On Monday I am travelling out to some sites, 3 hours drive and one hours walk away. Very excited to see the real countryside.

13 Apr 2012
05:34 am

Kathmandu

I have neglected to post anything about Kathmandu, so here is a quick summary and some photos.

I only had 2 full days, so did not get a chance to see a huge amount. Lucy was very kind showing me about. What first struck me was that Kathmandu was incredibly busy, which I found fascinating as there is always something interesting to watch! First off I met Lucy's expat friends, which was quite an experience to see that lifestyle. Everyone told me that Kathmandu is nothing like what it used to be, which really made me wonder why I didn't come out here years ago.

Next day we visited Sechzehn monastery and met Yangtse Rimpoche, then saw Boudha Stupa and made a wish. I was actually quite surprised at the difference between this type of Bhuddism (Mahayanan) and Tasha's (Theravadan). Have to say I prefer the idea of mindful walking rather than spinning prayer wheels, and sitting rather than prostrations!

We then visited Patan Durba Square where I was very pleased to see older buildings, was quite surprised that bricks were used as I thought that was a european method! How little I know about this part of the world. The small tiles used were really wonderful. We then met the Shakya family (who Tasha stayed with 10 years ago), they were very happy to see me and very kindly offered me a place to stay at any time.

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The next day Lucy introduced me to an conservation Engineer/Architect (John Sanday) who was completed many international conservation projects. Turned out he has worked with the Bhutan Department of Culture, and was an incredibly useful person to meet. They may be opportunities to work with him in Bhutan, and he wanted me to be his inside man.

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I then made a trip to Swyambu Stupa, which is in a very dramatic setting up a hill, also gave great views of Kathmandu. It was full moon, and the first one of the year for some, so it was absolutely packed. Afterwards Lucy took me to a full moon concert with traditional music which was absolutely beautiful.

10 Apr 2012
01:41 pm

First day at the office

Just had my first 'day at the office' and I am pleased to report that I think this is going to work out very well.

(Actually this was yesterday, but never found internet to upload. I have put some random pics in from both days to make it more colourful.)

The office

Firstly, the office (department of culture) is not actually in the Dzong (big fortress), which is quite a relief as it means it is far less formal. The Ministry which contains the Department is in the Dzong however, and it sounds like I may have to make lots of trips to talk to more senior people. I also noticed that people didn't quite arrive on time, so generally the office atmosphere is relaxed.

The first meeting

The day started off with a chat with the devision head, Nagtsho. She seems to be very on the ball with conservation practices and very open to chat about anything. So we chatted about the various challenges faced and I asked a lot of questions (when I could get a word in!). It was an incredible insight into the world of conservation in a developing country, and I found it absolutely fascinating.

Numerous challenges

One of the big challenges is obviously balancing development and conservation. What was quite interesting is that Nagtsho mentioned it was more difficult now with country being democratic (since 2008), and she was worried for the future. This is because the people want development, they desire new bigger and better serviced buildings, which is quite understandable. They think of the old buildings as 'bad' and actively want to get rid of them. This was vividly demonstrated to me today. Yesterday I walked past a small old building near my 'house' which was closed up and had a sign on saying the shop had moved to new premises. I thought to myself, I wonder what they will do with this building, I hope it is put to good use. As you may have guessed, today I walked passed and it was gone. All the carved and painted timbers in a heap.

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Education

Nagtsho was aware of this, and one of the objectives of the division is to educate the people about the importance of conservation. The government seems to be aware of the importance, as I was told a few times culture is one of the 4 pillars of the country. The other key group of people however, the monks, are after development even though they tend to live in some of the most important historical buildings. What they ask is why can we not have a better monastery with bigger buildings, more decorative architecture and more paintings. They say that their monasteries are like they are because Bhutan was poorer when they were built. There also seems to be a lot of rivalry between the monasteries, again driving development.

Proof

The other major reason for wanting development is safety, especially after the recent earthquake which damaged so many of the traditional buildings. People think that they are dangerous and so want to tear them down. This is not necessarily the case as many of them have survived, and it is also considered that some buildings which are at risk could be improved. But most importantly some of those which are damaged can be repaired. What the division is trying to do to overcome this, is to prove through engineering methods that the traditional building style is safe in a earthquake.

Tradition

This also highlights that the quality of the traditional buildings vary. The building methods seem to have changed for the worse over the years, meaning that some of the more recent traditional buildings are not structurally sound. The division seems to have some idea of this and are trying to re-educate the craftsmen with the importance of certain details.

Another part of that challenge is that the craftsmen are turning to modern tools and techniques, which also tend to create poor quality buildings. My worry here is not for the bad buildings, but that these crafts will get forgotten. I wondered if this was due to foreign workers, but that is partly addressed as all contractors are bhutanese and there is a maximum of 7 foreign workers allowed on one project (usually indian).

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Working together

The other clashes seem to be with other ministries, for example they are having trouble sourcing timber for their projects. This is of course should not be a problem, 80% of Bhutan is forested. The department of forestry is allowing 10% to be felled, and that only by thinning the forests. This is a great policy, as it will preserve the forrest and wildlife, but has a dramatic effect of the building industry and even more so on conservation. A very difficult balance needs to be found.

Under resourced

There are 4 projects which the division has undertaken themselves to show the builders what is possible in terms of conservation, as they were struggling to get contractors to do as they asked. A good idea in my opinion, but they seem to be struggling to get them done on time. They need to be finished within the budget timing which I think is 1 year from now. The timber shortage being a major delay but also there is a lack of personnel in the division.

There are 20 people in the division, and this is covering heritage buildings all over Bhutan. My initial reaction was that this should be enough (I compare Bhutan to Suffolk as it has the same population), but then I realised that there is a huge amount to conserve. Practically every building seems worth saving in my opinion, they are in a wonderful situation in which there is still a chance they can save it all. The other problem is access, the country is more like the size of switzerland and you need to trek for days to get to some of the places.

Outside help

So if they are under resourced why not get in outsiders to do the work? They are not completely adverse to this, and in fact have used outsiders in a few projects. The problem they find is that they do not teach the locals how to do it, and this is obviously very important to make the process sustainable. The other issue is the standard at which they do the projects, it seems that it is too high which makes it very difficult for the locals to understand why it is done (they see it as fixing something that isn't broken). This goes with the need for educating them, but also shows the need for conservation work to be delicate and respect the culture.

Document it all

It seems that with the right kind of proposals they would gladly accept help from outside, but they are quite wisely being cautious. One thing that I think is incredibly important, and that they said they would welcome outside help on, is documenting all the existing buildings. I really wanted to say that you need to stop everything and just document it all now, because so much will disappear and so soon. Instead I asked if they has someone who was responsible for documenting, but unfortunately not. They have been trying to show more people how to do it, but they have found it doesn't get done and that most people find it boring. So if any architects, surveyors, engineers etc want to come to Bhutan and see every inch of it, get a team together and come out! I can't stress how important I think this work would be.

Training

Although they keep sending Bhutanese off for training in various specialities they are finding that it does not work, as often they decide to stay away or find another interest and do not want to bring the skills back. So they have realised that the better way is to bring in people to train people here. Which it seems is why I am here. I am the first westerner to do this, and they keep making sure I know that. They have however had quite a few Japanese working with them over the years, and there are currently three in the office. They seem to really appreciate them saying that they set high standards and do good work. I do not think there is a great difference between Japan and The West, but we shall see.

My role

So it seems that the main things they want me to be doing are: helping generally to increase the standard of their work (they have asked me to be honest and tell them when I think something should be different, this will be tricky), helping to write reports (basically making use of my english 'skills') so they can be published, helping with the research to prove the traditional buildings are sound, and various little challenges which they just need an engineer to help with. I think also they welcome my comments on the conservation plan as a whole, but really I think they have the understanding spot on and just need to implement it. I will probably have to decide at some point what I think is the most important thing to focus on, as I have a feeling I am going to be given too much to do.

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This first week they have said that I am just to settle in, which I think is perfect. They have given me the few publications they have produced, so I am busy studying the building techniques and previous conservation works to get an idea of it all. I found that I need to learn the Bhutanese names for all the architectural elements (as they don't really have english names), a good introduction to the language already. I am also going round each of my colleagues to understand what they do. And shall be tagging along on any site visits that happen, first one tomorrow, I am excited.

I really feel that we are on the same wavelength and that there is a strong chance that my presence will make a difference here. I am very lucky to have this opportunity, so I intend to make the most of it.

Enjoy this picture of a huge bhudda statue in the clouds... only noticed it today!

And here are their archery butts, beat Kentwell's!

08 Apr 2012
08:59 am

On the Wings of a Dragon

Had a wonderful few days in Kathmandu, huge thanks to Lucy for showing me about and introducing me to intersting and useful people.

It is now the end of my first day in Bhutan and there is so much to say! Been an excellent day full of interesting things, but above all this seems a beautiful, peaceful and relaxed place to be.

I am going to comment on things as I notice them, without reservation, so please bear with me. I hope this will help me remember how my understanding of the country progressed.

On the wings of a dragon

The flight from Kathmandu to Paro was where I began to get very excited. This wasn't due to the people I met on the plane, which surprisingly turned out to be mostly 'foreigners', I never got a chance to talk to them. I was pre occupied with my mouth wide open gazing at the Himalayas and in particular Everest. I had not expected to see them because they were invisible on the flight into Kathmandu and from in Kathmandu itself due to the summer haze. I guess I didn't factor in this flight being above all that. I thought I may get a glimpse, but actually I had a view of a huge part of the range poking up above the clouds lit brilliantly by the sunlight. And there was Everest at the same height as the plane itself. Absolutely magnificent.

Out of the clouds in to the the valley

The flight was not very long and before I knew it we were heading down again to land at Paro. The pilot gave a warning message to those that had not flown into Paro before not to panic as it is an unusual landing. This got me excited and very curious as to what this could be. As we came out the bottom of the clouds, there were trees to the left, and trees to the right. We were flying through a valley, and a fairly narrow one at that. We were banking left and banking right navigating the line of the valley for quite some time, and then began getting very low, so much so that you felt you could look through peoples windows on the hillside. Not being at all scared of flying, I found this really thrilling and then got excited that I should get to do this another 3 times!

Paro International Airport

After landing I got my first glimpse of the Bhutanese Architecture. I was very impressed. Generally airports do not get the best architectural treatment as function tends to dominate. But here we have the Control Tower, Fire Station and Arrivals Hall. They look old, or I should really say, they look traditional. They are in fact concrete, and seem to be cast in situ into the elaborate shapes and then delicately painted. The impression is really not of a concrete building at all, yet it also does not feel that they have tried to disguise or cover up the concrete. A great achievement. The inside is even more impressive (unfortunately I didn't take any photos), superb proportions and paintings everywhere all very tasteful.

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The Drive to Thimphu

I met my driver (Karma) outside the airport, he wore the traditional Gho (robes), as did all the officials in the airport. We got into a rather new 4x4 with DoC in big letters on the side, and set straight off. We soon passed a collection of buildings (I assume this was part of Paro, but not sure), all nicely spaced and continued with

the same style as I saw at the airport. The variations were wonderful and I really fell in love with the style. I think some were concrete and some timber, but actually it wasn't too easy to tell as we were driving past. I was tempted to ask the driver to stop, but I thought we would never make it to Thimphu as we had barley gone a kilometre. There should be plenty of opportunities for that later.

We continued on and after being in Kathmandu I was expecting equally terrible roads, however this one was fairly new (as it is the main link) and so was pretty comfortable. The road wound along a valley, and was cut into the hill side. What first struck me was the angle that they cut the hill back: 90º, yup vertical, and no it wasn't rock it was a stiff stoney clay, it went up 5-10m in places and screamed to me to be a huge risk of land sides in the rain. And sure enough there was evidence of this happening further along. There must be a justification for it for doing it this way, and clearly it has survived a few years, but was interesting nonetheless.

The Countryside

The view along the journey was basically of valleys, with steep forested hills. The ground seemed dry and brown, although Karma did say it had rained recently. There was a nice small river running along the valley. Houses were quite spread out in areas, and some built quite high up the hills. Did not seem at all like how we build in Europe. Karma said that these were all farmers, but I struggled to see any fields or crops. The roofs of the houses were interesting, with some as corrugated iron and others as a shingles (in a very loose sense) held on by the weight of large stones on them. More on these later. The vast majority of houses appeared in good condition and generally the area felt good. However I did not notice what the services were like in these remote houses (I imagine not good as they are so spread out). There were also Stupas up some hills, or temples in interesting spots, lots of prayer flags around especially covering some modern steel bridges which I thought actually made an ugly function structure quite beautiful. There where also large areas of tall white banner/flags, which I have not seen before. As we passed between districts there were amazing large ornate gateways to define it. All this architecture gave a feeling that the country was well cared for and did not appear poor.

Thimphu

As we entered Thimphu (via another gate), it was obvious that the city was growing very fast. Lots of new buildings going up, which gave me a good idea of the structure. They are all concrete frames, with quite fat columns at regular and close spacing. The walls were infilled with brickwork, with the ground floor being quite open. At first glance this does not seem like a naturally good construction technique for earthquake zones, so I hope that some earthquake engineering has been considered as they are all the same. I asked if any were damaged in the last quake, but apparently not (although it was a small one) so perhaps they are ok.

The buildings were still all of the same style, and got more impressive towards the centre. The centre of town stuck me as really quite beautiful, and I thought that they were all quite old buildings. On closer inspection they were again new and concrete. Choening (an architect I will be working with) said that there were very few old buildings left, and much like everywhere else in the world they are being replaced with new ones. Thimphu does not come under the Department of Culture's influence, which I think isn't right (but then I never saw it before). However Choening did say that they have to keep the facade, I didn't quite understand what he meant, but I think it is to keep the building in a traditional style, and perhaps similar to the one that was there before.

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My Flat

I met Choening and Sangay at the flat I am staying in, they showed me the place which is really quite nice. It is in one of these concrete-frame-but-beautiful buildings. I am pretty sure I am the first person to live here, it is quite modern, large kitchen/living area fully (sort of) stocked with utensils. Good bathroom and large bedroom with desk and big TV, a balcony with good views. Seems way more than I need to be honest, but it is a nice start. The owners are very nice although quite active, there must have been about 10 people showing me the room. There is also a cafe and restaurant in the building with very friendly staff, who also seem to be my neighbours. It also turns out that the Minister for Health is the owner, so I met him. Was quite interesting as I suddenly noticed a very subtle movement of everyone, showing respect to this older man, I sort of followed suit trying to work out what was going on. He didn't appear to be in any smarter or higher rank Gho, which I think can only be a good thing.

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We left the flat and they took me for a wander about town to show me a few useful places, this was great and really helpful. Turns out I am about 5 mins walk from the centre, and 10 mins from my work. The central area actually really feels like a small town and not a capital city. There are lots of small shops, but a quiet and calm atmosphere. Choening actually pointed out that it was really busy, but I could not say that this was busy by any UK standard, and especially not Kathmandu! It all seemed quite clean and tidy and the facilities pretty good. I think that must be down to all the new buildings. We also went to the 'farmers market' which was in a huge open sided building and two floors, local produce on first floor and imported on ground. I was surprised how neat and tidy and quiet this place was, even though it was fairly busy. Not really bustling like you might expect.

Bhutanese Food

After our wander, they wanted to take me to lunch. They asked what food I would like, so I naturally said Bhutanese. They were not sure this was a good idea, as it takes some getting used to. They tend to use chillies as vegetables and all reports seem to say it is super hot. I was glad that they were aware of this, but I thought I would be brave and give it a try. I did not understand what they ordered and so wasn't sure if they asked for it to be foreigner friendly. What arrived was a large dish of rice, a dish of chicken (Maru), some mixed vegetables, and a dried beef dish with shoots of some sort and a lot of whole chillies. The chicken was really tasty and just a little hot, the vegetables were also very good, but the beef was hot. They said it wouldn't be too bad, which I guess is true as I could eat it but it was about my limit. They were busy wolfing down the whole chillies. The meal was served in big dishes and we were given lots of small bowls and a plate. I could not work out how we were meant to eat it, whether to use the bowls or the plate, naturally they asked me to serve myself first and so I asked how but they seemed to think it didn't matter. The meal also came with a glass of hot water, not sure about that.

Free Speech

The meal gave me a chance to ask lots of questions about the country, their traditions and my work. They seemed very free to talk about anything, and happy to give their opinions of the various Kings. One interesting thing was that they thought there was too much hype about their royal wedding, which I thought was good that they do not feel restricted in what they can say (especially to foreigners).

The projects

We chatted about the projects I might be working on, which seems to be 4/5 Dzongs (fortresses) / Monasteries around the country. One of which is the one in Paro which I met some monks from in Kathmandu. More interesting though they said that they wanted to do lots of trips with me to start with, to show me it all. I think this is really important (since I don't know the building styles) so was very happy they said this and told them so. They also then asked if I like trekking, so I said yes of course, although I then remembered I was in the himalayas and that bhutan is the snowman trek which is meant to be one of the hardest, so I back tracked a little and asked what they were asking for. They said that some of the projects they have to trek to. How far I asked? Well, 7 days officially but we do it in 3! Was surprised to hear that, that is a long way in my book. But sounds amazing, so happy I bought trekking gear, but best get some exercise in. They also mentioned that all of them are a few hours trekking, so I really have to make sure I get the information I need when I am there. Not much chance of just popping back.

People

After lunch my colleagues left and so I had chance to unpack and explore. With a bit more investigation I found the flat was lacking a few things, but also the build quality is quite low. Something to look out for in my projects. I wish that they put more care into the windows and doors and didn't give me a TV. But really there is nothing to complain about. On my wander about I realised that the people are just naturally quite quiet. I did not seem to have anyone stare at me, ask me questions or try to sell me something. When I did talk to people they were very happy to respond and then ask me where I was from. I realise now that this is why the market was quiet, there was nobody shouting 'come and buy my veg', you could look without being pounced on.

Lil' Champs

In the happened across an event in the main square, a huge crowd, but quite civilised and some music coming from a stage. Turns out it is a talent competition called "Lil' Champs - The voice of the future" there was a presenter, 3 judges, a rock band and television camera. With various young people coming on to sing and dance. All the people involved were in national dress, which I felt really gave a nice feel to it. It all seemed very light hearted, but clearly well organised. The crowds cheered every now and then. I sat down next a couple of teenage boys and asked them to explain it. It didn't make too much sense, but what I understood was that the final was tomorrow, and the judges were deciding who would go through. This was the first time the competition had been done, and these guys had travelled 6 hours across Bhutan to come to Thimphu for the first time. I watched several performances all of which seemed quite good, and seemed to have some traditional elements even though there was an electric guitar keyboard and drums. Every time I asked what the judges scored them, the answer was 20 out of 20! Not sure if I was asking the wrong question, or if the judges were just too kind.

(download)

I did some shopping after the competition, and headed back to my flat. I asked some people where to get dinner this late and they suggested the pizza place next door. Said it was famous and did bhutenese flavour pizza, I gave it a shot and what it turned out was an odd tasting pizza with some hot chilli sauce. Nonetheless it was good and also gave me a chance to read the Keunsel (national newspaper).

Sustainable?

I read an article which really confused and worried me, it was similar to one I read on the plane in the inflight magazine. It seems as though Bhutan is trying to not use timber as it is not ecological (because you chop down trees). The one on the plane was about the roofs of traditional houses. This used to all be the timber shingles stacked on top of each other and help in place by stones. Apparently these have to be replaced every 4 years (at the cost of some trees). This looks very old and a little hap hazard, which I find very attractive, but can understand that it may well not be like that to the owners and no doubt is also quite leaky. These traditional roofs are being replaced with corrugated iron sheets, and from what I saw about 80% has been done. Its a shame as the roofs don't really suit the buildings, but it doesn't look as bad as it may sound. What is most confusing is that this replacement was encouraged or perhaps even suggested by the World Wildlife Fund to protect the woodlands. Without knowing enough details this sits wrong with me. I consider timber to be far more sustainable than iron (as long as the forests are managed) and this replacement really looses a huge part of the style of the building and no doubt affects the culture and community as it would be a change to their lifestyle. The other article was a bit simpler, but basically promoting the use of plastics, explaining how they are a modern and incredibly versatile material, but worst of all that they should be used instead of wood (for windows and doors) in order to help the environment. Granted they did also explain that they should always be recycled, but this does not seem a good way forward. Especially since the timber culture exists and would be easy to keep alive with a sustainable source of timber.

On the other hand I have seen lots of things promoting recycling and against littering, for example I saw a sign next to a river that said something like:

"All lives need water, please keep it pure"

The plastic bags given in shops are biodegradable and have a big notice on them:

"Save the pristine nature, save Bhutan"

And an explanation of why these bags are better (although no mention of trying to avoid using them at all).

Fire

Currently watching the forrest on one of the hills near the town burning, not sure what anybody can do about it...

28 Mar 2012
11:34 pm

Preparations

Bhutan_himalayan_yeti_abominable_snowman

I feel as though I have spent the last week comparing and buying things on the internet, I thought I didnt need much but it seemed like a good time to upgrade my kit. Especially as I realised it would be fun to camp in the Himalayas, and I need to squeeze it within the 30kg limit! Just got to watch out for these guys (maybe I should take a bow?).

I think I am now an 'expert' in the following subjects should anyone need advice...

Antibiotics, Base layers, Digital cameras, Down jackets, Duffel bags, Malaria tablets, Long Stay Travel Insurance, Luggage padlocks, Travellers Cheques, Washing down sleeping bags, Waterproof iPhone cases, Waterproof trousers...

Probably all with no real need, just now need to become an expert on Bhutan...