Twenty-five bikers took part in the inaugural Tour of the Dragon yesterday. The Dragon, a one-day bicycle ride from Bumthang to Thimphu, crosses 4 passes, all of them over 3,000 meters, and covers 168 kilometers through five dzongkhags. The breathtaking route offers an elevation gain of 4,000 meters, a whopping half of which is on [...]
It’s been almost two weeks since my last entry. Some people have asked me why I’ve been quiet. On the other hand, “Linda Wangmo”, a regular reader, scolded me for spending too much time bicycling. “Please do not waste time on our OLs blog….” advised Linda, “our dear OL is busy Bicycling and bicycling is [...]
I’m surprised at the number of comments generated by “Foreign trips”. And I’m surprised that many of them are by first-time commentators. But, somehow I’m not surprised that virtually all the new commentators supported the prime minister’s frequent travels abroad last year.
You would have noticed that avatars of monsters now accompany your usernames. The monster IDs are automatically generated. And they are unique to you (as long as you use the same email address.) I’ve unleashed the monsters because none of you were using avatars. I hope you like them. But I hope you eventually create [...]
Losar Tashi Delek! I wish all our readers happiness, success and prosperity in the Year of the Iron Male Tiger. The banner and the picture accompanying this greeting features the Sokpo Tag Thred (The Mongol leading the Tiger). Lam Kesang, my friend, tells me that the combination of the Mongol, Tree and Tiger is one of [...]
About two weeks ago, after returning from Gakiling, I visited the dog pound in Haa. The pound, located several kilometers above Jengkana and right beside the dzonghag’s landfill, is in fact a sprawling facility of cement, corrugated iron and wire mesh spread over an acre among blue pine forests. I was immediately impressed. Namgay, the [...]
All our members of parliament would consider visiting their respective constituencies to be one of their most important duties. And I’m sure that they visit their constituencies as often as possible. I certainly do. So when I wrote “Happily exhausted” I didn’t mean to sound like having done anything extraordinary. But, somehow, I had ticked [...]
About a month ago, I’d written about bicycling with my son. In response to that article, two readers, TOJT and Romeo, cautioned against biking in Thimphu – they warned that inexperienced motorists and road rage make biking in the capital a dangerous exercise. I’ve been biking a lot recently, and find that Thimphu traffic is [...]
Many of you would have noticed that I was able to regularly update this blog during my recent visit to Sombaykha and Gakiling. And, that I was able to tweet about my experiences there. Romeo, a regular commentator, was sufficiently impressed to remark: It is indeed incredible that you are connected through out your trek [...]
Tomorrow I’ll be in Samtse. But before I leave Sombaykha, I should share with you its etymology. Sombaykha = sang as in sangwa or “secret” + bay as in bayuel or “paradise” Sombaykha = A paradise hidden by Guru Rimpoche
Tshering Tobgay is a Member of Parliament representing Sombaykha Constitutency in Haa. He is the Leader of the Opposition Party in the National Assembly of Bhutan.
Is ACC taking too long to start investigating the Gyelpozhing land case?
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