I’m back. And it feels good to be back home. My broken jaw has been corrected by way of a metal plate that now holds the fracture in place. But my jaws have also been wired shut to allow the damaged bones to heal properly. So till the wires come off – which will be in about five weeks – I’ll be speaking through clenched teeth. And subsisting on a full liquid diet. I’m grateful for the many emails and messages that I received during the last two weeks. Your good wishes, support and prayers have helped me recover…
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 268 kilometers through five dzongkhags. The breathtaking route offers an elevation gain of 4,000 meters, a whopping half of which is on the final ascent from Wangdiphodrang bridge to Dochula. The Tour of the Dragon must be one of the more beautiful one-day bike rides in the world. It’s probably one of the most difficult ones too. The official records are not yet out, but more…
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 every thing to him. It is now very clear that he will have no time for his blog and he would have no time to say what the government does….” Yes, I have been cycling a lot recently, especially during the weekends. Last Saturday,…
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 your own avatars! When it comes to usernames, however, it's a completely different story... Early followers of this blog will remember that on the original site, readers could post comments anonymously. You can still do that. But, whereas you didn’t even need to use…
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 the representations of Rigsum Goenpo (The Lords of the three Families) with the Mongol symbolizing Jampelyang (Manjushri), the Tree Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara), and the Tiger Chana Dorji (Vajrapani). Murals of Sokpo Tag Thred can be found on the entrance walls of some dzongs to protect their relics against…
Dog house
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 caretaker, proudly took me on a tour of the facility which includes separate pounds – each neatly divided by wire mesh – for new arrivals, puppies, recreation, weak dogs, dogs undergoing medical treatment, and “dada” dogs. He explained that the resident dogs are fed twice a day, and that a network of concrete channels drains their faeces to a nearby septic tank. I was truly impressed.
There was one problem though: the boarding facility had only nine residents! Namgay clarified that when the pound first opened, about three years ago, they had about 200 inmates. Many of them escaped, by digging under the fence or simply climbing over it, to the unfurnished but much more promising landfill, located immediately adjacent to the pound.
But they mainly died, in the pound itself, from hunger, sickness and cannibalism. Most recently, on New Year’s Day, 30 of the animals lost their lives due to the extreme cold. It had snowed that morning.
So Bhutan Observer’s report, that the Government is rethinking its approach to control the stray dog population in our country, comes as very good news.
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 off “Toula” who commented: You made this trip of yours to your own constituency where you made all the promises sound like you were traveling to the end of the world where no one else ever dared to do. Wow! wow! wow! I obviously…
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 generally respectful of bikers. But there are times when our roads can become unsafe: immediately before and after office, when every one seems to be in a hurry, for example. And, sometimes, when negotiating passing and oncoming taxis and trucks. And, when confronted with the occasional angry motorist.
So, yes, we need to do need to make Thimphu’s roads safer for bikers. In this regard, I’ll be calling on several agencies in the coming months. These include:
Thimphu City Corporation to discuss improvement of existing roads, and their plans to construct biking paths;
Associations for operators of taxis, trucks and buses to explore means of promoting better awareness for bicycling safety;
But, most importantly, we, bikers, need to learn how to ride safely. We need to ensure that our bikes are roadworthy; that we always wear safety gear, especially helmets; that we undergo adequate training; that we ride in control; that we respect other forms of traffic; and that we obey traffic rules.
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 and able to keep us informed of your whereabouts and also update your informative blog. How is this possible? Are you carrying your laptop along and that you are connected through satellite to the internet? Hasn’t Bhutan progressed in terms of communication? Yes, it…
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
Bjamdabchen is a small meadow surrounded by oak forests, where herders from Sombaykha graze their cattle every autumn. We’ve set up camp in that meadow. I’ve latched on to a caravan traveling to Sipsoo – they’re carrying smoke-dried cardamom and will return with rice, salt, tea, cooking oil and clothes. So, there are quite a few of us at the camp. We have a roaring fire going. Dinner’s cooking. Ap Gep Tsheri is singing praises to his root guru. And, Rinchen is coaxing him to sing about beautiful Seldon. This is an unscheduled treat. But, tomorrow will be a…
About eight months ago, after I’d moved this blog from the earlier site, and revamped its design, one man, a close family friend, complained about the new format. For me it is troublesome that I have to change all the time to another page after reading only a few lines of your statement. And, to be frank, I am not much interested in what other people are thinking and telling to each and every thing. However, I know that I am "out" in things like that. I know that no layout is perfect. But, I’ve accepted that my previous one…
I’ve added a new feature in the sidebar that allows readers to see my most recent entries on twitter. Though I’ve been tweeting for about six months, I haven’t been very regular. This feature will encourage me to post “microblogs” more often. I hope you’ll find it useful.
A reader sent me this joke in response to my last entry about McKinsey’s recommendations on our tourism sector. A guy is driving around in his Porsche in the countryside. He stops outside a field full of sheep, walks up to the shepherd and says "I've got an offer. I'll guess how many sheep you've got in this field, and if I guess right, I get to take a sheep with me, and if I guess wrong, you get my car." Shepherd thinks he's on to a sure thing and agrees. "137" says the driver."Damn me, you're right." says…
