As we drove home earlier this evening, my wife noticed that Taba was in total darkness. And she observed that the residents were huddled, in the dark, outside their houses. It was an eerie sight. We were driving, so we hadn’t felt the earth move. A powerful earthquake, measuring 6.9 units, had hit the Himalayas. [...]
A bear recently wrecked havoc in the meditation centre in Tango. Thankfully, it did not attack any of the monks. But others have not been as lucky. Earlier this month, a bear mauled and killed a man in Dawakha. A little upstream, in Jabana, a farmer managed a narrow escape after stabbing a bear two [...]
Are you an important government official? If so, did you receive an invitation to attend Young Zoom on Garbage, the art festival currently on at the Clock Tower Square? And if so, did you make it to the festival? Chances are that you didn’t. Young Zoom on Garbage is meant to be an innovative and [...]
Social Forestry Day is good time to reflect on the health of our forests, and to help nurture them by planting trees around our homes, schools, villages, towns, and in barren hillsides. So we – my family, that is – were happy that we had the opportunity to do something different yesterday: we saved a [...]
Takin, reindeer, yak calf, takin calf, sheep’s head, donkey, deer, drey daza, goat, sheep, lamb face, blue sheep, foal, cow calf, shaw, black foal, jatsham, mitun, thra –bum. The last Big Picture contest generated a rich variety of answers, including the right one, takin calf. “Karma S.” is our winner. The takin mother and calf [...]
I’m in Dorikha, totally exhausted. But I’ve had a hot stone bath, an extra large bowl of buckwheat noodle soup, copious amounts of o-ja (milk-sweetened tea), and a glass of Ani Gaki’s stiff ara. I’m sitting near a bukhari, typing, under the watchful gaze of three inquisitive nieces. And I’m already forgetting the pain of [...]
The International Institute for Environment and Development, in their book Climate Change and the Urban Poor, have identified Thimphu as on of the world’s 15 most vulnerable cities to the effects of climate change. The IIED warns that climate change could cause floods, landslides and fire in our capital. This, obviously, is cause for concern. [...]
Yesterday, on my way back from Haa, I stopped at Chelela (altitude about 3,900 meters) to see the sun set over our western mountain ranges. These mountains above the Haa valley offer some of the best, yet least known, treks in our country. They include a trek to the legendary lake Nub Tshonapatra, which I [...]
Today, on True Bap – the blessed rainy day – I join the nation in offering my prayers and support for the victims of the deadly earthquake that struck our eastern dzongkhags yesterday afternoon. BBS and Kuensel have reported loss of lives and extensive damage. The international media has also expressed concern. Government officials are [...]
On 27 July 1996, six boys from Begana went on a picnic to Tango. They lost their way in the thick forests, and despite the best efforts of the rescue teams – soldiers had literally combed the jungles – the students could not be found. 12 harrowing days later, police stumbled upon four of the [...]
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.
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