A popular attraction at the recent Tarayana Fair was the Lhop house. The house, which barely measures 8 feet by 9 feet, had belonged to Ap Pen Tshering, and in it, he and his wife, Aum Gagay Lham, had raised their four children.
75 year-old Pen Tshering’s house had been dismantled and transported to Thimphu, where [...]
Sombaykha is the latest of our country’s 16 dungkhags. It was established barely two years ago to serve the two remote gewogs of Sombaykha and Gakiling. The offices of the dungkhag, which consists of three makeshift houses, are located in Sibthang along the banks of the Amochu.
Last Sunday, on 21 February, farmers from Gakiling and [...]
The draft national land policy, particularly the proposal to remove the 25 acre landholding ceiling, has already become controversial. That’s why Thinlay demanded “to hear OL’s views on this very important issue.” When I didn’t respond, Thinlay sent this reminder: “do you … have opinion on this, because this issue is to important to be [...]
B-mobile’s strategy to market their cellular phone services in rural Bhutan is aggressive. In Sombaykha, for instance, where they introduced their services recently, B-mobile had a representative traveling from village to village dishing out free SIM cards and offering recharge vouchers at initial discounted rates.
Our farmers were delighted. Everywhere the B-mobile representative went, farmers rushed [...]
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 [...]
On 7 January, Kuensel reported that:
A 28 km farm road will connect Merak to Radhi, the nearest semi-urban centre to the gewog. On January 5, a simple groundbreaking ceremony of the farm road was conducted, which was attended by villagers of Khardung, Tokshingmang and Merak. The road will begin in Khardung, pass through Tokshingmang and [...]
Guess how much an egg costs in Gakiling? Two ngultrums! Yes, farmers there are willing to sell their eggs for a pittance. And still they still don’t get any buyers. That just shows how little access they have to markets.
“Yoed ba chin tsong sa med. May ba chin nyo sa med,” is how Ap Tshering [...]
Dramekha, Ngatsena and Thangdokha are three villages perched precariously on the steep slopes of a mountain opposite Dorokha, Denchukha and Dumtoe.
Dramekha, Ngatsena and Thangdokha were, until recently, part of Mayona Gewog under Samtse. In 2007, these three villages and several equally remote villages of Dumtoe (Samtse) and Samar (Haa) were combined to form the kingdom’s [...]
Yesterday, I was at Dorokha. We drove from Samtse to Yabala, and walked the rest of the way.
The trail to Dorokha is broad. And, its alignment is comfortable – the path hugs the mountainside and gradually descends to Dorokha. But, because of the heavy traffic at this time of the year, the trail can get [...]
Shebji is Sombaykha’s northernmost village. And, civil servants, especially Dzongkhag officials, traveling to Sombaykha normally spend a night in there. After walking continuously downhill from Tergola (at about 4000 meters) through alpine meadows, giant rhododendron forests, and subtropical jungle to Shebji (about 1500 meters), most travelers are happy to rest their tired knees in this [...]
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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