Thimphu Tourist Tour

Staff orientation has begun, so I have been more occupied as of late. Oh yeah, I'm here to work...

I am glad to have begun with orientation, since it has been covering a lot of my questions about my work and living on campus. Plus it is a good chance to spend time getting to know the faculty and staff of RTC. The returning staff will be – ahem – returning on Wednesday.

Yesterday (Sunday) was a non-meeting day, but we were given a tour of the sites of Thimphu. This was great, as I had not explored anything outside of the main part of the city. Our first stop was the magnificent Trashi Chhoe Dzong. "Dzong" is roughly translated as "fortress-monastery" and every district has one as an administrative center of government. In Thimphu, Trashi Dzong is quite special because it contains the throne room of His Majesty as well as several ministries of national government. The main parliamentary building is separate and across the river (to the left in the picture below). The original Dzong for Thimphu was built in 1216, further expanded by the founder of modern-Bhutan, Ngawang Namgyal in the 1600s, and subsequently destroyed in a fire in the 1700s. However, portions of the current dzong are as old as the 17th century. Trashi Chhoe Dzong was greatly expanded in 1962 by the 3rd Druk Gyalpo ("Dragon King") to house national government as Thimphu became the Bhutanese capital city only in the mid-twentieth century. It should be noted that the entire dzong is constructed using traditional methods – meaning no nails and no architectural plans. Amazing...

Trashi Chhoe Dzong. 

Me, overlooking Trashi Dzong. 

From there, we went up into the mountains and to a locally-favorite vantage point at the Bhutanese Broadcasting Service tower. On the road we encountered many prayer flags and small "chortens" placed into the side walls of the road and along the edge. A Chorten (in Hindi, "Stupa") is a Buddhist monument that houses religious artifacts and relics. Many chortens are said to house relics direct from The Buddha himself. These "mini-chortens" on the side of the road are placed by the Bhutanese as an offering either to commemorate a deceased family member or to solicit good luck on a journey or endeavor. Prayer flags serve the same function, essentially. What is interesting is that you can only place chortens or tie prayer flags on certain days of the week, as they are auspicious. Auspiciousness plays a big role in Bhutanese culture (although this is not unique to Bhutan, as most Asian cultures recognize auspicious signs). 

Mini-chortens

As you can see, placing them is quite popular. 

Also ubiquitous: prayer flags. 

We drove along the mountain passes to the Motithang Takin Preserve to observe Bhutan's national animal: the Takin. Takins were said to have been created by the "Divine Madman of Bhutan," a lama that was known for his outrageous acts. He created the Takin by jumbling the bones of many animals together and reanimating them and, indeed, the Takin is an odd mixture of a goat, yak, and buffalo. In fact, taxonomists still haven't figured it out and had to create an entirely unique category for it. 

The Takin. 

Chiles drying in the sun near the Takin Preserve. 

After Motithang, we further drove along the mountain's edge to reach Buddha Dordenma Viewpoint. While the golden Buddha is still under-construction, the statue itself is quite impressive. Painted with gold and containing a huge diamond in the center of its "third eye," Buddha Dordenma is also a chapel that will eventually house 125,000 smaller Buddha statues! (Yes, I typed that correctly.) It also offers a commanding view of Thimphu and, to the east, of RTC. 

That's RTC nestled in the mountains in the middle of the frame.

RTC closer up. 

The golden Buddha – Buddha Dordenma. 

Thimphu valley. 

We drove into town for lunch, and I ate with my new Dutch friends Jeanette and Tijn and their two adorable kids. Jeanette is in the political science department, and we will work closely together with our classes (since I am teaching at least one political science course). Jeanette's husband, Tijn, is going to work for the Royal Textile Museum and their kids will attend a kind of International Bhutanese school. We ate at a decent Bhutanese-Indian-Tibetan-Chinese restaurant called Restaurant Ama. We still don't have a good sense of the portions here, since the food prices are so cheap, and we ordered way too much food. For example, on the menu was listed momos (Tibetan dumplings – very popular here) for Nu35 ($0.65). We figured it was per-piece, given the price, and ordered 6. Nope, that price was for a plate of 6 and we ended up with 36 momos between the three of us! Being only the appetizer, you can guess how the rest of the ordering went down. 

At Clock Tower Plaza, in the middle of Thimphu, there was a benefit concert of the very recently destroyed Wangdue Phodrang Dzong (http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/26/world/asia/bhutan-dzong-fire/index.html). The Wangdue Phodrang Dzong, in western Bhutan, was built in 1638 by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal and is an important site in the autumn tsechu festival. The loss of Wangdue hit Bhutan very hard, and conversations both on the street and in the Kuensel still buzz about it. His Majesty has promised to rebuild the dzong. 

Clock Tower Square and the fundraising concert. 

Our final stop on the tour was at Thimphu's National Memorial Chorten. Unlike seemingly everything else in Bhutan, this chorten is relatively brand new – having been built in 1974. Despite its newness, this is still a very sacred place for the Bhutanese, and throughout the day you will find people meditating and circumambulating the chorten spinning prayer wheels and holding beads. It seems that mostly the elderly are engaged in this practice. The giant prayer wheels are continually spun by elderly women from morning until night. I made my first Bhutanese faux pas as I entered the building with the prayer wheels with my shoes on and was gently scolded by an elderly Bhutanese women that I should remove them. Oops! Now I know...

National Memorial Chorten.

The giant prayer wheels. 

Unfortunately, this time of year is not that great for photography as it is mostly overcast and the light is very diffuse. I am still trying to get the hang of my new DSLR (a Canon T1i) so if anyone has any good digital photography tips for shooting in these kinds of conditions, I would love to receive them. Mostly I have been adding some color back in post-production, but I would rather set the camera right before taking the photo. 

The monsoon season lasts about another month, and then September and October become absolutely spectacular –I hear – as there is virtually no rain and no clouds and 65 degrees pretty much all the time. Emily will be coming at the perfect time (Sept. 7). Maybe if you're lucky, she'll even contribute a blog post or two :)

First Days in Bhutan

It has been pretty quiet around here for the past few days, as new staff orientation does not start until tomorrow and the college is not in session until August 6th. Once I settled my stuff in the apartment, there wasn't much to do except prepare my lessons (especially Comparative World Politics, since I've never dealt with that before). Of course, I can't do that all day otherwise I would go crazy. The last few days have also rained nonstop so I have been stuck in my apartment most of the time (not that the monsoon stops Bhutanese from getting anything done). Since school is not in session yet, the bus is not running between campus and Thimphu and the cars have been used up collecting incoming faculty as they arrive in Paro and driving them to town for their supplies.

So I have been mostly bumming around the apartment, appreciative that many of you have interacted with this blog and enjoying reading comments both here and on Facebook. I have been trying to post blogs and pictures now, as I think it will get busy for me in the next couple of weeks and I will be less able to keep up. I am also glad that I loaded up a portable hard drive with music and movies back in the US, as it is impossible to stream anything over the internet (either it's blocked by the college or it's blocked by the US). Of course, I'm not watching movies all the time – that would be a waste of an opportunity here – but there are times when you just can't read anymore and want to relax and be entertained. I have been rewatching "Flight of the Conchords."

Here's the first meal I prepared myself here. Just a stir fry with local vegetables and, of course, chiles! Notice also, the Kuensel newspaper. That's the national paper, also readily available online. 

My second meal was a little bit more Western: pasta with tomato sauce. I found a Heinz-Thailand brand spaghetti sauce and pasta is readily available in any shop. Of course, I added local veggies and dried chiles. Also, a little "Flight of the Conchords" to accompany dinner. 

Yesterday, in-between the rain showers, I took a walk around campus. I met a few new faculty as well – all from India – and they seem very pleasant. I am looking forward to meeting more tomorrow. 

Our apartment blocks. 

The entrance to the college. 

A display of the five Druk Gyalpo ("Dragon Kings") that have ruled Bhutan since the early 20th century.

I love all the architectural details here in Bhutan.

As I mentioned before, Bhutan uses amusingly formal English sometimes. Here's a typical sign. 

Open space for students. 

Today I went into town with my new friends Deepak and Budhee. They had some errands to run and knew that I wanted to get into town to explore and buy more supplies. I went around with them on their errands, and Deepak showed me around the different shops and squares. Thimphu is a really cool city of commerce – there are a ton of little shops that are mostly general in nature. They all seem to sell mostly the same items, but it seems that people have their favorite shops – mostly because they know the shop keepers. The staff really want me to play football, so one of the stops was a football shop. I got some boots and a kit, but it was pretty pricey. In what seems to be typical cultural-Bhutanese fashion, the shop owner told me I could pay him later next month. That was it – just words and no other transactions. Try doing that in the States! I could not find boots in my size, and bought the biggest shoes they had, which were one size down. They feel tight, but okay and I think they will stretch. It's funny, because I feel like such a giant here! Everyone is shorter than I am and slighter in build. It's a feeling I don't ever experience in the States. Deepak insisted that I get my kit (an Arsenal jersey is their 'uniform') personalized and took me to a place that does screen printing. So now I will have a "Matt. #30" personalized Arsenal jersey. 

Deepak and I walked through the Centenary Farmer's Market which is open 4 days per week and features a huge selection of produce. (Emily – you're going to love it!) Since I had some produce left from the last shopping trip, I only got some asparagus (a local favorite), mangoes, plums, and pears. All – of course – local and freshly picked. Love it. 

 One of the main shopping areas: Changlam Square.

Good example of Bhutanese architecture. I think this is a Ministry of something or other. 

Changlam Square, again. 

The Centenary Farmer's Market. 

 

This is the Lama Bakery near Changlam Square. 

They make excellent European-style breads and sweets. 

To the left is the National Stadium (Changlimithang) and the National Archery Grounds

(Archery is the national sport in Bhutan).

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I want to remind everyone that I have a SmugMug page where I put up many more pictures than I show on this blog. If you like the pictures from any blog posting, I can almost guarantee you there is a whole album of many more pictures with more details about the places I have experienced. Here are some of the recent albums I just put up: 

"Minnesota Farewell Summer"

http://mattschuelka.smugmug.com/AroundTown/Minnesota-Farewell-Summer/24228312_msLbnh#!i=1971407492&k=CZWW5Hv

Featuring my summer in Minnesota spending time with friends, including the wedding of my friends Chris and Lisa and my goodbye party. 

"Iowa" 

http://mattschuelka.smugmug.com/Family/Iowa/24227973_HhftCL#!i=1971368327&k=ZM7sGvf

The Iowa road-trip that Emily and I took in early July to visit my grandparents. 

"Helsinki"

http://mattschuelka.smugmug.com/Travel/Helsinki/24352515_6BJHvf#!i=1984430044&k=nPQbjRr

Many more pictures taken than put up on the blog, with some historical and geographical context. 

"Delhi"

http://mattschuelka.smugmug.com/Travel/Delhi/24352545_3qFBSn#!i=1984434329&k=MQGKDPx

Many more pictures of Delhi than in the posting, also with more context. 

"Bhutan"

http://mattschuelka.smugmug.com/Travel/Bhutan/24352600_LsmBBs#!i=1984443282&k=CmVj6NJ

All of the pictures I have taken in Bhutan so far, including more pictures of my plane ride into Paro, the  apartment, and the campus. 

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So, please, check out the SmugMug galleries when you get a moment. You can also comment and interact with me there – and I would greatly appreciate it! As another reminder, you can click on any picture embedded in the blog posts to enlarge them and see all of the pictures in one gallery. 

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Well, it's time to get ready for the football match this afternoon. We'll see how well my body has acclimatized. I've never played a football match at 7,800 feet before! 

"On the Wings of the Dragon"

Driving from Paro to Thimphu in Bhutan, the first thing to strike me was Katy Perry's "California Gurls" coming from the car radio.

I had landed into Paro International Airport, sweeping majestically down into Paro Valley from the snow-topped mountain peaks of the Himalayas. As we quickly descended, the verdant valley became visual from the monsoon fog and cloud of a Bhutanese July. Rice paddies impossibly climbed the walls of the valley and emerald crop fields spread across the valley floor. Squat and solid buildings became coherent, always white with timberwork and elaborate designs painted and carved on the beams and frames. The airport building was in the same Bhutanese style, as mandated by the driglam namzha cultural policies.

Unfortunately, Everest was covered in clouds during our flight from Delhi, but we were able to see the third highest mountain in the world: Kangchenjunga (8600m)

Sweeping in Bhutan "On the Wings of the Dragon" (the motto of Druk Air)

Verdant steppe fields and rice paddies

The Paro International Airport terminal

Dismbarking

The driver from Royal Thimphu College, Sonam, was at the airport to greet me. He admitted that he loved American pop music, and possessed a vast collection of mp3s that were plugged into the car radio. As we drove the windy mountain roads from Paro to Thimphu, the juxtapositions were rich and complex. At one turn was a herder with his cattle walking right on the road as Faith Hill sang, "Let me let go, baby / Let me let go / If this is for the best / Why are you still in my heart / Are you still in my soul / Let me let go." Another hairpin turn and Hoobastank provided the soundtrack to Buddhist prayer flags flapping in the wind, strung across an ancient river path. When we pulled up to an old man's roadside shop, with strings of dried cheese adorning the opening, Sonam gently turned down the volume to a trance re-mix of "(I've had) The Time of My Life" to ask the shop keeper for a packet of doma. Doma is a traditional item consisting of an areca nut wrapped in a betel leaf and smeared with lime (not the fruit, but calcium hydroxide). You chew the whole thing and it produces a mild stimulant. Eventually you spit it out, not unlike chewing tobacco in the United States. Besides being a known carcinogen, chewing doma also has the side-effect of staining your teeth a bright red. Sonam offered some doma to me and I politely declined, although I did try some later (read on for that story).

Royal Thimphu College is located about 11km from the Thimphu city center, and we turned off of the main highway for the college about 7km before the city limits. The college is nestled beautifully in the mountains, surrounded by pine trees. This time of year, the tops of the nearest mountains are shrouded in fog and gives the whole locale a mysterious "Brigadoon" quality. The college also has a spectacular view of Buddha point, a huge golden Buddha statue overlooking Thimphu. I hear that during orientation there will be an excursion to that point that I an anxious to partake.

The faculty apartment blocks

 The master bedroom (there is also a second, smaller bedroom)

The living room and dining room

The new performing arts center

The amphitheater 

A view of the golden Buddha

Upon arrival, I was shown to my apartment and met my "buddy" Arun. I put buddy in quotations because he was assigned to me as a "buddy" to show me around and help me learn how to navigate. I also think that we will become real "buddies" as he seems nice and wants me to play for the staff football (e.g. soccer) team. I took some time in the afternoon to unpack and get settled and take stock on the supplies that I will need to buy in town.

Late in the afternoon Arun stopped by and I went with him to the football game. I didn't have any boots or a kit (e.g. cleats, jersey, shin guards, etc.) so I just watched. The teams seems to be at about the level of play that I'm used to from the Minneapolis leagues, so I am looking forward to gathering the necessary items and joining the team. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, the paradoxes and complexities of globalization are in full-effect in Bhutan. Throughout the football match, I was struck by the globalism of football. The RTC team all decided to wear red Arsenal jerseys and many players had bags, shorts, and other paraphernalia from global teams such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, ManU, Brazil, etc. There were Coca-Cola and Fanta bottles and I was amused by the phone ringing on the bench near me, tinnily blaring out David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World."

The football pitch on campus

Playing with the effects on my camera

A dog decides to join the game

A son of one of the players, who entertained himself unsupervised the entire game

If I could sum up globalization in one picture, this would be it

After the game, Arun and Sonam and I went into Thimphu for some supplies and dinner. I did not have much cash on me, but managed to exchange at a shop about $100 for Nu5,000 (that's Bhutanese Ngultrum, by the way). I bought some pillows, sheets, and blankets and then purchased a B-Mobil SIM card to use. It looks like I may have to purchase a cheap phone here, because I didn't unlock my iPhone before I left and the other old phone I have with me doesn't like the Bhutanese bandwidth. Everyone communicates via mobile phone here, so it looks like it will become a necessity. We had a late dinner at a Nepali restaurant called Cypress in downtown Thimphu. It was quite good, and I had my first experience of the Bhutanese comfort food, Ema Datse. This dish consists of chilies in a cheese sauce. What's interesting is that in every book I have read on Bhutan, all of the authors make a big deal about the spiciness of Bhutanese cuisine. While it is true that chilies go into most dishes, I don't find Bhutanese food to be particularly spicy. Ema Datse, for example, tasted like a mild mexican cheese dip to me. So far I haven't had anything nearly as spicy as I enjoy in the States. We also had a round of Druk 11000 "Super Strong Beer." It has an ABV of 8%, but it's still a lager and does not have a strong taste compared to anything with hops. It was refreshing, though. There's another Bhutanese beer – Red Panda – that is an unfiltered wheat beer and that I've heard is delicious.

Arun tries out an umbrella in the shop

Druk 11000

Ema Datse ... yum!

We drove back to RTC in a misty and cool night, with Sonam taking the road curves impossibly fast and singing at the top of his lungs, "What is love? / Baby don't hurt me," Arun bobbing his head like he saw from the movie "Night at the Roxbury," and chewing vile-tasting doma. What an odd and fantastic first night in Bhutan.


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Today is a quieter day and I have had much more time on my own. Arun showed me around campus again and we had breakfast at "The Canteen" on campus. (Bhutan tends to use fairly archaic British terminology a lot. For example, the college also has an "infirmary" – referring to the campus clinic.) I had some time in the morning, and then I met up with Arun and some other staff for lunch back at the canteen. We actually cannot go into Thimphu until 6pm today because all vehicles are banned in the capital on Tuesdays. Only taxis are allowed to drive in town, and even then are restricted to even-numbered taxis and odd-numbered taxis alternating weeks respectively. Bhutan has certain designated days like this. Tuesday is administrative day and all alcohol is also banned. Tonight, Arun and I will go into town to get groceries and more supplies as I got a salary advance of Nu10,000 as a settlement bonus.

Another interesting aspect of being in Bhutan is the dress. From all I have read before I came, everyone made a big deal about the driglam namzha policy, which decrees that all Bhutanese wear Ghos (men) and Kiras (women). However, I discovered that this policy was fairly lax and now Bhutanese are only required to where traditional dress for administrative and business functions and in places such as temples and royal buildings. On my first day in Bhutan, I saw virtually no one wearing ghos and kiras (because it was a holiday). Especially in Thimphu, people wore Western-style clothing and the shops were bristling with Western clothing products. Today, however, is an administrative day and most of the college staff were in traditional dress – although not everyone, so I'm still confused as to the actual policy.

English is widely understood and everyone I have encountered can converse freely in it. I have asked several people what local language I should learn, and surprisingly most people say that Nepali is the most helpful and widely understood. At least at RTC, this is the language that the staff converse in. I may try to learn a little bit of Nepali and a little bit of Dzonkha (which is technically the official language), but I suspect that I will have difficulty becoming fluent in either one. In thinking about how I am going to conduct my dissertation research, I will probably have to rely on a translator to at least navigate the nuances that English cannot pick up.

The legends are true, there are many wild dogs running around that sleep all day and (literally) bark all night. Earplugs are definitely a necessity at night. Several dogs seem to love sleeping on my doorstep.

Right now it is pouring out – it is the monsoon season, after all! I am spending the afternoon writing this and getting my things together, and will probably also begin to prepare my lessons. I hear that some other Americans arrived today, but I haven't met them yet. Orientation does not start until Friday, so I have a few more days yet to get used to things and find my way around. I am glad that I have come early, as it is a good way to ease into things. The campus is mostly empty, with no students and no academic staff around. The administrative staff are all here, though, and that is good to be able to meet them more one-on-one as I will rely on them once the semester starts on August 6th.

Himalayan rains. 

The climate is so pleasant here! 

Very Seattle-like and, if you enjoy the rain like I do, very relaxing.