Blogs from Paro, Bhutan, Asia - page 3

At the eastern end of the Himalayas lies a once forbidden Kingdom - Bhutan! It is a country the size of Switzerland with 700,000 inhabitants who are 99% Buddhist. Hence all the temples, chortans, and dzongs (fortress monasteries). The King's father, the 4th King of Bhutan, abdicated in favor of his son about 4 years ago, and had declared Gross National Happiness was more important than GNP. It is now a democracy with the 5th King as figurehead. The Royal Family are loved and revered. Currently you can only enter by air with Druk Air, the government airline, although a private competitor has been recently approved. Tashi Airlines may be operating later this year. You must enter or leave via the airline, so if not flying in you enter by car from 3 points in India. ... read more

Friday 2ndNovember Another amazing day! After breakfast this morning, we checked out of the hotel and headed back to the primary school we walked past yesterday. The children are back at school today after a public holiday – well half of them anyway! It seems that sickies after public holidays are universal LOL. The principal of the school knows we’re coming and as he sees us coming through the back from the paddy fields, he calls the 20 or so students who bothered to attend school, to assembly. The knee high to a grasshopper school captain leads the national anthem and then the morning prayer beneath the flag before they file in to class. The prep/ones are in a little room to the right, while the older children up to grade 6 use the main room. ... read more

Sadly our time in Bhutan had to finally come to an end. Having had such an amazing time, both through our rewarding work, and through the never-ending hospitality of our Bhutanese friends, we left Thimphu with heavy hearts. As we wrap up this chapter on the blog, there are some photos which we are rather proud of, which never got uploaded earlier. Our home is no longer our lovely Thimphu flat - it is now two bikes (Surly Long Haul Truckers), accompanied by six small bags. We'll be telling you more about this in the weeks to come! In the meantime, have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! We will be somewhere in Northern Laos (probably fixing a puncture by the side of a road). Much love , Andy and Mel... read more

Shangri-La has become synomous with any earthly paradise but particularly a mythical Himalayan utopia-- a permanently happy land, islolated from the outside world. Bhutan seems to fit this definition. Happiness is the Kingdom of Bhutan Bhutan has a philosophy they call Gross National Happiness. They define this by creating a world of well-being and happiness. This means they live life in balance. Sort of dividing things up evenly…..work, sleep and play…..the modern world could learn a few things from Bhutan. Now, we’re not trying to espouse some Buddhist-induced state of “total enlightenment,” but the Bhutanese are seriously interested in the psychological health of its citizens. Not a bad philosophy to latch onto all things considered. Research has shown that increasing levels of income correlate to increasing levels of happiness only ... read more

Pensoc and Sangay were an hour late getting up and ready which annoyed us as it meant that we missed the opening procession of the fesitval which Pensoc had suggested would be really good the night before. The Teschu (buddhist religious festival) was what we were here to see although with the late departure we made the most of being on the farm, played with the dog a bit more and got to known Tensin the little girl a bit more who despite no encouragement whatsoever was happy to stick her face in front of the camera and have her picture taken. Offering a small gift of some prayer flags and some warm words we hung around and took in the fresh mountain air. This was our only real taste of what it would be like ... read more