Blogs from Thimphu, Bhutan, Asia - page 5

After 28 days in mountains, it was time to head for plains, to Jaigaon, the border town in India where one can enter Bhutan, the land of the Thunder dragon. I boarded the only direct state transport bus to Jaigaon from Darjeeling at 7.30 am (ticket Rs.135/-). A less time consumping option would be to take a shared jeep to Siliguri and then another one to Jaigaon. The bus seats were quite comfortable and an advance booking got me a single seat right next to the driver. The driver was a jolly person having been perfected the art of multi-tasking. He knew almost every other person on the way and waved to each of them as his other hand negotiated the narrow hair pin bends. When not waving, he talked on his swanky Moto razr phone ... read more

Hi everyone We are now in Thimphu the capital of Bhutan, and yes I have access to the internet. However I think this may be the last time, as we head East tomorrow and things will be a little less civilised. We drove from Paro to Thimphu on Sunday through a series of magnificient valleys. The scenery was spectacular, as the road winds it's way along the side of the mountains, and everything was very green. There is a point were the Paro & Thimphu valleys meet at the conflux of two rivers. There was a security check point, about a million prayer flags sending prayers to Buddha for a safe journey, and 3 stupas to mark the entry to the capital. Everyone is Paro kept telling us that Thimphu was very busy, with lots of ... read more

We have just one week left of "work" before traveling east a little into Bhutan for about a week. The quotation marks are necessary for several reasons. Similar to previous locations, "work days" are typically from 9 to 3. This is not unexpected and, now, not a novelty. I'm at the point where, if we finish at 3:15, I feel entitled to reward myself for all my hard work. I'm sure this newly embraced work ethic will translate well to my fellowship next year. Secondly, unlike previous locations, I have not touched a patient operatively. The design in Bhutan is for the volunteers to purely observe and make suggestions when appropriate. It has been fine, but it would get pretty old if this were longer than a month. Lastly, and most significantly, we have come at ... read more

It seems reasonable to keep this as an apolitical assessment of my experiences. Sometimes, however, events are too large for reason. Noor and I spent the morning watching the election results come in, trying to share in the excitement evident all over the country. I have never seen anything like this. Of course, the real work is yet to begin, but this is truly an amazing day. The one insight I may be able to add is that essentially everyone that I have come into contact with outside of America, both locals and travelers alike, have been hoping for an Obama presidency. I'm sure I will remain with a large smile and renewed pride in America for the foreseeable future. Also, I have been getting daily personal emails from Barack, Michelle, Joe Biden, and Obama's election ... read more

Bhutan has now transitioned from an absolute monarchy to a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy… at least in theory and by all intents and purposes. However… Since ascending the throne in 1972 the 4th King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, has moved Bhutan ever closer to open elections and a full implementation of democracy with a constitution. Though the institution of the King still holds the position of head of state under the new system and he can veto laws instituted by the parliament, he is expected to honor the mandates of parliament and only nix anything that endangers the integrity of the state. However, the parliament also has the ability to dethrone the King with a 60 percent majority. The king wanted to set up democracy in Bhutan because - like Nepal - he was not ... read more