Arrival

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After a few days of travel I finally arrived in Paro a little over a month after Shane got here. He was waiting for me at the airport with a driver from the lodge. It was so good to see him. I was exhausted from the hours of travel but felt exhilarated from being in the country I would call my home for the next two years. We are to live in the capitol, Thimphu, but would have to wait in Paro for a couple hours when the road is closed during the day. We met up with Christian, our friend from Seattle, who has lived here for around six months. I was able to see his place and check out the Paro Amankora lodge. We headed out around 12:30 and spent two hours on a very windy and narrow road. The country is beautiful. It is completely mountainous and green. The houses are square with metal roofs that are often covered with drying red chilis. Many are also adorned with lotus flowers, Buddhist designs, and/or a penis or two(more on that later). The road was very dusty and windy and after about an hour I was wishing for some medicine for my lifelong affliction with carsickness. The road is being worked on and is supposed to be done by 2008. There were lots and lots of Indian workers out in the hot sun hammering away at the sides of the road in order to widen it. We made it to Thimphu, the largest city in Bhutan. It is the only capitol in the world without a traffic light. There is one area in the city with one military man directing traffic with these very stiff arm movements. The people seem to manage by driving aggressively and honking their horn at every single turn in the road. Thimphu is set in a large valley that won’t hold an airport. I honestly had to go lay down for a while before I could really start observing. Once I felt better I saw that our apartment is quite huge with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living and dining room, kitchen, and 2 decks. It feels quite odd to live in the biggest place we ever have, outside of our parents’ places, in such a poor country. However, there is definitely some wealth in Thimphu. There are many large houses and palaces owned by government officials or the royal family. They have huge metal gates and are guarded by military men with large guns. Thimphu is such an interesting mixture of old and new. Everyone in all of Thimphu is required to wear the national dress everyday to work and to special celebrations. I see many people everyday that are herding cows, wearing worn pieces of cloth draped over them, and walking barefoot. I can also go out at night and see the young Bhutanese dressed in trendy clothes and dancing to Beyonce. I’m excited to travel throughout Bhutan and get an even greater insight into the traditional world here. In Thimphu, I can find almost anything I will need and there are lots of schools, libraries, museums, and places to occupy my time while Shane works a lot in the busy season. I think Thimphu will be a perfect home base for us to live comfortably and to observe this amazing country.

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Photos

View
This image is taken from a deck in our new apartment in Thimphu

Amankora Thimphu
This is an image of the lodge that shane works at

Prayer Flags
Prayer flags seen blowing in the wind on the hillside overlooking thimphu

Comments

[shahid]

ur feelings reflect me too
Dear writers, Nice to read the write-up. I visited the place last year to attend a training. I was so amazed to see everything at Paro. Every inch is a matter of heritage. Thank you to write and present the place. May you not write later about its Buddhist heritage? Please do so. Regards Shahid Dhaka, Bangladesh