Bike built and into the swing of work

My post has been delayed because the week after I got back from southern Bhutan I got sick.  I blame the large amount of pollution near india, partly caused by Bhutan and partly caused by India.
However, I am now better.
My bank account is set up, I am settled in for the most part.  My bike is built and I have been riding to and from work every day.  20 minutes down, 45 minutes up.  I have found many trails with the help of the locals.  I spent the weekend hiking up for an hour and a half to ride some singletrack.  Been playing soccer with the NEC and invited some American friends to join us that I met along the way.  The white people tend to hang out all together.  The funny thing is that I almost blend in when I wear my gho, if it weren't for my height.  I'm about as tan as everyone else here so my skin color doesn't make me stand out.  Brown hair and brown eyes are also common here.
I now have my terms of reference, I'll be assisting with the revision of the Middle Path, Bhutan's guiding environmental document.  Found here (it is worth a read if you have some time) http://www.nec.gov.bt/nec1/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Middle-Path1.pdf
I'll be requesting money from the world bank and the UN for assistance with compliance monitoring in selected areas, many of the laws are good, but they aren't followed as there is no money in enforcement.  I will try to remedy that.
The final written document that I will be producing is an overall report on sustainability in Bhutan.  I will have more information on that as I start to understand exactly what I will be producing.
I will be traveling around the country on compliance monitoring trips, or enforcement trips.  I believe the first trip might be within a week from now.

Thimphu is turning out to be a wonderful city, there are many things that aren't as easy as in the US, the meat quality is determined by your ability to select it and not just on your ability to read a label.  The eggs have a fair amount of bad eggs lying around, I've taken to shaking the eggs and feeling for movement of the yoke before buying them, the rice has sticks and other items in them so I have to make sure that I fully rinse it.

Small things that add up to take time.  Which I don't have as once the sun sets I can't leave my house as the dogs get aggressive.  I was riding to work this morning and had some dogs start to chase me, first time that has happened during the day.  The one good thing about the aggressive dogs, it tends to keep crime down at night.

I'll have money once again tomorrow, once my atm card starts working, right now it is just sitting in the bank, laughing at me while my diet consists only on rice, eggs and some chilis that I still have.
I have to remember to filter water, this past weekend I ran out of my supply and experienced a pretty harsh headache from dehydration, and not being able to drink bottled water set my progress of rehydration back by a couple of hours.  (boil water, wait for it to cool, put it through a filter system that has about a 5 gallon tank post filtration).

The one disappointing thing about Thimphu, there is trash everywhere.  But my first proposal for funding is on waste management compliance, so hopefully I will have a hand in cleaning this place up and making it a nice place to live.

Dogs, Mask dances, and Cum

Before anyone gets offended by the title, cum is on everything here.  On the restaurants and bars and shops.  It is more innocent than it sounds.  Cum is used as a word for "and".  Restaurant cum Bar.  This has been kind of seen as a practice that needs to go away and new buildings are using & and "and" to replace cum.
Bhutan is also the land of penis drawings on all the walls to protect against an evil virgin goddess.  But again this is not favored as Bhutan enters the modern world, you rarely see penis drawings in Thimphu.

Today was the final day of the Mask Dance festival, performed infront of the palace/fortress.  The king was watching over the event and in between dances many people prostrated themselves to the king and other high officials.  The dances were well choreographed with a mixture of masked dancers and singers.  The event went on for 3 days, starting around 9 and going till sundown.  Pictures to follow.

I spent the last week in phuentsholing, the border city to india.  Every bit of imported good comes through this city.  It shares its borders with an indian city Jaigaon.  Now the stereotype I knew is that every indian city is polluted.  Still true for Jaigon, but not only due to the cars on dirt roads in India (lax pollution controls on the cars and dirt getting kicked up).  But the pollution is partly Bhutan's fault.  Phuentsholing is home to Bhutan's only industry.  Hot, muggy and polluted, I think I got sick from the pollution, just now getting better).  The one good thing, the drive there was out of this world, up in the mountains, cut up on ledges such that you can see thousands of feet down.  I was there as part of a Compliance monitoring workshop that the NEC put on.  I have now officially joined the Compliance Monitoring Division of the National Environment Commission.

Thimphu in comparison is already getting cold, and dry.  It is perfect during the day, even hot in a gho with the sun out.  The rain is leaving and I have broke out the bike.  I look like a clown because I am in spandex and that cycling raiment hasn't made its way here yet.  But the clothes are too important (Sweat wicking and padding) to give up.

Dogs are all over the place here, they are lazy during the day, most lie around doing nothing.  But during the night, they bark.  Oh they bark.  My apartment is far enough away that I have not had trouble sleeping because of the dogs, (the sickness has been keeping me up lately).  They tried to keep the dog population in check by sterilization, almost killed the Dhole in the process.

Some photos, will keep updating.

Bhutan

Well I made it.  36 hours of traveling with 12 hours of time change.
Left Sunday morning, arrived in Paro on Tuesday morning.  Relatively painless except for my flight from Bangkok to Paro was canceled and was replaced by a flight that was 2 hours later and got me into the country 3 hours later.  I missed my first car but a second was sent.  I dropped by a hotel in Paro where a bunch of the National Environment Commission (NEC) members were staying including the secretary.
I arrived in a house that is fairly modern of Tshering Choden.  A wonderful family with 4 generations in the house.  Grandmother all the way to a cute one year old baby.  They have been wonderful and I have eaten meals with them, all grown organically in their large garden.
Chilis and rice with every meal, not especially hot but very hot still.  I learned that the chillis that I had eaten in december that were fresh and too hot to eat were actually indian chilis that can be bought in bulk for cheaper.  So the food is edible!  As long as you like spicy.

The photos below are from the drive from paro to Thimphu, with some photos from a walk in Thimphu, where I took a small hike and went to the river.  There was a lot of trash around, it is a sad sight.

I am still looking to move into an apartment so I have not built my bike yet but there are bike shops around town and even a member of the NEC has told me about trails around.  I am looking at an apartment that will allow me to bike without riding through the city with a crazy amount of aggressive drivers.
For now it has been procedure, but I did get to go to a going away party for some indian consultants with the secretary, a late night while trying to fight off sleep from adjusting to the 12 hour difference.  So I'll catch up on sleep, get all my permits done, find a place to live and stock up on food from the market, and I will start exploring!  (Not to mention I am not allowed to travel far without a work permit).