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 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.
ccllleetussss!! Miss ya tons and I miss flicking you shit all day back and forth. Good to see you haven't be kidnapped and used as a...slave... Keep up the good work and shred those Bhutanese trails hard for me.
ReplyDeleteLove is a Battlefield.
Love ya Kevin,
Brison