Bhutan is a curious place.
Back in the 1960's there were no roads. Bhutan didn't know the outside world really existed except for the few attempts by the Tibetans and the British to invade. The method of defense preferred by the Bhutanese? Arrows and rolling rocks down hills. Bhutan used to be twice as big, it extended down into India but due to the diseases and the British capturing this territory it was lost.
So what does this mean? It means that there are still plenty of people alive who saw the introduction of the western world. I got the opportunity to go to Phobjikha for the Black Neck Crane Festival, which was fantastic as there is now a reason for the locals to protect an endangered Crane and has been successful. The Cranes are majestic and the little kids who dressed up like cranes and danced were cute. One small fact about this village changed my perception about Bhutan. They used to migrate to a warmer climate moving their cattle and walking for two days. Now the migration has stopped, but only about 7 years ago. There were people my age who used to participate in annual migrations. I was able to walk the first half leaving the festival (much faster without herding cattle) and did a great 3 day trek at a low elevation with friends. The treks are just old migration routes, the country is covered in them.
Bhutan is growing, and growing quickly. Buildings in the capitol city of Thimphu have been completed around me in the short time that I have been here. And not just any building, these apartments are standards that westerners would find very comfortable. I am posted up in one of these 'westerner' apartments.
Here are the comforts I have: Two gas burners, a Microwave, a hot water boiler, a rice cooker, a fridge/freezer combo, a Flat screen TV with 70 channels, two oil based radiators, a shower with 20 minutes of hot water at good pressure, a washing machine, A water filter that can hold up to a full gallon of filtered water, a queen sized bed with soft sheets and a good mattress, fast internet (7 dollars for 4g though), cheap 3g access on my phone (I used about 7 dollars a month on my phone through normal use).
I have had a better time finding some western comfort food here than I did when I traveled to denmark: I have found barbecue sauce (Heinz), Ketchup (Heinz), Tabasco sauce, and I'm sure I could find more if I were to look. Every morning I enjoy my eggs sunny side up with a side of proper bacon on toast with a side of proper coffee (I brought my aeropress but I have seen french presses being sold here). If I want to sit down in a coffee shop and have a coffee with a brownie I have at least 3 easy places to go.
Now I'm not complaining, it is just WEIRD. This country did not know the rest of the world existed only 50 years ago. Development is not seen as a negative here because (most) everyone has access to clean water, food, electricity, phone service and a roof. This is because the culture of farming still exists here in a massive scale, water comes straight from the mountains (no scarcity) and most people have access to a boiling method. In places outside of the main towns if a member of the community needs a home the community gets together and builds one. The massive investment in hydropower has given the government the money to sell electricity to the locals at a cheap rate and the government has invested massively in telecom.
I have heard a curious saying here. The people of india are poor but the government is rich, while the people of Bhutan are rich and the government is poor. The people of Bhutan are not starving or going thirsty and the government puts money back into projects for the people right away. Ontop of this fact, many of the largest investments in hydropower are still not operational. The country is making some money on electricity exports but a large sum of money is going to repaying loans for the projects. But investment continues at a rate of about 40% grant from india and 60% loan. If Climate change is to impact the ability for the hydropower projects to operate Bhutan could find itself massively in debt. Projects keep coming and I have had the opportunity to read some of the Environmental Impact Assessments for the projects. Turns out I am not allowed to read/visit/inquire about any of the projects that are funded by India. Only Bhutanese and Indians are allowed in which is a bummer for my internship as they are one of the biggest impacts to the environment within the country (both positive b/c of clean energy and negative b/c of the impact on hydrology). Most of the projects here are Run-of-the-River systems which redirects most of the river down a tunnel to use gravity to help propel turbines. Usually only about 10% of the river is allowed to flow naturally. Even though these projects are much more environmentally friendly than reservoir rivers they end up being more efficient if there is a reservoir dam upstream regulating flow. The rivers are not untouched and many fish may be killed. Who knows in this country though, there are still many undiscovered species of fish as fishing is not common among the locals. Species which have never been discovered may be killed by the projects before we even know they ever existed. There are some researchers here who are doing all they can to document the fish but the hydropower projects don't respond favorably to this information.
It is incredible that this country still has many of the benefits of an untouched location, primary forests cover the country and there are still people who live who only know farming. As I look out the window of a car or off the side of my bike I see a monastery that was built 500 years ago on the side of a mountain with no good explanation as to how or why it was built there. I stand in marvel of this achievement while a monk passes by carrying tea or food to the rest of the monks staring at his cell phone.
I still don't understand this country, but that is part of the reason why I love it here. I was recently supposed to go on a compliance tour but the mountain passes are iced over. The team went through India and dealing with visas through india was such a pain that I have skipped the eastern part of the tour and will meet with the team when they are in Bhutan and not traveling through India.
Whats keeping me busy? I've signed up to do the half marathon in Punakha on Feb 23rd and am planning on racing the DANTAK (Indian road construction in Bhutan company) mountain bike race in late April. Still going to the gym which has to be my favorite place in all of Thimphu. 10 dollars a month gets me a gym loaded with bumper plates, squat racks, concrete floors and a gym packed with locals.
I'll just keep riding my bike, running, lifting, reading about the culture, working and talking with the locals to understand just why/how everyone has adopted technology so quickly.
Photos to come of the festival and random events around the city/country.
Next time, Things I have learned to do like a local (for example tie my Gho, and cook).
Back in the 1960's there were no roads. Bhutan didn't know the outside world really existed except for the few attempts by the Tibetans and the British to invade. The method of defense preferred by the Bhutanese? Arrows and rolling rocks down hills. Bhutan used to be twice as big, it extended down into India but due to the diseases and the British capturing this territory it was lost.
So what does this mean? It means that there are still plenty of people alive who saw the introduction of the western world. I got the opportunity to go to Phobjikha for the Black Neck Crane Festival, which was fantastic as there is now a reason for the locals to protect an endangered Crane and has been successful. The Cranes are majestic and the little kids who dressed up like cranes and danced were cute. One small fact about this village changed my perception about Bhutan. They used to migrate to a warmer climate moving their cattle and walking for two days. Now the migration has stopped, but only about 7 years ago. There were people my age who used to participate in annual migrations. I was able to walk the first half leaving the festival (much faster without herding cattle) and did a great 3 day trek at a low elevation with friends. The treks are just old migration routes, the country is covered in them.
Bhutan is growing, and growing quickly. Buildings in the capitol city of Thimphu have been completed around me in the short time that I have been here. And not just any building, these apartments are standards that westerners would find very comfortable. I am posted up in one of these 'westerner' apartments.
Here are the comforts I have: Two gas burners, a Microwave, a hot water boiler, a rice cooker, a fridge/freezer combo, a Flat screen TV with 70 channels, two oil based radiators, a shower with 20 minutes of hot water at good pressure, a washing machine, A water filter that can hold up to a full gallon of filtered water, a queen sized bed with soft sheets and a good mattress, fast internet (7 dollars for 4g though), cheap 3g access on my phone (I used about 7 dollars a month on my phone through normal use).
I have had a better time finding some western comfort food here than I did when I traveled to denmark: I have found barbecue sauce (Heinz), Ketchup (Heinz), Tabasco sauce, and I'm sure I could find more if I were to look. Every morning I enjoy my eggs sunny side up with a side of proper bacon on toast with a side of proper coffee (I brought my aeropress but I have seen french presses being sold here). If I want to sit down in a coffee shop and have a coffee with a brownie I have at least 3 easy places to go.
Now I'm not complaining, it is just WEIRD. This country did not know the rest of the world existed only 50 years ago. Development is not seen as a negative here because (most) everyone has access to clean water, food, electricity, phone service and a roof. This is because the culture of farming still exists here in a massive scale, water comes straight from the mountains (no scarcity) and most people have access to a boiling method. In places outside of the main towns if a member of the community needs a home the community gets together and builds one. The massive investment in hydropower has given the government the money to sell electricity to the locals at a cheap rate and the government has invested massively in telecom.
I have heard a curious saying here. The people of india are poor but the government is rich, while the people of Bhutan are rich and the government is poor. The people of Bhutan are not starving or going thirsty and the government puts money back into projects for the people right away. Ontop of this fact, many of the largest investments in hydropower are still not operational. The country is making some money on electricity exports but a large sum of money is going to repaying loans for the projects. But investment continues at a rate of about 40% grant from india and 60% loan. If Climate change is to impact the ability for the hydropower projects to operate Bhutan could find itself massively in debt. Projects keep coming and I have had the opportunity to read some of the Environmental Impact Assessments for the projects. Turns out I am not allowed to read/visit/inquire about any of the projects that are funded by India. Only Bhutanese and Indians are allowed in which is a bummer for my internship as they are one of the biggest impacts to the environment within the country (both positive b/c of clean energy and negative b/c of the impact on hydrology). Most of the projects here are Run-of-the-River systems which redirects most of the river down a tunnel to use gravity to help propel turbines. Usually only about 10% of the river is allowed to flow naturally. Even though these projects are much more environmentally friendly than reservoir rivers they end up being more efficient if there is a reservoir dam upstream regulating flow. The rivers are not untouched and many fish may be killed. Who knows in this country though, there are still many undiscovered species of fish as fishing is not common among the locals. Species which have never been discovered may be killed by the projects before we even know they ever existed. There are some researchers here who are doing all they can to document the fish but the hydropower projects don't respond favorably to this information.
It is incredible that this country still has many of the benefits of an untouched location, primary forests cover the country and there are still people who live who only know farming. As I look out the window of a car or off the side of my bike I see a monastery that was built 500 years ago on the side of a mountain with no good explanation as to how or why it was built there. I stand in marvel of this achievement while a monk passes by carrying tea or food to the rest of the monks staring at his cell phone.
I still don't understand this country, but that is part of the reason why I love it here. I was recently supposed to go on a compliance tour but the mountain passes are iced over. The team went through India and dealing with visas through india was such a pain that I have skipped the eastern part of the tour and will meet with the team when they are in Bhutan and not traveling through India.
Whats keeping me busy? I've signed up to do the half marathon in Punakha on Feb 23rd and am planning on racing the DANTAK (Indian road construction in Bhutan company) mountain bike race in late April. Still going to the gym which has to be my favorite place in all of Thimphu. 10 dollars a month gets me a gym loaded with bumper plates, squat racks, concrete floors and a gym packed with locals.
I'll just keep riding my bike, running, lifting, reading about the culture, working and talking with the locals to understand just why/how everyone has adopted technology so quickly.
Photos to come of the festival and random events around the city/country.
Next time, Things I have learned to do like a local (for example tie my Gho, and cook).
