Matsutake

The most notable of all edible fungi is Matsutake, as they call it in Japan, awovedly the most delicious and aromatic mushroom in the world. Obviously, wild ones, are much more subtle, delicious and rare.    With a very strong aroma and intense flavor, this fungi grows under the obscure fallen leaves of dense pine-tree forest.  Equivalent in distinctiveness and exceptionality to European Truffles, they are found in Bhutan. Freshly cut from ground they are quickly grilled with scattering of salt and sprinkled with tamari and japanese lime and a pinch of sewchuan pepper. Very delicious! In Tokio they can cost up to 8,000 US /Pound. We found them in thimphu market for 500 Nguldrums ( 10 US $) and asked Bishnu permision to cook them (TEMPURA) in his kitchen at the Druk hotel!         

Avalokitesvora

Changgangkha Lhakhang

Drugon, The first Tibetan to bring official Drukpa 'sects & teaching to Bhutan founded this temple in teh outerskirts of Thimphu. More than 500 years old and probably, nobody knows, less than 800 hundred years old. Accoding to the monks... "The monastry stands in Sacred ground, where Drugon Shigpo, fell in love and seduced a village girl of heavenly beauty and where they "meditated together"....the monk smiles while he tells this part of the story...The mother of the heavenly beauty caught them "in the act of meditating" and Drugon promptly turned himself into a manifestation of Avalokitesvara.

      

Bhutan's dilemma

Many Bhutanese still flow themselves flat with their face down in stunningly and heavenly decorated temples, such as this one: the Changangkah Lhakhang  in the outerskirts of Thimphu. Many bhutanese keep away the curses of evel spirits with sophisticated constructions of strings winded around sticks, placed outside temples and family homes... is this tradition worth of conservation

Bardo

Bardo, in Buddhist terms is the place between cycles of death and rebirth, waiting to see if they will enter the next life...

That is more or less how I see Bhutan, desconcertados ..... a nation anchored in the past unaltered and inbetween steps to a moderniziation f

 .... as another small third-world country... rent with social and ethnic divisions and vulnerable to corruption, violence and political opportunism. One way or another, change is coming.!1!!

Stray Dog Dilemma

Bhutan has a Stray Dog Dilemma!

This dilemma is rooted in the heart of the bhuddist universe: a conflict between piety and progress.
For Bhutanese, as good bhuddists, bestowing the life and feelings of an animal, such as a stray dog is an act of faith!

Monks in Bhutan run into the conflict of modernity in a daily basis.

My dilemma is much more mundane.  These cute little bastards have been barking all night long and I could not sleep.

Its 04:00 am in Thimphu. I have been unsuccessfully trying to sleep. Docens of dogs are fiercely barking  outside the Hotel Druk.  Stray dogs are an essential part of the landscape in Bhutan. They live on the street.

As a Buddhist Nation, Bhutanese don't believe in killing.  The very act of taking a life, killing a dog, prevents the person and the animal from living out its karma in its present form and realm. Therefore they dont "take care" of the street dog population.

These dogs have no collars, have no owners. Most of the dogs I have counted tonight have seriuos skin problems - scabies and sores, some are crippled, one does not have a leg , many have open wounds.  Flies whiz around. The dogs play and lay on the grass and pee and shit on the grass, the same grass where children were plying few hours ago.

I am not a Buddhist, I loove dogs, I am sure there good ways to solve this problem. I am going back to sleep...  

Spitting Red Images

One of the most striking cultural shocks for foreigners in Bhutan is the extended habit of people, both men and women,  spiting a red liquid everywhere. Big signs on public buildings and government offices warn visitors NOT to  spit on the floor and the red stains are well extended all over the floors.

 
"Doma Pani" is an addictive habit of chewing and spitting areca nut and betel leaf with a dash of lime. The colourful mix (areca nuts, bettel leaves and lime /calcium hydroxide) is a traditional addictive entertainment food in India (paan) and Bhutan and many other East Asian countries for centuries.  The remains of the chewing is then spit on the floor,  disposed of by spitting, producing bright red spots everywhere.
  

Areca nut is the seed of the Areca, a plant found in dried, cured and fresh forms. In the tree, the husk is green and the nut inside is soft and can easily be cut with a knife.

Areca nuts are chewed with betel leaf for their effects as a mild stimulant, like the coca leaves in the Andes, they cause a warm sensation in the body and heightens alertness, as if you had several coffees. 

The areca nut contains the tannins and alkaloids with obvious vasoconstricting properties, like cocaine.

The bhutanese claim the mix aids digestion and they are probably right through the Lime. In fact, mexicans cook corn with cal, the Nixtamales, which increases the natural availability of niacin, it is makes it tastier and easier to digest.

The good fat! a Yak Burger

This is my dinner. It looks like a fast food classic, but its not. It has all the ingredients of a hungry and happy people meal, like myself today. Its a Yak Burger.

Yaks are tibetan cows, they have a bulky frame and sturdy legs, and they can jump as goats,  rounded cloven hooves a species of long haired bovine living in South central Asia and the himalayas, similar to a hairy bison. Yak meat is my dinner tonight. 

Yaks have very lean meat because, like bison, their fat is a separate layer outside the muscles that is easy to separate (unlike cows that have fat marbled with muscle).

Yaks are exclusively grass-fed (and are very efficient food processors—a yak eats only about 1/3 of what a cow eats) and very disease resistant, they do not need antibiotics, and they are not treated with growth hormones. The little fat that yak meat does contain, like any grass-fed meat, has very high percentages of omega-3 fatty acids and Conjugated Linoleic Acids (good fats).

In Tibet, yaks are a central part of the culture.Today they are a central part of mine. A tibetan cow is the solution to Michale Polan's omnivores dilemma .

Obscured by clouds

Landing in Bhutan has been spectacular today.   Always spectacular for different reasons. August is the peak of monsoon rains here in Bhutan. The monsoon weather, is an avalanche of rain,  from drastic changes in atmospheric circulation and water precipitation and heavy rains coming from the south in Bengal Bay. The Bengal Bay blows the wind up north crossing India and crashing against the Himalaya and here I am watching. 

I am standing today, underneath the crash,  under  the heavy rains, high humidity, flash floods and landslides, in one of those typical monsoon misty, overcast days. The views of the Himalayas in this seasons are completely obscured by clouds and rain.

Before Bhutan, I have a stop over for a couple of days in Delhi to discuss the scope of work with the Contractors.  This "strategic" commute allows me to take my favorite customary visit to Chandni Chowk in the Old Delhi: street food paradise! Karim's mutton Seekhkebab, Tandoori Roti, Paranthas in Nirmal's, Raj Kachori...  Very Deliciuos! 

the kingdom of bhutan

The Kingdom of Bhutan, is an "island" up in the eastern end of the Himalayas, floating up in the mountains, surrounded by mysterious journeys, remote isolated lands such as Sikkim (India) and Nepal, or Chinese Tibet. 

In recent years, Bhutan has undergone major political changes by shifting from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy and by introducing a move towards democratic Government. Bhutan has opened to the world after years of  concealment. The young democracy is curious. Citizens are eager to understand how it works.

The first General Elections, the National Assembly Elections, took place in March 2008, and the
new Bhutanese political system and its young democratic institutions are aiming at moving
towards good governance, decentralised decision making and development.

Measuring Happiness and harmony

The Royal Government's development strategy is marked by its unique philosophy, such as measuring Gross National Happiness, which emphasizes harmony between material well-being and spiritual, emotional and cultural well-being.