3. december

Weekend and no work today - so I decided to take a walk and see some of the things I missed so far. Looking out of my window I can see the monastery, Changangkha Lhakhang, so I decided to walk up there. After climbing the stairs I found a square building with prayer wheels all the way round it. Inside each prayer wheel there are many prayers on paper and when you turn the wheel the prayers are sent out. There were many Bhutanese people walking round the building turning the prayer wheels. Normally they walk 7 rounds. I saw this old, old woman who had a difficult time just walking around the building. She had a bended back - probably after carrying heavy things on it for many years. I couldn't help wondering if she was in pain, but anyway she didn't complain! There were several old people and I took a picture of some of them - they must be really serious about the praying when they choose to walk up that many stairs to do it! There was also a monk who was washing the artifacts of the monastery. And of course there was a nice view of Thimphu up there :-)

After visiting the changangkha I decided to walk downtown Thimphu - it is not very difficult here to find your way - all you have to do is follow a road downhill! I did and I passed some houses where you could easily see the moisture outside on the walls. I can't imagine they are healthy to live in. I passed Bhutan Suites, where Carstens stays and where I am going to stay on my next visit - it is a very nice place with apartments and a vegetarian restaurant on the first floor.

I had read that a place called the Swiss Bakery was supposed to have some really nice sandwiches and I knew where that was because I pass it every time I go to the 8Eleven ;-) So I went there and bought 2 sandwiches: one vegetarian and one with cheese - and a cup of coffee. While I stood there waiting for my food a young man asked me where I was from. I told him and we started talking and ended up sharing an apple juice and a table. He was from India and was here on business, he said. He was a kind guy and we talked a lot about the world economy and China developing so fast. He was a bit concerned that China should get to own the whole world because they are hard working people and so organized. It was also fun to hear his thoughts about the Bhutanese people. He thought they were not able to work very hard and that was why they had to use people from India to help them with construction and other things. It is always interesting to hear a story from all sides.

After saying goodbye to the young man I went to 8Eleven and found some soya milk! I was positively surprised. I bought a couple of liters, because I think I don't get protein enough from my food here. It is mostly vegetables and rice in different disguises ;-) So now I'll have a couple of glasses of soya milk every day (even though they put some sweetening in them - but hey - can't be too picky ;-))