Marketing in Bhutan

No, I don't mean marketing--as in MAD MEN marketing.
I mean...going to the market!

Rick and I both LOVE markets---prefer them to almost anything else.  The colors! The smells (+/-)! the exotic fruits and veggies!

So when I first came here as a tourist and saw the Centenary Market in central Thimphu, I said to myself:
 I could live in Bhutan!  And now here I am, going to this market every week.

All villages and towns in Bhutan have an open air market---with locals selling local produce, grains and home made alcohol (usually attractively packaged in old plastic coke bottles). Thimphu's market is the biggest--a two story, open sided concrete building, with electric lights!

There is the GRAIN section:

These are piles of different types of rice.  Ever tried Bhutanese RED rice?  YUMMY!

And then all these weird sort of puffed things, which are dyed in bright colors, have no nutritional value, but show up at every party you go to.

SPICES:    yes, that is red chili powder, put in almost every dish, even at breakfast.  Ohhh, my poor stomach!  Bhutan is a great place for chili eating New Mexicans!

Not really sure what all these spices are...some of them are incense to burn in your home altar.  

Or, if you prefer your incense in stick form, that's available, too!  All of it handmade and local.

The vegetables and fruits you get all depend on the season.  Just to give you a taste:

Lots of chilis---no jalapenos, though. Many of them are hotter than jalapenos.

 Sugar cane from southern tropical Bhutan.

 Fiddlehead ferns from the river banks, now at the end of their
season so looking a bit bedraggled here!

Here's Rick buying carrots. Note the Bhutanese woman breastfeeding, which is strongly encouraged here. 

These are locally made brooms, made from grasses.  Cheap chinese brooms with handles are also available but don't seem to be used that much!  

Now, a few words about FRUITS.  Did you know there are over 2000 edible fruits in the world and the west eats only about 10% of  them?

This may be a new one for you: the JACK FRUIT:

Yes, I know it looks like a tumor.  Here's what it looks like in the inside.

Personally, I think it's too much trouble to prepare and eat.  

 

Here's a picture of the one of dozens of fruit stalls at the Thimphu market:

Our favorite fruit seller:

 Squash slices--type? anyones guess!

Fortunately for us, Bhutan does not grow DURIAN.  Have you tried it?  If not, I invite you to at least try it, but be sure and hold your nose.  Here is a durian fruit:

It is the most loved and most hated fruit in Asia. It is said to taste like heaven and smell like hell.  Just be glad the above picture is NOT a scratch and sniff.  The smell is described as garlic+ onion+ month old unwashed gym socks.  In fact, in Singapore, it is illegal to bring a durian onto the subway, plane or hotel. If you can get beyond the smell, what does it taste like? Here's what I found on the Internet: When the famous British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace tasted his first Durian in the 19th century, his comment about its taste was: "A rich, butter-like custard highly flavored with almonds, but intermingled with wafts of flavor that call to mind cream cheese, onion sauce, brown sherry and other incongruities.

"Incongruities" is a kind phrase!

But back to Bhutan:

CHEESE:  Let's face it, Asia is just not the place to be if you like cheese.

It's not that Bhutan doesn't HAVE cheese...it's just, well, mostly fermented yak cheese.  There are three varieties:

Here is the soft hockey puck shaped cheese, used in their national dish, ema datsi (chilis and cheese).

 And this is the hard variety---and I mean HARD.  Bhutanese put a square in their mouth and chew it all day.  It's a dentist's nightmare.  Any one of these could be used as a doorstop.

Now, let's talk about DOMA.  This one is hard to describe, but the closest thing I could relate it to is chewing tobacco--only it stains your tongue, teeth and spit a bright red color.   It is definitely a culturally acquired taste, as most Bhutanese love it and it makes most chillips(foreigners) throw up. It consists of an areca nut, wrapped in a betel leaf with a dash of lime paste. You put it between your gum and teeth, and then just let it sit there, chewing it on occasion. It is called "a conversation starter" and Bhutanese of all ages and genders love it, especially after a sumptuous dinner.  It is a traditional offering on all occasions.  First mention of doma in literature is from 1637!  Thankfully (in my opinion) the younger generation is not so into this, as they dislike the red spit, just as I do.  Still, I know many very sophisticated and educated Bhutanese who can't resist.  Old people tell me it keeps them warm in winter. Doma is so embedded in Bhutanese religious and temporal spheres that it is indispensable to the culture.

So, of course, you can buy it at the market!

The leaf:

The nut:

Here it is in action----

Despite what you/I may think, any Bhutanese would tell you that doma contributes to Gross National Happiness!

There is only one part of the market that I absolutely avoid.  But in my quest to show it all to you, I did go to the dried fish section.  I was there just long enough to snap this picture:

Don't even ask.....

And finally, my favorite part--the flowering plants, not to be eaten, but certainly to be admired!

If you want to see more of this amazing market, check out this 11 minute utube, done by some Brit tourist. At around 9 minutes, he covers the handicraft market which is just across the bridge from the Centenary Market. It is colorful indeed!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxJ_wI7wTfY

Rick just arrived home from work. Soon he will start on dinner made from the fresh veggies we just bought yesterday at this market.  In the meantime, it continues to rain, and the laundry put out to dry this morning is nowhere near dry---ahh, the problems of the developing world! 

Wishing you love and good food!

Phyllis

What NOT to do in Kathmandu

Here is the best picture I got during my 6 days in Kathmandu:
Flying into Nepal--

Yep, that's Everest on the left and Makalu right -- # 1 and # 5. It felt like we could touch them.  Actually, we've been much closer on previous trips.
THEN, the plane dips into the Kathmandu valley and all you can see is dust and smog.  Thinking of going to Kathmandu?  DON'T!  It is rated  the second most polluted city in the world...and especially sad as it is  in a valley with mountains all around---but you can no longer see them.  Most people wear face masks...your eyes burn....the river is an open sewer.  The people are nice, though.
So, what NOT to do in Kathmandu?  Get sick.

Brief synopsis:
gastric pain, vomit blood, trip to ER, nasogastric tube inserted (the worst!!),more blood , 2 nights in ICU, bumpy ambulance ride to another hospital (if you weren't sick before you got into the ambulance, you would be by the time you arrived), endoscopy, 10 days of 8 pills a day, and finally  RESOLUTION.  I am now A-OK---and finally I can eat again.  I do not recommend this as a weight loss program.  On the plus side, Rick was with me and a real help.  Another plus:  I was in Nepal rather than Bhutan...and finally, I actually bought trip insurance for the first time before leaving the US in April!  Wow!

My reason for being in Nepal was to give my training programs to READ Nepal, the sister to the NGO that I have been working with in Bhutan.  On the last day, I was able to find the strength to talk to one of their staff, so all was not lost--and some of my work will go forward.
On the last night there, I finally was able to leave the hotel for a brief walk and took this picture of a Nepali woman kissing a sacred statue:

 But ever onward!
On the flight back to Bhutan, I nearly cried when I saw the lush clean Paro valley from the plane window.  It really felt like coming home.
Three days later, I was scheduled to do a two day training at one of the poshest resorts in Bhutan: the UMA.
The irony was not lost on me---here I am at what is reputed to be the best restaurant in the whole country, and I can barely manage to eat at all!  But manage I did--and enjoyed the few bites I could handle.
The trainings went well and as always, I enjoyed it and so hopefully so did they.  At least they laughed in the right places!

The following weekend was our 9th wedding anniversary (well, 9 official years that is---another 22 years of living in delicious sin).  We celebrated in our favorite hotel , the amazing Zhiwa Ling.  You may recall I have written about this place before.  It is summer and rainy season here so the flowers are in riotous profusion.
Take a look:

                                                    This is a view of our balcony!

The King and I....

  Rock climbing OUT, tree climbing IN.

During that weekend, I also volunteered to give a training on womens health to the 11th and 12th grade girls of UTPAL Girls academy, the ONLY all-girls school in Bhutan. (BTW, UTPAL means Blue Poppy in Sanskrit.  The blue poppy is the national flower of Bhutan.).  Although the education system has = numbers of girls and boys in primary school, as they get older, the girls drop out at a disproportionate rate.  This school is an attempt to separate the genders so as to encourage girls to stay in school.  It seems to be working but the Bhutanese govt. does not support it, so the school is struggling.  It is hard to be an entrepreneur here.

 Yikes! Almost 200 girls!

No one really teaches girls here about menstruation...or tampons...or how their bodies work.  Talking about "personal" things is just not done here---so these girls were eager students.  The best kind....

Before we left, the Zhiwa Ling presented us with an anniversary cake! Awwww....

 Before heading back to Thimphu we did a little more exploring in the area.  Up up up on a dirt road, lined with rocks, to reach this lovely monastery.  One could devote one's whole life to visiting all the monasteries in Bhutan, most of them accessible only by foot. 

Monks schmoozing--probably talking about Facebook!

This has got to be one of the weirdest things I have ever seen in a monastery.  It is a stuffed Himalayan black bear, which still live in the mountains of Bhutan.  This one must have died of natural causes as you are not allowed to kill any of the predator animals, unless they threaten to kill you.

I almost felt I should leave my card on the plate!

One final bit:  

I went back to Choki Traditional Art School to talk again to the girls there.  These are young women, most of whom dropped out of school in the third grade.  They come for free to this school north of Thimphu in order to learn traditional painting, carving, embroidery or weaving, for at least three years.  There are boys there; there are girls there---and you know what that means.  So, I come to do my talk on menstruation, fertility and yes, birth control!  Here I am demo'ing how to put on a condom...but sadly the kitchen could not provide me with my usual prop, a banana.  Still, they got the point--or at least they giggled!

My lovely translator is on the right.

So, all is well here in The Kingdom. Stomach recovering nicely.   I like the rainy season (rain/sun/rain/wind/sun/rain in just 3 hours time).
The view outside my window as I write this must contain 20 shades of green, plus trailing white wild roses.
I am already anticipating a sadness about leaving here.
This is a place of happiness for me---but then, so is New Mexico.  No complaints!
We have another 5 weeks here and more adventures ahead.
Love to all!