Thimphu

We travelled to Thimphu for a two-week orientation session that covered everything from cooking with gas to Dzongka, the national language of Bhutan. Thimphu is, by my definition, the perfect sized city with just the right amount of bustle. It holds my heart.

I became fond of the clocktower park beside our hotel. Note the intricate details in the woodwork. Every surface in Bhutan is that beautiful.

There are an enormous number of buildings under construction in Thimphu all with the help of traditional bamboo scaffolding.

The greatest honour of our orientation period was our meetings with thinkers and officials with an interest in education. We met the Director of the Royal University of Bhutan's Institute of Language and Culture Studies, the Minister of Home and Cultural Affairs, as well as Thimpu's representative in the federal upper house. Here is the group with one of the most eloquent and insightful people I have ever met, the Minister of Education:

Toward the end of our time in Thimphu, we went to see the huge statue of the Buddha currently being constructed on the mountaintop:

Tiger's Nest

Landing in Paro

Bhutan is beautiful. This is the view from the plane moments before landing:

In order to upload the picture we had to shrink it quite a bit. Experience it in high definition at Christmas!

Enroute: Halifax to London to Bangkok

We were truly touched by the friends and family who came to the Halifax Airport to see us off.

 Our plane rides were wonderful, especially the second one aboard Thai Airways:

 The food was amazing. Here is William's lamb:

 We arrived in Bangkok right on schedule.

We were suddenly wrapped in sweltering heat and glorious sun.

 We saw tropical plants and the neatest butterflies.

 In the evening we attended a dinner and classical dance show called Ruen Thep. The traditional clothing was spectacular.

Currently we are back in our fancy hotel room, preparing to take to the air again at dawn.

Ready to Go

Finally all packed, we are enjoying our last few days in the snows of Canada. We are Dr. Who geeks so we built a Snow Dalek.

Greetings!

In this blog, we, William and Kendra Spavold, will describe our year living and teaching in Trashiyangtse, Bhutan. We depart Halifax, Nova Scotia this Tuesday, January 18th, 2011!

Pictured above: Our wedding day, January 1st, 2011.