Our first visit was to the National Referral Hospital in Thimphu. Among other people we met Dr Sandrup Wangchuk who was the dentist for whom we smuggled several hundred toothbrushes half way around the world. He was very grateful for the gift - there are apparently only two qualified dentists in all of Bhutan and oral health is not a high priority. Throughout the year he visits several schools handing out free toothbrushes and toothpaste, these supplies are donated by dentists in the US and carried over by whoever happens to be travelling to Bhutan.
We were all very impressed by the facility - despite the shortage of doctors and dentists, it was very well equipped. Medical care is provided free of charge to all citizens of Bhutan, and while the care is very good in the cities, the rural facilities have a harder time due to their isolation. This is one of the problems Dr Erica's organization is trying to address. The main Thimphu hospital recently installed an electronic medical records system that they bought from a company in India. Two of the s/w guys happened to be in town helping install the system so we spent some time talking to them.
The next meeting was at the ministry of forestry which was in a government compound right next door to the Tashichho Dzong - the main monastery/fortress in town.
We then met with WWF Bhutan at their main office, and then finally met with the Secretary of Health at the huge ministry of health building, riding the only elevator in the entire country to get to the fourth floor. All the buildings in Bhutan have open roofs, which helps with ventilation, as well as providing nesting sites for countless pigeons and doves. At times at was hard to hear what was being said from all the coo-ing of the doves in the roof.
We rushed back around 5pm hoping to get in some shopping in our last day in Bhutan before everything closed down for the evening. We met up with our kids, who had just had a great time. Sammy and Owen were relaxing in the room watching a game of cricket on the TV. They had spent the day visiting the Thimphu Zoo, which contains the worlds largest captive collection of "Takin's" which are a kind of sheep-like animal which inhabit the Himalayas. They also visited the "Giant Buddha" which is a massive structure overlooking the Thimphu valley much like "Christ the Redeemer" overlooks Rio de Janeiro.
We quickly ran over to the handicrafts center in Thimphu only to find out the place was closed. Our guide was able to talk one of the employees into reopening the store for us and we spent about an hour browsing the paintings, carved wood, clothing and other stuff, all hand made by native Bhutanese craftsmen. Cathy ended up buying a "Thangka" which is a large piece of hand painted silk. She had read about this traditional artform (which originated in Tibet) in one of her books.
After the handicraft center, we then browsed the half mile long street outside containing over 100 different craft stalls. The quailty was not as good as the handicraft center, but it was fun looking. At one point our children had ran on way ahead, and Cathy noticed way off in the distance a robed Buddhist monk holding Owen's hand and disappearing around the corner. We had visions of losing our youngest child, only to find out years later that he had become a monk and joined some remote monastery. Just then, Owen came running back with a big smile on his face - our hopes for spiritual redemption shattered!
Then back to the Hotel followed by another frantic shopping marathon at the rather touristy gift shop by the hotel. We were able to get a Tibetan singing bowl and some assorted gifts for the childrens teachers including a nice statue of Buddha for Sammy's religious eduction teacher.
Finally we went to bed for what we had hoped would be an early night since we needed to leave at 5:30am the next day for the drive back to Paro and our flight back to Kathmandu.
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