Australia Bhutan Friendship Association (ABFA) News

As for me, the only impression I carried about the structure was drawn from a photograph stuck on the wall in a restaurant in Thimphu. In one corner, in white bold print, read "Sydney". As I stood thinking that was what Sydney was all about, little did I realise what it took to live in Sydney- i.e., to become a Sydneysider.

Stating hundreds of reasons, I ventured to Sydney, well aware it was going to be no picnic. However, when reality knocks you off balance, you start doubting the very senses that came to this conclusion.

Carrying out every single activity five hours earlier than what your body was attuned to is definitely no piece of cake. Forcing oneself to sleep while the folks back home are returning from work or grabbing a lunch makes one feel like a zombie.

In addition, the "harbour" city’s unusual system and sophisticated infrastructures towering above you can be a unnerving experience.

Fortunately, before you realise it, you are walking on Broadway Street, in the heart of the city, along with people of over 150 other nationalities. Sydney is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, yet the handful of Bhutanese here is always mistaken for a Chinese or Japanese. If you ever care to correct them, you should be prepared to be greeted with raised eyebrows, followed by "Where’s Bhutan?"

It is not difficult to notice Bhutanese, who came before you, add a twang to their normal accent. They must be excused for this; it’s only being done to save themselves from sounding like a nerd, or worse, a wimp. Everyone seems to be in a hurry. You learn to walk faster too. But you also have to wait a lot. Wait for trains, buses and elevators. Wait for traffic lights to turn green and wait to make payments in grocery stalls. While commuting, most Bhutanese take a bus or train. It’s no joyride.

With everyone engrossed in reading newspapers and books or their ears plugged into a music player, there’s not the slightest hint they’re interested in conversing with you. Not knowing what to do, we Bhutanese also end up buying music players, which we plug in every time we board a bus or train.

Sydney’s weather can be peculiar. One moment the 42 degree C heat roasts you alive; the next, several cold days of heavy rainfall. It’s a weird sensation to us northern hemispherians to feel hot in January and cold in July!

If the quirky weather doesn’t driven you crazy, Sydney’s cost of living will. Sydney ranks in the top 15 of world’s most expensive cities. To be on the safe side, Bhutanese, all being supported through various sponsorships, opt to reside in the suburbs, which are comparatively less expensive. Careful budgeting is crucial. A little earning from part time jobs provide some space to live comfortably, but it demands extra skills to juggle different responsibilities.

While supermarkets offer every cooking ingredient we use back home, Bhutanese also make vain attempts to browse through Vietnamese and Indian shops in search of food with similar flavours and spices. "Street shopping," a joke shared among Bhutanese, comes as a relief to tight budgets, as still usable household stuff is dumped along the street by residents.

Getting accustomed to a dramatic technology advancement is the biggest challenge. Newspapers are read only while travelling as more readers shift to online sources. Bank transactions are made via Internet and class enrolments can be done without having to go to universities. Face Book is more than just a social network.

While every day is lived with new lessons, complexities are notably reduced by helping one other. A sense of being a Bhutanese goes beyond the rooms decorated by Buddhist portraits and Bhutanese calendars.

Every national occasion is marked with a small celebration. More than anything, a hint of pride in the voice, while being introduced as a Bhutanese, says it all. It takes much to be a Sydneysider but, along with the experiences, comes the realisation of being from Bhutan and appreciating Bhutanese values.

For others, it’s a beautiful house situated next to a beach in Newport, north Sydney but, for Bhutanese residing in Sydney, it's more than that. This is the only residence in Australia which has a Bhutanese flag erected in front of it.

The house belongs to Mrs Catherine Harris, honorary consul to Bhutan in Australia. The honorary consul hosted a lunch in February 2009 for the more than 15 Bhutanese studying in Australia. The students also met with people, who had reasons to stay connected to Bhutan, and were assured of help and support in times of need.

By Kesang Dema

ABFA members in Bhutan offer our prayers to all who have lost loved ones, homes and pets. To those fire fighters, police, emergency service personnel and all the volunteers, we pray that you will have continued strength to battle this tragedy.

Twenty-one of us squeezed into Benez restaurant and this was the biggest gathering of the members in Thimphu. It was a fun night as conversation between the six Aussies (all the Aussies in Bhutan) and the Bhutanese took place. The Ambassador was accompanied by Second Secretary Mr Michael Cheyne.

The Ambassador said that he was happy to be back in Bhutan. He said that he felt confident about Bhutan's future after his audience with the King. He expressed his continuing support for development activities in Bhutan.

He shared his satisfaction with the increase in Australian government scholarships provided to Bhutan from 11 at the time of his arrival to 44 this financial year.

Of the current total, 22 were Australian Development Scholarships, 16 Endeavour Awards and six Australian Leadership Awards. He said that the Bhutanese deserved a pat on the back for winning so many Endeavour and Leadership awards in open competition with scholars from other parts of the region.

The Ambassador said that he hoped to visit Bhutan twice more before his four-year posting as Ambassador to Bhutan and High Commissioner to India come to an end later this year.

The new ABFA co-chair, Dr Dasho Pema Thinley, reminisced about his time in Australia. He said that he was one the first Bhutanese to study in Australia, going out to Melbourne under the Colombo Plan in 1962.

He also remembered riding in the back of the International Ford Truck with the yaks on his way to Thimphu from East Bhutan. The trucks were supplied by Australia.

Dr Pema Thinley, who has an honorary doctorate from the University of New England in Armidale, said that studying in Australia not only changed his life but also the lives of many people around him. He said that he will do his best to foster people to people relationship between our two countries.

Following is the speech by Dr Dasho Pema Thinley:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, G day Mate

It is clear that the relationship of our two countries go way back in history. But it was only in 2002 that formal diplomatic relationships were established. A year later, to further strengthen this relationship, Tim Fischer set up the Australia Bhutan Friendship Association. Today, we have over 200 members and an active group mail and have chapters in five different states. This year with the assistance of Australia, 71 Bhutanese students will study in Australia. Some of them are here tonight.

All the Friday nights, that Tim is in Thimphu, he has been to Benez. So tonight, this dinner is a tribute to his contribution to ABFA. After five years of active service, this year Tim Fischer has stepped down as the co-chair to take up his posting as the Ambassador in the Vatican. Although in Rome, Tim is still an active member of the association. Some suspect that Bhutan’s s third new overseas mission is the Vatican.

Four decades after the Southern Cross dinner in Melbourne, our karma has brought us together again for another dinner.

Tonight, I would like to thank all of you for coming to this dinner. On behalf of ABFA, I would like to thank all our members for helping foster people to people relationships between or two countries. We thank, Dasho Pema Thinley for agreeing to be our co-chair.

Lastly, we thank John and Michael for their continued interest in our country. We make a toast them for making this dinner possible. Now, before our Member of Parliament who is here tonight with us, pull an Ashi Tashi on John and Michael, we I would like to request John to say a few words.

Tashi Delek!"

Following is the response by H. E., Ambassador John McCarthy:

"In 1962, Bhutan attended the Colombo Plan meeting in Melbourne as an observer. This was our first appearance on the world stage. Lead by Ashi Tashi Dorji, the all woman delegation fell in love with the continent down under.

At a dinner hosted by the Japanese delegation in the Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne, Ashi Tashi had a dream. The champagne gave her the courage to nurture that dream and she requested Chairman John Gorton (who later became Australia’s Prime Minister in 1968) to admit Bhutan as a member of the Colombo plan.

Gorton was so surprised with the request that he had to put down his cutlery on the table. Having a soft corner for our country, he quickly discussed this request with the other members with great enthusiasm.

Breaking all protocol, at that dinner he pinned an opal on Ashi Tashi's chest and welcomed Bhutan as a member. The dinner was auspicious. Following the meeting, the first international expert came to Bhutan to help with the development of our agriculture.

Ever since that meeting in Melbourne, Bhutan has not looked back. We are now members of the United Nation and various other international organizations. We have six resident missions overseas and will add two-three more this year.

Following the Colombo Plan Meeting, our next big international event was the coronation in 1974. As an emerging global player, Bhutan for the first time invited foreign dignitaries and opened tourism. Here, too the Australians played an important part.

In 1974, it had been two years since we had built our first roads. There were not enough cars so the late Foreign Minister wrote several letters to various countries seeking their help. Australia was one of the few countries who responded positively. That year many of the guests were ferried in the International Ford car shipped from Australia."

This year, most of the students appear to be going to Perth, Melbourne and Sydney Universities, with a few going to Adelaide and Brisbane.

Students are encouraged to get in touch with their local ABFA Chapter representatives, the international student offices at their university, and other students, to help them sort out accommodation and transportation costs, and any other information required.

Further information is provided under some of the links on the Left Hand side of the ABFA web-site Home page.

The site has a lot of dynamic features, and also is in line with the new technology and requirements of today's WWW.

If anyone requires information regarding Bhutanese in Perth, the following link can be forwarded to your friends and others.

ABFA - Perth Chapter

The site also has addresses and contact details for Bhutanese needing help or wanting to join the community in various capacity, and at times getting together for occasions.

A link to the above link is listed on the Left Hand side of the ABFA website, so that it will be helpful to our Bhutanese friends.

Greetings All,

"Just to say bye bye as I head to Rome tomorrow Thursday (29 / 1 / 2009) and step back from my ABFA linkages, to take up the three year posting as Ambassador to the Holy See. It will be a busy job but those uttering the word "Bhutan" in an email ahead, I will do my best to see in Rome."

"In fact the Prime Minister has made "Inter-faith Dialogue" a key priority of my work, including helping expand linkages between Christianity and Buddhism and I look forward to contributing to this."

"The jointly written book "Bold Bhutan Beckons" also touches on this set of issues, Tshering Tashi and I last week have done a "Virtual" set of launches here in Australia, pending the arrival of copies back from the printers. The Publisher is CopyRight Brisbane and books can be ordered direct via www.copyright.net.au at anytime."

"I salute the great success of the Coronation Ceremonies late last year in Bhutan and wish His Majesty the very best, I salute the many linkages between Australia and Bhutan, and wish everyone a great bounceback or bounce around the "Global financial crisis" in this difficult 2009 year."

"Sincerely,"

"Tim Fischer AC"

Various ABFA members responded to Tim with messages such as Dominique McGlynn who wrote:

"Cher Tim,

"Brian se joint à moi pour te souhaiter, à toi et ta famille, nos meilleurs voeux dans cette nouvelle 'entreprise' en Europe."

"Cordialement"

"Dominique"

Catherine Harris, the Honorary Consul to Bhutan in Australia, added:

"Farewell dear Tim, thank you for inspiring so many of us to re-visit Bhutan and keep it in our thoughts over the years."

"You are a star! Cathy"

Finally, Tshering Tashi also wrote to say:

"We thank Tim for providing the guidance, inspiration and being active in ABFA. I join all others in wishing him the best in Rome."

We are here to help students to settle in - their greatest need of our assistance is usually in the first few weeks, to greet them at the airport, and as they find accommodation and acclimatise to Australian eccentricities.

ABFA understand that the RCSC is now coordinating all student placements in Australia, with Honorary Consul to Bhutan in Australia Catherine Harris, who, subject to Privacy principles, will attempt to send this information on to the relevant support people, such as individual Chapters, so that designated members of the Chapters can make contact with the student. Ideally, this should happen prior to the student arriving in Australia, so that the student has contact details of local ABFA members, if any assistance is required on arrival.

N.B. All Universities normally provide an airport pick-up and accommodation service. ABFA recommends that students make use of this, normally free, service. The information of the services provided is normally included in a pre departure package that is sent to students once they have accepted their place at the University. More information about accommodation can be found on the Left Hand side of the Home Page under the link "Finding affordable accommodation for Bhutanese visiting Australia".

Episode 37 features a story on Bhutan which is set to get its first railway. Also covered is train travel in Iran, and China prepares for its' peak rail season.

For podcast details from the January 11th 2009 live radio show, with a link to download the audio to your preferred device, please visit the following link:

The Great Train Show - Episode 37

"From Jesuits to Jetsetters, Bold Bhutan Beckons" - inhaling Gross National Happiness, is a comprehensive overview of this remarkable country. Sandwiched between the two superpowers of India and China, and located in the spectacular Himalayas, the stories of the land and its people are well told by Bhutanese, Tshering Tashi, and Australian Tim Fischer, a frequent visitor to Bhutan.

Details of the book and how to purchase it are available at Bold Bhutan Beckons

In Western Australia, students gathered at the Hayagriva Buddhist Centre in Perth. Led by the Venerable Dondrub of Hayagriva Buddhist Centre, the Bhutanese community and friends of Bhutan offered prayers and khadars to a portrait of His Majesty the King donning the Raven Crown, which they had recently acquired.

Dressed in their finest ghos and kiras, the students were joined by friends of Bhutan and also Australians who visited Bhutan to celebrate the momentous event. Karma Dorji, an IT consultant, who is pursuing his Master’s in IT at Curtin University, said, "I share this moment with all Bhutanese, representing my friends here today, in sharing this joyous occasion of His Majesty’s Coronation, and 100 years of monarchy. Our hearts are with the people gathered today along with His Majesty the King at Changlimithang."

Another student, Sonam Choden fro University of Western Australia, said that she felt a part of the celebrations although removed thousands of miles away from home. "We celebrated in our own small way and wished His Majesty the King a glorious reign," she said.

Ms Jo Bower, counsellor at Curtin University’s Counselling Services, who worked for the education ministry in Bhutan as a consultant, said that such a celebration signifies the devotion of people to the King and the importance of the monarchy in peoples’ daily life.

Dawa Sonam of Murdoch University said that he is satisfied that at least he was able to offer khadar to His Majesty the King on his coronation. "I knew that I would miss this great event before coming to Australia for studies in January. I dearly miss being in Bhutan, but I was able to participate and console myself with the event that is being organised here" he said.

For Kezang Wangchuk, MBA student at Edith Cowan University, the event was a way to connect him to the nation that is rejoicing and entering a new era. "Today is the start of a new era for Bhutan. I wish His Majesty health, happiness and glorious reign and also pray for the long life of our fourth Druk Gyalpo," he said.

For more details and photos of the coronation, please go to 2008 Bhutan Coronation

An ABFA night was also held on the day of the coronation.

ABFA were happy that Consul General Cathy Harris, and her husband David Harris, could make it for the important event.

Hardy and Julie Pradhan of ABFA said "We join our fellow members of ABFA to congratulate Bhutan on the auspicious occasion of the coronation of the Fifth King of Bhutan."

"Best wishes for the future of the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon." they added.

For those in Australia below are some of Cathy's impressions to make you feel more in touch - hopefully not more home sick! By the way the parties held by Bhutanese in Australia were reported on the front page of Kuensel!

Cathy and David have opened a Facebook page at Bhutan Consulate Australia's Photos - 5th Kings Coronation to show photos of the event and are happy to add others if you have them.

The Atmosphere in the Changlingmethang Celebration Grounds was joyous and excited. There were fabulous military parades, cultural dancers and the best for me was the presentation of gifts that included three elephants and all sorts of other amazing animals. The interesting thing about the Bhutanese is the immense respect that they have for their King - when the King was doing his "lap" around the stadium there was dead silence, just waving of flags in that inimitable, understated, respectful, humble way of the Bhutanese. In the room, after the Crowning with the Raven Crown, he personally spoke to every guest. When he shook our hand he grasped it with both his hands in the most genuine and warm way and looked you right in the eye - he told me he was very keen to come to Australia.

It is not every day that you are invited to a Coronation - I would not have missed it for the world, I am also somewhat in awe of this particular Royal Family - their humility and genuine concern for their people. They live in very humble abodes, and many members of the Royal Family are heavily involved in humanitarian issues. After an exhausting few days when we were all retiring to our hotel rooms His Majesty did the round of the crowds, speaking with all the people - farmers that had walked for miles to see the ceremony!

David and I wore traditional formal dress, every morning we had to have a Bhutanese friend come and dress us because, as you know, there are no buttons or zips on Bhutanese clothes - on Friday Night we went to a Royal Dinner and I had attempted to do the Kira thing myself - not a good idea when the side flap dropped out and there was a fair flashing of leg and undies for a brief second! Formal Kira's and Ghos are made of silk with the most intricate silk embroidery - David said his Gho cost more than any of his business suits but he received so many comments including from all the Queen Mothers it was worth it. It is a collector's piece and we will donate it to The National Gallery eventually.

We were sitting fairly close to the King when he made his Coronation speech to the people, to hear this in the same week as Obama made you realise that this country may not be as wealthy or developed as other Western nations but they are spiritually and psychologically advanced. I had an overwhelming sense of a new leadership growing in our world. He spoke without a note for about 20 minutes, he spoke with love and passion, for a young man of 28 he demonstrated a level of leadership and empathy that one sees very rarely.

Bhutan has to face many challenges in the years ahead but I think they will do it with out compromising their most important plank - Gross National Happiness.

If anyone is interested to watch, please view the attached films schedule. Melbourne Buddhist Film Festival

"I watched the Bhutanese Army do some parade practice at the new stadium today, their drill was excellent and equal to 1 Royal Australian Regiment (RAR) in which I served decades ago. The lines were tight and straight, it all looked good from a distance.

"Also a huge effort has been made in tidying up Bhutan since 2004 and even last year, this is great and farsighted and reflects the Australian campaign "Clean Up Australia', hopefully the founder of that campaign (Ian Kiernan) might come to Bhutan to swap notes.

Finally it is good to see GNH at work and enjoy everything from the new freeway entry into Thimphu to the 10% increase in the temperature of the Gasa Hot Springs, they are much hotter than 2004 - the waters are very refreshing and the new road continues to be built to Gasa Dzong".

Mr. Fischer said that following several key meetings, including with the PM today, he was armed to continue to spread the word on Bhutan and also complete the book with Tshering Tashi: 'From Jesuits to Jetsetters BOLD BHUTAN BECKONS', by early next year hopefully.

As Tim takes up the role of ambassadorship in the nation state of Holy See, he has indicated that he has to step down as co-chair of ABFA. So any nominations for the new co-chair will be highly appreciated.

Later on some of the group walked through Cleland Wildlife Park to admire many native Australian animals. The wildlife was well behaved!!

Aussies were represented by Nicole Pluss and family, Chris and Karma Finn, Jenny and Andrew Biven, and Paul James.

The following photo of the get together shows some of the attendees.

"It is always such a pleasure to meet the Bhutanese visiting Adelaide." wrote Nicole Pluss, one of the attendees.

A quick update of other events in Adelaide:

There are 5 Bhutanese in Adelaide/Murray Bridge at present:

• Dorji Dhap and his wife Tsewang
• Dorji studying an MBA at Adelaide Uni
• Yeshi
• Ugyen
• Chookie

We are expecting one or two lawyers in the 2009 New Year.

This followed a meeting in Thimphu between Kevin Rudd's special envoy to Bhutan, Tim Fischer, and their Majesties the fourth and the fifth kings, acting Prime Minister and the Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In this busy world people to people meetings are important and will help maximize co-operation between Australia and Bhutan on a range of issues.

Tim Fischer said that he is delighted to make his 8th trip to Bhutan. This time he is with a group of Australians who are potential goodwill ambassadors of Bhutan to Australia.

The OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria recently noted around the world a consensus is growing about the need to develop a more comprehensive view of progress - one that takes account of social, environmental and economic concerns - rather than focussing mainly on economic indicators like Gross Domestic Product.

The people and government of Bhutan are playing a leading role in exploring this alternative definition of progress, with the Prime Minister of Bhutan, Jigmi Thinley recently reminding us: "We have to think of human well-being in broader terms. Material well-being is only one component. That doesn't ensure that you are at peace with your environment and in harmony with each other. This view has led the government of Bhutan to develop the goal of Gross National Happiness (GNH). Rather than measuring progress solely in terms of Gross Domestic Product, GNH aims to understand and measure four key dimensions of progress: sustainable and equitable socioeconomic development, cultural preservation, environmental conservation, and good governance.

This talk, hosted by Griffith University's Strategic Research Program 'Social Change and Wellbeing' and Eidos, will provide a unique opportunity to hear about Gross National Happiness and the Bhutanese approach to understanding, measuring and strengthening happiness, prosperity and well-being. The talk will be given by the Secretary of the Gross National Happiness Commission of Bhutan, Karma Tshiteem, and will be followed by a response from a panel of local speakers, Associate Professor Geoff Woolcock, Griffith University; Dr Linda Selvey, Population Health for Queensland Health; Kate Hillman, Global Business Services IBM; Kathleen Noonan, The Courier Mail. It is Karma's only public speaking engagement in Brisbane.

When: 7.15am - 8.45am, Wednesday 17th September

Where: Michenor's Room, The Marque, 103 George St, Brisbane

Cost: $45 members, $55 non-members, $400 tables of 10 members, $500 table of 10 non-members

For more information, including booking details, go to Brisbane Breakfast- Happiness, Progress and Wellbeing: The View from Bhutan

ABFA Melbourne Chapter will have a table with information about ABFA at the event. So come along and say hello!

Please see the attached flyer for more information. Happiness, Progress and Wellbeing: The View from Bhutan

Back in April 2008, Suellen was speaking with the manager at the Byron at Byron Resort, chatting about ideas around developing some sort of Bhutan retreat centre. This is a dream Chencho Dorji and Suellen had discussed some years back.

Suellen is planning a Mindful Expedition tour in September to explore the Bumthang region. She has some inspiration that there is a suitable place there for such a retreat project.

"Perhaps we can all put our resources together to manifest such a dream." wrote Suellen.

Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has announced former Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer will be the first ambassador to the Holy See.

The 62-year-old former Nationals leader served in both New South Wales and Federal Parliament. He was Deputy Prime Minister for the first six years of the Howard government, before retiring from politics in 2001.

Mr Rudd announced Mr Fischer's appointment while farewelling the Pope at Sydney Airport in July 2008 at the conclusion of World Youth Day.

"Your Holiness, I am confident that Mr Fischer, Ambassador Fischer as he will be, will discharge this position with dignity and enable Australia and the Holy See to be able to work together on the great challenges we face in the world," he said.

"On human rights, including religious and political freedom across the world, on poverty, on food security, on international humanitarian relief, on peace, arms control and disarmament, on the great challenge of climate change and the other great debates affecting the future of our planet."

Before the election, Labor said it did not oppose all cases of politicians being given diplomatic jobs but it wanted to see fewer cases of ex-politicians being appointed.

Congratulations for Tim's appointment have come from his many friends and admirers in both Bhutan and Australia.

"Congratulations Tim, a great post and a great choice by the PM." said Dasho Kinley Dorji, the Managing Director of Kuensel.

Ray Marcelo added "Many congratulations to Tim Fischer for his eminent appointment. "Our man in the Vatican" will be both Australia's and Bhutan's."

"Congratulations Tim Fisher on your Ambassadorial Appointment to the Vatican." said Julie and Hardy Pradhan.

"A big congratulations from us all at Kosciuszko National Park in NSW (the second home for many Bhutanese who study in NSW and Canberra)." wrote Dave Darlington the Regional Manager, Department of Environment and Climate Change (NSW), Snowy Mountains Region - Southern.

"Congratulation on your recent appointment. We have not met but I have heard about you long time ago. Looking forward to meet you in October in Bhutan." also wrote Kinley, a lecturer from the Paro College of Education at the Royal University of Bhutan.

This exhibit acknowledges the ongoing relationship between Kosciuszko National Park and the protected areas in Bhutan, and showcases the conservation programs that Bhutan has developed.

The Director General of the Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) Lisa Corbyn has said the close conservation relationship between Australia and the land-locked Himalayan country of Bhutan has been strengthened by a recent visit to Australia by two Bhutanese government officials.

The Hon Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Dasho Sherub Gyaltshen and the Director of the Department of Forests, Karma Dukpa visited Australia in January after an Agreement of Friendship and Cooperation between the Royal Government of Bhutan Department of Forests, Nature Conservation Division and DECC Parks and Wildlife Group was signed in Bhutan late last year.

The Bhutanese, while in Australia, were able to visit Kosciuszko National Park where they looked at walking trails and inspected some of the park's infrastructure such as signage, picnic areas and lookouts, and remote power supplies.

A visit was also made to the Kosciuszko Education Centre to look at the "Bhutan Showroom" which was opened only last year. This exhibit showcases the conservation work which Bhutan has achieved and explains the importance of the relationship between Kosciuszko National Park and the national parks in Bhutan. Some of the interactive exhibits in the Kosciuszko Education Centre have already been adopted for use in some of Bhutan's park visitor centres.

Dasho Sherub said the collaboration between Australia and Bhutan, particularly since 2000, had greatly assisted Bhutan to manage its protected areas.

"Kosciuszko National Park has many similar issues to those which we deal with in Bhutan given the fact that it comprises alpine and sub alpine ecosystems. This collaborative partnership should be further nurtured and developed for the benefit of both our countries."

Dasho Sherub said striving for a balanced approach in conservation, ecotourism and sustainable development was also important to the Bhutanese Government. He was appreciative of the assistance provided by the Kosciuszko Education Centre in developing the framework for interpretation and education in Lamperi Royal Botanical Park in Bhutan.

If you are interested to visit the Bhutan Showroom, contact Dave Darlington, the Regional Manager, Department of Environment and Climate Change (NSW), Snowy Mountains Region - Southern, for more information.

The first phase, over six weeks, was carried out at Armidale New South Wales, under the guidance of Warren Halloway and assistance of University of New England (UNE) staff and others. The teachers have a learning program at UNE and also work in pairs in two different small school communities around Armidale and Coffs Harbour.

The second phase takes place upon their return where some ideas that they learned in Australia will be implemented in their own schools/classrooms. They will write a report based upon their trials.

This is the 16th year of this program wherein 135 teachers have taken part.

Should you want more information see The Bhutan Multigrade Attachment Project or contact

Tom Maxwell PhD

Associate Professor

School of Education

Faculty of the Professions

University of New England

Armidale NSW 2351

Australia

Employer: ATSE Crawford Fund Fellowship for 2009

Location: Call for nominations

The ATSE Crawford Fund Fellowship was established in 2002 with the generous support of Dr Brian Booth AM FTSE.

The aim of the Fellowship is to provide further training of an agricultural scientist from a selected group of developing countries whose work has shown significant potential.

The training will take place at an Australian agricultural institution and will emphasize the application of knowledge to increased agricultural production in the Fellow's home country.

The Fellowship will be offered annually to an agricultural scientist below the age of 35 years who is a citizen of, or who is working in, one of the following countries:

• - Bangladesh
• - Bhutan
• - Burma
• - Cambodia
• - East Timor
• - Fiji
• - Indonesia
• - Laos
• - Nepal
• - Papua New Guinea
• - Samoa
• - Solomon Islands
• - Tonga
• - Tuvalu and Kirabati
• - Vanuatu
• - Viet-Nam

Nominations are invited for The ATSE Crawford Fund Fellowship for 2009.

Nominations supported by two proposers, one of whom must be an

Australian, should be made on the nomination form obtainable from:

The ATSE Crawford Fund Central Office

1 Leonard Street

Parkville Victoria 3052

Australia

or

email: tlangley at mira dot net

or

from the Crawford Fund website: Crawford Fund or contact

Closing date for nominations: 1st September, 2008.

Date published: 26 Jun 2008

Closing date: 1 Sep 2008

N.B. Additionally, 21 Forestry Scholarships are available from the Cooperative Research Centre for Forestry with varying closing dates.

For further information view the listed scholarships on the CRC Forestry website: Cooperative Research Centre for Forestry scholarships

See also the links to the documents in the Left hand column of the ABFA web-site to 2 documents referring to these scholarships.

ABFA could arrange/provide the support to meet the criteria for this year, or future years, for interested Bhutanese students.

Liam Bartlett: The Pursuit of Happiness

Our crew flew to Bhutan from Kathmandu and enjoyed a wonderful view of Everest, shortly after leaving Nepal.

The tragedy of it was that the thickly accented Captain announced this fact as we flew by, but threw it in with a verbal barrage of height statistics and by the time he finished, I found myself looking at the great mountain and not realising it was actually the real deal.

I commented to producer Jonathan Harley that if those we had passed looked so spectacular, imagine what the ‘big one’ will look like? To which JH merely shook his head and said, "You idiot, that was it!"

Oh, well. The approach to Bhutan’s airport in a town called Paro more than made up for my lapse.

It was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced in a large aircraft, with the plane forced to twist and turn around the contours of several valleys as it made a hurried descent to the only flat patch of land available for hundreds of kilometres.

If you’ve ever thought flying into Hong Kong was spectacular, arriving in Paro will blow you away! Wedged between the two giants of Asia, China and India, the influences are readily apparent - Chinese inspired architecture and Indian cooking - and yet, this tiny Shangri-la exudes a uniqueness that is incredibly refreshing.

Perhaps it is the Buddhist faith that makes these people so calm and reasonable but the entire country seems to bathe in an atmosphere of civility.

Travelling between towns is difficult though, with small distances as the crow flies taking a disproportionate amount of time to traverse over the seemingly endless, mountainous slopes.

Consequently, driving is not for the faint-hearted or those prone to car sickness.

It’s almost impossible to find a stretch of more than 80 to 90 metres of straight road before it winds around another tight corner with little or no reinforced edges.

This was really an adventure straight out of the 60 Minute's handbook.

To be able to take a close look at the world’s newest democracy and be the first foreign journalist granted an interview with Bhutan’s inaugural Prime Minister was a wonderful experience.

I suspect our cause was helped enormously by the terrific work done behind the scenes, over the past couple of years by our own former Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fisher.

It turns out that Tim has helped to set up the Australian-Bhutanese friendship association and what a job he has done because the locals just love the ‘Aussies’.

Mind you, it’s difficult not to love them back. How can you not grow immediately fond of a country whose government has an official policy called ‘Gross National Happiness’?

And then there’s the giant phallus’.

These are painted on the sides of virtually every house in Bhutan, larger than life, in bright colours and complete with testicle hair.

It’s all about fertility and worship to the villagers, but I’d like to know what Kevin Rudd thinks about that form of public ‘art’ and, better still I’d give anything to see one painted on the side of Germaine Greer’s house.

Still, it worked for our guide, Megan Ritchie. A country girl from NSW, Megan had been told that medically she could not carry a child to full term. And yet, after a visit to the principal phallus monastery and a blessing with the carved version by the local monk, she fell pregnant.

Nine months to the day after her pilgrimage, Megan gave birth to a baby boy.

Little Norbu is now 2 years old and perhaps living proof that Bhutan’s centuries-old traditions can’t be ignored.

As we discovered though, the trick will be trying to blend the old with the new, without making anyone unhappy.

The full transcript, plus photos and a blog can be found at:

60 Minutes Bhutan Report: The Pursuit of Happiness, by Liam Bartlett

"The Bhutan story, on 60 Minutes, was very positive and Prime Minister Thinley and Megan Ritchie presented very well. There was some great scenery shots of the vista of Bhutan but time constraints, with the 60 Minutes format, meant no in-depth analysis of GNH and the four pillars forming GNH, or discussion of the hydro power exports to India et al." wrote Tim Fischer.

"It will help boost tourism to Bhutan and well done to all involved with the segment, especially those who helped out with the crew in Bhutan. Clearly the new PM gave great access and the colour, action and movement will draw many to Bhutan." added Tim.

"Finally, GNH, or Gross National Happiness, is a very well thought out template made up of four key pillars. OECD countries would be wise to study it in detail (Google GNH for the four pillars)." concluded Tim.

"I agree with Tim's assessment and would like to add my thanks to all for making it happen in Bhutan, especially Megan, and Tshering. The producer - Jonathan Harley had a wonderful time and is keen to offer assistance in any way if we need his media skills (Karma!)." wrote Catherine Harris.

Ray Marcelo also wrote saying "I also thought it was a strong, positive story."

Bhutan has become the youngest member in the club of parliamentary democracies. The peaceful elections on March 24th marked a key turning point in a smooth process of transition from monarchy to democracy. With the success of this historic process, the Bhutanese people have fulfilled the vision of the "father of democracy" the Fourth King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck.

Outsiders unfamiliar with developments in Bhutan may think the democratization is a sudden step. But Bhutanese history shows that the process started 101 years ago. In 1907 our ancestors elected our First hereditary King. Ever since, the five successive Kings have not only safeguarded and strengthened the sovereignty of Bhutan but also ensured that we enjoyed peace and stability. All our Kings have worked tirelessly and selflessly in promoting the interest of the nation while contributing to the gradual increasing prosperity and the well being of us the Bhutanese.

During the 32 year reign of the Fourth King, he has carefully planned a balance between the development of the country and preserving the environment, tradition and culture. Despite being a landlocked country, in 2006, Bhutan’s per capita income was US$1,321 and has 64 percent of forest cover. In addition Bhutan is one of the last living museums of tradition and culture.

Consequently, we Bhutanese hold our institution of monarchy in high esteem. Two years ago, the Fourth King travelled throughout Bhutan to chair the consultation meetings to discuss the draft constitution. This 34 Article draft constitution has paved the way for the historic March 24th election. However, during the consultation meetings many Bhutanese strongly raised concerns about the proposed introduction of democracy. At that time, most Bhutanese thought the proposal was too premature, and hence pleaded with their benevolent monarch to reconsider his advocacy of this new system.

But now, most Bhutanese are grateful for the "shock and awe" approach adopted by the Fourth King. I suspect the intention of the Fourth King’s dramatic approach was to raise awareness and educate his people about the merits of parliamentary democracy in the 21st century. Soon the people agreed with their monarch’s vision that this new system was essential to safeguard the identity and strengthen the sovereignty of the last Mahayana Buddhist kingdom. Situated in the Himalayas, Bhutan is north of India, which is the world’s largest democracy. Hence, acknowledging the strengths of democracy, and the role of Bhutan in the 21st century the Bhutanese accepted the visionary royal initiative for political change.

Two years ago, on December 9th, 2006, the Fourth King (51) stunned the nation when he abdicated in favor of his Oxford educated son. In doing so he broke all royal protocols and created history. In a special cabinet sitting in Tashichhodzong (Fortress) in Thimphu, the Fourth King formally announced: "The time has now come for me to hand over my responsibility to Trongsa Penlop (Crown Prince) Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck."

Initially all of us were shocked with this dramatic act but soon stood in complete awe. Most of us had realized that our Fourth King had given us a special gift and empowered us to charter our own future.

The Fourth King - a playmaker in his basketball team has always maintained that the fate of Bhutan should not lie in the hands of one person. He has also frequently pointed to us that a King is born and does not become one by merit. He believed that as long as there was a good King the future of Bhutan would be all right. But he always continuously questioned what could happen if there was to be a bad King. In the words of an anti-monarchist foreign visitor whose five minute royal audience turned to be few hours discourse returned home with deep reverence for the Fourth King; He said, "The Fourth King himself never liked nor believed in monarchy." This conviction has been directly translated into the birth of parliamentary democracy in Bhutan.

The initial resistance of the Bhutanese people to change soon wore down. Our faith in the vision of our monarch and widespread respect for his continual selfless acts even to give up power made us realize and accept his vision for this tiny kingdom. In addition, keeping with Buddhist philosophies that propagates impermanence and encourages change, we became more agreeable to change. So left with no option the people slowly accepted the concept of parliamentary democracy and participated with enthusiasm in this transition.

Eventually, the enthusiasm for democracy grew exponentially and spread like wild fire. In 2007 seven out of the ten ministers along with many capable officers resigned from the Government to rise to the call of the nation and contest as candidates in the historic elections. Among them two of the ministers became the leaders of the two political parties (People’s Democratic Party and Druk Phuensum Tshogpa) that emerged in the lead-up to the elections.

Prior to the March 24th election, the primary elections stipulated in Article 15 of Bhutan’s draft constitution had to be foregone because only these two political parties emerged to contest the election.

The Fourth King took personal interest in the drafting of the constitution of Bhutan. Over the few years he had studied the constitution of over 200 countries and discussed it with as many people as he could. The draft constitution has been debated and discussed with all the Bhutanese before the 34 Articles were embraced.

Three years ago, in 2005, in the Fourth King’s last formal public address to the nation on the occasion of the 98th National Day, he said that the introduction of parliamentary democracy was not early if not late and not done in haste. It was after a gradual 26 year process of decentralization and devolution of power to the people that parliamentary democracy was being adopted.

In his last national day address our Fourth King reminded and assured us that democracy was not being introduced in haste. In his address our Fourth King said, "As our people know, Dzongkhag Yargay Tshogdus (state assemblies) were established in 1981 when we first started the policy of decentralization." Ten years, later in 1991 the geog (district block) assembly was introduced. In addition, administrators at the state level were empowered with administrative and financial powers. Our Fourth King told us his plans, "During the next two years, 2006 and 2007, the Election Commission will educate our people in the process of parliamentary democracy."

The Kings of Bhutan were always careful to modernize but not westernize. They have been mindful to view the world through eastern spiritual eyes with respect to nature and human life. Yet embrace modern western concepts like openness, optimism and use of science. In modernizing Bhutan, they have also carefully avoided the pitfalls of westernization like individualism and materialism. In our region where democracy has failed more than it has succeeded, we hope Bhutan will help in increasing the people’s conviction in the system of democracy.

The result of this long democratization process has been a successful one. Despite the initial skepticism to the Fourth Kings advocacy of democracy; Bhutan has emerged from its first elections as united and strong as it was under the rule of our benevolent monarchs. This historic change into a full fledged parliamentary democracy was witnessed by international observers. The EU observation mission was amongst the 107 international media personnel’s representing 63 agencies that covered the 865 polling stations.

Now Bhutan as a youngest member of the club of parliamentary democracies; the first order of the business of the newly elected parliament would be to adopt the 34 Article draft constitution. The 28 year old Oxford educated dynamic King; His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck will formally become the first Democratic Constitutional Monarch with the primary job of upholding the constitution and be the symbol of unity of Bhutan.

With its Multi Grade Program UNE continues to support and provide contributions to GNH in Bhutan.

You can view the details in the attached document. Where cultures meet - How UNE is contributing to Bhutanese Gross National Happiness

The 38-year-old Vietnam veteran, rail buff and then bachelor cocky from the Riverina rose quickly to the front bench, but one of the more profound impressions was made on him, not him on his colleagues. It began with a book - Shirley MacLaine's 1970 memoir, "Don't Fall Off The Mountain" - and it wasn't idle reading.

"Andrew Peacock was our Opposition leader and was dating Ms MacLaine at the time, and I decided I should get to know as much about him as I could," says Fischer, who turns 62 today. The book deals with the rich and varied life of a screen star, including her brush with a coup d'etat in Bhutan, a remote Himalayan speck perilously perched between the old adversaries China and India.

Fischer was intrigued. On his first visit soon after to Bhutan, he was hooked. And he has stayed hooked.

"I fell in love with the place, and particularly its people, more so than any other country I've visited," says the co-chairman of the Australian-Bhutan Friendship Association. "It's unspoilt by its remoteness. It doesn't have the pollution of Kathmandu. There are no McDonald's and no illicit drugs."

This southern spring, Fischer again will lead a party of Australian visitors to his favourite overseas destination. The schedule puts the 30-odd Australians in Beijing immediately after the Paralympics, on to the Lhasa Express high altitude train to a 48-hour stopover in troubled Tibet, and a flight to Bhutan.

There, the travel party will spend a fortnight hiking and indulging in the local potato, introduced by a British botanist a couple of centuries ago and, according to Fischer, "some of the best eating in the world". The details, of course, will depend on China's thawing of its xenophobia over Tibetans' campaign for greater freedom. "We'll keep under review China's preparedness to issue visas," says Fischer. "But the focus is on Bhutan. The opportunity to return there is the reason I agreed to the journey."

Fischer is well acquainted with Bhutan's Oxford-educated king, Jigme Kesar Namgyal, as he was with the king's father.

"You won't find their like in elements of some regional royal families, most notably Brunei, with their propensity for plundering national treasuries," says Fischer, who was John Howard's deputy prime minister for three years and the National Party leader for nine years, until his sudden resignation in 1999 at the peak of his political influence. "Bhutan retained sovereignty by commitment to national benefit and a wisdom that acknowledged the balance between China and India."

And then, this year, the king did an extraordinary thing, voluntarily handing power for the first time to a democratic parliament.

Apart from frugality, says Fischer, the king is "friendly, open, sharp but has all the traits of respect for others' beliefs".

Bhutan, occupying the equivalent of a square stretching from Newcastle to Wollongong and inland to Orange, has a population anywhere between 1 million and 2 million. Most are poor subsistence farmers, and exports aren't strong.

Except for one. Gross National Happiness, conceived by the king's father in 1972 as an alternative focus to gross national product, is taking root in Western thought. It is inspired by Buddhism and built on the four pillars of economic self-reliance, pristine environment, cultural preservation and promotion, and sound democratic governance.

"Does it work? Yes," says Fischer. "The work-life balance is coming to the forefront. The Commonwealth Treasury, for instance, is taking a deeper look at these issues." Fischer led a travel party to Bhutan in 2004 for hikers keen to experience application of GNH.

Challenges to the assumption that affluence makes us necessarily happier might seem an unusual embrace for a politician who successfully steered his party through the One Nation assault on market liberalism. But that's Tim Fischer for you.

Down to earth, he put aside personal ambition by quitting parliamentary life in 2001 to spend more time with family - wife Judy and their two sons, including the autistic Harrison.

His fascinations can each be traced to his experiences. The former soldier, bush boy and trade minister has written books on East Timor's troubles, outback heroes and Australia's trade engagement with Asia. His experience as a conscript to Vietnam, he says, "drew back the curtains for me on Asia".

As a kid, he travelled from the family farm with his father, Ralph, each Monday night to the Boree Creek rail station to collect the Sunday newspapers from Sydney. It introduced him to the global club of rail buffs.

There is a Fischer book, too, on train journeys across nations. Another on John Monash, of Jerilderie, and a sixth - a joint effort on Bhutan, with Tshering Tashi - are on the go.

Occasionally idiosyncratic, and caricatured unfairly as a mangler of grammar because of his emphatic speech pattern, Fischer's freshness derives from a willingness to say it as he sees it, and to combine common sense with common decency. If he hasn't always got it right, he also hasn't hidden behind spin scripts and other forms of obfuscation. The Fischers have leased the Boree Creek farm and reside at Grossotto, a family property halfway between Beechworth and Bright in north-west Victoria, and a house in Wodonga, where the boys are educated. "It's taken a while to put the brakes on," says Fischer, whose post-parliamentary experiences have included a stint as chairman of the Australian Tourism Commission, a rail inquiry for Victoria, co-chairmanship of the rural stream at the 2020 Summit, and charity work.

But there are no regrets. "I look forward to taking my family away in July - just vanishing where the emails can't reach us. It's the sort of trip that was impossible in those earlier years."

Fischer sounds on top of the world. Come October, he'll be back there, literally. And still in love with Bhutan.

This story was found at: On top of the world

Bhutanese can enjoy BBS live at the following web site. BBS Live

It is also possible to log on to Youtube at the web-site below and then type "Bhutanese folk songs" or "Nepali folk songs" in the Search box, then click, to enjoy Bhutanese and Nepali MTV for free.

Youtube

For those Bhutanese in Australia, to call to Bhutan, there is a cheap phone card, which some have used, which costs about 11 cents per minute to call to Bhutan.

It is called "Bubble card", and can be purchased online from

Bubble Card - Phonecard to Bhutan

What is planned at this stage is to run a cultural tour in November 2008 with a natural history focus. We will visit the major centres of Paro and Thimphu (the capital) and travel east to visit the culturally important sites of Punakha, Trongsa and Bumthang.

We will visit many sites such as the historic Dzongs or fortresses as well as many of the culturally significant temples in the beautiful Bumthang valley.

The tour will also visit the picturesque Gantey valley home of the rare migratory Black-necked Crane (Grus nigricollis). The tour will be timed to coincide with the annual Black-necked Crane Community Festival in the Phobjika Valley where traditional folk dances and ceremonies take place.

During the 15 day tour there will be opportunities for ½ day and full day hikes.

The tour will also visit national parks and have opportunities for viewing birds, wildlife and plant life.

A draft itinerary is attached for your information.

Please let Penny Richards know if you or any friends are interested in coming on this trip!

COSTS:

AU$6090 per person twin share. Single surcharge AU$1100.

SLIDE SHOW - Thursday 6th March @ 6.00pm

There will be a slide show presentation on Bhutan and the tour on Thursday 6th March 2008 at 6.00pm at Passport Travel, Level 1, 12-14 Glenferrie Rd, Malvern, Melbourne 3144, Australia.

Please contact Brent McCunn at Passport Travel on Phone (03) 9500-0444, extn 2008 E-mail: Brent at travelcentre dot com dot au if you would like to come to the Bhutan slide show presentation.

Also could you please advise any people you know who may be interested in joining the tour?

For further information on the tour please contact Penny on (03) 9773 9771 or E-mail: penny dot bhutantours at gmail dot com

For bookings and further information on the tour contact Passport Travel on (03) 9500-0444 extn 2008 or visit their website Unique Passport for further details.

TESTIMONIALS FROM THE OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2005 BHUTAN TOUR

"The tour of Bhutan lead by Penny and John was scenically spectacular, thought provoking and culturally rewarding. It would be rare to traverse a country with such a rapid and sympathetic uptake of its culture and philosophy. Penny and John facilitated the challenge and comfort of the tour through their leadership, knowledge and sensitivity."

David and Jean Nicholls.

"We had read about the fairytale Kingdom of Bhutan but no amount of reading could really prepare us for such a wonderful experience. The scenery is magnificent with high mountains and deep valleys, terraced rice paddies and traditionally constructed and beautifully painted houses, monasteries (dzongs) at river confluences and on rocky mountainsides. Each day held a new experience for us - including seeing the endangered black-necked cranes and visiting the much-photographed Tiger Nest Monastery.

The Bhutanese people, who still wear their traditional dress, could not have been more friendly and welcoming. Our Bhutanese guides and drivers looked after us so well and were great fun to be with. From them we learnt much about their culture and Buddhist religion. We were impressed by the high standard of accommodation and the meals were excellent throughout our stay.

Penny and John were great guides and displayed their knowledge and love of Bhutan and the Bhutanese people. It really was a privilege to be with them in our visit to this unique country which honours its traditional way of life whilst embracing positive aspects of the modern world."

Gayle and Pat Corr.

Bhutan will feature in the first episode of a new series on ABC TV called 'East of Everything' starting on Sunday the 30th of March at 8.30pm. The first episode begins with the main character in Bhutan - he is there writing a book on Gross National happiness ! He gets a call that his mother is dying and has to return to Australia ASAP. You may have already seen a promo on ABC where the main character says to his bro "But I have an appointment with the King of Bhutan in 10 days time!"

John Weiss was the unoffical Bhutan adviser for the script and was able to advise such things as: Monks (generally) do not ride bikes in Bhutan! : there are no tea houses in Bhutan (like in Nepal) and a few other minor details. Whilst not filmed in Bhutan, the series starts in Bhutan - the series was filmed in Byron Bay and a second series is in the offing.

Below are three recent articles from the National Geographic magazine, the Smithsonian magazine and from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

The Changing Face of Bhutan

As the last Himalayan Buddhist kingdom cautiously opens itself to the world, traditionalists fear for its unique culture.

By Arthur Lubow

Smithsonian magazine, February 2008

The Changing Face of Bhutan

Bhutan's Enlightened Experiment

Guided by a novel idea, the tiny Buddhist kingdom tries to join the modern world without losing its soul.

By Brook Larmer

Photograph by Lynsey Addario

Bhutan's Enlightened Experiment

The Next Page: Dawn in Bhutan

For the past century, this tiny Himalayan kingdom isolated itself from the modern world. But tomorrow, the absolute monarchy willingly gives way to democracy. And a Pittsburgh family has played a remarkable role in Bhutan's evolution.

By Mackenzie Carpenter, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Next Page: Dawn in Bhutan

The Hon Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Dasho Sherub Gyaltshen and the Director of the Department of Forests, Karma Dukpa visited Australia in January after an Agreement of Friendship and Cooperation between the Royal Government of Bhutan Department of Forests, Nature Conservation Division and the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change Parks and Wildlife Group was signed in Bhutan late last year.

The Bhutanese, while in Australia, were able to visit Kosciuszko National Park where they looked at walking trails and inspected some of the park’s infrastructure such as signage, picnic areas and lookouts, and remote power supplies. They also looked at fire-fighting equipment used by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service in mountainous areas.

A visit was also made to the Kosciuszko Education Centre to look at the "Bhutan Showroom" which was opened only last year. This exhibit showcases the conservation work which Bhutan has achieved and explains the importance of the relationship between Kosciuszko National Park and the national parks in Bhutan. Some of the interactive exhibits in the Kosciuszko Education Centre have already been adopted for use in some of Bhutan’s park visitor centres.

Dasho Sherub said the collaboration between Australia and Bhutan, particularly since 2000, had greatly assisted Bhutan to manage its protected areas.

"Kosciuszko National Park has many similar issues to those which we deal with in Bhutan given the fact that it comprises alpine and sub alpine ecosystems. This collaborative partnership should be further nurtured and developed for the benefit of both our countries."

Dasho Sherub said striving for a balanced approach in conservation, ecotourism and sustainable development was also important to the Bhutanese Government. He was appreciative of the assistance provided by the Kosciuszko Education Centre in developing the framework for interpretation and education in Lamperi Royal Botanical Park in Bhutan.

Lisa Corbyn said she looked forward to working with the Bhutanese and was eager to see how much more could be achieved for conservation through the collaboration of the two countries.

You can view the media release describing the opening of the Bhutan Showroom on the NSW National Parks Website at:

Bhutanese Showroom opened at Kosciuszko National Park

But today there are more people then seagulls on Newport Beach in Sydney, as this day 26th January is an important holiday in Australia. The day in Australia is celebrated as "Australia Day" and is the nation’s biggest day of celebration. On this day in 1788 the first migrant’s of 1500 people; most of them convicts arrived in boats in Sydney Harbour.

On Australia day, Australians from all walks of life always congregate in pubs, parks and beaches to reflect on their ancestor’s journey and to celebrate the greatness of their country. On this day they take pride in being an Australian and then re-dedicate themselves to making Australia a better place.

The Australians are much like the Bhutanese. With a similar outlook on life they work hard and know how to party hard too. On the 2008 Australia Day, I joined four members of a Bhutanese delegation to celebrate Australia day in a de-facto Bhutan house in Newport Beach in Sydney.

At lunch comfortably clad in our surf shorts and in the company of numerous well wishers of Bhutan, we drank Victoria Bitter Beer, and Penfold wines were quaffed, as we savoured the main meal of salad and roasted turkey. At the lunch table making and maintaining conversations was not difficult as it came naturally and the laughs heard on the beach house that day would have been the heartiest.

Australia is a good example where people from different nationalities live in harmony and co-exist peacefully in diverse climate, geography and history. The people here accept cultural diversity as the strength of the nation. Race vilification is considered a serious offence, but they are exceptions like everything else in life.

The Aussie’s take pride in being able to build a nation founded on a tolerant and inclusive society embracing the goodness of diverse cultures. An Indian doctor who migrated to Brisbane told me, "The Aussie will let you have a go at everything," but was also quick to point out the "Tall Poppy Syndrome." Even the former Prime Minister remarked, "If there’s one thing we need to get rid of in this country it is our tall poppy syndrome." The Tall Poppy Syndrome is distinctively an Australian negative trait, which refers to the cutting the head off the tallest poppies so that none stand out from the crowd. In human terms it refers to those people who like to elevate their importance by bringing down others.

However, the average Australian is spontaneous and generous with their praises of a success of a friend or a neighbour. They can still maintain their positive attitude even after drinking their beers. "Good on you mate," is a remark that is common for encouragement. Mistakes are reciprocated with statements such as, "No worries mate" or "That will be all right mate." Mateship is an old Australian tradition that has been practiced to perfection over time. Mateship is a residue of the colonial times when men worked closely together and relied on the community strength for their survival and growth in the remote Australian bush. This tradition is still an important fabric of the Australian society reflecting the positive nature of the people living in the continent in the southern hemisphere. Even parents refer to their children as mates and the word has no gender.

Australia is an old country but a relatively new nation; only formed in 1901 after the arrival of mass migrants from many parts of the world. The founders of the nation learnt from other countries mistakes and wanted this new nation to be harmonious, united and egalitarian.

According to a school book version of Australian history, the founders had progressive ideas about human rights, the observance of democratic procedures and the value of a secret ballot. These ideas were put to the test in 1930, during political crises, but principles of democracy prevailed when General John Monash stated "There is not too much wrong in Australia that the ballot box and a good education system will not fix."

The results of the vision of the founders can be translated in the unity of Australians. The former Prime Minister, John Howard's statement in 1987 which was used subsequently, when he lost the federal election reflects the soundness of a great democracy. Howard congratulated the leader of his opposition, shook his hands and said, "The things that unite us far outweigh the things that divide us."

The Australian unity is also often demonstrated on the sports grounds. Australia is one of the biggest sporting nations on the planet and it is no surprise that sports is the greatest factor that unites Australians regardless of colour, creed or race.

Since the election of the new Government, Australia has made history by the parliamentary apologies to the Stolen Generations. Australians have just come to terms with the dark aspect of their history such as the harsh treatment of the aboriginal people by the first migrant settlers and the "White Australia Policy" that gave preference to the ‘white’ European migrants over others. In the opening of the National Parliament this year the aboriginals applauded their Prime Minister when he apologized for the wrong doings, and then committed to right the wrong marking a new chapter in the history of Australia.

The success of the Australian society is largely due to willingness to set difference aside and share common values and to co-exist without letting the past affect their duty to the nation and its future. Although Australians admire courage they are wary of foolhardiness and while Aussies love fun and are known for their calmness they don’t like lavishness and waste.

The diversity of Australia is amazing. The culture and customs, the traditions legends, myths and folklore are drawn from a rich tapestry of nationalities. While indigenous 'Dream time' legends and stories form the base of tens of thousands of years of spiritual aboriginal art and culture, Ned Kelly a former bushranger (who lived in the early nineteenth century) is revered as one of the most important historical figure of Australia.

Australia-Bhutan bilateral relations have progressed from very modest beginnings to today's very active and full cooperation. In 1962 Bhutan attended her first international meeting in Melbourne and as a result was subsequently admitted as a member of the Colombo Plan; a move which helped Bhutan advance efforts to modernize and play our part in international affairs

Even before the establishment of diplomatic relations and the formation of the Australia Bhutan Friendship Association in 2003, Australia has always been a caring friend and a strong supporter of Bhutan's endeavor to end its isolation and improve the livelihoods of our people. Today, Australia is one of Bhutan’s committed development partners providing assistance that covers many sectors, though education forms the cornerstone of the relationship between the two countries. Since the 1960's, over 1100 Bhutanese have received education in Australia through programmes like the Colombo Plan, scholarship schemes such as AusAid, Endeavour and the Australian Leadership Award. Today many of the Bhutanese alumni of Australian schools, technical institutes and universities hold very senior positions, both in the government and the private sector. Australia is the sixth largest country in the world in land mass yet has a population of only 21 million people with the lowest population density per square kilometre of any country. Perhaps this is why Australia is still the pride of the naturalist with its wonderful beaches, crystal blue waters, ancient rock formations and pristine rainforests. Australia has 16 world heritage listed sites.

The irony of Australia is although she is surrounded by water, the greatest worry and shortage is water. Due to shortage of water most people live along the coastal regions from Adelaide to Cairns with very little people living in the heart of the land. The low rainfall and the high evaporation make Australia not only the driest continent in the world but also the most vulnerable country in the world to bush fires.

Farmers use all means to harvest water and build dams to even trap a small spring. Urban architects take great pains to design the house to harvest rainwater and then use several ways to sort out the water. The people are conscious of the use of water and accordingly use it wisely. For example, the wastewater is recycled and judiciously used to water the lawns. To economise the use of the water, toilets have two flushes, a half and full and the flushes are used only when absolutely necessary. There is such a great shortage of water that often water restriction levels are increased making it difficult to maintain gardens and wash cars.

In Australia over 200 different languages and dialects are spoken, including 45 indigenous languages. However, the most commonly spoken and understood languages is the "Aussie English". The Aussie spoken English is peculiar and not easily understood by even English speaking people. The nasal twang and blending of words and consonants are characteristic of the accent. As much as it is a nightmare for an English grammer teacher, it can be a source of great hilarity. An example of the Aussie vernacular can sound almost Greek, "After drinkin a cuppa at brekkie a bloke and his mate wear a Beanie each and go to the creek to fish and have a couple of stubbies."

I love Australia for many reasons. The minute I land in Sydney’s Kingsford Smith International Airport I can not only feel the warmth of the salt breeze but also the warmth of the people who seem to wear their heart on their sleeves. It is common for Australians to wear their sleeves rolled up-just like we Bhutanese fold the sleeves of our gho when a tough task has to be done-showing that we are serious and committed to what we do. One example of this Australian attitude is the recent signing of the Kyoto Protocol in accordance with the promises of the election campaign of the new government.

Like the Bhutanese, the Aussies too are masters in the art of sarcasm and use it liberally in their day-to-day conversations often confusing visitors. During my numerous travels to down under I have observed that the people here are happier and less intense and think, "Life is a beach" summing up their casual outlook on life.

So it is no surprise that a few weeks after the celebration of Australia day, I am back at Newport Beach soaking up the sun on the golden beach, long after the Bhutanese delegation have left. I watch the sunset on the horizon of this country that both foreigner and Australians refer to as ‘down under’ (because it is below the Equator). I notice and watch anxiously as a sail boat struggles to negotiate the wild winds and rough tides until my mate smiles and says, "She’ll be all right mate!"

"Oscar had better start getting ready at an early age to start climbing mountains in Australia and Bhutan, as well as preparing to play cricket for the Guild against Bhutan on the TCG - with dignity and grace!" added Tim.

In Canberra, Dasho and his team visited the parlimanet house and met with several senior Government officals.

The Bhutanese team had Lachlan Harris, who is now the senior media adviser in the PM's office, to escort them in Parlimaent house. After seeing the PM's office, one of the Bhutanese officers was amazed at the simplicity of the office and remarked, "The Aussie PM's office is like our King's Office. It is so simple."

The Bhutanese delegation then flew from Kingsford Smith airport in Sydney to Bangkok, after spending Australia day in Catherine's beach house in Newport. As usual the team expressed great joy in learning about Catherine and her family's great interest in Bhutan.

The team were as excited and anxious about sleeping so close to the ocean with consistent waves crashing close to the windows. Just as they were amazed with the friendliness of the Australians, the team suffered some culture shock to see so much nudity on the beach!

Over Australia Day breakfast of various fruits, the visiting Bhutanese delegation eagerly listened to Tim's, "The Great Train Show." The Great Train Show was interesting and became more interesting when Tim, as usual, weaved Bhutan in the story just near the end, when he mentioned the proximity to the Delhi Rail Museum of the Bhutan Embassy.

A few weeks earlier, Catherine also hosted the Bhutan Agriculture Secretary in her house.

Meanwhile Saturday's Herald Sun newspaper, in Melbourne, had two full pages on the Bhutan Cricket match due to show on ABC TV Thursday evening 31st January.

For those who don't know...

In 2004 an unknown cricket team went to India in search of one last glorious innings. They made history in the Kingdom of Bhutan!

Like so many kids, they once dreamt they'd be famous cricketers, representing their country. But funnily enough, things haven't turned out that way.

So 20 years later, on the cusp of sporting oblivion, they return to the game they loved as boys and form The Guild Cricket Club - former backyard heroes assembled on the strength of their imagination more than natural ability. They set their sights on India in search of one last glorious innings.

Building to an historic showdown in the Kingdom of Bhutan, BEYOND THE BACKYARD is the remarkable story of The Guild Cricket Club's bold quest for a little sporting glory.

The film was recently nominated for Best Screenplay at the Palermo International Sport Film Festival.

You can view the trailer at:

http://www.suitcasemurphy.com/index_01.html

or on YouTube at:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HXjg_tjuAQE

Further information can be seen under OTHER LINKS in the Left Hand Column of the website.

THE GREAT TRAIN SHOW is a 16-episode podcast series hosted by Tim Fischer, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and well-known train enthusiast.

Featuring a tantalising mix of rail news and engaging stories from and about the world of rail, the series is very much built around the show’s host. Well known for his great passion and near-encyclopaedic knowledge on the subject, it will draw on Tim’s extensive knowledge of all facets of the industry here in Australia and internationally.

Each week Tim will present a round-up of the week’s rail news and will focus on issues affecting the industry today. The series will highlight heritage rail operations around the world including some of the best steam locomotive recordings available.

Tim is also keen to hear from rail enthusiasts with their stories and ideas and will feature interviews with unique railway characters recalling their behind-the-scenes experiences.

"The 21st Century is seeing a worldwide swing back to rail as a mode of transport, both passenger and freight" says Tim Fischer, "Join me on THE GREAT TRAIN SHOW for an express ride on the railways, past, present and future".

THE GREAT TRAIN SHOW will be launched via a live national ABC Local Radio broadcast on Australia Day Saturday 26 January 2008 at 9am. Hosted by Tim Fischer with Jeff Richardson from the ABC Local Radio program The Coodabeen Champions, the broadcast promises to be a fascinating reveal of all things rail.

To download your free podcast or to email Tim Fischer, simply follow the links to the website:

http://www.abc.net.au/backyard/greattrainshow/

Available from Saturday 26 January 2008

Tim Fischer is available for interviews. For interview requests, please contact Susan Atkinson on (61) 2 8333 2418 or 0419 620 440

"If over the next few days a spare moment arises and the relatives are driving you to a happy form of madness, think of Gross National Happiness and then Google Maps and focus on Punakha to Gasa Dzong valley.", wrote Tim.

"The new road to Dumji is very clear and Tourism Bhutan might call it the "Great Zig Zag Zig". It means the Gasa Hot Springs are now just 2 to 3 hours walking from the 4wd vehicle car park. Imagine young of heart sixty year olds will make it in a canter!" added Tim.

"And a very happy Christrmas and safe New Year to you and your family Tim." replied David Jobson, recently back from another motorbike ride, through India in September 2007.

"Firstly, before, all of us catch the New Year fever and switch into party mode, I would like to wish all a Happy New Year." writes Tshering Tashi.

"May 2008 help all of us obtain work and life balance and increase our efforts to promote world peace and happiness. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for helping fostering closer relations between the people of Australia and Bhutan." he added.

Lastly, on behalf of ABFA we would like to congratulate our ABFA member, Lachlan Harris for being appointed as the Senior Media Adviser in the new Government." said Tshering.

Megan's contact details are as below:

Megan Jones

Desk Officer

India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives Section

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

R.G Casey Building, Barton ACT 0221 Australia

T: +61 2 6261 2573

F: +61 2 6112 2573

Email: Megan dot Jones at dfat dot gov dot au

Please visit http://www.abfa.bhutanconsultancy.com/ and share your news, views, ideas, recipes, etc.

The following conditions apply:

• Forum is open (means any registered user can participate)
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Greetings All,

May I offer a salute to the Royal family of the Kingdom of Bhutan and the people of Bhutan on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the crowning and enthronement of Ugyen Wangchuk as the first King of Bhutan on the 17th December 1907 at Punakha.

Bhutan can be very proud of its many achievements and especially proud of the unity of purpose and progress the five Kings of Bhutan have delivered over the last 100 years, against considerable odds. The very location of Bhutan, wedged in between two giants, China and India, points to one aspect of the mighty challenge over the decades but it is a measure of the success of Bhutan that both China and India fully recognise the independence of Bhutan.

John Claude White sat at a nearby table to witness the enthronement 100 years ago on the 17th December, it was the British Empire and the British Government that gave early recognition, but it was the Bhutanese that unanimously created the Raven Crown and set Bhutan on a united forward path. Well done to Bhutan then and now.

Yours Sincerely,

Tim Fischer AC

Former DPM Australia

- The new double laning work of the Paro to Thimphu road has commenced, also work on parts of the road Thimphu to the Indian Border, south of the Confluence.

- The Paro runway has been extended down the valley about 100 metres and Drukair has sold the two heroic BA 146, as soon as crews are retrained they will depart for Germany. The two new A319s do great work, as long as the emergency door chutes are not deployed whilst the jets are stationary!

- Expats are in good form and tourism is on the up, new hotels are coming online around Thimphu and Paro, where the pace of life I sense has quickened in recent years.

- Election preparations, with political parties operating for the first time, are in full swing, but the concept of His Majesties Loyal Opposition is not yet well understood.

- Finally and most importantly I had the privilege of calling on His Majesty the King, and also on the King Father. Both continue to be very dedicated and focussed on moving Bhutan forward with the new Constitution and elections. I always find their observations to be very thoughtful and wise, reflecting their dedication and determination. It was good to catch up with Bhutan's Leaders, despite their busy commitments.

There were many other great activities and meetings and observations, all heading into the book, what book? Both Tshering Tashi and I have nearly completed a joint book on Bold Bhutan, hopefully out next year, during the auspicious Coronation Year of 2008!

Tim hosted an ABFA night in Benez on his last night in Thimphu. Tim also met several journalists from Bhutan Times and Kuensel who gave extensive coverage of his visit.

Tim reading his interview in Kuensel discovered a third child and wondered how his wife Judy and his two sons would react!! In addition, Thimphu's popular FM "Radio Valley" also interviewed Tim. The interview was aired on the programme "What's your story" on Sunday September 16, 2007 at 6:30 PM.

Given Tim's interest in Bhutan and his tireless efforts to promote the relations between the two countries, it was no suprise that it was Tim's seventh visit to Bhutan. After all his visits to Bhutan, he continues to be baffled with the warmth of the people; the beauty of the landscape; the philosophy and the wisdom and the dedication of the kings.

Tim's experience and knowledge on Bhutan will translate into a book, "Beckoning Bold Bhutan" scheduled to be released in 2008. As the co-author, Tshering Tashi, seized every opportunity with Tim's free time to discuss the book, which is now seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

Tim has not had enough of Bhutan and now plans to visit Bhutan next year with his family.

Postscript from Tim Fischer - 29th April 2008:

As father who has returned from Bhutan with a book half-written entitled "Gross National Happiness" gets to know son again, after many years of absentia, son blackmails father into deleting and clearing the hard drive of two years work and nearly completed manuscript of the book. One suspects son may have kept a secret extra copy, to be revealed in a later episode!

Like most people of my generation, in Bhutan I grew up with some influence of the American culture. I grew up playing basketball, listened to Elvis Presley, and watched Clint Eastwood movies. I dreamt of visiting this great nation of US.

My recent visit to the US has confirmed the vastness of this country. It is immediately evident in the size of the supermarkets, cars and architecture and the food. So far in the US, I have not finished a meal. The denim clad waitress in ‘The Cellar’ in Macy’s, New York told me, "I haven’t seen any one eating the appetizer as a meal before." She may not be aware that the generosity of her servings having contributed to making the US a nation of the obese. The US Government considers obesity to be the single largest public health crises.

New York State has been historically known as the gateway for immigration to the USA. It is and has been a leading destination for international immigration. According to a 2004 estimate, "20.4% of the population that live in New York are foreign-born". Today the majority of the Bhutanese in America can be found in New York City (NYC). As a result NYC enjoys extraordinary social and ethnic diversity.

New York is known by many names: ‘Big Apple’, the ‘City that never sleeps', and ‘Zoo York’. However, back home some Bhutanese know New York as the land of ‘Big Ray go Lama and Nani ko Ama’ (Land of spoilt Lamas and baby’s mother). This is because many Bhutanese getays (disrobed monks) and middle-aged Bhutanese mothers venture into the city to make a fortune. Most of them have made it. We in Bhutan have felt their successes manifested in land inflation and the construction boom in Thimphu.

One week-end I ventured into NYC from Princeton. I arrived at Port Authority, NYC, and bus terminal on 41st street where I had arranged to meet up with an old Bhutanese friend on 48th Street.

I waited for a good thirty minutes on the 48th street for my friend Kuenga (name changed) but he was nowhere in sight. NYC is a user friendly and a well-planned city and it is difficult to get lost - but I managed to do so within thirty minutes of my arrival.

When I left Bhutan, to avoid the rat race, I vowed not to use a mobile phone and had given mine away. But life in NYC without a mobile phone is unimaginable. So I bought one from ‘Radio Shack’ and made contact with Kuenga. I confirmed the street number and gave him my location. I waited but he did not show up. It took me a while before I realized why not. Most Bhutanese work in Manhattan but live in Queens, which has the biggest Asian American community. I was on the wrong Island.

My host, Kuenga is not an ordinary Getay. He completed his Lho Sum Cho Sum (three year mediation retreat) at a very young age. He gave up his chance of obtaining enlightenment in a monastery in Bhutan to join his sibling to live and work on the streets of NYC. He confided in me that he is happy to be able to send money to support his ageing parents and educate his siblings. Like many Bhutanese I met, he told me too that, "I will return home when I have made enough money to buy a land and build a house."

Like most Bhutanese in NYC, Kuenga has found that adapting to American work culture can be a challenging task for foreigners who have not been exposed to western culture before.

An average Bhutanese working in NYC can earn more in a month than a college graduate can make in a year in Bhutan. But making money in NYC is not as easy as receiving it in the Western Union in Thimphu. The working hours are long and living in the noisy city can get lonely and depressing.

The Bhutanese women in NYC find it easier to get a job. Most of them work as baby sitters for the lawyers and earn more money than their counterparts. Kinza (name changed) works as a baby sitter for a lawyer who has 2 year old twins and a 4 year old daughter. She told me, "The children call me Ama (mother) Kinza and treat me like their mother." However, she says, "The chilip (foreigner) kids are smart and cannot be fooled."

Kinza is as happy with her job as her employer treasures her. She is proud that her American children know more about Bhutan than any adult on the block. But other Bhutanese women have a harder time. "Being a baby sitter is not easy especially when they remind you so much of your own kids back home." Pem, a mother of 2 children told me with tears in her eyes.

There is no dearth of jobs in NYC for those who are ready to take the risks of fines, imprisonment and deportation that come with illegal work. Bhutanese men can be seen in the streets of Times Square selling posters or handbags. "The fastest selling photos are those of the Statue of Liberty and Robert De Niro." Namgay told me, "With my earnings in NYC I have been able to make changes in my village in Gasa."

Bhutanese women also enjoy the heightened sense of anonymity, independence and empowerment that the big city offers them. Karma, a Bhutanese woman told me, "But we have to be careful of our conduct lest it leaks to the Thimphu rumour factory that seems to work overtime all the time." Penjor sheepishly said to me, "Because my girl friend earns more money than me, she calls the shots."

NYC is a haven for shoppers and gourmets. You can find bargains any time of the year in the various departmental stores. They are also various restaurants serving cuisines from every part of the world. The favorite restaurant of the Bhutanese is the ‘Yak’ a restaurant run by the Nepalese in Jackson Heights in Queens.

As for Bhutan like the 192 other Member States, New York is the Head Quarters for the United Nations. Historically, New York has great significance for Bhutan; in 1971, Bhutan joined as a member of the United Nations making her debut on the world stage.

Before I left Bhutan, I was told, "If you have a problem locating the Permanent Mission of Bhutan Office (PMB) in New York, just get on a helicopter. The office is the one with the red chilies drying on the roof." However, I did not need to be airborne to find the office. It is one of the few red brick buildings on the 43rd Street located majestically just opposite the UN building.

During my stay in NYC, I visited a few of my friends and noticed that all their homes have a photo of our Kings and a lam (Bhutanese teacher) and their fridge stacked with chilies. The Bhutanese love chilies and the Himalayan winter sun dried red chilies are cooked only during special occasions. Back home in Bhutan, their parents would devote a lot of time drying them on their roofs. The farms houses with red chilies drying on their roofs are part of the landscape of the Bhutan. The further the Bhutanese are from home the fonder they seem to become of their country and religion.

NY is a busy city and one can easily get distracted. It is also a city where a six pack of Miller beer cost (US$ 4.79) is cheaper than 24 tablets of Tylenol (US$ 6.49). The high cost of medical care is a source of worry for the Bhutanese who are used to free health care. "My greatest concern living in America is the cost of my health care." A Bhutanese student Eutha told me.

As I gazed at the high rise mindlessly, I noticed a blonde lady and stared at her chest. Her T-shirt read, "Money can’t buy happiness but for everything else there is New York Summer."

I have walked with few thousands of people in Manhattan during rush hour and not seen a single person smile. I realized the people here have to take time off to watch stand up comedians or tune on to Comedy Central to have a few laughs that comes naturally to us Bhutanese.

The Bhutanese are increasingly known as ambassadors of happiness. I hope that as the Lawyers pay wages to their Bhutanese baby sitter, they are learning just as their children are that there is more to life than just money.

Tshering Tashi

"A great piece of writing Tshering! I really enjoyed it and I felt it painted a fascinating view of New York from a Bhutanese perspective.", wrote Kyla-Jane Hunt the Business Coordinator from Melbourne Cares in Victoria.

"Thank you for your entertaining and reflective piece on New York.", also wrote Christine McMahon the Country Director from SNV Bhutan and SNV Bangladesh.

"I'm sure those of us who are sometime-visitors to the UN Headquarters will never again be able to go there without thinking of the chillies drying on the rooftop just opposite :)" she added.

"The dedication and determination of Lyonpo Dawa Tshering was well known, he made an enormous contibution not only to Bhutan but to the World, through his UN level activity. His support of the advent of SAARC helped lead to greater regional stability and security in recent years."

"I salute this outstanding citizen of the Kingdom of Bhutan and citizen extraordinaire of the World, who gave so much over the decades and even after departing the Foreign Minister role, batted on despite health difficulties and helped set up the Australian Bhutan Friendship Association, being its inaugural Co-chair. I extend deepest sympathy to the family from all members of ABFA." added Tim.

"John and I would llike to convey our sincere condolences to you and your wife and family on hearing of the passing of Lyonpo Dawa. We do fondly remember his attendance at the early ABFA meetings in Thimpu in 2003 where we all eagerly awaited his arrival and looked foward to his speeches." also wrote Penny Richards and John Weiss.

A hospital spokesperson said that Lyonpo Dawa Tshering was suffering from haemochromatosis, which is a condition of excessive iron deposition in the liver. He was admitted to hospital on Monday evening at 9:15 pm.

Lyonpo Dawa Tshering served as foreign minister of Bhutan from 1972 to 1998.

With a deep throaty mumble, the older monks recited the ancient Buddhist scriptures laid out before them on the wooden floorboards, interrupted only by a blast on long trumpets and the rhythmic beat of ornately decorated drums.

A young blond-haired girl chewed the fingers of her Barbie doll, caught between fascination and fear.

The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan sells itself as "high value, low volume" tourist destination, consciously excluding the backpackers who roam neighbouring India by insisting visitors spend at least $US200 per person per day in the peak season.

And yet, word is spreading, and what was once an exclusive retreat for the well-heeled is steadily joining the tourist circuit.

Hollywood stars like Uma Thurman and Cameron Diaz are reported to frequent Bhutan's boutique hotels, but it's groups of elderly Americans who most visitors are likely to encounter.

Bhutan is in danger of becoming a victim of its own success.

"We should put the brakes on a little," said Thuji Dorji Nadik, joint director in the Department of Tourism. "Every destination has its USP [unique selling point] and for us exclusivity plays a large role."

Last Shangri-la

Sandwiched between India and Tibet, Bhutan is billed in tourist brochures as the "Last Shangri-La", the mystical paradise of James Hilton's book "The Lost Horizon".

At times, it lives up to the description, conjuring up a mediaeval world of Buddhism mixed with ancient animism, a culture deeply linked to that of Tibet yet one which avoided the heavy hand of China or the tempting touch of the West.

Men still dress for work in knee-length gowns with huge white cuffs, and four-fifths of the population are farmers.

But Bhutan is slowly modernising and opening up to the outside world. The first car arrived in 1961, television was finally allowed in 1999, and Shakira now dominates the discos of the capital Thimpu.

More dramatic changes are on the horizon as the country plans for its first democratic elections in 2008.

Last year, more than 17,000 tourists made it to the Land of the Thunder Dragon, or Druk Yul, as the Bhutanese call their state, a 27 percent jump on the previous year and nearly three times as many as in 2003.

Nor does that include 30,000 to 40,000 Indians who are allowed to visit without visas or paying the statutory charge.

These days, the price does not put off as many people as when it was first fixed and visitors first allowed in 1974 -- especially when hotels, food, transport and a guide are included.

Most tourists head for the monasteries and awesome fortresses or dzongs, which dominate every district and host the exotic religious festivals, or tsechus, swirling dances which last several days at a time in spring and autumn.

Another, hardier group trek into the high Himalaya, some walking for days for views of 7314m (23,997 feet) Mount Chomolhari.

Bhutan is off limits to mountaineers - its people believe the peaks are abodes of the gods - and boasts the world's highest unclimbed mountain, the 7570m (24,836 feet) Gangkar Puensum.

But it does offer what is often said to be the world's most arduous trek, the 23-day Snowman Trek, most of which is above 4000m (13,000 feet). Many people are unable to finish.

Lessons learned

Bhutan says it learnt many lessons from the way Nepal threw open its doors to tourists in the 1950s and the problems which followed.

Environmental protection is strong here - 72 per cent of the country is still forested. But litter and erosion are beginning to spoil the trails.

A group of four tourists on a typical luxury trek can be accompanied by up to dozen horses, carting dining tables, chairs and tents up the mountains.

"We tried to impose a 'limits to luxury' principle, but in practice that is not really being done," said Nadik. "Tour operators feel it's in their interests to provide as much luxury as they can."

Yet 59-year-old John Witorz and two friends from Melbourne had no complaints after two short treks.

"I have been just about everywhere in the world and this has to be one of the best," said the white-bearded Australian. "My face still hurts from smiling for a week."

"It is quite a high price compared to other Third World countries," he added, "but it was worth every cent."

But Witorz, like most visitors, was unimpressed with Thimpu, a sprawling city where garbage disposal is a growing problem and aggressive stray dogs prowl the streets.

The emphasis on festivals and trekking creates another problem - tourism is strongly seasonal, with more than 80 per cent of arrivals from March to May and September to November.

Most hotels are mediocre by international standards and the buffet food hard to stomach, many tourists said.

Poor-quality food ranked as the top complaint of foreign visitors in a Department of Tourism survey, but most were very satisfied with their visit.

"The people were so friendly and our guide was superb," said 63-year-old Jo Eschenbacher from St. Paul, Minnesota. "It is still sort of unspoilt."

How the country copes with the ever-growing demand will determine whether it stays that way.

The following comments were received by a number of ABFA members.

"A shame about westerners bringing along their expectations for luxury though. I think they are missing the point in many ways!" wrote Emma Lees.

"I visited Bhutan four years ago on a motorcycle trip and just loved every minute of the adventure." said David Jobson. "Friendly people... and I think we were privileged to experience it before there were too many tourists there." he added.

"However all travellers are tourists to some degree and we all bring examples of our culture (and money) to the locals. I have mixed feelings about the march of progress in Bhutan and I just hope, really hope, that we Westerners respect the people and their ways and customs. Just enjoy the friendliness, the magnificent scenery and everything Bhutan has to offer. It is an unbelievable country." David concluded.

Tim Fischer also stated "It's good to observe some wise observations on the need for Bhutan to strike the right balance and for westerners to behave when visiting the Gross National Happiness capital, the Kingdom of Bhutan."

"I hope to return to Bhutan in September, travelling light and leaving a minimum footprint." added Tim.

It often comes as a bewildering surprise to Americans that not all people think democracy is the best system of government, even when they value its ideals. Often, a fear of insecurity or a preference for well-being over free-for-all politics is at the heart of this.

Singapore may be the classic example of a country that has grown in a generation from run-down equatorial backwater to a high-tech nation with living standards rivaling those of Europe - but with a controlled political system that falls short of full democracy.

Last year in Thailand, when the army, backed by the much-revered king, overthrew a populist, democratically elected prime minister, Thai intellectuals surprised Westerners with their defense of the coup. Latin America's current crop of strongmen with anti-democratic agendas are coming to power through majority votes.

Over the weekend, the faraway kingdom of Bhutan practiced democracy. Although it was only a mock election - the real parliamentary voting is scheduled for next year - it served to remind the Bhutanese that the last Himalayan Buddhist monarchy is about to be dramatically transformed. The move - a political shift from near-absolute rule to a democratically elected government - is being greeted by nothing more positive than apprehension. A lot of people think that this may be a terrible mistake. Iraqis aren't the only ones skeptical of the promises of democracy.

No invading armies or sectarian violence in Bhutan, however. No grass-roots groundswell for change. It was the king himself, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who ordered democracy by royal prerogative. Nice touch.

The move had been on his mind for years. More than a decade ago, long before turning over power to his son in December, he told me he was aware that his kind of monarchy was no longer politically fashionable, though he had his qualms about democratic government. Nevertheless, he soon set to work on a seismic political change in this country of about 700,000 people scattered over a mountainous realm slightly larger than Switzerland.

So why aren't the Bhutanese jumping for joy? After all, theirs is the only country in South Asia without some kind of elected government. Even Pakistanis and Bangladeshis vote with reasonable regularity between military coups. Ironically, this democratic neighborhood is the problem. The Bhutanese look around them and see democracies racked by political, ethnic or ideological violence - in Nepal, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh - and infested with debilitating corruption setting back development across the regional map.

Lhatu Wangchuck, who was Bhutan's ambassador to several neighboring countries and its deputy chief of mission at the United Nations before becoming the director-general of the tourism department (which, undemocratically, discourages mass tourism to save the culture and environment) says his fellow citizens are just not very confident of what's ahead. "We have seen what corruption can do to democracy," he said recently in an interview in Thimphu, the Bhutanese capital. "It can cripple government."

Bhutan, while not perfect as it is, has much to lose. It is a poster child for environmental protection. (Mountain climbing is banned because the peaks are sacred.) Its living standards are rising steadily, outpacing those of some other nations in the neighborhood, especially in health and education. Development decisions are made locally. Women have considerable equality. The entire country has more or less been declared a no-smoking zone. Not surprisingly, one of the major initiatives of Jigme Singye Wangchuck was the establishment of an anti-corruption commission, on which a lot of ordinary people pin their hopes in case a new national parliament, to be elected next year, sinks into money politics and electoral skulduggery. A constitution has been written. The United Nations is helping guide the nascent election commission as it tries to teach Bhutanese what voting means.

The King has given his son, Crown Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 27, a year to work on entrenching constitutional monarchy before his formal coronation at the end of 2007. Khesar will be the fifth king in a dynasty enthroned in 1907 with support from the British, who were never able to make rugged Bhutan a colony and had to settle for influence. Before monarchy, Bhutan was a theocracy with warlords.

The new king will no longer rule, though he will remain head of state. But the powerful Buddhist hierarchy will lose its political role. As the last royally appointed government is about to be dissolved, political parties are forming. At the top, events are moving fast. Meanwhile the country watches and waits. Says Lhatu Wangchuck: "We can only hope that good sense will prevail."

"As we mounted the many steps of the ancient Lakhang, the voices of children in the school below proudly singing their national anthem filled our ears, and the fresh morning air filled our lungs." wrote Megan.

"We completed our turn around of spinning the prayer wheels, lit many butter lamps on behalf of all who were absent, and were privileged enough to enter the monastery at a time when the monks were reading from one of Bhutan's most beautiful and ancient scriptures. All chanting peacefully from scripts made on bark and inscribed in gold. Truly a reverential backdrop from which to dedicate a moment of thought for those who have gone before us." added Megan.

Megan then added, "Thank you Tshering for once again making it possible. Hopefully next year we will see the return of a few more Aussies (and even the odd Kiwi or two!)."

Megan went on to say, "In the tradition of my good mate Chris Faris, I am attaching (as he has on previous occasions) what has now become my favourite piece of writing about how to make some sense of the contradiction of being a peace-loving people who each year stand to commemorate their war-dead. It's a speech written by Don Watson for Remembrance Day 1993, and delivered by PM Keating at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Shrine of Remembrance in Canberra."

"Wherever you may be today, I trust your ANZAC day was equally special." concluded Megan.

Jenny Biven of ABFA also wrote, "This description gives me a memorable image of Anzac day in Thimphu with you both (sic Megan and Tshering Tashi) in attendance - thank you for commemorating this day."

Following is the article about the Unknown Australian soldier.

We do not know this Australian's name and we never will. We do not know his rank or his battalion. We do not know where he was born, nor precisely how and when he died. We do not know where in Australia he had made his home or when he left it for the battlefields of Europe. We do not know his age or his circumstances - whether he was from the city or the bush; what occupation he left to become a soldier; what religion, if he had a religion; if he was married or single. We do not know who loved him or whom he loved. If he had children we do not know who they are. His family is lost to us as he was lost to them. We will never know who this Australian was.

Yet he has always been among those whom we have honoured. We know that he was one of the 45,000 Australians who died on the Western Front. One of the 416,000 Australians who volunteered for service in the First World War. One of the 324,000 Australians who served overseas in that war and one of the 60,000 Australians who died on foreign soil. One of the 100,000 Australians who have died in wars this century. He is all of them. And he is one of us. This Australia and the Australia he knew are like foreign countries. The tide of events since he died has been so dramatic, so vast and all - consuming, a world has been created beyond the reach of his imagination. He may have been one of those who believed that the Great War would be an adventure too grand to miss. He may have felt that he would never live down the shame of not going. But the chances are he went for no other reason than that he believed it was the duty he owed his country and his King.

Because the Great War was a mad, brutal, awful struggle, distinguished more often than not by military and political incompetence; because the waste of human life was so terrible that some said victory was scarcely discernible from defeat; and because the war which was supposed to end all wars in fact sowed the seeds of a second even more terrible war - we might think this Unknown Soldier died in vain. But, in honouring our war dead, as we always have and as we do today, we declare that this is not true. For out of the war came a lesson which transcended the horror and tragedy and the inexcusable folly. It was a lesson about ordinary people - and the lesson was that they were not ordinary. On all sides they were the heroes of that war; not the generals and the politicians but the soldiers and sailors and nurses - those who taught us to endure hardship, to show courage, to be bold as well as resilient, to believe in ourselves, to stick together. The Unknown Australian Soldier whom we are interring today was one of those who, by his deeds, proved that real nobility and grandeur belongs, not to empires and nations, but to the people on whom they, in the last resort, always depend.

That is surely at the heart of the ANZAC story, the Australian legend which emerged from the war. It is a legend not of sweeping military victories so much as triumphs against the odds, of courage and ingenuity in adversity. It is a legend of free and independent spirits whose discipline derived less from military formalities and customs than from the bonds of mateship and the demands of necessity. It is a democratic tradition, the tradition in which Australians have gone to war ever since.

This Unknown Australian is not interred here to glorify war over peace; or to assert a soldier's character above a civilian's; or one race or one nation or one religion above another; or men above women; or the war in which he fought and died above any other war; or one generation above any that has been or will come later. The Unknown Soldier honours the memory of all those men and women who laid down their lives for Australia. His tomb is a reminder of what we have lost in war and what we have gained. We have lost more than 100,000 lives, and with them all their love of this country and all their hope and energy. We have gained a legend: a story of bravery and sacrifice and, with it, a deeper faith in ourselves and our democracy, and a deeper understanding of what it means to be Australian. It is not too much to hope, therefore, that this Unknown Australian Soldier might continue to serve his country - he might enshrine a nation's love of peace and remind us that, in the sacrifice of the men and women whose names are recorded here, there is faith enough for all of us.

Two things Bhutanese are notoriously known for are firstly unpredictability and secondly the BST which is Bhutan Stretchable Time. I spent the whole morning confirming the dinner tonight. The list says 30 and the attendance says otherwise.

It has been proven that Bhutanese are better crises solver than cautious managers. Hence, I am not stressed with the attendance. It is these qualities that makes us one happiest people in the world.

Good Evening.

On behalf of ABFA, I would like to welcome David to our kingdom.

Firstly, I take this opportunity to thank David for hosting this dinner and bringing us together. Given the similarities of the people of Australia and Bhutan, ABFA dinners have always been a place to enjoy simple yet soulful conversations reflecting the similar personalities of the people.

The Bhutanese know their alcohol well, in-fact too well judging from the numerous bars. They are gaining a reputation for their fine taste in wine - something which the Australia High Commission is responsible for. We just hope the High Commission will continue sustaining this expensive habit of ours.

We trust David's visit will further deepen the trust and understanding of the people of our two countries. Tonight, we will miss ambassador John Mcarthy's company. It is no secret that Bhutan has a special place in his heart.

We hope David's too gets bitten by this bug and hope he will plan for a longer visit in the near future. Lastly, I like to inform you all that in continuation of the tradition of observing ANZAC Day we have arranged for butter lighting ceremony on 25 April 07 in Changangkha monastery in Thimphu.

Finally, I would like to request David to say a few words.

Tashi Delek

This special conference was designed to introduce and stimulate cross-cultural conversation on the human quest for happiness, covering topics on science, philosophy, religion and applied practice, particularly in the mental health areas. For the two afternoon plenary sessions we are honoured to have a faculty of esteemed and well-recognised people in their own fields from Bhutan, United Kingdom and Australia (see Invited Faculty below). A feature of the plenary sessions is that they will be open to invited local health workers from Bhutan (who are offered complimentary, free-of-charge places to the conference and dinner) as well as participants from the visiting workshop/study tour, hopefully, creating a unique opportunity to mix and dialogue with international colleagues.

Conference participants from Bhutan and the study tour are also invited to the conference dinner for further conversation and sharing of mutual professional interests.

The Invited Faculty

Lopon Lungtaen Gyatso

Principal, Institute of Language and Cultural Studies, Simtokha Dzong

Professor Felicia Huppert

Felicia Huppert is Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge and Director of the Well-being Institute. She is interested in the life-course factors that make adults feel happy and fulfilled, in cross-national differences, and in the use of well-being interventions to improve the lives of children and adults.

Dasho Karma Ura

Director, Centre for Bhutan Studies, Thimphu

Dr Chencho Dorji

Chencho Dorji is a psychiatrist at the Jigme Dorji Wangchuk National Referral Hospital in Thimphu, Bhutan. He has recently received the honour of being awarded a Fullbright Scholarship to study in the USA.

George Burns

George is an Australian clinical psychologist in private practice. He is Director of the Milton H. Erickson Institute of Western Australia and the Hypnotherapy Centre of Western Australia as well as an adjunct senior lecturer at Edith Cowan University. He has published six books that have been translated into seven languages, one honoured with a foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Megan Ritchie

Megan is an Australian who has been living and working in Bhutan for the past three years. She works for an international NGO whose function is to assist The Royal Government of Bhutan in alleviating poverty. As a westerner living, working and loving in a Buddhist culture she has some unique insights into the daily challenges and blessings.

Conference Programme

Day One: Wednesday 18 April 2007

1330 Keynote 1 Professor Felicia Huppert The causes and consequences of happiness: What science tells us

This presentation will briefly summarise the results of recent experimental and survey research on the factors which influence our happiness, and the effect happiness can have on our lives. We will discuss methods for improving happiness at both an individual and population level, and there will be the opportunity to experience some brief interventions.

1500 Afternoon tea

1530 Presentation 1 Dr Chencho Dorji Applying Western Psychology concepts in Traditional Societies like Bhutan: Challenges and Opportunities.

Many rich traditions and practices in Bhutan promote happiness and well-being. Dr Chencho Dorji proposes that a spiritual dimension to health in general, and mental health in particular, will be valuable to understanding personal adversities and responding with equanimity to illness, disability and suffering.

1615 Presentation 2 Megan Ritchie

1700 Finish

1900 Conference dinner Bhutan Kitchen

Day Two: Thursday 19 April 2007

1330 Keynote 2 Lopon Lungtaen Gyatso

1500 Afternoon tea

1530 Presentation 3 George Burns Nature, Health and Happiness: Expanding therapeutic horizons and practice

Presenting multi-disciplinary research linking nature, health and happiness, this talk takes a challenging look at the basis of therapy, shifting the therapeutic paradigm that sees the client as an independent entity to one that views the person as an interactive element of the total ecology. You will be shown some step-by-step therapeutic applications in an experiential way.

1615 Presentation 4 Dasho Karma Ura An approach towards Gross National Happiness indicators

Presenting an overview of the current work being done on GNH index development by the Centre for Bhutan Studies, this talk discusses the various domains that fall under it: psychological wellbeing, health, education, cultural resilience, living standards, ecology, community vitality, good governance, and time-use.

1700 Finish

Only 9 altogether, which included 5 year old Tenzin - but it is always a treat to get together now and then. Unfortunately last time a lunch was arranged it turned out to be a 43 degree day in Murray Bridge where we met - our Bhutanese friends seemed to survive the heat better than those of us who had grown up in it!!! We now check the weather forecast beforehand if possible!

Although a small group in South Australia - we are happy to assist anyone who ventures this way.

Zhabdrung and the Jesuit priests

Following is a close-up of the Zhabdrung Thongdroel in Punakha dzong.

The 17th century saw the invention of ice cream, unprecedented growth of English literature, advancement of science, and the building of the Taj Mahal.

For Bhutan the period was one of unification and the emergence as a nation state under Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the founder of Bhutan.

The only available written Western account of this era during the time of the Zhabdrung is the notes of Father Stephen Cacella S.J, one of the two Portuguese Jesuit Priests, who passed through Bhutan in 1627.

Father Stephen Cacella S.J notes on Bhutan were recorded, "from the house of the king (Zhabdrung), on 4th October 1627." The notes bear the caption "From the kingdom of Cambirasi (Bhutan)".

These notes, which remained buried in the archives of the Italian Vatican for over three centuries before it was translated, provide an insight into the little known personal life of Zhabdrung.

The notes also reveal the dedication of the Jesuit priests to introduce Christianity and in particular their quest to change the faith of Zhabdrung.

Father Stephen Cacella S.J and Father Cabral were the first Europeans to enter to Bhutan, Sikkim, Central Tibet and Nepal.

Founded in 1540 by an injured Spaniard military officer, the philosophy of the Jesuit order stressed on values much the same as the Gross National Happiness. The Jesuits were known for their motivation to travel, learn and teach in greater Asia. It took the death of two priests to further inspire these two young Portuguese priests to venture into the heart of the Himalayas. Wessels in his book entitled "Early Jesuit Travellers in Central Asia", records in detail their challenging journey including their north bound journey from Cochin on 30 April 1626. Some believe that the priests were despatched to the area in search of the lost Far East tribe or grouping of Christians referred to as ‘Cathai’.

After a series of false starts, the two priests departed Cooch Behar for Bhutan on Sunday 21 February 1627. They journey through the mountains infested with robbers and the intrigue of the local leaders to reach Paro on March 25, 1627 where they were amazed at the sophistication of irrigation channels and architecture.

On April 5, 1627 the priests leave Paro to receive a warm traditional reception and their first audience with Zhabdrung. "We found him in another tent, richly ornamented with silk. The king (Zhabdrung) was sitting on a high seat, clothed in red silk embroidered with gold."

This was probably the first time Zhabdrung met a foreigner, "Never any foreigners had come in those mountains and nobody remembered having seen any."

A monk from Tsaparang who spoke some Hindustani was the interpreter for the long laborious conversations that were held every day. Zhabdrung, impressed with the Jesuits motivation to exchange ideas assigned the Tsaparang lama and, "urged us to study the language so we could speak with him clearly."

At that time of the Jesuit’s visit, Zhabdrung was "33 years old" and called the "Dharma Raja". He was both "together the king and the Head Lama of this kingdom of Cambirasi (Bhutan)".

The notes carefully record Zhabdrung’s personal life including his dietary habit, "he is not eating rice, meat, fish but only milk and fruits." It seems that Zhabdrung is worried about a relative who is kept in captivity due to repeated grave offence. Zhabdrung says that, "he wants to give him his freedom, not having the heart to give him another punishment."

The priests learn that Zhabdrung had just completed his three-year retreat. "During this retreat he stayed in a small house built on the very steep side of one mountain, he did not see and was not seen by anyone. He was receiving his food by means of two ropes which were descending from his hut to the house lower below, without speaking to anybody." Zhabdrung’s description of the retreat in present day Cheri monastery has been recorded as, "he said that he was passing his time praying and when resting occupied himself by painting images, still preserved." Zhabdrung took particular pride in an image sculpted in white sandal wood. He took, "great pride in this gift of painting" and tried to copy the image of S. Raphael.

The priest travelled with Zhabdrung and his retinue of 100 Guelongs (monks) for two months. During the travels they lived in tents and could access many villages. Zhabdrung’s Guelongs distinguished themselves from other lamas because they, "keep the celibacy, are eating only once, just after midday, are not taking rice, meat or fish, nor wine." The priests observed that the monks spent major part of the day and night in prayers.

The travel ends in his place of retreat which is also his house and residence of his monks. Zhabdrung’s house has been described inhabitable by modern definitions which was built for strategic reasons.

The notes further emphasize the political intrigue and differences Zhabdrung had with his rival claimant. The spot was chosen, "in order to defend himself against another king, who is living at a distance of eight days journey. He is called Deb Tsangpo, he is the most powerful king of Potente (Tibet), Tsang and is making war to the king of Bhutan since a few years because he is refusing one of the bones of his deceased father, which he is asking very pressingly. The king himself is saying this and for this reason he had to renounce to inhabit one of his cities beautiful and big, named Ralung, a distance of 5 days journey from here."

After returning from the tour, in what may be modern day Cheri monastery, Zhabdrung accepts and attends the invitation of the priests to attend the feast of St. Ignatius. He is accompanied by "an old lama, his teacher for whom he has strong veneration, and by other lamas."

Zhabdrung’s subject had great reverence for him who practiced the phowa rituals. "All have a great esteem for the king and the great lama and give the part of their goods in order to be sent by him to heaven after their death." Phowa is a simple Buddhist ceremony to transfer the consciousness after death.

The priest record this ceremony as follows: "When one is near to his last breath the king is called to come to assist him by his prayers and as soon as he dies, the king is pulling the hairs of his head, accomplishing for him this great work of mercy which is called sending the soul to heaven." The priests preached Zhabdrung about the life of Jesus Christ which Zhabdrung showed, "great pleasure in hearing it." However, "realizing that between himself and us, there was a great difference regarding the truth of faith", the priest’s propose to exit the nation. Even with Zhabdrung’s support of 2 monks aged 12 and 19 and with a promise of an adult who would become Christians, the Jesuits fail in their mission and exit the nation.

Zhabdrung’s main revenue is the voluntary contribution of his people. As a Buddhist king he is, "especially preoccupied not to offend anyone" allowing many liberties and freedom. "Many times, the King is speaking for his lamas said that though they are most submissive everyone is his own master to do what he likes."

"The lamas do not carry weapons cut their hair short, some, but few let their beard grow. The king has a beard, big, and reaching to the belt. Generally he has it enveloped in a piece of silk. He has long hair of about 3’8". It seems that he is proud of them and carry them as a sign of nobility."

It also appears that Zhabdrung was obsessed with his heir when the priest says, "But he says that he will cut them as soon as he has a son to succeed him on the throne; then he would retire and forsake the world as he does not want that the death should surprise him with them, as it has happened to a king, his predecessor, causing a great scandal to everyone."

The monks during that time were not much different from monks we know. "The lamas are clothed in a vest which cover their chest, letting their arms uncovered. All the rest of the body is covered with a great piece of cloth which they never take out."

A truncated version of a chapter from the upcoming book, "Beckoning Bold Bhutan", by Tim Fischer and Tshering Tashi.

"There's still a little snow this morning on the hills around Thimphu, it's very quiet at the dzong - only a single person there sweeping the front steps, all looks peaceful and happy." writes Christine McMahon, Country Director for SNV Bhutan and SNV Bangladesh.

The following anonymous poem was also posted by Tashi Wangchuk.

I wish you health,

I wish you wealth,

I wish you gold in store;

What else can I wish you more.

- Anon

Tshering Tashi added, "All my best wishes for another year of good living minus toothaches, heartbreaks and empty pockets!! Happy Losar"

Another student, Karma, studying at Orange in Central Western New South Wales, also said "My good wishes to all for a Happy Year of the Pig". Hopefully we will consume much much less of them."

All the Bhutanese students living in WA (except two) attended, therefore we had about 32 students and some friends and family of mine.

With an introduction to BBQ ettiquite held, most of the 'blokes' became familiar with holding a pair of BBQ tongs in one hand and a drink in the other whilst turning sausuges on the BBQ and talking about 'bloke things'.

The women on the other hand took rest and chatted amongst themselves.

It was a very hot day, with 40 degrees recorded at 6pm. However with the BBQ starting at this time, there was a breeze starting and it did cool us down a little. The BBQ was very relaxing and capped off with a spectacular fireworks display held as part of Australia Day celebrations that could be seen from our very good vantage point at Lake Monger. (Yes, Lake Monger.. similar to Mongar right?).

Everyone enjoyed themselves, and we are now looking forward to gathering for Losar celebrations on 18 February, and for another ABFA function to be held before Easter.

The way Bhutan is developing its democracy and the institutions that support a more liberal society is a model for many states. His Majesty's leadership is also a rare display of wisdom among leaders today.

"In this regard my salute of His Majesty the King of Bhutan in his step yesterday towards the elevation of the Crown Prince. Always His Majesty is ahead of the game, thinking years ahead on a wide canvas of critical issues." added Tim.

"Secondly my salute of SIR Kinley Dorji and hir Red Scarf, very well deserved for this hard working graduate of Charles Sturt University Bathurst NSW (Media School), a kindly but very dedicated man." Tim then said.

"Finally my best wishes to all students from Bhutan down under. Dare I say, your challenge is to match Kinley Dorji in your careers through determination and dedication." he added.

Tim concluded his remarks with "May I take this opportunity of wishing everyone "Greetings of the Season'", all the best for 2007 and I recall how quick 2006 has gone with our Prime Minister being introduced by Consul General Cathy Harris to Tshering Tashi on the second day of 2006 at the SCG, twelve months ago already almost but seemingly yesterday."

While there were less people and children than last year, the chapter looks forward to welcoming more Bhutanese students and their families in the coming months. Future activities discussed and planned include a trip to Healsville Sanctuary and some Yarra Valley wineries.

Sonam Tashi, a student studying Masters of Agriculture wrote of the night, "On behalf of the Bhutanese in here is a big 'Thank You' to Vic ABFA Chapter for making the National Day celebration at the Royal Botanic Garden a success....if only the Garden's gate had not shut down at 9 p.m. (is what many of us felt inside)!.....In the days to come, many of us will look back to it and cherish the good and fun time we shared."

Many thanks to all who attended - it was a wonderful evening!

Some photos taken at the Royal Botanic Gardens during the afternoon can be found at the following link.

ABFA Melbourne Chapter members celebrate National Bhutan Day 2006

AUSTRALIA BRITAIN TO FOLLOW?

Given the longer life span of the female over the male, most Monarchies have had plenty of Queen Mothers over the centuries, but a serious thing happened in Bhutan two weeks ago, the first King Father was created.

The tiny Kingdom of Bhutan located between the giants of India and China/ Tibet, has taken a bold step forward, when the fourth King of Bhutan Jigme Singye Wangchuck, stuck by his word and handed over the responsibilities of Monarch and Head of State to his capable son.

Crown Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck has overnight become the fifth Druk Gyalpo or King of Bhutan, a small but successful Kingdom that is just coming up to its 100th Anniversary as a Kingdom or Monarchy.

Given the fact the fourth King served for 34 years without break, and is the father of the new King, it can now be said Jigme Singye Wangchuk is the King Father. Most Monarchies pass down the generations on the death of the King or Queen, so he is the first King Father in decades, but not the first in the world.

Two relatively recent examples, last century after WW II, King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and King Leopold III of Belgium were both King Fathers, having abdicated in favour of their sons, in the case of Italy the throne being abolished not long after, dare it be said in favour of revolving Presidents and Prime Ministers.

When King Edward the VIII abdicated the British throne, his father was dead one year, likewise Prince Albert died well before the death of Queen Victoria, but technically Prince Albert would not have been a King Father, even if he had outlived Queen Victoria.

Charles, Prince of Wales, could elect to do a year on the throne when and if he makes it, and then voluntarily abdicate, thus becoming a King Father as well. Alternatively Charles might decline to accept the throne or may pre-decease his mother, but both scenarios are unlikely and recently his courtiers affirmed it will be King Charles and also his wife, Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall, will definitely be Queen. Thus as things stand, it will then be Camilla, Queen of Australia!

VITAL TRANSFER

Is all of this important, in the case of Bhutan it is absolutely vital as Bhutan remains under subtle pressure from its giant neighbours, both of whom centuries ago claimed sovereignty over the beautiful medicine valleys of the Himalaya, namely Bhutan.

Smooth generational transfer of the Bhutanese Monarchy has weighed heavily on the thinking of the wise leaders of Bhutan, especially the outgoing King. He brilliantly led his Kingdom towards modernisation and led his army successfully against the Assam rebels or Indian militants, who threatened to swamp southern Bhutan at the start of the 21st century and posed a grave threat to Bhutan’s sovereignty.

His Majesty, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck also created the concept of Gross National Happiness, not as some vague feel good dogma for meditation, but as a serious attempt to ensure Government policies reached beyond the fiscal to ensure general well-being and happiness. It is based on four pillars, carefully worked out pillars to give Gross National Happiness great depth and is now used by Indigo Shire based at Beechworth in NE Victoria.

The concept is being taken up worldwide, especially in Canada, which has introduced Gross National Happiness in the form of an Index, a quarterly Index timed to match the four seasons.

Bhutan faces further changes, Constitutional changes in 2008 at the urging of the fourth King. He brought an end to the Absolute Monarchy of Bhutan in 1998 and now wants to see Bhutan go further down the path of an enlightened democratic Constitutional Monarchy, geared for the challenges of the small kingdom with its high mountains and beautiful and productive valleys.

Bhutan’s economy is not a basket case with its millions of dollars of export hydro power and also millions of mandarins dominating export performance, along with the vigorous Himalayan potato. The potato crop was introduced by the British Diplomat and Sub-Continent wanderer George Bogle, over two hundred years ago around 1774, and now results in many gourmet potato dishes along with rice dishes being readily available.

The potato is also is a big export crop for Bhutan, due to its new breeds of potato featuring hybrid vigour and protein, all of this helped by the CGIAR movement and the International Potato Centre in Peru, cross breeding various potato breeds collected from around the World, for growth and vitality.

Over the centuries, Bhutan has had plenty of problems, invasion from Tibet to mention one big one, but with the template of a King Father, who gets on well with his well educated son, they actually enjoy talking to each other, all bodes well for the future.

Any troubles that may happen will not spring from the King Father, the fourth King, or from his son, the fifth King or current King, but most likely from elsewhere. Recently China makes roads along the Bhutan Tibetan border, and in 2005 even built roads on the Bhutan side of the border, on Bhutanese land, but happily this has now ceased!

So hail to their Majesties, the King Father and his son the King of Bhutan, now if only the rest of the world was as happy and peaceful and prosperous as Bhutan at the start of 2007.

Copyright T A Fischer © Tim Fischer 2006

The fourth Druk Gyalpo, His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck, has handed over his responsibilities as the Monarch and head of state of Bhutan to the Crown Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck who now assumes the full responsibilities of head of state as the fifth Druk Gyalpo.

The time has now come for me to hand over my responsibilities to Trongsa Penlop Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck," said His Majesty in a kasho issued on December 9, the 20th day of the 10th Bhutanese month. "I am confident that a very bright future lies ahead for Bhutan with the leadership of a new King and a democratic system of government that is best suited for our country as enshrined under the Constitution. I have every confidence that there will be unprecedented progress and prosperity for our nation in the reign of our fifth King."

As the transition was formally announced on December 14, the 24th day of the 10th Bhutanese month, the day was charged with emotion, and a special sitting of the Cabinet in Tashichhodzong was unable to articulate a comprehensive discussion. Cabinet members and special guests that included the chief justice, the speaker of the National Assembly, and the chief election commissioner were overcome by emotion and sat in a long and stunned silence after His Majesty the King's announcement.

With a clarity that has been consistent in the royal views, His Majesty reminded the Cabinet session that he had already announced the decision to the nation last December and repeated it many times to the lhengye zhungtsho.

His Majesty explained that Bhutan could not hope for a better time for such an important transition. Today, the country enjoyed peace and stability, and its security and sovereignty was ensured. After phenomenal development and progress the country was closer than ever to the goal of economic self reliance. Bhutan's relations with its closest neighbour and friend, India, had reached new heights. International organisations and bilateral development partners were ready to support Bhutan's development efforts and political transformation.

The red scarf is the equivalent of a knighthood from the King.

Dasho Kinley Dorji

Dasho Kinley Dorji has a master of science in journalism from Columbia University, New York. In 1986, he started Kuensel as an official newspaper and worked as the editor of Kuensel. He became the managing director of the Kuensel corporation which became an independent corporation in 1992 and continued as editor in chief of the newspaper.

Speaking to BBS Dasho Kinley Dorji said that this was an award for Bhutanese journalism, entire media industry and media professionals in Bhutan. "Basically, in the past the red scarf is so significant for society and largely connected with the officialdom," he said, "and it is an award not just for what is happening now but what is going to happen in the future, all the political changes."

He said that this was the message received from the King that media had a very important role to play.

Dasho Pema Thinley

Dasho Pema Thinley is from Mongar. He was appointed as the education secretary in 2003. Over a career spanning about three decades, he has served in various capacities. Before he was appointed as the education secretary, Dasho Pema Thinley served as the director general of the Education Department.

He has a master's degree in education and curriculum from the University of New England, Australia. Dasho Pema Thinley was conferred an honorary Doctorate of Education by the same University in 2004.

"This is an honour bestowed to all the teachers and all the educationists, right from the community school teachers, to the Minister of Education, and I think this is an expression through me," said Dasho Pema Thinley.

"Congratulations Kinley and well deserved." wrote Cathy Harris, the honorary consul for Bhutan.

Michelle Hogan also extended hearty Australian congratulations to all, and particularly to Kinley Dorji, as the ABFA Director (and MD of Kuensel).

"As a journalist and writer I was doubly happy with the King honouring Bhutan's first journalist, Editor-in-Chief Kinley Dorji (Director ABFA) and novellist Karma Ura." wrote Dorji Wangchuk.

"The journalist fraternity met and drank and sang and danced till late into the evening at Dasho Kinley's house. The pleasant thing was the get-together was unplanned. But we all found ourselves there and realised we had all come with the same feeling - one of us now being honoured for the very first time." said Dorji.

"The same thing, I believe, although I didn't see it, Dasho Kinley mentioned in his statement to the press. And that the honour conferred on him is an honour to media and the role it will play in our society" added Dorji.

It is the 'Graduate Diploma or Master of Arts' in the Research School of Humanities at ANU by coursework, or a research degree.

If you are interested in museum studies, please contact the Research School of Humanities via the following page link:

ANU - Research School of Humanities

Another subject highly recommended to Bhutanese is the 'International Instruments for Heritage Protection HAND8010', run by two Cultural Heritage Lawyers with extensive experience working for UNESCO. There are many issues discussed that have particular relevance for Bhutan, for example: World Heritage sites and associated issues such as with tourism, prevention of illicit trafficking of cultural heritage, and intangible cultural heritage. In 2006 there was a student studying from Kabul, Afghanistan - using a computer hooked up to a generator!

Here is the link for further information:

International Instruments for Heritage Protection HAND8010

The scholarships would be spread over five years with two scholarships a year.

Of the 10 scholarships five would be in the field of environmental sciences where interested Bhutanese students could study environmental management, policies, education and urban and regional planning.

The other five would be left to the Bhutanese government to decide its priorities in any of the suitable fields in which Griffith University has post graduate studies.

According to the dean of faculty of environmental sciences in Griffith University, Professor Lex Brown, who signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Royal Civil Service Commission secretary, Dasho Bap Kesang, the university was asking for an emphasis in environmental sciences.

"Now environmental matters are much broader, they really concern the sustainability of societies and sustainable development," said Professor Brown.

Professor Brown said that their university already had six Bhutanese students studying in Griffith University on half-tuition-fee scholarships.

He said that Bhutan got a significant proportion of the small amounts of money for scholarships the Griffith University provided from their budget over the next five years. Every time the Bhutanese government sent at least four students to the university fully sponsored by other donor agencies, the university would take in one more on full scholarship.

"That is because of the special development approach that is being taken in Bhutan, its concepts of a sustainable society," said Professor Brown. "These things certainly attracted our university to assist Bhutan with the scholarships."

The scholarship arrangements Professor Brown said was just an attachment to the memorandum. "It is much broader enabling other forms of cooperation such as exchange of academic staff, executive short courses in either of the two countries and research activities," Professor Brown told Kuensel.

The University has nearly 30,000 undergraduate students and over 20 percent are international students from more than 105 countries.

Kuzuzangpo,

1. For those of you, who are attending ABFA dinner for the first time, you may feel a bit awkward when His Excellency, the Ambassador is addressed as John. Just to let you know that in keeping with John's wishes we have done away with the formalities and ever since we have known the Ambassador by his first name and all our gatherings have been informal, candid, yet comfortable.

2. In the past the ABFA dinners have not only been a place where you can be guaranteed to be served the finest wine, but also a forum for like minded people to meet, even more importantly a place where hearts could meet, and a venue where the relationship between the people of Australia and Bhutan has been fostered.

3. ABFA was formed in the Bhutanese new Year Losar of 2003 in Thimphu, where Tim Fischer was finishing a trek in Gasa. I sometimes wonder if ABFA was a product of effect of the altitude.

4. Tonight, is without a doubt the largest gathering of Aussie's in Thimphu.

5. I have the pleasure to announce that as of now, ABFA has chapters in 6 states of Australia. All are active, some more so than others.

6. In New South Wales, an ABFA chapter is active in Sydney, Byron Bay and Armidale, Albury Wodonga, and there are also active ABFA chapters in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, Queensland and in Canberra. Each chapter has a convener and co-convener with a board whose functions are directed by the ABFA objectives.

7. The highlight for ABFA in 2005 was a gathering of more than 100 people in the Sydney harbour side residence of the honorary consul for Bhutan, Catherine Harris, to celebrate the 50th birthday anniversary of His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck.

During the celebration Tim, chairman of ABFA raised a toast to mark the occasion and noted the King's humility and promotion of a balance in life as a model for citizens in the West.

Tim, who is also chairman of Tourism Australia, then joked of the trouble he was facing from fellow board members for his promotion of Bhutan. But he said there were benefits coming back to Australia from his work: local Australian governments are now developing a Gross National Happiness index, which is currently running at a very contented range of 70 per cent.

8. It may be noted that Australia is one of the first countries to adopt GNH and may be the first to have a GNH index.

9. All the ABFA chapters have been active, from welcoming and bidding farewell to Bhutanese students to arranging invitations to Toad Hall in Canberra, to organizing a Bhutanese night in Byron Bay, having a Bhutan Room at Kosciuszko Education Centre, several restaurant nights in Victoria, a moon lit picnic in Adelaide, to organizing weekend trips along the Great Ocean Road. So far, ABFA has not had the opportunity of helping Bhutanese recovering from binge drinking and hope it does not have to.

10. Bhutan ABFA continues the tradition of lighting butter lamps in a monastery on ANZAC day and celebrating Australia Day and hosting and helping the increasing visiting Australians.

11. Tonight, I take the opportunity to apprise John that one of the problems raised in ABFA meetings has been related to visas that have often delayed students and worst lead to cancellation of their studies.

12. I have the pleasure to inform that as the Director of the ABFA I have had the honour of watching cricket with the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard. Sitting close to the Prime Minister, for a whole day, never in my life have I watched cricket so carefully and keenly. It was also my pleasure to join 89,000 Aussies at the Sydney Telstra Stadium to watch the Soceroos play Uruguay in the World Cup football qualifiers.

13. From witnessing these sports I learnt that Australians put their heart and soul into anything they do - and they like to win. Close Australian friends of mine admitted that they are not very good losers.

14. During the recent football World Cup, in the true spirit and fashion of Australia, ABFA members watched and supported the soceroos play live in a bar in Thimphu.

15. To further cement relationship between the two countries, there have been high level visits by the Bhutan Minister for Education, Lyonpo Thinley Gyamtsho, and the Secretary for RCSC. During the visit Lyonpo Thinley officially launched the Armidale ABFA Chapter. In his address at the inaugural meeting, he said: "We have had over 130 of our teachers come here to Armidale to be trained in the one teacher multi grade teaching system. They have played very important roles in the universalisation of primary education in Bhutan by taking up teaching in some of our remotest schools located among some of the most difficult terrains in the Himalayas.

16. Bhutan has been gaining good publicity in Australia and ever since the ABC Foreign Correspondent programe in 2004. Many other media have followed suit. On 21st September, lot of well wishers and friends of Bhutan watched with excitement as Bhutan featured as a Getaway destination on Channel Nine. We hope this media coverage will help bring more Australian tourists to Bhutan.

17. As a result of the publicity, we have had a few Australians stray in the mountains of Bhutan: the number of Australian tourist arrivals has increased from 315 in 2004 to 458 in 2005 and to date in 2006 we have had 390. Visiting dignitaries include the Pro Vice Chancellor and Vice Chancellors of UNE and the Armidale Convener Tom Maxwell. Also expected is a visit by Catherine Harris with a group of eminent business personalities and lawyers.

18. The exchange of visit has always been fruitful in more ways than one. Cathy hopes to create sister city links between Blue Mountains in NSW and Trongsa. During her visit she will also donate books and other relevant materials to schools. Also expected are the Wollemi pines that Australia so brilliantly revived and we hope it will survive here.

19. This year Bhutan has attracted its fair share of Australian personalities, scholars and internationally-reputed artists the likes of Tony Grey and Andrew Rogers. Tony, a celebrated businessman by profession, and an author by interest said: "In the west we have advanced so much, we were able to send men to the moon, but people are looking for something, there is void." Tony's journey to Bhutan was to look for that something which he knew lay in the mountains of Bhutan and in the hearts of the people who dwelled there. His findings will accumulate in a book called the "The Seven Most Spiritual Places in the World", Bhutan being one of them. Keep an eye on it.

20. As a follow up of Bhutan's first ever home one day international cricket match that was played last year with the visiting Guild Cricket Club from Melbourne, there is news that the Guild Cricket Club will launch a documentary called the "Backyarders" soon.

21. Just this morning, John, who is visiting his sister-in law, made a presentation at REWA, an NGO in Thimphu set up by recovering addicts to help people like themselves. Likewise, last week Megan Ritchie's brother and his mate who were in town donated 5 rugby balls to a Thimphu school and also coached the students. This is an indicator that Australians are taking sincere interest in Bhutan and its people. The Australian Government has acknowledged such interest by awarding the Order of Australia to Cathy for her role in helping Bhutanese in Australia amongst many other things.

22. Ladies and gentlemen,

23. From all this it is clear that Australia-Bhutan bilateral relations have progressed from very modest beginnings to today's very active and full cooperation. Until the 1960's, Bhutan lived in a self-imposed isolation. Bhutan saw its first international exposure in 1962 at The Colombo Plan Meeting held in Melbourne, Australia. Bhutanese have a number of quirky habits, traditions and beliefs which the West are seeing wisdom in, and one such belief is in omens. The Melbourne Colombo Plan Meeting was indeed very auspicious because we have never looked back since then in our efforts to end isolation, modernization, adopt changes keeping with time and building relationships with other countries and playing our small part in international affairs.

24. Even before the establishment of diplomatic relations, Australia has always been a strong supporter of Bhutan's endeavour to end its isolation and improve the livelihoods of our people. Although Australia's assistance to Bhutan covers many sectors, education today forms the cornerstone of the relationship between the two countries. Since the 1960's, 920 Bhutanese have received education in Australia through programmes like the Colombo Plan and AusAID. Many of them today hold very senior positions, (sometimes referred to as the "Australian Mafia") both in the Royal Government and other sections of our society.

25. Our parents and grandparents still remember fondly of the International trucks that that were provided by Australia in the early 1960's.

26. We hope as Bhutan prepares itself to embrace constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy we hope Australia and its people will continue to support us and further strengthen the relations between the people of our two countries.

27. Lastly, on behalf of the ABFA, I would like to:

28. Express our profound gratitude to the government and people of Australia for their openhearted all around assistance to Bhutan since 1962.

29. Thank John for his keen interest in Bhutan which grows by the day and also thank him for tonight's dinner. The tenure of John as Ambassador, saw an increase in the aid to Bhutan and in 2006-07 $2.3 million Australian dollars have been committed.

30. We would like to thank Megan Jones for all her help in supporting ABFA.

31. Thank all the people responsible for promoting Australia-Bhutan Friendship Associations, in particular, Tim Fischer, Catherine Harris in Sydney, Ray Marcello in Canberra, Wendy, Dylan, Katie Andrew and Jenny in Adelaide, Simon Wallis, Barb Green, John, Penny and Hardy in Victoria, Dr. Piyoosh, Dr Kamal and Baba in Queensland, Emma Lees in Sydney, Dr. George Burns in Perth, Jim and Jenny in Albury Wodonga, Suellen in Byron Bay, Tom in Armidale and many more.

32. I know I have a captivated audience but I will not take advantage of this nor push my luck too far. Tashi Delek.

33. Now I will request John to say a few words.

The following comments were received in support of Tshering's speech by various ABFA members:

"Tshering - Thankyou, it was a great speech you gave; you were able to make apparent the many varied links and connections between us all." wrote Emma Lees.

"It is always interesting to see also the observations other people make of the 'Australian culture'. I guess we are pretty sport-mad!" Emma added.

"I too was at the Australia-Uruguay game, and never have I experienced such hype, atmosphere and national pride." said Emma.

"Hi Tshering, read with interest your speech. Who is your speech writer? He or she has done an excellent job. Incidentally whilst noting your comments on cricket and rugby wonder how many people know that the cricket coach of Bhutan is from Australia. We might be able to get some sponsorship which is badly needed for cricket in Bhutan." wrote Baba Sourjah from Queensland.

"Dear Tshering, as one of the newest arrivals from Australia (end of July 2006), I very much appreciate your message and hope to contribute to the good relations between our two countries during my time living here." said Christine McMahon.

"Your words are great, well done and Bhutan is even known about here in Argentina, where I am addressing a Conference!" added Tim Fischer.

"Well done Tshering! What a speech, I hope to see some of you during my whirl wind trip next week." said Cathy Harris.

"Fine words! It's very encouraging to hear that the Thimphu dinner went well and relations on many fronts continue to deepen." concluded Ray Marcelo.

The Endeavour Postgraduate Awards provide full financial support for international students for up to 3.5 years to undertake a postgraduate qualification at a masters level or higher either by coursework or research in any field of study in Australia, which includes a semester of English language training (if required).

Up to 200 Endeavour Postgraduate Awards will be available over the next five years (2007 to 2011) (up to 40 each year).

Endeavour International Postgraduate Research Scholarships

The Endeavour IPRS programme provides approximately 330 new scholarships each year and enables international students to undertake a postgraduate research qualification in Australia and gain experience with leading Australian researchers.

Scholarships are open to international students of all countries (except New Zealand) and are available for a period of two years for a Masters by research degree or three years for a Doctorate by research degree. The Scholarship covers tuition fees and health cover costs for Scholarship holders, and health cover costs for their dependants. (It should be noted that the Endeavour IPRS programme is undergoing review in 2006 which may result in changes for 2007.)

More information on both of these scholarships is available at

Summary of Endeavour Awards

The contact at the High Commission is Professor John Webb, Counsellor (Education and Science.

Australian Development Scholarships

The Australian Development Scholarship program is administered by AusAID. For Bhutan, applications are made through the Royal Civil Service Commission - applications are not accepted from individuals.

For more information on these scholarships, please see

Australian Development Scholarships

or contact Mr K Pradeep, Country Manager, AusAID.

Despite the injured (left) leg, THANK YOU Simon for making time for us, wrote Sonam. Thank you too, to the rest of the members of ABFA Victoria Chapter for making the memorial trip possible.

Apparently, the weather on the first day was not on our side. Yet the intermittent cold rain and gloomy sky didn't deter us from hiking (and often running) to the fringes of the awesome vistas of the vast open Great Southern Ocean - that appears endless and seems to touch the far corners of the skies. Admidst the high and constantly pounding waves we gazed with fascination at the amazingly solid remnants of pedestal-like sand stone monoliths. Some of these are called the "12 Apostles", whilst the others, which are still conjoined on the upper surface, supposedly resemble London Bridge. Some years down the line, the bridging top surface will eventually be eroded by the waters, like the rest of the current apostles, and then it may have to be re-christened something other than London Bridge - maybe "20+ Apostles"?!!!

For some AFTER, and for some IN THE MIDST OF, a rigorous academic session, the trip came as a well-deserved balm to soothe our thumping heavy heads. And for the kids, notwithstanding the slight car-sickness, it was a yet another chapter of new sights, sounds and experiences rolled up in one picnic-like drive-away.

Among other beautiful memories, one that deserves mention, is the unusually peaceful rest in homely Port Campbell YHA Hostel. With its spacious areas and well maintained facilities including cooking amenities, it caters for a true "home away from home" experience and hence, those planning a visit to that part of the world may like to take note of this hostel that comes at a very cheap price of only $22 per head.

Other memories to be cherished are better captured in the attached photos. It would be interesting if other members could also take some time to share theirs and 'showcase their photography skills' writes Sonam.

The trip occurred on the weekend of July 8th and July 9th, 2006 with about 11 Bhutanese students and 2 Australian members.

ABFA Co-Chair, Dr. Tim Fischer, AC, was unable to join in, but sent his congratulations on the initiative, and also asked to pass on his regards and greetings to the Bhutanese.

This award is the second highest given in Australia. We are so proud of her. Here is the citation in the paper:

Ms Catherine Mary HARRIS, Sydney Markets, NSW. For service to community development through leadership roles in organisations related to education, health care, advancement of the status of women, the Catholic Church, the arts and sport, and to international relations between Australia and Asia, particularly support for Bhutanese people living in Australia.

"Congratulations and Tashi Delek to Cathy for a well deserved honour. It will indeed be a proud moment for Bhutan as well." wrote Sonam Tobgay, from ANU in Canberra.

The Order of Australia award is in addition to the Public Service Medal awarded to Cathy in 2000 and the Centenary Medal awarded in 2001.

King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, great-grandson of Bhutan's first hereditary monarch and once the world's youngest King (when he came to power in 1972), rules his people more in the spirit of Buddha than of more worldly princes. To this day there is not a traffic light in the Himalayan kingdom, by law everyone must wear traditional 14th century clothing and the number of tourists allowed into the country over the past 10 years is lower than the number of fans who pile into a college football game. Television and the Internet have, it is true, arrived with the 21st century, and a few superluxe hotels are now coming up around Bhutan, but what hits you when you touch down in its only airport is the silence.

Almost 30 years ago, long before "positive psychology" became a boom in the West, King Jigme, now 50, suggested that nations be measured by "gross national happiness"; the rich are not always happy, after all, while the happy generally consider themselves rich. Four months ago, he launched an even more radical idea: self-deposition. To urge his people toward independence, he announced that he would step down two years from now (his son would officially take over) and that his country would hold its first national democratic elections.

King Jigme - who gave up absolute power in 1998 and last year sent every household in the land a new draft constitution that allowed for his impeachment - is setting a quietly revolutionary precedent. If most politicians are inherently suspect because they seem so eager to grab power and so reluctant to surrender it, what does one make of a leader who voluntarily gives up his position, as if placing his people's needs before his own?

Iyer writes often on Asia, and this article can be found at the following Time magazine link.

Time Magazine - The People Who Shape Our World

Following is the address by Lyonpo Thinley Gyamtsho, Education Minister, RGoB, at the Official Launch of the Australia-Bhutan Friendship Association, Armidale Chapter (5th April, 2006).

Professor Pettigrew, Tom Maxwell, Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The last time I was in Armidale was in 1991, exactly 15 years ago, as the then Director General of Education of my country. We had then only one Bhutanese student at the UNE and I was told that, after her, I was the only second Bhutanese ever to visit Armidale. I remember then at the Annual Dinner of the Earl Page College, where I was invited as the Guest of Honour, I had expressed the wish that one day we would have many Bhutanese students studying here at the UNE.

I am very happy to be back today at Armidale, especially knowing that my wish of 1991 had come true and then being asked to officially launch today the Armidale Chapter of Australia-Bhutan Friendship Association.

During these 15 years, we have to date 92 students who have studied at the UNE, including 4 at the Doctorate level. All of them are today back in Bhutan serving our education system very well. Besides, distance and remoteness are the two common features between an Australian "bush" school and a Bhutanese mountain school. Therefore, following my last visit to Armidale in 1991, we have now successfully adopted the Australian one teacher multigrade teaching system of its remote schools for our mountain schools. To this end, we have over 130 of our teachers come here at Armidale and trained in one teacher multigrade teaching system. They have played very important roles in the universalization of primary education in Bhutan by taking up teachings in some of our remotest schools located amongst some of the most difficult terrains in the Himalayas.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Australia-Bhutan bilateral relations have also similarly progressed from very humble beginnings to today's very active and full cooperations. It may be mentioned that till the 1960(s), Bhutan was still the "Last Shangri-la" or the "Forbidden Kingdom" pursuing its centuries old policy of self imposed isolation. The Colombo Plan Meeting held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1962 was the first international meeting of any kind Bhutan had ever participated. We Bhutanese being Buddhists believe in good/bad omens, and the Melbourne Colombo Plan Meeting was indeed very auspicious because we have never looked back since then in our efforts to end isolation, modernization and building relationships with other countries and playing our small parts in the international affairs. We became a member of the United Nations in 1972 and, soon after, members of all its sister organizations and many other international organizations. We have now full diplomatic relations with over 30 countries, including Australia, with whom full diplomatic relations were established in 2002.

For many years and even before the establishment of diplomatic relations, Australia has been always a strong supporter of Bhutan in its endeavour to end isolation and improving the livelihoods of our people. Although Australia's assistance to Bhutan cover many sectors, education today forms the cornerstone of relationships between the two countries. I am told that since the 1960(s), there has been 920 Bhutanese who have received education in Australia through programmes like Colombo Plan and AusAID. Many of them today hold very senior positions both in the Royal Government and other sections of our society.

Private and non governmental efforts have been equally responsible for the friendship between our two countries. We have a very able and active Honorary Consul based in Sydney in the form of Catherine Harris of Harris Farm Markets. We have very dynamic Australia-Bhutan Friendship Associations under the able leadership of its Chairman, His Excellency Dr. Tim Fischer, AC, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, with chapters in each of the major Australian cities. Today, we add Armidale chapter to that growing list.

I am, therefore, very happy and deeply honoured to launch the Armidale chapter of the Australia-Bhutan Friendship Association. I bring with me to this happy occasion greetings from His Majesty our King, the government and the people of Bhutan. On this auspicious occasion, I, on behalf of the Royal Government and people of Bhutan would like to:

(1) Express our deep appreciations to the government and people of Australia for the generous all around assistance to Bhutan since that auspicious Colombo Plan Meeting in 1962.

(2) Thank all those people responsible for promoting Australia-Bhutan Friendship Associations, in particular, H.E. Dr. Tim Fischer AC, Catherine Harris in Sydney, Ray Marcelo in Canberra, Wendy Joyce Miller in Adelaide, Simon Wallis in Victoria, Dr. Piyoosh Kotecha in Queensland, Emma Lees in Glebe, Dr. George Burns in Perth, Jim Toole in Albury Wodonga, and many more, as well as Tshering Tashi for providing necessary coordinations from Bhutan.

(3) My special words of appreciation go to our friend, Tom Maxwell, here at the UNE for many of his untiring efforts towards promoting Australia-Bhutan Friendship, such as, organizing today's functions, his contributions to the Armidale Chapter of the Association, his special attention to the Bhutanese students studying here and for looking after me and my colleague during our present visit.

(4) Our special appreciations also go to Dr. Jim Irvine, former Principal of Earl Page College, who hosted me during my 1991 visit to Armidale and who later worked in Bhutan as our Education consultant. Jim was responsible for building the initial bridges between Bhutan and UNE by arranging to send the first few groups of Bhutanese students here.

(5) Above all, we thank you all, the lovely people of Armidale, for making here home away from home for many simple and rather shy Bhutanese students, for many of whom their journey to Armidale would be their first journey outside their immediate neighbourhood in the Himalayas.

In conclusion, I would like to wish TASHI DELEK, which in Bhutanese mean "long life, peace and prosperity", to Australia-Bhutan Friendship.

Thank you

-o0o-

It would be a great opportunity for some of the Bhutanese students studying here to attend a concert in the Opera House.

Listed below are details of the performance and the web-site link.

Rhythm and Ritual - The Shock of the New III

24 and 25 May 2006

Presenter: Sydney Symphony

Venue: Concert Hall

*Gianluigi Gelmetti* conductor

*William Barton* didgeridoo

*Taikoz

Gyuto Monks of Tibet

Cantillation

Sydney Symphony*

Maestro Gianluigi Gelmetti weaves Taiko drumming, Tibetan chanting, didgeridoo and thrilling classical music into a kaleidoscope of surprising and energising sounds. The program will be revealed on the night.

SEASON

Wednesday 24 and Thursday 25 May at 8pm

PRICES

Adult $50/$35

*Full Time Australian Student $25

+ Booking fees may apply

Rhythm and Ritual - The Shock of the New III

Emma Lees, from Sydney ABFA, has suggested that if the Bhutanese students are interested, but unable to pay the $25 ticket (student price), then she would be willing to pool some monetary resources to make it possible. Perhaps anyone else wanting to come along might be willing to do the same - although this is not mandatory. It does of course depend on whether there are still tickets available + people are able to attend.

Please let Emma know ASAP so she can pre-book.

"It is indeed a very thoughtful and meaningful gesture." said Sonam Tobgay, from Canberra.

Following are some images taken at Changangkha Lakhang:

Barb was kept busy by her host Captain Tenzing and his wife Neyzang, and met with a few hundred Bhutanese. Barb was accompanied by her husband and her sister, and at a breakfast in Swiss Bakery, she seemed happy about ABFA and was keen to get it more organised.

Barb has visited Bhutan five times and has alway helped the Bhutanese students in Australia.

The tour, titled "The Exploratory Tour of the Kingdom of Bhutan" is a cultural tour with a natural history and birdwatching focus.

They will visit the major centres of Paro and Thimphu (the capital) and travel to central Bhutan to visit the culturally important sites of Punakha, Trongsa and Bumthang.

They will visit important sites such as the historic Dzongs or fortresses as well as many of the culturally important temples and sites in the beautiful Bumthang valley.

The tour will also visit the picturesque Gantey valley home of the rare migratory Black-necked Crane (Grus nigricollis). The tour is timed to coincide with the annual Black-necked Crane community Festival in the Phobjika Valley (on Sunday 12th November) where traditional folk dances and ceremonies take place.

During the 15 day tour there will be opportunities for ½ day and full day hikes.

The tour will also visit national parks and have opportunities for viewing birds, wildlife and plant life. (A bird list from the 2005 tour is available on request.)

The cost and details of the tour are on the website Travelrite - see Bhutan tours.

For further information on the tour or hard copies of the brochure please contact John and Penny on (03) 9773 9771 or e-mail jpinbhutan2 at hotmail dot com

For bookings and further information on the tour contact Travelrite International on 1800 630 343 or (03) 9836 25, or see their website Travelrite - see Bhutan tours.

TESTIMONIALS FROM THE OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2005 BHUTAN TOUR

"The tour of Bhutan lead by Penny and John was scenically spectacular, thought provoking and culturally rewarding. It would be rare to traverse a country with such a rapid and sympathetic uptake of its culture and philosophy. Penny and John facilitated the challenge and comfort of the tour through their leadership, knowledge and sensitivity."

David and Jean Nicholls.

"We had read about the fairytale Kingdom of Bhutan but no amount of reading could really prepare us for such a wonderful experience. The scenery is magnificent with high mountains and deep valleys, terraced rice paddies and traditionally constructed and beautifully painted houses, monasteries (dzongs) at river confluences and on rocky mountainsides. Each day held a new experience for us - including seeing the endangered black-necked cranes and visiting the much-photographed Tiger Nest Monastery.

The Bhutanese people, who still wear their traditional dress, could not have been more friendly and welcoming. Our Bhutanese guides and drivers looked after us so well and were great fun to be with. From them we learnt much about their culture and Buddhist religion. We were impressed by the high standard of accommodation and the meals were excellent throughout our stay. Penny and John were great guides and displayed their knowledge and love of Bhutan and the Bhutanese people. It really was a privilege to be with them in our visit to this unique country which honours its traditional way of life whilst embracing positive aspects of the modern world."

Gayle and Pat Corr.

It is intended through this meeting to bring the education ministers from through-out the region to discuss recent education and training issues.

Lyonpo Thinley will be in Brisbane on the 03 April 06. Lyonpo will also officially launch the ABFA chapter in Armidale on the 07 April.

Jon has just retired after 30 years work at CBC - the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and therefore has much to offer the BBS. (He has lived in Canada, yet visits Australia often, where his family still lives.) He worked at BBS on a volunteer basis this time, but has been asked to return to work closely with the journalists there, especially in the radio service. Jon earned many awards for his documentary sound work on CBC television and radio. He is a technical sound specialist and has worked as an Associate Producer on CBC radio as well.

His wife, Ann Shaftel, works in Bhutan for several months a year, on the Thangka Conservation Project under the Ministry for Home and Cultural Affairs. Ann also taught at the University of Melbourne and worked at the Art Gallery of Victoria last September. Ann will return this coming winter for two months, and Jon hopes that he can return to work at the BBS.

Thukten advises, for the information of other Bhutanese friends in Australia, the ABFA South Australia chapter is in the pipeline and is expected to be formally functional by mid-May 2006 with Dr. Tim Fisher's visit to the state.

Below is a new website for ABFA South Australia group:

ABFA South Australia

Thukten was very excited to see that a Bhutanese official delegation, led by the RCSC Secretary, was making a visit to Australia, but in their visit itinerary, sadly Adelaide did not appear. On behalf of all the Bhutanese students in South Australia and other SA ABFA members, Thukten wished them a very happy stay in Australia and Tashi Delek.

Another interesting, rather 'not to be missed' phenomenon especially for our Bhutanese friends (also all others if interested) is that Dzongsar Jamyang Khentse Rinpoche is making a visit to NSW between May and June, 2006, writes Thukten. He will be giving some Dharma Teachings in Byron Bay and Sydney. If time permits and people wish to visit/meet this great Buddhist Master, please do so, added Thukten. It is a rare opportunity, not to be missed.

For details, please visit the website below :

Siddharthas Intent

Also visit below when you are free :

Deer Park Gathering - Reflecting on the Words of the Buddha

That night I also happened to be on call duty in the hospital and soon after the symphony, i.e. around 11 PM, I had to rush back to attend to a patient. I have great memories of that event as well as about others in Adelaide. I am sure all of you will enjoy this great event.

Have a happy Chinese New Year! Ours will be following next month, but we have a day off on Monday to celebrate the Eastern Bhutan New Year and one month ago we had the Haap-Parop Lomba and Sha-Wang Nyinlo. This is a busy festive season for everyone and I am sure everyone is enjoying it. We are having lots of Arra out here and I am sure you are drinking a lot of SA wines down under.

A number of Universities in Australia offer Law. Selecting which university depends on what sort of law is required - International Law, Corporate Law, Business Law, Dispute Resolution etc.

Listed below is a link to the current list of Australian Law Schools. It is suggested that anyone interested look at the web sites and to focus on the course content to see if what is offered is what is required. All courses may not be offered to international students - once the courses are narrowed down this will need to be considered.

Australian Law Schools

Additional Notes

The Australian National University in Canberra's Centre for International and Public Law, within the College of Law, was established in 1990 to develop expertise on the relationship between governments, and between governments and their citizens, from both a domestic and international perspective.

Catherine Harris has offered to assist with introductions to either University of NSW (UNSW), or University of Notre Dame - either in Sydney or Western Australia.

Dr David Annandale, who is currently working as a Senior Technical Advisor with the National Environment Commission Secretariat in Thimphu, and who was previously the Dean of the School of Environmental Science at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia, can provide more background on the Western Australia law programmes. He can be contacted at P.O. Box 466, Thimphu, Bhutan or on Telephone +975 2 323384 (ext. 131). Alternatively, his Fax is +975 2 323385.

The University of Sydney also has a well recognised Law program.

.......... now the scalding patches of skin from our back reminds us of the not-so-warm sea water and the leisurely swim we had in the island......... the vast sea with no ends in sight was simply awesome........ the food was good, besides the usual EZAY and regular chicken, pork and beef, thanks to Chencho and Dophu's team for the huge quantities of momos that saw us through dinner......

The highlight, of course, was the squatting on the sand for a couple of hours watching the day recede as we waited for the penguins to show up from the cold swashing sea..........with hundreds of eager spectators of all ages, it was a grand welcome to penguins - save that they may not have felt it that way........ many, if not all of them may not have liked our being there, for they hesitated a few to several times before boldly making their way - that was not only flanked and upfront lined by all curious 'audience' but also hindered by numerous seagulls............. the birds didn't seem at all used to having the people around them - as argued by some folks...........

.......anyways, those intending to witness Penguin Parade in the future may be recommended to take with them a few warm clothes (both during summer or winter) because the evening and dusk breeze of the sea gets pretty chilly and the waiting sometimes may get protracted.....and decide yourself if the penguins are used to people lined up to watch them walk upright on their two feet.

OK, that was the side bit for those 'new' and interested.

On behalf of all the Bhutanese students in Melbourne, thank you once again AFBA folks for the trip.....and we look forward to similar such trips in the coming months.

Reported by

Sonam Tashi.

A selection of visually stunning blankets woven by Yanchen Llamo from Bhutan

February 8 to 18, 2006 - two weeks only

This exhibition is presented in association with Alathea Vavasour.

Asi Choden Wangchuck, the fourth Queen of Bhutan stated the "Bhutanese weavers have been very innovative in their designs while still maintaining the traditional character of the art".

This is certainly true of the exhibition at the Damien Minton Gallery which features the work of Bhutanese weaver, Yanchen Llamo who lives in the region of Bhumtang in Bhutan. Commissioned by Alathea Vavasour, the blankets known as denchebs are also used as seat covers in Bhutan, woven on large strip bands called tarichem or ‘tiger strips’. Also on display will be Yanchen’s newer style of smaller blankets known as yathra pesar which feature motifs inspired by flowers.

Alathea Vavasour will be presenting a floor talk on textiles in Bhutan on

Saturday February 11, 2006 from 2 to 4pm at the gallery

Damien Minton Gallery

61-63 Great Buckingham Street, Redfern, NSW

Open Wednesday to Saturday 11am to 6pm

Telephone: 02 9699 7551

Below is a link that describes how to download these MP3 podcasts which can then be listened to from anywhere in the world: How to download MP3 podcasts

One segment that I thought might be of interest to ABFA was 'Being Human, Being Unhappy'. Below is the link:

Being Human, being Unhappy

Being Human, Being Unhappy

First broadcast: 25 December 2005

As economists begin to take the new science of happiness more seriously (because there are money issues involved), there are debates about whether it should be a social goal. Psychiatrist Raj Persaud debates Lord Layard (original broadcast 14.8.2005).

One morning while reading the Age newspaper Jenny said, "Better check this out." It was a small add for a trip to Bhutan with Tim Fischer. Our interest was all the more when we checked the dates for the trip, they corresponded with the exact times we had listed for holidays at our work places. Always being a bit on the spontaneous side I suggested we should ring that very moment and book our spot even though it was only 7am. Jenny thought it would be much wiser to get a bit more info. After a phone call to the travel agent the details of the trip arrived a couple of days later.

After poring over the info provided a dozen times and noting an almost McDonalds flavour to the presentation with the "Would you like Darjeeling with that?" We finally decided to pay the deposit and seal our spot on the new adventure. The all up cost was more than our normal budget for trips away, but I figured this was the chance of a lifetime as was having the company of Tim Fischer as our guide.

The Karma continues. My mother had passed away in October 2004 while we were in New Zealand on holidays. Mum had been in a nursing home, which I visited almost every day to hold her hand or lightly stroke her forehead. When the call came that mum had gone I decided I had said my goodbyes to her and for reasons of my own never returned home for mum's funeral. Some weeks after booking the trip our solicitor rang to say part of mum's estate had been finalised and that we five children would receive a cheque in the mail, which duly arrived. The money was the exact amount to the cent for the cost of our holiday. I decided then to take something of mum's to leave in Bhutan. Her needlework and crochet over the years were things of beauty; of these I chose a small crocheted doily.

The day arrived when the plane touched down in Paro. Our adventure had started in earnest. We left Thimpu for our journey through one of the most beautiful and peaceful countries I have ever had the good fortune to visit. The bus climbed slowly up a narrow road to a magical and spiritual place called Dochu La pass. On top of the pass were many chortens and hundreds of prayer flags fluttering in the breeze sending the peoples good will to the heavens. Mist swirled all about with tiny glimpses of the mighty Himalaya range in Tibet peering down at us from a majestic height. The snow covered giants mixed with the serenity and beauty of this remarkable place made me decide this is where mum's doily would be tied to a prayer flag with a view of the mountains. It was after putting the memento in place with more than a few tears being shed in mum's memory I realized that this very day was the anniversary of mum's passing exactly one year ago.

It was Tshering Tashi who after Jenny related the circumstances leading us to make the trip suggested I find out the exact time of mum's demise. The time was 4pm AEST, which would make it 11.30am the same time we were on Dochu La. It was a little bit unsettling. It made my closure with mum's death all the more special. Karma had bought me full circle to a feeling of peace and gratitude for mum's life and for experiencing the beauty, kindness and serenity of the people and country that is Bhutan.

by JIM TOOLE

"Jenny and I have lived our lives in the Albury-Wodonga area. We have travelled fairly extensively over the years and have enjoyed many different people and cultures; most of our holidays have been based around bush walking. The wonderful thing about walking is being as one with the surroundings and people; many things are missed through the window of a bus or car." said Jim Toole.

"The Bhutan trip was without a doubt the highlight of our many journeys. The surrounding lofty grandeur of the mountains was in itself enough to give the awareness of being in a special place. However after being in Bhutan a short time I began to realize it was the people and their culture that was the source of this extraordinary feeling of calm and inner strength." he added.

"Thanks for the very touching article.", wrote Sonam Tashi, from Melbourne.

"Makes me want to pack my bags and go again!, added David Jobson - who completed a motorbiking trip to Bhutan in September/October 2003.

"Thank you Jim, Jenny and Tshering Tashi for once more connecting me to the compassion and innate sacredness of that is possible as human beings and that I too deeply experienced in Bhutan, her country and people." also wrote Jan Pietruschka from Melbourne.

Tshering Tashi was a guest of the Honorary Consul General of Bhutan, Cathy Harris, who is an SCG Trustee. He was escorted to the box by ABFA Co-Chair, the Hon. Dr Tim Fischer, AC.

Play between South Africa and Australia was interrupted several times due to poor weather but eventually Australia took out the third Test to win the short series by two tests to zero.

Speaking after the cricket and his visit to five states of Australia, Tshering Tashi said that it had been great to see so much of Australia, to see and study various tourism operations first hand, and to help boost Australia Bhutan linkages.

Andrew is planning to visit Bhutan from late March for one week. The country and its people and their heritage have been of great interest to him for many years. "Such heritage are what my activities around the world are about." said Andrew. To view his work, you can log on to Andrew Rogers web-site

Michelle will be assisting the Ministry with their materials development and the social marketing side of their strategy. This is a World Bank funded project and primarily Michelle will be capacity building and working with the health communications team.

Michelle can see her role and this 'dharma work' as having positive benefits for cultural exchange and supportive of the principles behind the Australia Bhutan Friendship Association.

More than three decades later, on 17 December 2003, the Crown Prince of Bhutan, Dasho Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, proclaimed that "King like [my father] Jigme Singye Wangchuck was never been born and will never be born again."

A son of a proud father and a father of a proud son, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck is a King with an uncommon sense -- a genuine man with an extraordinary mind.

Indeed, if late King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck were with us today, he would be exceedingly proud to hear His Majesty's historic announcement on 17 December 2005 at remote Trashiyantse that he would be stepping down from the Golden Throne in 2008. He would be proud because such courage and conviction reside only in a true leadership - a leader that puts the Country and the People first.

His Majesty's magnanimous and extraordinary decision has placed the Nation into a shocked silence and took the world by surprise. At first, I was not only surprised but also awfully sad. To use His Majesty's own words from a 1972 proclamation, I was extremely sad "as if the Sun of this Kingdom's happiness has set at noon and night fallen during the day." But later when I made a way for my head to heart, it was an ambivalent thought, it was not about Sun setting at noon and night falling during day. It was about the "Foundation" and the "Future." I learned that by listening to both His Majesty's address to the Nation and the Chhoetse Penlop's address to the Nation on the same day, the National Day.

At Trashiyangtse, His Majesty indicated with assurance that the Foundation has been laid well. The security of the Nation has been strengthened, the Crown Prince has been well groomed, the Constitution has been framed, and Bhutan has 24 years experience of the process of decentralization and devolution of powers to the people. The Future will begin in 2008 with the enthronement of the Chhoetse Penlop as the Fifth Druk Gyalpo, the enactment of Constitution, and the election of first government under a system of parliamentary democracy. By providing a solid Foundation and showing us a clear direction for the Future, His Majesty has taught us and the world a new meaning of a true leadership. As a progressive Monarch, he has not abandoned us or allowed us to collapse by giving up his power all at once. Instead, as a visionary and dynamic leader, he has progressively strengthened both the people and the Crown Prince inch by inch while devolving his power. Therefore, it was more than just a wish and prayer when His Majesty wished and prayed that "during the reign of Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the Palden Drukpa will remain strong and glorious, that our country will achieve greater prosperity with the sun of peace and happiness shining on our people." It was, instead, a proclamation of a real vision, a vision which we would only be able to understand its full implication only if we have the wisdom, insight, and emotional intelligence of His Majesty.

Being not able to fully understand and predict what is inside the womb of time, I turned to the Chhoetse Penlop Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck's address to the Nation on December 17, 2005. I recorded the speech and listened to it again and again, word by word. Two words -- Foundation and Future -- that the Chhoetse Penlop emphasized during his speech put our understanding in better perspective. Although the Penlop delivered his whole address in Dzongkha, he made special mention of words "Foundation" and "Future" by repeating them in English as well! Yes, the Foundation has been laid well and the Future is in our hands. The Penlop mentioned that His Majesty has laid the strong Foundation and to realize the Future, we have to work hard and be honest. He is serious about it because even on 7 September 2005, the Penlop told 652 national graduates and the Nation that if we don't work hard with honesty, "we will lose everything our parents have achieved so far."

Looking at the current developments with rational mind, we shouldn't be surprised but be proud and look forward with confidence and optimism. His Majesty has mentioned during his briefing to the Council of Ministers on 21 March 2005 as well as at many occasions recently during the Constitution consultations with the public that "it would be the Chhoetse Penlop's responsibility to implement and uphold the Constitution." That was an indirect message to the people to get prepared at a pace to hear the December 17 historic announcement. We have been prepared. If we are not, the shortcomings are ours that we have not woken from a culture of depending on His Majesty for everything -- from how to keep AIDS patients in peace to how to fight a war against militants.

We, in the Land of Thunder Dragon, are lucky to have a progressive Monarch as the captain of our ship. He is a king who walks to the hut of the poorest of the poor Bhutanese and still maintains moral authority over richest of the rich Bhutanese. He is a king who mingles with commoners and still maintains comfortable distance from them to govern them fairly and compassionately. He is a king of peace who is not afraid of war. He is a majestic king without a majestic palace.

He is a king who lives in a simple log cabin. How simple? It shocked me in 2002 to see that the King's Palace is no better than my brother's small house. That evening I went for a dinner at my brother's house and I told him, "Brother, you are lucky because you have leather sofas in your living room." I didn't tell him why he was lucky but I had the image of a living room in the King's Palace haunting me at that moment. Since then I have been thinking about what is the specialty about simplicity. A few years later, I heard the Chhoetse Penlop saying that the greatness of the Gross National Happiness (GNH) philosophy lies in its "simplicity". Simplicity? It seems the revolutionary philosophy of Gross National Happiness that is now entering into conscience of people from Bhutan to Boston originated not from Harvard, Yale, or Oxford but from Samtenling Think-Tank Institute of Simple Log Cabin, Bhutan.

Gross National Happiness approach is one of the bed rocks of the Foundation His Majesty has laid down for the Future. He is passing down to us environment still intact, culture still unexploited, economy vibrant, and government stable.

We are aware that His Majesty has declared a long time ago that "Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product" and that economic growth is not an end but a means for a real end - the happiness of the people.

The origin of GNH lies in an inspired leadership's passionate desire to serve the people and save the planet. It's the top leadership's recognition and commitment through "political will" to provide equity within and between generations. The top leader draws that inspiration by listening to the voice of the voiceless - the future generations. A silence of a child speaks louder than a thunder of a corporate giant in the Land of Thunder Dragon. His Majesty has provided us with that untainted top leadership which we are profoundly proud of.

It is the "unique knowledge and insightful wisdom" of His Majesty that has made Bhutan what it is today, affectionately nicknamed by the west as the Last Shangri-la ? beautiful, unspoiled, enticing, and magical. The "unique knowledge and insightful wisdom" of His Majesty didn't come from Harvard, Yale, or Oxford because unlike us today, he didn't have the luxury to complete college education. In fact, he didn't have the luxury even to complete his youth or ride his favorite motorcycle.

Talking to living Bhutanese grandpas and grandmas, they say that he was a lad of high spirits, who enjoyed speeding along the hill-slopes at breakneck speed on his high-powered motorcycle. Then suddenly heavy burden and responsibility of high office had fallen on his youthful shoulders when the Third King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck passed away in 1972. He was only sixteen but he had gifted away to his friends his beloved motorcycle ever since.

The young King had to carry the weight of sacred responsibility of running the country on his little shoulders and mourn the death of his beloved father in his heart as evident in the Royal proclamation of 1972: "It is as if the Sun of this Kingdom's happiness has set at noon and night fallen during the day. The Nation is overwhelmed with immeasurable grief."

Through the lesson learned in real life in a hard way, this may be one reason why His Majesty doesn't want us to wait for the saddest day for the Nation to enthrone the Crown Prince as the next King. This is also may be a reason why His Majesty doesn't want the Crown Prince to celebrate the accession to the Golden Throne on the saddest day of the Crown Prince's life. After all, like commoners, kings and princes are also human beings. These are the reasons why His Majesty has included in the Constitution the age limit for the Monarch to step down from the Golden Throne or His Majesty's recent historic decision to step down in 2008. It was well planned by the progressive Monarch through real life experiences and in no way done ad hoc or due to any outside pressure, no matter how small a credit the die-hard critics of Bhutan like to take (if any).

It is, as His Majesty has always said, in the best interest of the Country and the People. Although unintentionally and out of love at depth for the King, we Bhutanese are ignorantly selfish when we keep on saying that the King should reign for life. It seems we tend to look only at one side of the coin or think inside a square box. We say we are for the Tsa-Wa-Sum (the King, the Country, and the People). But it seems we think only about ourselves (the People narrowly defined as "Ourselves"). The King and the Country are left out of the picture, subconsciously. If we look at the other side of the coin or think outside of the square box, we would see a bigger and balanced picture. If we can be little more generous to the King and treat him as human being, we need to give him some freedom. Remember, we took away his youth and his beloved motorcycle. Let's not take away his old age and his prayer beads.

On hindsight, we are very fortunate to have the King like His Majesty, whose "unique knowledge and insightful wisdom" are accumulated and learned through real life experiences rather than from the textbooks and case studies of Harvard or Oxford. His Majesty has acquired collective wisdom by living in a simple log cabin and walking the mountain villages of Bhutan. His Majesty has made Bhutan a "learning organization," learning by doing. The concept of "learning organization" or "learning by doing" is a fairly new innovative concept that is penetrating the corporate world from Baltimore to Beijing. But in Bhutan, His Majesty has started experiencing just that since more than three decades ago. Besides, there is an old Bhutanese saying that "the most important knowledge is the one gifted by mother and father." In other words, that knowledge refers to emotional intelligence, insight, and wisdom. His Majesty has proved us practically which knowledge is more important. His Majesty has always hinted us that more than academic knowledge, it is important how we think.

His Majesty was a King with an uncommon sense from the very young age. He had demonstrated extraordinary statesmanship and wisdom from the very start.

For instance, the resolution of 32nd session of National Assembly in 1970 made a provision that a four members Council of Regency consisting of one representative of the Monks Body, one representative of the public, one representative of the Government, and one member of the Royal Family would be appointed to administer the country if a Crown Prince should succeed to the throne on the death of his father before attaining the age of twenty-one. The Third King passed away in 1972 when then the Crown Prince, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, was only sixteen. But the 37th session of National Assembly in 1972 unanimously decided that there was no need to appoint a Council of Regents since the youngest Monarch in the world demonstrated extraordinary leadership quality and confidence.

Such was the confidence and capability of the young King. Now we have His Majesty's more than three decades of collective wisdom and unique knowledge passed down to the Crown Prince as the Chhoetse Penlop declared on 17 December 2004 at Gelephu that "I have learnt from His Majesty about selfless service and dedication to the cause of the nation and people."

We are confident to hope for a brighter future as the Fifth Druk Gyalpo begins to lead us. But we will not be complacent. We will work harder and be honest. We still have other challenges of strategic importance to Bhutan besides transitioning to a Democratic Constitutional Monarchy, such as solving China-Bhutan border demarcation issue and amendment or nullification of Indo-Bhutan Friendship Treaty of 1949.

The Chhoetse Penlop told us (the youth of Bhutan) on 7 September 2005 that "I look forward to the future because I look forward to working with you." It is this two-way trust and confidence between the top leadership and the people in the Land of Thunder Dragon that impossible becomes possible. We may not have an uncommon sense of His Majesty, but we will offer our collective common sense to support the Fifth Druk Gyalpo with conviction of heart and mind.

Long Live Palden Drukpa!

Tim said, "The new Constitution of Bhutan is expected to be fully operational by then, with its special form of Constitutional Democracy (already evolving) and of course we wish Bhutan and the Royal family the very best with these changes."

"The King has given outstanding leadership during his absolute reign, positive and wise leadership right through to being upfront with his people at all times. He personally led the Bhutanese Army into action, co-ordinating a brilliant operation including the best use of a mortar barrage anywhere in the world this century, all of this in December 2003 when Bhutan won the vital two day war (with two year build up) against the Assami rebels.", he added.

"To get some idea of the magnitude of this statement by the Bhutanese King, the equivalent would be Her Majesty the Queen of England and the Prince of Wales announcing together in a joint Christmas message 2005, they were both going to abdicate in December 2008, to bring about a double generational transfer of the British Throne; as the King of Bhutan is by any reckoning, not one King but the equivalent of two or more!" said Tim.

"I agree with Tim and might add that the King's abdication and his plan for democracy in Bhutan stands in splendid contrast to the stumbling (and bumbling) efforts at political reform by other countries." added Ray Marcelo.

King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, 50, whose ruling philosophy consists of maximising "gross national happiness" rather than domestic product, has not made clear how much power the monarchy will retain under the new democratic framework.

"The first national election to elect a government under a system of parliamentary democracy will take place in 2008," said the king, who has ruled since the age of 16, in a national address delivered outside the capital Thimphu, state media reported.

"As it is necessary and important for a king to gain as much experience as possible to serve his country to his fullest capacity, I will be delegating my responsibilities to the Chhoetse Penlop [crown prince] before 2008,"he said.

Wedged into the eastern Himalayas, the tiny mountainous kingdom is flanked by India to the south and by the Tibet region of China to the north; an enviable location if trade between the two giants continues to develop at its current blistering pace.

Saying that the concept was a "straight pinch" from the tiny mountainous South Asian Kingdom of Bhutan and is being tested in the Northeast Victorian shire of Indigo, Dr Fischer believes that the time has come for a national measure of wellbeing and community cohesion".

For more, you can read page 4, "The Australian", dated December 16, 2005

The Doctor of Letters degree was presented to Mr. Fischer in honour of his time on the advisory board for the Centre of Arab and Islamic Studies and contribution to politics.

"Tim Fischer has a distinguished careeer promoting Australia and advancing Australia's interests around the world", Tourism Australia said.

Mr Fischer was the Deputy Prime Minister and Trade Minister between 1996 and 1999.

With about 17 Bhutanese (including 5 kids) present it was great. Everyone brought along food to share, and we had kewa dahtse, pork belly and radish, chicken, and of course rice. (See attached picture).

Many thanks to all who attended - it was a wonderful evening.

One of the best things you can take a Bhutanese man as a present, say the guidebooks, is a fancy pair of knee-length Argyle socks. Yeah, sure, I thought, and instead stocked up on those little koalas that cling to your bag or lapel.

But here we are and there's our guide, Sangay Dorji, standing outside Bhutan International Airport with a smile as wide as the jet we just flew in on. He is dressed in a gho, the national costume of Bhutan, which it is compulsory to wear during the day on pain of a fine.

The gho looks, basically, like a three-quarter-length wrapover dressing gown. On his feet are shiny black formal shoes. In between are, you guessed it, knee-length Argyle socks.

It is an incongruous mixture and yet it works. He looks smart and full of well-placed pride. A lot like Bhutan itself. Here is a country that is the flavour of the moment, at least in the travel business and among the famous, where it's not so much a cause celebre as a celebrity clause.

Joanna Lumley has made a documentary about it; budding Buddhist Ruby Wax wrote about it for Britain's Daily Mail; Demi Moore has been there; and the eternally bemused Michael Palin travelled through it, one dubious eye on the penis wall murals, for his documentary Himalaya.

Here in Australia the former magazine editor Bunty Avieson lived there while her partner, the producer Mal Watson, worked on the film Travellers and Magicians with the movie-making lama Khyentse Norbu. Her book about that experience, A Baby in a Backpack to Bhutan, is a fascinating insight into everyday life in what she calls "a little pocket of sanity in a world gone mad".

Holy Himalayas, even Bruce Wayne supposedly ended up there in Batman Begins, the latest instalment of the Dark Knight saga. And when a comic book character has been there, you know it's finally on the map. (He didn't really go there - those scenes were filmed in Iceland, probably to avoid altitude-sickness problems in a country that is, literally, in the clouds.)

Which makes it the place to which everybody, and nobody, has been.

It's traditional when writing about this tiny Himalayan kingdom to resort to cliches: comparing it with the hidden paradise of Shangri-La (from James Hilton's 1933 novel, Lost Horizon) is the horse that's most dragged from the stables and flogged to expiration.

It's also the Land of the Thunder Dragon, a mystical country that time forgot, a time machine, a step through the looking glass.

What it is is an absolute monarchy where the king, Jigmi Singye Wangchuck, truly is revered and where that same king is trying to do himself out of a job by introducing democracy while also declaring that gross domestic happiness is more important than gross domestic product. Whatever that means.

It was the last place on Earth to allow in the dreaded TV (in 1999, and they're still not convinced), the first place to ban smoking but not betel-nut chewing, which gives you throat cancer, and where the national sport is archery played by men in many-coloured ghos using state-of-the-art bows.

It's a place where stray dogs roam the streets and howl and bark late into the night because the people are Buddhists who won't kill things but who are happy to eat meat if someone else has done the slaughtering.

Most people find it endlessly fascinating - even those who haven't been there - and yet one well-seasoned traveller I know described it as "passionless".

My overriding impression? Disneyworld. Couldn't get it out of my head (except on a five-day trek when I developed bronchitis and all thoughts were concentrated on not coughing up a lung).

The thing is, by royal decree, all Bhutanese have to wear traditional dress during the day and on official business. For men it's the gho and for women it's the kira, beautifully coloured ankle-length dresses with equally bright bolero-style jackets. Just about every street scene has a slightly surreal quality to it, as if the whole population were part of some country-sized theme park, a Third World Truman Show.

What helps, too, is that - like Disneyworld and unlike parts of the countries that surround it - it's clean, safe and everybody is wonderfully, genuinely, smilingly nice. Perhaps those allusions to Shangri-La aren't too wide of the mark.

Before all this, though, you have to get there. And most people do this through Nepal. After meeting my tour group and staying overnight in a Kathmandu hotel room seemingly last used by a team of Olympic chain-smokers, we have a 6am start and a queue to get into the airport.

Here, under the gaze of a soldier with one hand on his gun and the other halfway up his left nostril (why am I deeply worried about an armed man who picks his nose?) we are searched. And searched again. And then searched again on the tarmac, where we also have to individually identify our luggage before it can be loaded onto the jet waiting patiently nearby.

Many people in the queue are clutching the Bhutanese bible, aka the Lonely Planet guide to Bhutan, which would explain the sudden and unseemly rush to get onto the aircraft. "The Druk Air flight from Kathmandu to Paro provides the most dramatic view of Himalayan scenery of any scheduled flight," it says, before adding the paranthesised advice to "get a window seat on the left if you can".

I find myself in a window seat on the right. Even so, the flight is spectacular, especially when those on the left-hand side get tired of gawping at stunning, snow-covered mountains and move their big fat heads so you can see the peaks passing by almost near enough to touch. Over there, standing grandly above the rest, is Everest.

Descending into the town of Paro above a winding valley of green hillsides corrugated by rice paddies, we can see below us scattered dwellings and farm houses with shining, corrugated iron roofs patchworked with bright red squares of chillies drying in the sun. Chillies are a staple of the Bhutanese diet and, in the countryside at least, there is rarely a house that does not sport a splash of scarlet or, more occasionally, yellow.

Finally, we burst out of the valley and into the wide, broad plain that houses Paro, a small and loose conglomeration of buildings on either side of a wide, shallow river lined with willow trees. Squatting like a castle on a hill above a bend in the river is the white vastness of Paro dzong, a monastery-cum-castle-cum-museum. Below the dzong is a wooden bridge which we visit on the way to the hotel and which, when we get there, is being used by an old woman and her cow. We watch as she stops to turn the prayer wheels at either end before continuing. It's stunning. Now I know how Alice felt.

Paro is the second largest town in the country, and you can walk through its quaint main street, its colourful shops hung every few metres with bundles of bright red, drying chillies, and be out the other side in five minutes. Thimpu, the not-quite-so-sedate capital, is 53 kilometres away to the east across the 4000-metre high ranges.

In Thimphu a few years ago they installed the country's first set of traffic lights - and then promptly took them out again because people didn't think them friendly. That particular junction is, once again, ruled over by a white-gloved policeman who directs traffic from a covered podium in the middle, like an orchestra conductor with a hard hat.

This is very much a metaphor for what's happening in Bhutan as it walks a tightrope stretched between the almost medieval society it was a mere 80 years ago and the 21st century. As such, you can visit the national library in Thimphu and look at dusty scrolls while a couple of red-robed monks wait their turn to surf the internet.

Bhutan is often likened to Switzerland because of its snow-dusted mountain ranges and the pitched roofs of the houses. There, thank goodness, the comparison stops. Switzerland was never this colourful.

From the moment you step in to the airport terminal, a modern building built in traditional style, you are beset on all sides by the most intense colour. There are glaring green fields of rice paddies and bright red and dazzlingly golden roofs of the houses and dzongs with their tapering white walls.

Elaborate paintwork decorates even the most prosaic of homes, many of which feature walls painted with mystical animals or huge phalluses for good luck. Age-old chortens - elaborate receptacles for religious offerings - are dotted everywhere, while every town, village or hamlet boasts a host of decorated prayer wheels.

The wheels can be huge things bigger than a man and constantly driven by a water wheel, or perhaps a series of smaller, hand-sized wheels set back into a wall along the main street. They are brightly painted in primary colours, some more elaborate than others, and are forever being turned clockwise by men, women and children as they go about their daily lives.

The colours spill over into clothing and textiles - it's nothing to see women in traditional dresses of pink with electric blue silk jackets - and right up into the furthest, highest passes of the mountain ranges, where long strings of prayer flags flutter. Even in the remotest parts of the country you will come across these flags, looking for all the world like a washing line of red, yellow, blue, orange, green and white handkerchiefs, some electrically coloured and brand new, others tattered and sun-bleached. As they flap in the wind, the flags are said to recite the prayers written on them in the elegant Bhutanese script (never has the word "toilet" looked so stylish), just as the prayer wheels "recite" the prayers inside them each time they are turned.

Even the Bhutanese flag seems to want to get in on the bid to be the most colourful thing in the country - it's an unforgettable combination of bright orange and yellow diagonal in the middle of which snarls the golden druk, or Thunder Dragon, after which the country is named.

The Bhutanese are devout Buddhists and the country, especially in the more accessible western areas, is dotted with dozens of astonishing monasteries. Some are no more than single buildings high up on a mountain pass while others are large, rambling complexes full of golden Buddhas and smiling monks in red robes.

One of the most amazing is the Tiger's Nest monastery (Taktshang Goemba), which clings to a cliff-face just outside Paro and is reached after a fairly strenuous two-hour walk up steep paths.

The end result, though, is well worth the effort. Though the monastery has only just been rebuilt after a fire, it has been finished in exactly the same style as the original. Though off limits to tourists, it is possible to get quite close, or just take in the view from the almost impossibly well-positioned ski-hut-style teahouse opposite. Whatever else you do, make sure you have plenty of film or acres of space on your memory cards - you will want to take photographs of everything and everyone.

Our six-strong group - from Australia, America and New Zealand via Britain - spent 10 days in Bhutan, including an exhilarating five-day trek across the more low-lying mountain ranges between Paro and Thimphu, for which the Tiger's Nest walk was a good warm-up both in terms of our legs and altitude acclimatisation.

The only real low point was the inability of Druk Air, having flown us in, to fly us back out. This necessitated a hair-raising, eight-hour drive in cold drizzle across muddy mountain roads to Puntsholing, an untidy town on the border with India. The road, which we were told was started in 1960, seems not to be quite yet finished. It was festooned with mud- and concrete-covered labourers brought in from nearby West Bengal and, because of recent rains, the overturned remains of (to my mind) far too many large trucks that had failed to take the hairpin bends.

Luckily, our guide had a generous collection of Bee Gees tapes to keep us amused and take our minds off the vertiginous drops and the sucking mud under the wheels. There is, however, such a thing as too much of a good thing, so when Sangay asked if we wanted more music I replied: "As long as it's not the Bee Gees again."

"No," he smiled, "Bhutanese music."

"Fair enough. Let's give it a go"

After we had listened for a while he turned to us again: "This is a bland singer."

"You can say that again."

"I think," pointed out one of my companions, "that he said 'blind'.""Aah."

After an uneventful overnight stay in Puntsholing, there was a frantic six-hour dash across India and back into Nepal, where we caught a Yeti Air flight to Kathmandu with just minutes to spare. This we could have done without, but given that Druk Air has taken delivery of two more larger aircraft since then, it's a state of affairs that should be avoidable in future.

By rights, in this "world gone mad", Bhutan shouldn't exist. And yet it does. From a tourism point of view it is almost perfect: a safe, clean, fascinating, colourful, spiritual nation so very different from the teeming madness of its neighbours, peopled by a devout population for whom doing good in this world is a guarantee of advancement in the next. (And, personally, I reckon anyone whose national dish is melted cheese mixed with head-turning chillies deserves a fairer go next time out.

It's how Disney would do Shangri-La. And, really, that's no bad thing.

Keith Austin travelled with the Imaginative Traveller. A 13-day fully escorted tour from Kathmandu to Bhutan and back costs $4335 (not including air fare to Kathmandu), plus a local payment of $US400 (about $530). For full details phone 1300 135 088 or visit http://www.imaginative-traveller.com.au.

Destination Bhutan

BACKGROUND

There is no firm agreement on where the name Bhutan comes from, but to the locals their country has been Druk Yul (Land of the Thunder Dragon) since the 13th century. They call themselves Drukpa. The national language is Dzongkha, but English is widely spoken and leads to wonderful cultural moments such as finding a household cleaner called Colin and a tour company known as Etho Metho.

Population: about 700,000 in a mountainous, landlocked country 300 kilometres long and 150 kilometres wide. Its highest point (7541 metres) is the Gangkhar Puensum peak on the Tibetan border.

Religion: Mahayana Buddhism.

Money: the ngultrum (nu), which is divided into 100 chetrum ($1 equals about 33.5 nu).

The national flower is the blue poppy but by far the most abundant is the rhododendron.

More than 90 per cent of the population live on subsistence farming, with rice as the staple diet in the lower regions and wheat, buckwheat, and maize in other valleys.

There were no public hospitals or schools until the 1950s, and no paper currency, roads or electricity until after that. Bhutan had no diplomatic relations with any other country until 1961, and the first invited Western visitors arrived in 1974.

In 1907, an assembly of the clergy, the official administration and the people elected Gongsar Ugen Wangchuck as the first hereditary king of Bhutan. He died in 1926 and was succeeded by his son, Jigme Wangchuck, who ruled until 1952. It was the third king, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, who introduced the process of modernisation. Known as the father of modern Bhutan, he got it into the United Nations and other international organisations. In 1972, King Jigmi Singye Wangchuck took over and became the youngest monarch in the world.

A large bronze statue of the Buddha is being built on the mountainside above Thimphu, the capital, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the monarchy in 2007. When finished it will be the largest Buddha rupa in the world, at a height of 56 metres.

*GETTING THERE

The Royal Government of Bhutan requires that foreign visitors travel with a pre-paid itinerary through a Bhutanese tour company. The basic policy is that foreign tourists pay $US200 (about $260) for each night in Bhutan. This is an all-inclusive fee for food, accommodation, transport and guide services. Visas cost extra.

In 1997 only 5000 tourists visited the kingdom; this year that figure is expected to rise to 12,000-15,000.

*HEALTH

Tap water is not safe to drink. Altitude sickness pills may be needed on some treks. I obtained Diamox (acetazolamide) from the Travel Doctor TMVC (www.tmvc.com.au) in George Street, Sydney, and used them throughout the trip. Did I need them? Who knows; I didn't get ill but then neither did others who didn't take them.

Before the trip, the Imaginative Traveller sends out a comprehensive fact file that includes health and medical requirements as well as details on visas and cultural dos and don'ts (see http://www.imaginative-traveller.com).

*MORE INFORMATION

Lonely Planet guide to Bhutan; A Baby in a Backpack to Bhutan by Bunty Avieson (Macmillan). For up-to-date news and information visit the website of the national English-language newspaper, Kuensel, at http://www.kuenselonline.com.

Ronald Woodcock's performance on 18 October was given in the hall of the Royal Academy of Performing Arts in Thimphu and included short classical works from 18th Century Europe through 19th Century Romanticism to folk and Gypsy music from China, Hungary and Romania. A highlight of the programme for the audience was his performance of Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe's "Alone" for solo violin. Ronald and Louise both talked to the young students about the violin and the music they were playing and took questions from the audience.

After the performance, TV Bhutan recorded one work from the programme and interviewed the musicians. This programme went to air the following night.

Ronald Woodcock had arrived in Bhutan from Europe where his most recent concert had been given, with the support of the Australian Embassy, in the 18th Century Palacio Foz in Lisbon, Portugal. He has given concerts in 94 countries during a distinguished career, many in world centres of musical culture and some in remote areas where audiences have never seen or heard a violin before. In 26 of these countries, his concerts have been arranged under the auspices of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

As Buddhist prayer flags flapped in the evening sea breeze, Australians, some wearing traditional gho and kira, swapped stories with Bhutanese students and HRH Ashi Pem Pem Wangchuck and her daughter and granddaughter.

Among the guests were the consuls for India and Nepal, officials who had recently served in Thimphu with the United Nations, and diplomats from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

In welcoming the King's Aussie well-wishers, Cathy Harris said the room was divided into those people who had visited Bhutan and "those who want me to take them there."

Tim Fischer, chairman of the Australia Bhutan Friendship Association, raised a toast to mark the occasion and noted the King's humility and promotion of a balance in life as a model for citizens in the West.

Mr Fischer reflected that the King's leadership of Bhutan's successful military action against insurgents last year was marked not by slogans or victory parades but solemnity.

Mr Fischer, who is chairman of Tourism Australia, then joked of the trouble he was facing from fellow board members for his promotion of Bhutan.

But he said there were benefits coming back to Australia from his work: local Australian governments are now developing a Gross National Happiness index, which is currently running at a very contented range of 70 per cent.

Dressed in an exquisite-looking woollen gho, ABFA director Tshering Tashi delivered a personal message from Bhutan's Foreign Minister, Mr Khandu Wangchuk, to the Sydney party, reflecting the high-level interest that the Association has brought to Australia-Bhutan ties.

Mr Wangchuk's message read :

We are most happy to learn that Mrs. Catherine Harris, Honorary Consul of Bhutan in Australia and the Director of the Australian Chapter of Australia Bhutan Friendship Association is organizing a function to celebrate the Birth Anniversary of His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck, King of Bhutan on November 12, 2005 in Australia. On this auspicious and joyous occasion, it gives me great pleasure to convey, on behalf of the people and the Royal Government of Bhutan, and on my own behalf, our deep appreciation to the Honorary Consul and all the members of the Friendship Associations and well-wishers of Bhutan for organizing this thoughtful event.

We would also like to commend the important role played by the Honorary Consul and the Australia Bhutan Friendship Associations and all the members under the Chairmanship of Mr. Tim Fischer, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia in promoting the close ties of friendship, goodwill, understanding and cooperation between the peoples of our two countries. We have no doubt that this event will go a long way in further strengthening the excellent relations between Bhutan and Australia.

While I thank you all for the kind invitation extended to me to attend the celebrations, I regret not being able to do so due to prior official engagements. However, I am happy to learn that Mr. Tshering Tashi, Director, Bhutan Chapter of the Australia Bhutan Friendship Association is traveling to Australia to join you all in the celebrations.

I send my best wishes and warm Tashi Delek to all the members on this occasion and wish the event every success.

Tashi Delek!

Khandu Wangchuk

Minister for Foreign Affairs

All ABFA members in Thimphu were invited for dinner at Bhutan Kitchen on 02 November 2005 hosted by the Australian Ambassador, who was accompanied by his daughter Ms. Danielle.

The dinner was well attended by 18 ABFA members, who enjoyed Australian wine flown in from New Delhi by the Ambassador. Dorji Wangchuk, on behalf of ABFA, welcomed and thanked the Ambasssdor for hosting the dinner, and presented the Ambassador and his daughter Danni a DVD, "School Among Glaciers", that was produced by him.

A dinner for the Ambassador was hosted by ABFA at the Benez restaurant on Saturday 05 November.

Bhutan and Australia had a very consistent, well focussed programme of co-operation according to Mr. McCarthy, who was appointed Australia's Ambassador to Bhutan this April.

"We have a relatively small development assistance programme in Bhutan and is well targeted and focused on human resources" said the Ambassador, adding that both Bhutan and Australia would like to have at least one project going on at any given time.

"A few decades ago, Australia was involved in road building in Bhutan but we moved away from that sort of assistance to human resources." The reason, he said, were partly because the country had become more developed and partly because of the inclination of the recipient to undertake those sort of the projects themselves funding from international organizations.

The ambassador said that Australia would like to be helpful and active in the way Bhutan would want. "Apart from scholarships in education and health, Australia could also assist to government related proposals as a new government system evolves with the constitution."

The ambassador, who met with the cabinet ministers and department heads, said that he was briefed by them on Bhutan's development needs, on the priorities for the next Five Year Plan, the complexities and significance of the Constitutional change.

"Constitutional change, to the outsiders is a very significant change because it is a change which is being pushed to a democratic direction from the top. It is different from the constitutional changes in other countries", he said.

Having worked in over 10 countries he said that Bhutan intrigued him and was positive about the progress that was underway in Bhutan.

Mr. and Mrs. Louise Woodcock received lot of applause after the performance, which was attended by over 200 school children from all the junior, middle and high schools in Thimphu. RAPA performers and local expats also attended the show. Claudia Hudson, from Mary Rossi Travels and her group of 7 tourists also attended the show.

Mr. and Mrs. Woodcock were interviewed by the Bhutan Broadcasting Service TV station, and for those in Thimphu, it was televised on BBS news on 18th October.

The final Reading and Writing Workshop was held at Shaba Middle Secondary School, Paro on the 21 and 22 September. The Bhutan Broadcasting Corporation attended the second day of the workshop to interview Nicole and the participants. A news bulletin was broadcast the following day, highlighting the aims of the workshop and the importance of reading.

In the next week Nicole visited three schools in Paro to talk to students about reading and writing - Rinpung PS, Khangkhu LSS and Taju PS. In every class visited, those in Paro as well as schools in Eastern Bhutan, Nicole liked to ask the children if they were thinking of any particular career when they finished school. Every class held potential doctors, engineers, pilots and teachers - but no writers until the visit to Khangkhu LSS. It was there that Sonam Tandin a young boy in Class IV, said that he'd like to be a writer. Nicole was so delighted to meet a child who wanted to be a writer that she shook his hand and asked if they could have a photo taken together. As it happens, his teacher, also Sonam, said that she would like to write books for children, which is likely to be a strong source of influence on young Sonam.

Another highlight for Nicole was a dinner in Paro hosted by Dr. Pema Thinley, the Secretary, Ministry of Education and his wife. At this event Nicole had the pleasure of the company of Mr. T S Powdyel, the Director of the Centre for Educational Research and Development and Mr. Karma Yeshey, Joint Director of CAPSD. Ms. Deki Yangzom and Mr. Pema Wangdi from the Reading and Writing team were also able to attend. Nicole would like to express her appreciation to the Secretary and the Education Department for the generosity and hospitality shown to her throughout her residency.

On the 29 September Nicole presented a "Meet the Author" session to a group of 110 teachers and head teachers from the Paro Valley Schools, led by the District Education Officer and his assistant. This talk was presented within the Rinpung Experiment series XI, through the Centre for Educational Research and Development. It was wonderful and inspiring to see so many teachers attend a two-hour plus session after a full day teaching. It was an informal gathering, starting off with delicious momos and tea and finishing with a slide show of photos from the reading and writing workshops. A similar workshop is planned for the 24th October for the National Institute of Education in Paro.

At the beginning of October Nicole's family - Horden, Ellen and Emma arrived for the last month of the residency. Horden brought along a collection of picture books, Aussie Nibbles, Aussie Bites and Aussie Chomps that had been kindly donated by Penguin Publishers Australia in support of the residency. It was a great pleasure to offer these to the Education Department as examples of contemporary Australian children's literature. Nicole would like to express her appreciation to Penguin, and in particular Christine Alesich for the generosity of this gift.

Nicole has been in Thimphu with her family for the first week of October. In that time she has been interviewed for BBS for the "In Focus" program which screened for 30 minutes on Wednesday 5th October. This program focussed on the life of a writer and the importance of reading. The following day Nicole was interviewed for an article that appeared in Kuensel on Saturday 8th October. This article focussed on encouraging children to consider writing as a future career.

For the next two weeks Nicole hopes to undertake research for a book she plans to write based on her experiences in Bhutan. Her intention is to write with the young reader in mind, both Bhutanese and Australian. A visit to the folk heritage Museum, the textile museum and short treks (no longer than a few hours - those hills are steep!) have been of great help in her research. A short while helping two women from a village near Damji harvest their rice was also an experience. The inspiration from the Bhutanese people, country, culture and especially religion has been an overwhelming experience for Nicole. She is sure that something good will come from this exceptional opportunity.

The RCSC Secretary Dasho Bap Kezang and the program coordinator of the policy and governance program, Ms Allison Cumming Thom, signed the agreement on Tuesday 20th September.

Under the program the school will explore possibilities to assist the Royal Institute of Management and the Royal University of Bhutan in developing programs and courses.

It will also help to upgrade the existing postgraduate certificate in development management course at the RIM to Masters in Public Administration.

Speaking to BBS Ms Allison Cumming Thom said the visit would further strengthen ties between the University and RCSC.

So far more than 20 Bhutanese are studying at the Australian National University. Over fifty have already completed various courses.

School Among Glaciers, a documentary film produced by the Bhutan Broadcasting Service and directed by one of its senior producers, ABFA member Dorji Wangchuk, has won the EIDF 2005 Audience Award at the Korean International Documentary Award held in Seoul, South Korea.

The award carries a trophy and a cash prize of US$ 5,000. Dorji Wangchuk told Kuensel that the documentary was a tribute to Bhutanese teachers and students of remote schools in Bhutan.

The documentary is about a schoolteacher who sets out on a 14-day journey on foot from Punakha to the Lunana Community School. Located at about 4,500 metres above sea level Lunana is the highest settlement in Bhutan and has little over 1,000 inhabitants, all of them semi nomads. The documentary follows the schoolteacher's travel through narrow trails, up steep mountains and over high mountain passes, including the 5,200 meter Gangla Karchung pass, to reach his destination where he lives for five months and teaches students from among four settlements in the valley, one of which is the Thanza valley.

The teacher in focus is Ngawang Rabten, 28, the first B.Ed graduate to volunteer to go to Lunana to teach. Here besides the daily ritual of teaching, Ngawang comes to learn, discover and appreciate the little known but fascinating aspects of the people of Lunana. The film also highlights issues brought on by western education into the lives of the semi nomads.

"It was a great honour to be receiving the prize and being among some of the best documentary directors in the world," said Dorji Wangchuk. One of the directors present included the two time Oscar nominee, Hana Polak from Poland.

EIDF is an international documentary film festival that EBS, South Korea's representative public television, holds every year and includes contestants from around the world. The festival confers four awards - Grand Prix, Special Jury and Spirit which are decided by an international panel of jury while the Audience award is given based on the popular vote cast online.

After an exciting night, here is a detailed and heartfelt account of the evening by Dorji Wangchuk.

Although I counted a lot on my performance, I was still very pessimistic of winning anything. My competitors were just too good. They were also very nice and taught me a lot and really really encouraged me.

Two had Oscar nominations - Hana Polak from Poland and Phil from UK. One was a Sundance winner - Leonard from Holland. Two Cannes nominees and so on. Of course I also boasted my Japan Prize and Basel Karlsruhe wins and to put it in Dukpo's way "I was also not bad". But I sort of accepted defeat. So the three awards given by the Jury didn't interest me much.

But there was the fourth and the most prestigious - The Audience Award. And there I thought maybe "my Ferragamo suit, my Latin Lover charm, my humours" could work". And it did.

Two million people watched me and my presentation - and they voted for me. When my name was called, I was sort of "Oh my God". I thought "Am I dreaming again?" I rose slowly, all cameras focussed on me, I could hardly feel my feet. I was feeling like I had a hangover. I slowly walked towards the stage. I waved back at all the volunteer girls who had voted me as their favourite director and they screamed. The Chief Guest handed me the trophy. It was heavy. I nearly dropped it. Another girl came forward, kissed me on my cheek and handed me the flowers. And the presenter invited me to speak. And I gathered all my strength to utter and I spoke - stammering something like "Well I am overwhelmed. Thank you people of Korea for voting for me for this trophy." There was a long applause. I said, "I thought I didn't need the money" - the crowd giggled. "But taking cue from what Leonard has done in Indonesia, I will first have a dinner of Kimchi, go back to my country and help the children of the school among glaciers with this prize money". The crowd got up and applauded till I reached my seat. My two guides jumped on me in tears of joy as I sat down.

During the dinner I was called again but I was more relaxed. After thanking everyone again, I concluded "I would like to send these flowers to Mr. and Mrs. Han (my guide's parents) through Jeong Hyun my guide". I handed over the flowers. "Their support has really touched me. And their rice cake tastes even better". The crowd went wild. The volunteers all shouted "Dorji, what about my mother who also likes your film?" "What about my father who voted for you?". I said, "Sorry, EBS gave me only one bunch. I can't give away the trophy!".

A few days earlier Jeong Hyun told me her parents cried bitterly as they saw the last part of School Among Glaciers. Both Mr. and Mrs. Han were teachers, and had to leave the school during the Korean War, as the communists swept their hometown in the North. I think this was the best comment I have received for my film.

This is the power of our work. You never know how many will be affected. Who will feel what, when and where!

Love, light and happiness to you all, my dear friends for your support and your prayers. I love you all.

Dorji Wangchuk

Warm congratulations have come in from Catherine Harris, Tim Fischer, Baba Sourjah, Tshering Tashi, and Sonam Tashi - and many other ABFA members as well as Dorji makes his way home with some heavy hand luggage - for his fantastic effort in deservedly being recognised by winning this people's choice award, and for putting Bhutan on the map of documentary makers. As Sonam Tashi says, "May this trophy be just the first of many more lined up for Dorji".

Australian ABFA members are eagerly anticipating the arrival of the film in Australian cinemas, and a copy of the DVD to be brought to Australia by Tshering Tashi in November.

This is being facilitated by members of the Guild Cricket Club who toured Bhutan in November 2004.

The BCCB should be able to support the airfares. However, we are seeking accommodation for Mr Ugyen in Melbourne, with either an Australian host family or perhaps a Bhutanese student household.

The dates are to be confirmed (starting probably sometime in October), but the total stay would be around 2 months.

Ideally, accommodation can be found close to Melbourne University, or with good access to public transport.

If you can help, please contact the BCCB on :

bccb at druknet dot bt or you can mail jojos at druknet dot bt

Chris Faris

Honorary Executive Member

BCCB

http://www.bhutancricket.com

Nicole Pluss, the Australian Children's writer has commenced her Asialink Residency in Bhutan. Nicole arrived in Paro on the 2 September and since that time has been working with a team from the Education Department on a series of 2-day workshops for Bhutanese schoolteachers. An early highlight was a lunch at Bhutan Kitchen hosted by the Secretary, Ministry of Education and the Director, Department of School Education. Over a traditional Bhutanese meal the objectives of the workshops were discussed. The Secretary particularly mentioned his hope that many more Bhutanese schoolteachers might be inspired to write books for children.

To date, workshops have been conducted at Sherubling HSS, Trongsa, Mongar LSS, Mongar and Changangkha LSS, Thimphu. A fourth workshop will be conducted at Shaba MSS, Paro. Visits with school children will be undertaken at Rinpung PS, Khangkhu LSS and Taju PS in Paro. In October Nicole hopes to meet with fellow ABFA member Carolyn Hamer-Smith and some of her students at Druk School, Thimphu.

The response to date from workshop participants has been very positive.

Nicole comments:

"The highlight for me has been to meet so many teachers in Bhutan who share my passion for books and literacy. I have felt myself to be very much in the company of kindred spirits. English teachers in each school have implemented reading programmes that reflect best practice in Australia and I have enjoyed the opportunity to exchange ideas. We have had so much fun as a group with exercises to stimulate creative writing and thinking.

I realised very early that the Education Department had taken the initiative to make the most out of my residency. A film crew from the Media Unit has filmed each workshop and a series of documentaries will be produced both for broadcast and to provide an ongoing resource for teachers. It has been a wonderful experience to be in the company of such interesting and committed people. I have enjoyed my time in Bhutan immensely and look forward to the rest of my residency."

The team behind the workshops include Ms. Deki Yangzom, Mr. Pema Wangdi, Mr. Sangay Wangdi, Mr. Tandin, Mr. Pema Tenzin and Nicole. This group has enjoyed great camaraderie on their journey to the beautiful east of Bhutan. A highlight of the trip for Nicole was reaching Thrumshing La, the highest pass to the East, where everyone enjoyed a shared bottle of Apple Wine from Bumthang and many smiling photos were taken.

Nicole was seen at one stage in Thimphu surfing her way amongst the numerous mask dancers and the sea of people that had flocked to Tashichhodzong for the annual festival (tsechue). She had been taking it easy with the ama datshi as she had been eating it for all her three meals. She was safe, enjoying her work and looked happy.

Once again, Nicole would like to express her appreciation to Mr. Tshering Tashi and the Australian-Bhutan Friendship Association for supporting her Asialink Residency in Bhutan.

Nicole is in Bhutan until the end of October.

When a political figure urges us to think about our happiness, the usual reaction is to either reach for the nearest bucket or brace ourselves for an election.

But the quest for happiness is something that has long occupied the busy mind of former deputy prime minister and Nationals leader Tim Fischer.

He struggled to be happy when he was a boarder at Xavier College, a loner with a speech impediment.

And he quit the Parliament because he was unhappy about not spending enough time with his family. Canberra, he says, is ``a hard place to be happy''.

Now chairman of Tourism Australia, big Tim is on a campaign trail of sorts, trying to convince Australians that we should measure and embrace happiness.

Working with the north central Victorian shire of Indigo -- which takes in the towns of Beechworth, Yackandandah, Rutherglen and Chiltern -- Fischer has introduced Australia's first Gross National Happiness Index.

Recently residents of the shire were handed a survey in which the first question asked: On a scale of one (very sad) to seven (very happy), how happy do you feel today?

The survey then asked people to rate their happiness according to national, international and local factors which include environment, economic situation, government performance, security, cultural tolerance and wellbeing.

When the first survey was conducted in Indigo shire last summer, 71 per cent said they were happy. The figure climbed to 72.5 per cent in autumn, but dropped to 68 per cent in the first week of winter, a fall put down to the lack of early season rains.

The result of the latest survey will be announced next Thursday, the first day of spring.

Tim Fischer proposed the happiness index to several shires in Victoria and NSW, but Indigo was the only one that took it up.

He says that Aussies measure almost everything, but not the one factor that really matters.

By thinking about what elements make them content -- and the issues that upset them -- he says people will open their minds to the factors that might bring them real happiness.

While the GNH concept is new to Australia, Fischer says he is merely adapting what has worked quietly but effectively for three decades in the small Himalayan nation of Bhutan.

He first heard about Bhutan 20 years ago when he was a junior shadow minister in Andrew Peacock's Opposition.

``Peacock had some linkage with Shirley MacLaine, who had written a book about this tiny kingdom of Bhutan.

``I thought: I better go and have a look at this. I've been back every couple of years since, mainly for the benefit of my mind and soul, and also to learn.''

Bhutan's king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, pronounced Gross National Happiness as the country's philosophy soon after he was enthroned in 1972.

For more than 30 years it has been the benchmark for the country's Buddhist population of fewer than a million.

The happiness factor has taken a while to catch on around the world, probably because Western governments don't see a lot of revenue in advocating concepts such as free time, leisure and strict preservation of national culture.

There are no golden arches in Bhutan and the country's work practices don't have a lot in common with the industrial relations model being proposed by the Australian Government.

According to Tim Fischer, Bhutan's philosophy is that market-led happiness is an illusion.

The Bhutanese creed is that ruthless competition and the drive for profit are the very causes that serve to dehumanise society and undermine the factors that create happiness.

When we meet on a rainy Thursday morning in Beechworth, Fischer is on his way to spread the GNH message at a local tourism seminar.

He has 30 minutes to chat, and is going faster than a Sydney to Melbourne train.

As he breezes into the local bakery, he waves like a signalman to the driver of a passing utility, greets two elderly ladies in the doorway, shouts mock abuse at the baker, changes tracks to shake hands with a posse from the shire office and orders coffees and raisin toast.

He has already driven 40 minutes from Albury, where the family has a house, having dropped sons Harrison and Dominic at school in Wodonga.

He is back in Albury the next day to complete the school run -- but, in the meantime, he addresses the seminar in Beechworth, drives to Albury airport, flys to Brisbane, lectures at a tourism summit, flies back to Albury, and presumably conducts 100 whirlwind conversations along the way.

The next night he spends with his sons in Boree Creek, where his sister runs the family property.

Is it possible to be happy when life is so hectic? ``It is how I enjoy life and all the stimulation it offers,'' he replies.

``I have found a balance in my life, and that is important. Yesterday I was drenching poll herefords on my wife's farm.

``I do spend two or three days a week on one of the farms but, yes, I do have too many part-time jobs.''

Fischer, 58, hangs his trademark hat in any of three homes -- wife Judy's 180ha property at Mudgegonga in Victoria's Alpine Shire, the Albury town house and Boree Creek.

He also goes hiking whenever he can, hence the nickname Trekker Tim, and is especially keen in the coming months to explore some caves at Mt Jack, behind Judy's farm.

``I certainly feel that I have been able to find a balance in my life.

``Today might appear rather manic, but there are days when I just stay on one of the farms and work with the stock.

``I have never been happier.''

He says the factor that prompted him to introduce Gross National Happiness into Australia was the lack of balance he saw in the lives of many of his former parliamentary colleagues.

``I was driven by examples of people post-parliament falling into psychological trenches.

``The vast majority of Australians are in better circumstances than most people around the world, and yet too many of us are falling into trenches, unable to move forward.

``The people of Bhutan are more content, and I think we can learn from their broader outlook on life, their love for things that are simple and strong.

``We all need to be reminded there is more to life than material gain, and to have more dimensions in our lives.

``I know people will take pot shots at me for saying these things. I'm big enough to take it. I think it is worth taking a few shots for the sake of putting this concept out there.''

Fischer wants to convince people that GNH is as important a variable as GNP, CPI and what happens at the ASX.

As he says, the bottom line doesn't always have to be about dollars and cents.

The above story appeared in the Saturday, August 27 2005, edition of the Herald Sun newspaper, and was written by Neil Kearney.

A small article by Cathy Briner, a visitor to Bhutan in 2001, on the factory owned and run by Mr. Norbu Tenzing is attached below.

Bhutanese paper is made from the bark of the daphne bush which is soaked in water and then cooked for 2-3 hours; the workers clean out the imperfect spots and wind the strips into balls which are then ground into a pulp which is mixed with a glue and spread out in sheets to dry.

More details of Cathy's trip can be found at Cathy Briner's Tour to Bhutan - June 2001

Ambassador Singye Dorjee will be the first Bhutanese ambassador to Australia and will present his credentials in Canberra from September 26-30 2005.

The Protocol section of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) have arranged the presentation of Dasho Singye Dorjee's credentials on September 28, and the Governor General has arranged a luncheon for the four Ambassadors presenting that day.

ABFA Co-chairman, Tim Fischer, also hosted a small lunch on September 29 for His Excellency Ambassador Dasho Singye Dorjee during his visit to Australia, which went extremely well.

There is an optional extension to Darjeeling in India also led by John and Penny who visited there in 1997.

The cost and details of the tour are on the attached brochure. Tour to Bhutan - October 2005

If you would like a brochure mailed to you and/or would like additional brochures to give to friends please let John or Penny know. For further information on the tour contact John and Penny on (03) 9773 9771 and for bookings and further information on the tour contact Travelrite International on 1800 630 343 or (03) 9836 2522.

As a well known Canadian writer, John Ralston Saul, described it, GNH challenged conventional thinking and came at a time when society was dissatisfied with the mainstream consumeristic and political world. People need to break away from conventional reasoning and to adopt new ways of life that takes into account what he calls "animism" or a connection with the earth and sustainability that ancient civilisations possessed. "To make this conscious change, societies need to change the central public discourse and to focus on the nature of politics for public good," he said.

The conference introduced participants to current research and work in developing alternative measurements of development as opposed to the conventional indicators measured through monetary and economic data. A district in Australia, for example, has introduced a GNH index while attempts are being made to influence decision making to focus on improving the well being of people across Australia. New Zealand is being showcased for efforts to measure unpaid domestic work as a part of the overall move towards promoting a country's well being.

Initiatives that promote sustainable living and responsible business include the Barefoot College in India which provides poor rural communities with access to education, sustainable business and farming models which put sustainability above profit, and the challenges for the Canadian native people in preserving their indigenous culture in the face of rapid modern development. The four pillars of GNH identified by the Bhutanese government - environmental conservation, socio-economic development, culture, and good governance - formed the basis for discussions and presentations at the conference.

In a keynote address to the conference the minister for home and culture, Lyonpo Jigmi Y Thinley, expanded on the four pillars of GNH which he described as the guiding philosophy of Bhutan's development process pronounced by His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck soon after he ascended the Throne.

He said that the traditional Bhutanese polity was always guided towards GNH and that was why Bhutan always had a pre-disposition towards a more holistic, unconventional approach to development which recognised happiness as the primary and, perhaps, only purpose of development.

"GNH is a balanced and holistic approach to development, based on the conviction that man is bound by nature to search for happiness and that it is the single most desire of every citizen," he said. "The only difference between Bhutan and others is that we do not dismiss it as a utopian quest" It is our hope that as more thought is given to this common quest in life, there will be more ideas and reasons why GNH should guide human development to further human civilization."

The conference, with the theme "Rethinking Development: Local pathways to global well-being", aimed to confront the challenges of development today and look at the process which has made many countries richer but not happier. It will focus on some of the challenges faced by GNH, like Bhutan's attempts to integrate GNH into policy-making and ways of measuring and operationalising GNH.

The Bhutanese delegation of 19 government officials and scholars and 50 international participants convened a special session to conceptualise and define GNH with the aim to focus on what Bhutan should do now to take GNH into the mainstream of current thinking, planning, and public policy. They looked at GNH and culture, education, sustainable development, health, and the media, and how GNH can enable local communities to decide what's important for personal well being.

Professor Mark Mancall of Stanford University in the US, who is with the Bhutanese delegation, said that what was most critical now was what GNH meant for Bhutan. "How are we going to put it in action?"

Some Bhutanese participants expressed their surprise that the concept of GNH had gained such a momentum. "It is really inspiring to see our concept of GNH being adopted by people and organizations around the world," said the Thimphu dzongda, Dasho Sherub Gyeltshen. "It is heartening to know that GNH is now taken beyond the boundaries of Bhutan and is an inspiration for others, particularly policy makers, to find a more holistic, sustainable and happier way of life."

The director general of tourism, Lhatu Wangchuk, said he believed that GNH would gain momentum. "Now that Bhutan is known as a GNH country, we must intensify our efforts at home to truly make GNH work," he said. "It will benefit us tremendously and benefit other societies as well."

The international participants believed that GNH complemented the well-being movement that was taking hold in many countries, a movement that focuses on communities as the experts and analysts of their own development.

"Gross National Happiness" is a wonderful alternative that reminds us of the need to put happiness at the forefront of development," said one Canadian participant. "It complements our work in promoting well-being as the final goal of development."

The conference, was co-hosted by the Centre for Bhutan Studies together with the Genuine Progress Index Atlantic, Coady International Institute of the University of St Francis Xavier in Nova Scotia, Shambala International and the University of New Brunswick, UNDP, CIDA, and a number of other agencies.

For more details, including the Keynote speech by Lyonpo Jigmi Y Thinley, visit the web site at http://www.gpiatlantic.org/conference/

PS: You may recall that Tim Fischer introduced GNH into the Indigo Shire in March 2005.

Tim was the driving force behind these two new bridges when he was a Federal Government Minister and the local member for the electorate of Farrer, and is credited with securing $12 million in Centenary of Federation funds for Corowas $22 million bridge over the Murray River.

Corowa wanted to honour Mr Fischer.

Corowa Mayor Gary Poidevin said yesterday that, at Mr Fischers request, the approach bridge would be named rather than opened, as there had already been two opening ceremonies for the new road. The bridge was opened in 2001.

This bridge at Corowa is actually, Australia's second Tim Fischer Bridge.

The 95m-long approach bridge on the NSW side of the Murray River will be part of a new road, the Tommy McCrae Causeway, named after a local Aboriginal artist who died in 1901.

The first Tim Fischer Bridge straddles the Burnett River at Wallaville, 40km south of Bundaberg.

Mr Fischer opened that $28.5 million bridge on July 5 1999, having been told only minutes before that the Queensland Government had approved the name. Tim was about to retire as deputy prime minister and trade minister at the time.

For those who know him, this gesture of naming the bridge after Tim, is very reassuring that his long unstinting sacrifices, for the good of Australia, have not gone unnoticed...... his service is thus rightly immortalised by this gesture.....

Well done Tim, for this well deserved honour, from all at ABFA!!

From the World Cup to the mythical mountain kingdom of Bhutan, Words of My Perfect Teacher follows three students on a quest they hope will lead to wisdom. The catch is... the teacher. Soccer obsessed, charismatic filmmaker, and citizen of the world: Khyentse Norbu (filmmaker of The Cup, and Travellers and Magicians) may be one of the world's most eminent Buddhist teachers, but it's a job description he slyly rejects at every turn.

Featuring appearances by Bernardo Bertolucci and Steven Seagal. Filmed in the UK, Bhutan, Canada, the US, and in Germany at the World Cup. Set to a world beat with music by Sting, Tara Slone and Joy Drop, Steve Tibbets, U.Man.Tek, Kunga 19, and others. Words of My Perfect Teacher is for those who wish they'd met Yoda or Merlin, and long for the opportunity to engage with a teacher who defies convention.

Being June, the NSW Rural Fire Service advises there is a cold period at the moment and while there is not much prescribed burning going on due to the temperature and moisture in the air overnight, the guys have been able to do some burning and participate in extensive planning and preparation for burning.

The Bhutan Forestry officials will be going to Canberra to see the AusAID people and also to catch up with a number of Bhutanese students at the Australian National University, including Bap Tandin and Rinchin. After that they will be going to the far north coast of NSW, Grafton, and into the hinterland of Armidale. Apparently there was a large group of Bhutanese teachers in Armidale quite recently! After that its off to Young in central NSW for more training.

The Bhutan Forestry officials will fly out of Sydney on the 21st June, (the day after the planned arrival of a 2nd delegation of Bhutanese forestry officials), having covered most of the central and northern parts of the State.

The NSW Rural Fire Service will be hosting a large welcome/farewell dinner in Sydney for both delegations with the NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner and senior officers.

During her visit, Cathy led a small group of adventurous travellers for an insider's perspective of the mystical and spiritual Kingdom of Bhutan, - the Kingdom above the clouds!

"There will be serious walking for those so inclined - and I highly recommend this as some of the best places to see are only done so by foot. The power and beauty of the mountains is more impressive on foot than from any vehicle. One main road runs from one end of Bhutan to the other and the scenery is spectacular, so get the walking shoes on and start limbering up" said Cathy.

Cathy hosted a dinner for her guests and her Bhutanese friends on 10th May 2005 at Bhutan kitchen.

Cathy and her friends also made donations to the Damji community school and the Gasa school. Cathy also inspected the water boiler project at the Dechenphodrang monastery in Thimphu which will be commissioned this winter.

Thanks to Cathy and the wonderful group of people for the donation and their generosity.

As an association, people to people contacts are what we need to work on. In this, the efforts of Tim Fischer and Cathy Harris are commendable.

Chencho Dukpa, Prashanti Pradhan, Sonam Tashi, Kinlay Tshering, Kesang Wangchuk, Sonam Deki and Kesang Puntshao, son of Chief Drukair Captain Tenzing.

All were in very good form and some took the mickey out of the retiring Chairman of Crawford, namely Tim Fischer, who steps down on 1 June 2005.

Full marks to all involved!!

Does anyone know if this film will be shown in Canberra too?

Electric Shadows cinema is keen to screen it but are having problems identifying and contacting the film distributor. If anyone from the Canberra chapter of ABFA (or elsewhere) can assist in making this happen please let Golnaz know via email to golnazassadi at hotmail dot com.

The film was so beautifully done and wonderful to watch. The session was booked out, which is a rare thing for Adelaide. The audience also seemed to appreciate the opportunity to ask some questions at the end to Lhakpa Dorji and Mal Watson. It was magic to travel to Bhutan for those few hours.

Nicole also said she would like to thank ABFA for supporting her Asialink residency to Bhutan in September and October this year. Nicole is sure that she will learn many things that will enrich her future books for children and she also hopes to meet many Bhutanese school children and teachers to talk with about Australian books for children, and lots of other things as well...

Nicole advises, all her family are looking forward to the trip, and thanked ABFA for making it possible.

ABFA Melbourne are planning to meet at 6.30pm at Cinema Nova at 380 Lygon St Carlton for the May 5, 2005 screening.

Travellers and Magicians is a visually spectacular new film from Buddhist lama and filmmaker Khyentse Norbu (The Cup).

Travellers and Magicians, made by Buddhist lama and filmmaker Khyentse Norbu (The Cup), shot in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, combines a sensual fable with a humorous modern-day tale in a visually spectacular film.

Two men embark on parallel, if separate, journeys. Their yearning is a common one--for a better and different life. Dondup, delayed by the timeless pace of his village, is forced to hitchhike through the beautiful wild countryside of Bhutan to reach his goal. He shares the road with a monk, an apple seller, a papermaker and his beautiful young daughter, Sonam. Throughout the journey, the perceptive yet mischievous monk relates the story of Tashi. It is a mystical fable of lust, jealousy and murder, that holds up a mirror to the restless Dondup, and his blossoming attraction to the innocent Sonam. The cataclysmic conclusion of the monk's tale leaves Dondup with a dilemma - is the grass truly greener on the other side?

(Dzongka language with English subtitles).

James Hilton in his book "Lost Horizon" writes about an earthly paradise hidden up in the Himalayas. Whether he had heard of or been to Bhutan is not known, but his mythology has a similarity as far as the country of Bhutan is concerned. It is a relatively small nation, about the size of Tasmania but if you flattened out all the mountains it would probably be much bigger.

The Kingdom of Bhutan has only been opened up to the world in recent years. Until the 1960s the country had no national currency, no telephones, schools, hospitals, postal service or tourists. In the short period of 40 years the country has been slowly opened up to the modern world.

Under wise and careful leadership the King has been cautious to protect Bhutan's traditional culture and its environment. National forests are protected and only restricted areas are used for harvesting timber. Many of the Himalayan peaks, of which Bhutan has 21, are restricted for climbers so as not to interfere with the mountain tribes' herds and lifestyles. Bhutan is all part of the Himalayas. It has huge mountains and deep valleys. The only straight road in the country is the one running along the airstrip. Paro has the only airstrip in the country and today it is being serviced by two very modern Airbus aircraft belonging to Druk National Airlines. The flight in and out of Paro requires skilful pilots winding their way through snow-capped mountain peaks.

Modern Bhutan has introduced universal education, free medical treatment, telephones, television and internet. English is widely spoken. It is their second language. I found it quite a thrill to be able to have conversation with young school children.

Forty years ago it was a six day journey with horse and mules to enter the Kingdom from India. Today precipitous roads traverse the four hundred thousand square mile of rugged country.

The capital is Thimphu with a population 60,000 people. It is here that the King lives with his four wives. And it is worth mentioning that they are all sisters. Along side the Royal Palace there is a nine hole golf course. The highest golf course in the world. Theory has it that with the thin air you can hit a golf ball twice as far. That theory did not work for me although I did hit a few nice shots.

This magical country does have a mystique. When one comes upon their impressive dzongs with their unique architecture it is hard to conceive that they were built in this remote part of the world four or five hundred years ago. These dzongs had several purposes. They were fortresses, administrative buildings and monasteries. They were built with a combination of stone and timber, decorated with beautiful wood carvings and painted in bright colours of gold, green and blue.

The fact that Bhutan was not on any trade route and had a small population makes one marvel that these grand buildings were ever constructed in this lost world.

Buddhism is the national religion that came from Tibet and Nepal. Buddhism is a religion and philosophy that cultivates discipline, courtesy and care. Its concern for life makes the Bhutanese a nation of kind, considerate and happy people.

National income today comes mainly from the generation and sale of hydro electricity to India. The other potential source of national income is that of tourism which they recognise must be introduced gradually so as not to interfere with the Bhutanese culture. Last year a record number of nine thousand people visited Bhutan. And with the construction of more tourist accommodation it is hoped to build the number of tourists up to 20,000. To ensure that the country financially benefits from tourism $US200 must be spent each day and all charges including accommodation, food and transport must be paid before the issue of a visa. Tourists need only have currency to pay for drinks and souvenirs. Peter Nixon and I thought it was good value especially as we had a guide and car driver who saw to our wellbeing every minute of our twelve days' visit.

There is no restriction on alcoholic drinks and Bhutan produces some very good quality spirits and beer. Smoking is another matter and has recently been banned. Some of the young are not taking kindly to it. While marijuana grows freely like weeds, it is illegal to smoke. Bhutan's enlightened attitude to modern problems is to be admired. Not so long ago they declared that there should be little or no use of plastic bags. People's shopping at markets was to be in handbags or baskets. This has helped greatly in reducing litter. Of all the developing countries that I have visited Bhutan is the cleanest by a long shot.

It is wholesome and pleasant to see Bhutanese men, women and schoolchildren all wear national dress. And their architecture strictly retains all the characteristics of Bhutanese housing, as one might image in a fairyland The houses are generally three storey buildings with a sort of Swiss - Nepal influence. The bottom floor being for animals, second floor for the family and the third floor for storing grain and hay.

Hotel accommodation is being upgraded bit by bit to meet the satisfaction of international tourists. Hot water, electricity and television is generally available, though telephones are more sparse. The terrain adds difficulty to communications. In the main centre television has crashed in and is bombarding the viewers. The government has since had to restrict the number of licences. There are an overwhelming number of satellite channels - international ones such as BBC, CNN, Chinese and a crowd of Indian stations. The hardness of hotel beds was quite a talking item. I found them it difficult to adjust. A mat over hard boards takes a little getting used to.

A memorable phenomenon when staying at hotels in Bhutan is the cacophony of dogs barking through the night but predominantly from about 4 o'clock in the morning. Packs of dogs run freely around the towns and no restraints seem to be placed on their numbers. They bark to their hearts' content.

The national sport of Bhutan is archery. Most communities have an archery field. This is a strip of land long enough for the official length of 130 yards. At each end there is a small target about 1/2 a metre high by 25 cms. wide. When the target is hit the successful team dances and sings for a couple of minutes. It is quite a colourful event and appealed more to me than the hugging that goes on these days with our sportsmen.

I would suggest to those who love trekking that there are few countries where they would find greater enjoyment. Treks of all grades are available which travel through forests where azaleas, rhododendrons and magnolias bloom freely. The woodlands range up to 12 or 14 thousand feet and above that grasslands gravel and snow. Treks can vary from 7 or 8 thousand feet to 16 or 18 thousand feet. Bhutan provides excellent support facilities for those undertaking treks.

These can vary from 2 to 20 days. As with all countries of high altitude it is wise to have a few days to acclimatize. The different seasons make trekking more or less attractive. Certainly the winter months from November to March are limited.

Bhutan has a range of wild animals, but its bird life attracts considerable interest. There are some 600 to 700 different species attract ornithologists from all over the world. Of special interest is the endangered black-necked crane. They spend the winter months in particular valley and then returns to the Himalayas in the summer. So rare are they that their resting grounds are now classified as a World Heritage Area. As spring was underway the birds had taken off, so we missed them.

I found Bhutan a most refreshing country. Everything about it was wholesome. The people seem to be of another era. They value life and treat their fellow human-beings with great respect and kindness. Those who have the opportunity of visiting this lovely country will be well rewarded.

Doug and Peter's tour was handled by Jojos and Tshering Tashi's good team.

"There is no better way than choosing to light up butter lamps in one of the most revered and sacred lhakhangs of the country on such a memorial occasion." said Sonam Tashi.

Following are some images taken at Changangkha Lakhang:

Tom Maxwell, Associate Professor and Head, School of Education, University of New England (UNE) at Armidale, took a goup of 11 Bhutanese Masters students from UNE to Coffs Harbour for a cultural excursion. On Monday morning, at 9.30am, they joined Tom and Jenny at the Coffs Harbour Anzac ceremony.

Anzac Day 2005 is the 90th Anniversary of the landing of Australian and NZ troops at Gallipoli - a beautiful part of Turkey.

For the record the then First Lord of the Admiralty Sir Winston Churchill drove the strategy forward to invade Turkey in World War One, and Lord Kitchener led the military side of the operation which ended in disaster and retreat with thousands dead. Churchill accepted responsibility and resigned and valiantly went back to France as a Colonel in the trenches, Kitchener lost his life on a convoy to Russia, when his ship was sunk. Australians remember Kitchener for his ordering a stacked Court Martial in the Boer war, leading to the execution of two Australians, Breaker Morant and Peter Handcock.

Following is a piece written about how to make some sense of the contradictions between a peace-loving people commemorating our war dead - a speech written by Don Watson for Remembrance Day 1993, and delivered by then Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Shrine of Remembrance in Canberra. It contains heart-felt feelings that can move all souls.... a piece that could change the way we look at wars and love our unsung heroes.

We do not know this Australian's name and we never will. We do not know his rank or his battalion. We do not know where he was born, nor precisely how and when he died. We do not know where in Australia he had made his home or when he left it for the battlefields of Europe. We do not know his age or his circumstances - whether he was from the city or the bush; what occupation he left to become a soldier; what religion, if he had a religion; if he was married or single. We do not know who loved him or whom he loved. If he had children we do not know who they are. His family is lost to us as he was lost to them. We will never know who this Australian was.

Yet he has always been among those whom we have honoured. We know that he was one of the 45,000 Australians who died on the Western Front. One of the 416,000 Australians who volunteered for service in the First World War. One of the 324,000 Australians who served overseas in that war and one of the 60,000 Australians who died on foreign soil. One of the 100,000 Australians who have died in wars this century.

He is all of them. And he is one of us.

This Australia and the Australia he knew are like foreign countries. The tide of events since he died has been so dramatic, so vast and all - consuming, a world has been created beyond the reach of his imagination. He may have been one of those who believed that the Great War would be an adventure too grand to miss. He may have felt that he would never live down the shame of not going. But the chances are he went for no other reason than that he believed it was the duty he owed his country and his King.

Because the Great War was a mad, brutal, awful struggle, distinguished more often than not by military and political incompetence; because the waste of human life was so terrible that some said victory was scarcely discernible from defeat; and because the war which was supposed to end all wars in fact sowed the seeds of a second even more terrible war - we might think this Unknown Soldier died in vain.

But, in honouring our war dead, as we always have and as we do today, we declare that this is not true. For out of the war came a lesson which transcended the horror and tragedy and the inexcusable folly. It was a lesson about ordinary people - and the lesson was that they were not ordinary. On all sides they were the heroes of that war; not the generals and the politicians but the soldiers and sailors and nurses - those who taught us to endure hardship, to show courage, to be bold as well as resilient, to believe in ourselves, to stick together. The Unknown Australian Soldier whom we are interring today was one of those who, by his deeds, proved that real nobility and grandeur belongs, not to empires and nations, but to the people on whom they, in the last resort, always depend.

That is surely at the heart of the ANZAC story, the Australian legend which emerged from the war. It is a legend not of sweeping military victories so much as triumphs against the odds, of courage and ingenuity in adversity. It is a legend of free and independent spirits whose discipline derived less from military formalities and customs than from the bonds of mateship and the demands of necessity. It is a democratic tradition, the tradition in which Australians have gone to war ever since.

This Unknown Australian is not interred here to glorify war over peace; or to assert a soldier's character above a civilian's; or one race or one nation or one religion above another; or men above women; or the war in which he fought and died above any other war; or one generation above any that has been or will come later.

The Unknown Soldier honours the memory of all those men and women who laid down their lives for Australia. His tomb is a reminder of what we have lost in war and what we have gained.

We have lost more than 100,000 lives, and with them all their love of this country and all their hope and energy.

We have gained a legend: a story of bravery and sacrifice and, with it, a deeper faith in ourselves and our democracy, and a deeper understanding of what it means to be Australian.

It is not too much to hope, therefore, that this Unknown Australian Soldier might continue to serve his country - he might enshrine a nation's love of peace and remind us that, in the sacrifice of the men and women whose names are recorded here, there is faith enough for all of us.

Happy ANZAC day where-ever you may be.

"It is a privilege for me to welcome John and his colleagues from New Delhi to Bhutan on behalf of the Australia Bhutan Friendship Association. We wish you a very productive and purposeful tenure as the new ambassador of Australia to Bhutan. I would like to thank Tshering Tashi and Chris Faris for helping to organize the dinner this evening."

"There is tremendous goodwill for Australia in Bhutan and I am sure that the Australians too have a similar feeling towards Bhutan."

"The presence of Bhutanese and Australian members of ABFA this evening represent only a small fraction of people associated with Australia. Many Bhutanese nationals have studied in Australia over the years either through the Australian Government scholarships or through other donor funding. In fact, two of the present ministers in the government have either been trained or studied in Australia. These people are making significant contribution to the development of Bhutan. In addition, many Australian experts are contributing their services for Bhutan's development."

"Australia has special significance for Bhutan. It was in the Colombo Plan meeting held in Melbourne in 1962 that Bhutan was admitted to this organization which represented its first step towards its membership in international organizations. There has been no looking back since then and today Bhutan is a member of major regional and international organizations. The World Trade Organization is the only major international body to which Bhutan aspires to become its member and preparations are being made in this regard. Then in the later part of 1960s, Australia provided some trucks which were used in the construction of roads in Bhutan. In the early 1970s, Bhutanese students started going to Australia for higher studies under the Colombo Plan. During the coronation of His Majesty the King in 1974, Australia gifted Ford Futura vehicles for use of the guests."

"In recent years, interactions between the two countries have expanded particularly through fellowships in Australia. The opening of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2002 has added a new and more meaningful dimension to bilateral relations. The flow of Australian tourists to Bhutan is also steadily increasing with a total of 315 tourists last year compared to an average of 202 tourists between 2000 and 2004. In the first three months of 2005, 92 Australian tourists visited Bhutan. This shows that people-to-people contacts have diversified."

"We hope that during your ambassadorship, the relations between our two countries will grow further."

"I wish all of you a very pleasant evening."

After working in the IT field in Australia, Japan and Belgium, Murray now has the luxury of a year (and hopefully more) to exercise the creative side of his mind by writing.

Murray says "Bhutan is a fantastic place to do it. My only 'complaint' is that the scenery and people are so engaging that I'm constantly distracted from my writing. I hope that continues."

Murray met many other ABFA members at the dinner at Bhutan Kitchen held on April 7, 2005.

For more information about Murray, his writing and his stay in Bhutan you can visit his web-site and weblog (blog) at http://murraygunn.id.au/home.php

The position is for a year and Carolyn feels both excited and privileged to have been given this wonderful opportunity. This is her second trip to Bhutan and says she is loving every minute of the experience.

"I look forward to meeting those of you living in Thimphu and developing further the Australia-Bhutan relationship!" said Carolyn.

"Welcome (again) to the virtual Australia Bhutan campfire." said Ray Marcelo.

"Welcome to the Gross National Hapiness Kingdom of Bhutan and I hope it goes well for you. Bennies on a Friday night is the gathering point for some expats, dare I say." added Tim Fisher from Indigo Shire, based around Beechworth and Rutherglen in Victoria, Australia.

"My seven-year old daughter adores Carolyn. I hope more English teachers would come to Bhutan to teach our children." wrote Dorji Wangchuk.

"My daughter loves animals and she was really thrilled to hear about an un-Bhutanese animal called Kangaroo and Koala - from Carolyn." added Dorji.

ABFA would also like to thank Cathy Harris for her generous contribution of two bottles of Australia's finest wine to the dinner.

The Australian Ambassador, Mr. John McCarthy, presented his credentials to His Majesty the King at the Tashichodzong on Wednesday morning.

Ambassador John McCarthy of Australia joined the Department of External Affairs in 1968. Prior to his appointment as the Australian Ambassador to Bhutan, he served as Ambassador to Japan. Over a career spanning about four decades, he has served as ambassador to Indonesia, the United States, Thailand, Mexico, and Vietnam.

They will be undertaking prescribed burning, applying fire to the forest, and familiarising themselves with how NSW undertakes fire management.

This in-Australia training, builds upon the 3 consultancies that have been undertaken in Bhutan by the NSW Rural Fire Service.

The five officers are:

• Chado Tshering, Head SFD
• KJ Temphel, CFO, SFS
• Sither Dorji, DFO, Mongar
• Tshering Dorji, Geog Forestry Staff, Lhuentse Dzongkha
• Tshering Penjore, Assistant DFO, Mongar Dzongkhag

These officers will be very busy as they criss-cross NSW. The need to be highly manoeuvrable is to be able to take advantage of certain weather conditions. Fire cannot be applied to the forest immediately after rain or when it is too dry, too windy or too hot. That is why a prescription is required and why we call it Prescribed burning. Its just like going to a doctor for treatment. The doctor prescribed the treatment to correct what is wrong with you. In this case we apply a prescription to correct imbalances in the forest, promote certain species over others, or to remove the build up of forest fire fuel on the forest floor.

May and June in NSW can have varying weather conditions. It will be late autumn early winter. Rain is always possible in these months but not necessarily wide spread. For example it might rain in Sydney but be dry on the north coast or the south coast.

The forestry officers will be equipped with their protective fire fighting equipment - identical to that worn by the NSW Rural Fire Service - similar to the picture below of a typical NSW fire fighter.

Don’t be surprised when they return to Bhutan as they will be wearing bright yellow uniforms!

Doug and Peter will spend time fishing for trout in the rivers of Thimphu and visit places of interest in Paro, Punakha, Ha and Wangduephodrang. They will also do some gentle hikes in Phobjikha valley.

Mr. J.D. Anthony AC CH

Farmer and Company Director. Political Career: Member of the house of Representatives from 1957 to 1984. Leader of the Country Party from 1971 to 1984. Deputy Prime Minister of Australia from 1971 to 1983. At various times held ministries in Natural Resources, Overseas Trade, Minerals and Energies, Trade and Resources. Company Director of various companies. His wife is Mrs Margot Anthony and they have 3 adult children. Doug's recreations include golf, tennis, swimming, walking and fishing.

Mr Peter Nixon

Grazier and Company Director. Political Career: Member of Australian Parliament from 1979 to 1983. At various times held ministries in Transport, Shipping and Transport, Interior and Post Master General. His wife is Mrs Sally Nixon and they have 2 adult children. Peter's recreations include racing and fishing.

In south Asia the experience of democracy ranges from the exuberant yet fragmenting variety, to the faltering kind. In this climate, for the King to continue his push for wider rights and responsibilities demonstrates courage and faith in the people.

ABFA would like to extend best wishes to all Bhutanese, and other ABFA members, as they become involved in the development of democracy in Bhutan.

To view the constitution of Bhutan you can log on to www.constitution.bt

With the new constitution, and with the Bhutanese people feeling assured under the presence of His Majesty the King, Bhutan has a great chance to develop a sound culture of political democracy, participation and bureaucratic accountability.

The story was filmed during ABFA Chairman Tim Fischer's visit to Bhutan in October 2004.

"It is a breakthrough that the segment is not just the five minute Postcard section in the middle of the program. Clearly Bhutan's profile is building." said Tim.

Sonam Tashi from Melbourne gathered a group of 5 Bhutanese to watch the story at their residence in Brunswick. "It is a special documentary worth recommending for several more viewings.....of course, we can't expect a 20 minute documentary to depict everything about Bhutan, but it did try its best...... kudos to all those concerned with the documentary especially Tim Fischer and his party." said Sonam.

Reporter: Peter Lloyd

FINAL STORY

SERIES 14

EPISODE 27

Synopsis

In a world where despots and dictators cling to power by any and often brutal means Bhutan's much loved and revered King Jigme Singye Wangchuck is actively relinquishing his power.

Since coming to throne as a teenager thirty years ago the King's acquired a god like reputation - to many outsiders he seems almost too good to be true - portrayed as a benevolent, modest and humble man devoted to his country and people.

"We are sandwiched by two billion people literally and yet we are an independent kingdom with a strong policy that preserves our environment. We still have our culture alive and we have one person to thank." - that's the view of Tshewang Dhendup author, broadcaster, bon vivant, poet and patriot.

The King is happily married to four wives - all sisters, a fact not lost on Australia's former Deputy Prime Minister and ardent trekker Tim Fischer. "The king leads from the front foot, no Swiss bank accounts no Lear jets and lives in a log cabin. Married to four sisters, kids by all four - immediately people will think he must be a playboy - he's in fact anything but."

Reporter Peter Lloyd accompanied Tim Fischer and his Australian touring party on a trek to the Tiger's Nest, Bhutan's most famous monastery. The tourism dollars are vital to Bhutan's economic development, yet the king is on record as saying that gross national happiness is more important than gross national product.

"I don't think we're going to see golden arches on the Tiger's Nest." said Tim.

With a population of fewer than a million the great majority of Bhutanese are subsistence farmers. Life is difficult and demanding but the challenge is tempered by traditional Buddhist culture and beliefs.

Bhutan - a land of great beauty now an emerging democracy looking to engage the wider world.

The Crawford Fund of Australia helps with this kind of study. The Fund's objective is to promote and encourage International Agricultural Research, e.g. upgrading potato production in Bhutan with the Argentinian stud potato varieties!

The Chief Justice's invitation was extended following the recent visit to Australia of Chhukha Drangpon Lungten Dubgyur, during which he visited Justice Merkel's Chambers at the Federal Court of Australia in Melbourne.

Justice Merkel visited the district courts of Punakha and Paro. In a meeting in the Chief Justice's Chambers, the Judges discussed a range of matters of mutual interest, and areas for future co-operation between the High Court of Bhutan and the Federal Court of Australia.

Bhutan, who batted first recovered from a shock start, losing two wickets for 11 runs, to ultimately score 101 runs. The highest scorer was T. Dorji with 24 runs.

K. Moosa of Maldives was elected as the man of the match for taking 3 wickets for 11 and batting an unbeaten 31 runs for his country.

The Thai team also scored a similar victory against Brunei with nine wickets.

On the 2nd day, February 3, 2005, Bhutan made 277 runs in 49.3 overs against Brunei in the 2nd match of the Emerging Nations Cricket Tournament played in Bangkok.

The Bhutanese team had an easy victory with Brunei managing to reach just 53 runs for all out.

Congratulations to the Bhutan Cricket Team on defeating both Brunei and Iran! This is a great effort at sea level in Bangkok, a disadvantage worth 50 runs for any team from the Himalayas, many thousands of feet higher!!

The tournament is an annual event organised by the Asian Cricket Council for developing cricket nations in Asia.

ABFA has been actively supporting the Bhutan National Cricket team.

The former member for Farrer and Nationals' leader, Tim Fischer, has been made a Companion (AC) of the Order of Australia for his services to parliaments of Australia and to the areas of trade, rail transport and humanitarian aid....

Our ABFA chairman Tim received the highest Australian honor for his eminent achievement and merit of the highest degree in service to Australia and to humanity at large.

Close to 800 Australians were recognised at home and abroad for their contribution to the nation in the annual Australia Day Honours List. They ranged from politicians to potato growers, from sporting champions to champions of the poor and disadvantaged.

"It's for others to judge whether we should be on that list or not.", Tim said. "I certainly am honoured to be on it. It's a mighty privilege and one that I hope to utilise in the sense of philanthropic work, going forward as National Patron of Frontier Services, UNHER, RedR and other roles."

"I utilise the moment to salute the many thousands of Australians who have stepped forward this last month and year-in year-out help good causes." he said.

Congratulations for Tim came from far and wide, including the border area Royal Manas National Park at Gelephu, indeed from friends be they in Bhutan, India or Australia.

On this occasion, all members of ABFA would like to join all other well wishers to congratulate him.

Well done Tim!!

The index, launched by Australias chairman of tourism, Mr Tim Fischer, is based on the system used in Bhutan. The index will be calculated at the start of each climatic season and will include events in the Indigo Shire (50 per cent), across Australia (25 per cent) and internationally (25 per cent).

Indigo council Mayor Cr Bill Hotson said the index would act as a measure of health for the region.

Mr Fischer said similarities in natural, cultural and social wealth of Indigo Shire to southern Bhutan meant the index could easily be applied to the region.

"The GNHI concept is relied heavily upon in Bhutan to benchmark the countrys health, it just seems a great fit for Indigo," he said.

"Even though Bhutan is 10,000km away from Indigo, the issues facing both areas are remarkably similar."

Mr Fischer said the index would be released as a percentage figure four times a year with the first one to be released just after 8am on Monday on the Today Show.

"To give an example, a couple of years ago it would have been very low down near zero with the bushfires," he said.

"But at the moment, its the middle of summer, and the Opera in the Alps is on tomorrow so it would be very high as everyone is happy."

Mr Fischer said informal surveys would be used to calculate the index but they would become more formal as the year went on. Cr Hotson said the index presented a wonderful opportunity to showcase the region.

"Our shire is blessed with a unique and remarkable built, cultural and natural environment, which is a great attraction to tourists from around the world," he said.

"The index will be a great way for our communities and those outside to know how we are faring on some key variables that really matter."

"Our historic towns of Beechworth, Rutherglen, Chiltern and Yackandandah are increasingly being sought after as places to live from people all around Australia due to these environments and their proximity to the burgeoning rural cities of Albury-Wodonga and Wangaratta."

It received wide praise and a big round of applause and was preceded by a fascinating discussion/lecture by Khyentse Norbu and Edmund Capon. Both were in good form!

The film is very true to Bhutan and its vital highways of life and roadways of endurance, but always with stunning vistas attached. There are some great actors presented, along with superb scenery plus a variation of pace in the middle. It is a film of renown and very worthwhile seeing. It is due for release in Australia in May 2005.

Congratulations to all involved with the film and with the special post film dinner and support for the Foundation, at the best restuarant in Crown St Sydney! With the recent NY Times article and all it is full steam ahead for Bhutan, but hopefully it will never lose its uniqueness and vitality.

The Royal Society for Protection of Nature, responsible for maintaining accounts for the social work of the Dechenphodrang monastery has acknowledged the receipt of USD $ 1000/- (US Dollar one thousand), which has been sent by Catherine Harris.

RSPN extend its appreciation for the kind support and quick response. The donation will be used to make water boilers for the Dechenphodrang monastery. Dechenphodrang is a monastic school with 500 monks. As winter has already set in, the hot water will be a big help for the monks hygiene.

Nicole has been granted $7,000 to undertake a residency for two months in 2005 under the Asialink Literature Residency Program. Even though she had not received official visa approval Nicole believes that the support she received from Tshering Tashi, ABFA and the "strong recommendation" of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were sufficient for the committee.

The Asialink program is run by The University of Melbourne, Australia in partnership with the Australia Council for the Arts together with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and various other organisations. Asialink gives Australian writers the opportunity to live and work in an Asian country.

The aim of this program is to foster bilateral relationships, to encourage ongoing involvement between Australian writers and their Asian colleagues as well as providing a special understanding and insight into the country visited, which would then be reflected in the writer's work.

Residency programs have been undertaken since 1997 to various countries in Asia, including; India, China, Taiwan, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore and Sri Lanka.

Nicole is the first candidate to be offered the privilege of a residency in Bhutan.

The Asialink residencies are run in association with a host organisation. In Japan, China, Indonesia and Korea this host organisation is a university. In India and Malaysia an arts organisation hosts the resident. Writers or artists contribute to the life of the organisation and community in whatever way is suitable, often by giving workshops and talks.

Nicole would like to visit Bhutan for two months in September/October 2005. As one of the aims of these residencies is to foster cultural exchange Nicole would seek to contribute in this way. As her particular interest and expertise is in children's books and literacy, she would like to visit schools and talk to students and teachers in Paro and Thimphu. If possible Nicole would also like to spend some time during a residency visiting Sherubtse College in Kanglung, Trashigang.

In Australia Nicole often visit schools and talk to students about being a writer and the creative development of ideas. Nicole plans to structure her visits in whatever way the particular school or college might like, to best suit the needs of the children or students. She plans to talk specifically about being an Australian children's writer with examples of her work and the work of other Australian writers, including picture books. She also plans to talk about the publishing process and ways to develop a career as a writer. She will also talk more generally about Australia and being an Australian. Nicole plans to work hard to ensure that her visit is worthwhile, suitable and interesting.

Nicole said "I have long had an interest in Bhutan; the people, country, culture, religion and history. To experience life in Bhutan, which is so different to my life in Australia would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. My work and life as an author would be enriched in ways I am sure will influence my future writing. The opportunity to meet and talk with Bhutanese teachers and students would be invaluable and I am sure that worthwhile ties would be established during the period of a visit. Above all I would like to be able to reflect a different life perspective in my writing and foster greater understanding of cultural differences and similarities in my readers, which I feel is the most worthwhile and important aspect of my work."

Nicole has been writing for children and young adults for over 20 years. She is published by Penguin Books, a highly regarded publishing house. She is dedicated and passionate about children's literature and literacy. Before becoming a writer, Nicole studied Arts Law at Sydney University and worked as a Government lawyer for seven years. She has been married for 10 years to her husband, Horden, and they have two daughters, Ellen and Emma who are 9 and 8 years old. As the Asialink program runs for a minimum of 2 months, many residents are accompanied by their families, and Nicole is requesting that her family join her for one month during her stay in Bhutan. Nicole has previously travelled with her husband to China, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Singapore and Thailand. Through the experiences gained in these travels Nicole considers she has a good understanding of the preparation needed to undertake a successful visit to Bhutan.

The Asialink program normally provides residents with funds for accommodation, living expenses and transport. However, Nicole is not seeking any financial support from the Asialink program, just the opportunity to work and live in Bhutan for two months in the spirit of a cultural exchange.

In a letter to Tshering Tashi, Nicole said, "I have no doubt that my application would have had no chance without your wonderful support and I thank you again, especially for your help in the week before my deadline when there were important commitments on your time."

Congratulations Nicole. And well done Tshering for your wonderful support!!

The Guild CC brought a generous quantity of cricketing gear with them for the BCCB, which will be put to good use in Bhutan's preparation for the next Emerging Nations Tournament in Bangkok.

Cricket is a non-contact sport where Bhutan stands a chance to do well in the international arena.

During our Australia trip Mr Jigme Norbu, CEO of the Board of Control for Cricket in Bhutan, and Tshering Tashi will visit the legendary MCG, and hopefully meet with the Australian Cricket Board and with the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust.

Mr Andrew Kokinos, sports trainer to the Indian Test Team from 1998-1999, is investigating a return to Bhutan as sports trainer to the Bhutan XI.

To acknowledge the role of ABFA Bhutan in organising the tour, the Guild CC presented the prestigious "Keith Miller Medal" to Chris Faris. The Medal has been a much sought after trophy of the Guild's subcontinental tour, and is awarded to recognise on- or off-field contributions.

On receiving the medal, Chris said "Many great ideas are hatched over a beer at parties in Richmond, but few come to fruition so spectacularly. The Guild CC was aiming for a footnote in the history of the game, but here in Bhutan I think we've drafted a paragraph together."

On behalf of ABFA, we would like to acknowledge Chris effort and congratulate him on receiving the medal which was most well deserving.

Tashi Delek to Chris, Tshering and all those who worked towards building this friendship through cricket.

Set a target of 164 to win in the 45 overs game, after the Australians batted first - finishing off with 163 for nine wickets, Bhutan started well; faltered in the middle order; but recovered with a strong 7th wicket partnership between Phuntsho and Tandin which put them in sight of victory. Three excellent Guild catches finally broke the Bhutanese resistance, and the Guild prevailed for their second victory of their South Asian tour.

Batsman Ross Steward Wilde missed a half century by two runs off 58 balls. He was sent off the field by Phuntsho Wangdi who caught the ball mid-air at cover. He was assisted by Andrew James Kokinos in putting up a reasonable score who contributed 23 runs to the scoreboard off 39 balls.

Slow arm off spinner D. S. Gurung of Thimphu XI played a critical role in keeping the Australian batsmen at bay by conceding only 17 runs off nine overs, taking three wickets in between.

Man-of-the-Match Wilde, and former trainer to the Indian Test team Kokinos, got the Guild CC off to a flyer with an opening stand of 80, but Bhutan fought back to have the Guild 9 for 114. The unbroken Guild last wicket stand of 50 proved vital in setting a reasonable target for Bhutan, which they fell only marginally short in chasing.

After a good spell by opener Manoj Adhikari who contributed 34 runs off 42 balls to the scoreboard, the Thimphu XI team looked promising. But with the fall of wickets at regular intervals, the players were all out within 37.3 overs at 137 runs.

The Bhutan visit started on Sunday morning with a welcome from Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk, Foreign Minister and President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Bhutan. In the exhibition match on Sunday, the Bhutanese and Australian players were mixed into a President's XI and a Chhoetse Penlop's XI. Fittingly, even as HRH the Crown Prince was being installed in Trongsa as the Chhoeste Penlop, the XI named in his honour prevailed in a carnival atmosphere at Changlimithang National Stadium.

One of the highlights of the mixing of the teams was the cultural exchange that resulted. The Bhutan boys demonstrated some traditional archery victory dances, that were rapidly integrated into wicket celebrations. In exchange, the visitors offered a crash course in the fine art of 'mental disintegration'.

The Guild CC has headed onwards to Mumbai to play at Brabourne Stadium and attend the fourth India-Australia Test Match, and will return home shortly with wonderful memories of the birth of international cricket in Bhutan.

"I am really excited about setting up the South Australian Bhutan Friendship Association" said Wendy.

For those interested in contacting Wendy, her e-mail address is wendyjmiller at bigpond dot com

This weekend promises a treat for lovers of live sport.

The Guild Cricket Club from Australia is extending their sub-continental tour to answer the challenge laid down by Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk, the Foreign Minister and President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Bhutan.

In answer to the call, two matches have been scheduled at Changlimithang Stadium:

• An exhibition match at 11am, Sunday 31 October - President's XI and Guild CC Exhibition Match
• Bhutan's first home international cricket match at 9am on Monday 1 November - ONE DAY INTERNATIONAL - BHUTAN vs GUILD CC

Admission is free.

Lin has played host to 88 Bhutanese students in Canberra to date.

Lin worked in Bhutan from 1994 to 1996 and visited in April to May 2003 and has been in Bhutan from mid August this year.

For those interested in contacting Lin, his e-mail address is AL-richard35 at mail dot bigpond dot com

The Guild will play two matches: a social match on Sunday 31 October against Lyonpo's XI, led by His Excellency Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk, Minister for Foreign Affairs and President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Bhutan.

Then, on Monday 1 November, the Guild will line-up against Bhutan for their first ever home international cricket match.

The tour of the Guild CC, which ABFA has helped organise, promises to be a footnote in the history of the game.

In the words of www.theguildcc.com, "The members of The Guild have served the game of cricket at many levels, from the international arena to the backyard. We share an enduring passion for the game and have made a commitment to play with the same fearless instinct we possessed as kids."

The Tim Fischer, AC, trekking and Bird Watching Tour and the Botanical Tour of the Kingdom of Bhutan, The last Shangri-La.

7 to 19 October 2004-08-24 2 to 13 June 2005

Tim Fischer, AC, the Tour Leader

Tim Fischer, AC, was Trade Minister and is now an author and company director. He is married to Judy and has two sons. They live in Riverina district of southern NSW. He has traveled extensively and has toured and trekked in Bhutan for over 20 years.

Day 1 Thursday 7 October 2004

We depart Australia on our Thai airlines flight to Bangkok. We arrive late into the evening and then check in at our Airport Hotel.

Day 2 Friday 8 October 2004

Arrival

We check in early this morning on our Druk Air flight to Paro Bhutan. Traveling on the Bhutanese national Airline we get our first experience of Bhutanese culture. We will get a spectacular view of the Himalayas if the weather is clear before landing at Paro airport. Located at 2500 m the Paro Valley is famous for its fruit and red rice production. After clearing immigration and customs we are met by our coach and transferred to the capital city Thimphu. We have time to rest in our rooms before we enjoy our welcome banquet hosted by Tim Fischer, AC, this evening.

Day 3 Saturday 9 October 2004

Thimphu

This morning Tim and our Bhutanese guide will give us an overview tour of Thimphu the capital city of Bhutan. It is a growing town of around 40,000 inhabitants and the center of most government activity. We will visit the Post Office to see the stamps, for which Bhutan is famous, the Folk Heritage museum that is housed in traditional three storied Bhutanese house. We will also see the National Memorial Chorten, the arts and craft school where painting is taught, the natural medicine center where the unique plants of Bhutan are distilled into unique medicinal treatments.

The Takin is the national animal of Bhutan and is unique to the country. It is considered to have unique medical proprieties. We will see these unique animals at the Takin Research Center. This evening we will have a BBQ at a Bhutanese family's house with a number of interesting Bhutanese guests and members of the Australia Bhutanese Friendship Association that Tim Fischer, AC, has invited.

For those who are interested there will be a short trek in the afternoon into the hills surrounding Thimphu.

Day 4 Sunday 10 October 2004

Punakha

This morning we travel to the town of Punakha via the 3050m Dochula pass from where we have a spectacular view of the Himalaya. On arrival into Punakha we check into our hotel. After lunch we visit the dramatic Punakha Dzong for many years the seat of the government. Built in 1637 it is the winter residence of the Dratsheng (Central Monk Body) to the present day. The utse or the central tower is six storeys high and capped by a gold topped dome. The hundred- pillar congregation hall contains exceptional examples of Bhutanese paintings and many statues of deities. We return to the hotel for dinner.

Day 5 Monday 11 October 2004

Tashithang

Today we travel north to Tashithang and visit the Jigme Dorji National Park, which is the largest park in the country at 4239 sq km. The park is the habitat of a number of endangered species including the Takin, snow leopard, and red panda and Himalayan black bear. More than 300 species of birds live in the park and villagers are allowed to collect and harvest indigenous plants for use in natural medicines. We will have picnic lunch. Tim will guide us on a walk through the Rhododendron forest...

Depending on the progress with the access road, we will continue on and trek to the tranquil Gasa Dzong and then to the invigorating Gasa Hot Springs. We will camp here at the hot springs camp.

Day 6 Tuesday 12 October 2004

Gasa

Today we trek to the Trashi Thongmoen Dzong in the village of Gasa in the hills above the hot springs. Built in 1646 after victories over the Tibetan it has been an important Dzong in protecting Bhutan against the Tibetans in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is now the administrative headquarters of the Gasa district. We trek back to the road and return to our hotel in Punkakha.

Day 7 Wednesday 13 October 2004

Trongsa

Today we travel up the broad Gangtey Valley (Phobjikha) to the endangered Black Necked Cranes. We will have a chance to see the cranes and the flower meadows of the valley. We continue on to Trongsa where a large influx of Tibetan refugees settled in the 1950s and 60s. Trongsa was once the seat of power in the country and the Dzong, which we visit, is one of the most impressive in the country. It can be seen from a great distance, as it is perched in a strategic position high above the Mangde Chhu. Built in 1644 it was severely damaged in the 1897 earthquake and repaired by the father if the first King. It is one of the most elaborately decorated dzongs in Bhutan and the ancestral home of the Royal family. Overnight Trongsa.

Day 8 Thursday 14 October 2004

Bumthang

We travel today first to the village of Hurichu known for its weavers. We stop at the 3400m Yotungla Pass on the way. We will stop here to see many rare flowers that will be in bloom. We will also hopefully see the Blood Pheasants. In Hurichu we see the villagers weaving colorful wool fabrics. We continue to Bumthang where we stay for the night. The main valley contains a wealth of Dzongs and temples.

Day 9 Friday 15 October 2004

Bumthang

Today there will be an optional trekking circuit around Bumthang to the hills, dzongs and temples of the valley or alternatively by a coach escorted visit of the area.

We first visit the Jakar Dzong which translates as "castle of the white bird." According to legend, in 1549 when lamas assembled to select a site for a monastery, a big white bird rose suddenly in the air and landed on a spur of the hill. This was an important omen and the site was chosen for the new monastery. The current Dzong was built in 1667 and is said to be the largest in Bhutan. We then visit a center where traditional plants are used to dye wool. We visit the Jampa Temple which is believed to have been built in 659 and is one of the most historical temples in Bhutan. We visit the Keurjey Temple which is named after Guru Rimpoche whose body print is preserved here. It was built in 1652 and contains a rock passage that you have to crawl through. Crawling through this passage supposedly leaves all your sins behind. In the afternoon we visit the Tamshing or "Good Message" Temple. Established in 1501 it is the most important Nyingma temple in the Kingdom. We will see the original 300 year old paintings.

Day 10 Saturday 16 October 2004

Thimphu

Today we have a long day of travel across mountain passes and along the main road of Bhutan back to the capital Thimphu. If it can be arranged we will have afternoon tea at the home of former Foreign Minister in the Punakha valley. We continue on the Thimphu were we will enjoy a special farewell BBQ put on by the Bhutanese branch of ABFA.

Day 11 Sunday 17 October 2004

Paro

Today we travel to the town of Paro. We will visit the National Museum which is full of Bhutanese cultural and religious treasures. We then visit the Paro Dzong one Bhutan's impressive. Scenes from the 1995 film "Little Buddha" were filmed here. We will then stop for lunch before we travel to see the spectacular Taksang temple know as the 'Tiger's Nest' which clings to a sheer 1000 m high rock face. We will have a chance to trek up to the tea house which has great views of the temple. This evening Tim Fischer, AC, will host our final night dinner to celebrate our wonderful 10 days in the Shangri-la fairytale kingdom of Bhutan.

Day 12 Monday 18 October 2004

Today we are transferred to the airport for our flight back to Bangkok and Australia.

Day 13 Tuesday 19 October 2004

Arrival back into Australia.

A Bhutanese mask and folk dance will be performed in our honor during our stay in Bhutan. The date is to be advised.

Ambassador Wensley made her formal farewell visit to Bhutan from 3-8 October 2004.

Ambassador Wensley was accompanied by her husband, Dr Stuart McCosker.

She said Australia has played an important role in education and training of Bhutanese people.

She said the Australian Scholarship program is the core of the bilateral relationship between Bhutan and Australia, and will continue to remain so.

Ambassador Wensley identified environment, culture, health, HIV/Aids and sports as some of the future areas of cooperation between the two countries.

The Australian Ambassador also expressed interest in providing assistance in tourism development.

On 5th October, the Australian Ambassador was granted an audience by the His Majesty the King at the Tashichodzong.

Ms. Penelope Wensley was appointed Australia's Ambassador to Bhutan in November 2001. She has held several senior policy positions in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra.

She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Queensland for her contribution to international relations. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in January 2001.

Ms. Wensley also called on the Prime Minister, Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba on Tuesday 5th October.

While in the Kingdom she also called on various other senior officials including the Minister of Agriculture, after visiting Chukha Hydro Power Project and the CHPC Zangtopelri en-route from Phuentsholing to Thimphu.

Australian assistance to Bhutan is focused in human resource development, especially in education.

Ms. Wensley also met ABFA members while hosting a farewell dinner at Yeedzin Guest House.

Ms. Wensley said Bhutan and Australia share a relationship marked by goodwill and warmth.

She said establishment of the Australia Bhutan Friendship Association will promote people to people contact.

Bhutan and Australia established formal diplomatic relations in September 2002.

Honorary Consul of Bhutan to Australia.

Your Excellency,

Subject: A Note of Appreciation

On behalf of the Honourable President, the Honourable Chairman, the Members and the Management of the Board of Control for Cricket in Bhutan (BCCB), and on my own behalf, we sincerely extend our heartfelt gratitude to Your Excellency for the wonderful and fruitful time spent over an evening tea session at Dechenphodrang Monastery on 22nd August 2004. The gratitude continues for the invaluable cricket equipment donated to Bhutan Cricket brought all the way from Australia, historical relationship and link set per se between Your Excellency representing Australia and us, Board of Control for Cricket in Bhutan. We sincerely look forward to taking this relationship further upward for the development and promotion of one beautiful sport in the world, cricket in the kingdom of Bhutan through such positive interactions in the near future.

We are also indebted to the ABFA webmaster for donating a cricket bat duly autographed by the legendary cricketer and a leadership role model, Mr. Stephen Waugh to Bhutan Cricket. And the same indebtedness goes to Ms. Zoe Burgess for donating such lovely cricket equipment to Bhutan Cricket. Your Excellency, kindly convey our note of appreciation to the ABFA webmaster and Ms. Zoe Burgess for their wonderful contributions to which we are truly indebted.

We would be failing in our mission if we do not wish to record our sincere gratitude to Mr. Tshering Tashi, ABFA who is responsible in creating such priceless relationship amongst all of us.

Thanking you once again from all of us members of Bhutan Cricket.

Tshering Tashi

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Dasho Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, shall assume the title of TRONGSA PENLOP in the Throne Room in Trongsa Dzong, in keeping with the glorious tradition that spans more than 350 years.

Delivering the annual Sir Robert Madgwick lecture, Mr Fischer, AC, advocated a rail corridor for a double-stacked container line, to be built from Melbourne, through Parkes, Moree, Toowoomba, Ipswich and finally, Brisbane. "But to do this, we need to eliminate the antiquated load tunnel and bridge across the Liverpool Plains," Mr Fischer, AC, said.

"We won’t have the development of coalfields in Gunnedah unless we remove the ‘Ard-Glen’ choke, where trains hurtle across the Liverpool Plains."

Mr Fischer, AC, was talking to his latest book, Transcontinental Train Odyssey: The Ghan, The Khyber, The Globe. He was comparing rail developments the world over with Australia and envisioned a bright future for rail in the 21st Century.

"As much as 80 per cent of freight goes by rail across the Nullabor," Mr Fischer, AC, said, adding rail was the cheapest option to move freight because: "The steel wheel on the steel rail has a fraction the friction of rubber tyre on the road and that translates to being a fraction of the amount of fuel needed to move the vehicle."

Rail was gaining new-found popularity the world over, he added.

"In the US, Los Angeles is swinging back to a new commuting line to Pasadena and soon a new train service will link St Pancras Station in London to the Gard de Nord in Paris in just two hours and 20 minutes," Mr Fischer, AC, said.

He called for an upgrade on rail’s branch line network in Australia.

After the lecture, Mr Fischer, AC, Dutch-auctioned a signed copy of his book -- which tells the story of the people and events that created the world’s great railways -- for $70, donating the proceeds to the people of Bhutan.

Among the equipment was a bat signed by Steve Waugh, the former Australian Cricket captain, for display in the BCCB museum.

Geoff Lawson, another former Australian test cricketer, also donated bats, pads, helmet and a pair of wicket gloves.

I have been very involved in tourism, in the education sector and also with government and business, said Mrs. Harris. So, hopefully, I will be able to help with any context that might be needed for Bhutan in Australia. I think it is going to be a very exciting role.

Mrs. Harris, who was appointed as the Honorary Consul to Bhutan in June this year, said that Bhutan had a bright future because of a stable government that had a very high integrity and a deep concern for the future of the country. Bhutan also had a strong belief in the education system and in the environment. All of these means that Bhutan is building a very stable and a sustainable economy and I think there is a very exciting future for Bhutan, she said.

Mrs. Harris said that she would, in her own capacity, try to raise awareness about Bhutan in Australia and assist Bhutan in many ways besides just making the existing good relationship between the two countries stronger.

Even though Australia is a big country it has a very small population, like Bhutan, without military power, said Mrs. Harris. We have about 20 million people and yet we are trying to compete with America, the UK and India on a world stage. So like Bhutan we have to maintain good diplomatic relations.

The friendship between Australia and Bhutan, said Mrs. Harris, started long back during the Colombo plan where scholarships were invited from a lot of countries to be educated in Australia. The university that I am associated with is a big promoter of Colombo plan, said Mrs. Harris.

Many Bhutanese came to universities in Australia and that is when the friendship association first started between Bhutan and Australia.

On August 19 2004, Catherine called on the Honourable Prime Minister, Minster for Labour and Human Resoruces and the Foreign Minister.

On August 20 2004, she called on the Agriculture and Education Minister.

During her stay Catherine visited other places of historical importance and met with ABFA members before departing on the 24th August. Catherine was accompanied to Bhutan by her son Lachlan Harris.

The Bhutan Ambassador to Australia will have the chance to present in Canberra in due course, but there are some expected personnel changes in the pipeline. It is expected the current Bhutan Ambassador to Thailand will be the designated Bhutan Ambassador to Australia.

He currently manages around 90 trainees and they are building a new high school in Thimphu. He is currently putting together a vocational training program for the graduates involving 12 months work experience in Australia.

Arrangements have been made for one trainee and it is expect the program could be expanded to include any Bhutanese student that has graduated from a training program (or one that might wish to complete the training part in Australia) which might benefit from additional on the job work experience.

Additionally, Don has made an offer to the Education Department to renovate a school (any school) using construction expertise provided by Rotary International. In this scheme the country taking up the offer must provide the construction materials and accommodation, all other expenses including airfares are met by RI.

Mrs. Catherine Harris, the first Honorary Consul of Bhutan to Australia, requested a meeting with the Minister for Education whilst in Bhutan, to discuss the possibility of giving aid to a Govt approved school project as she was aware of another small group who was keen to look into this.

Don had not had a response to the Rotary International offer, and was keen for Mrs. Catherine Harris' suggestion to dovetail into the RI scheme.

This is the Stadium where the first modern Olympic Games were held in 1896, and it is built on top of the ancient Stadium dating from 329 B.C.

As the 1/32 Elimination Round whittled down the men's field from 64 to 32, the defending Olympic champion, Simon FAIRWEATHER (AUS) and Australia's best young medal hope, David BARNES, were the biggest casualties.

It left one of the strongest men's archery squads with Bhutan amongst the last 16 competitors in both womens and mens events.

Archery is the national sport of Bhutan and after beating the 13th seed Jocelyn de GRANDIS, Bhutanese archer Tashi PELJOR moved on to the 1/16 Elimination Round.

In the 1/16 Elimination Round Tashi PELJOR took on Anton Prylepav of Belarus, with Prylepav going on to win.

PELJOR's achievement follows his compatriot Tshering CHHODEN's victory over the 11th seed in the women's event on Sunday in the 1/32 Elimination Round, before going on to the 1/16 Elimination Round against Reena Kumari of India, which Kumari won.

Both obtained a higher finish than any Bhutan competitor in the history of the Olympic Games - with both archer's looking set to return home as national heroes.

Mr Adzic and TR Vishwanthan are visiting Bhutan from August 9 - 12, 2004 to observe the selection interview for AusAID scholarship.

Further information on AusAid is located on the ABFA website under the section on AusAid.

The Board is currently renovating the grounds and will be laying turf practice wickets which will be an immense step in ensuring that the national squad have suitable training facilities in preparing for the Emerging Nations tournament to be held in Bangkok in Feb 2005. Currently there is no cricket playing facilility in Bhutan, the only facility available where a match of some sort could be played is at India House where there is a matting strip laid on the golf course, unfortunately the strip is smack bang on the centre of the rough so all infielders are standing on about eight inches of grass!.

The ICC's vision of 'Cricket with no boundaries' has great meaning in Bhutan.

All gear is currently purchased from India, unfortunatley the bats are far too heavy and should there be new bats purchased, maximum weight should be 2.7lbs. I have taken and donated training gear to the Board but below is a list that would help further.

• 5 bats 2.7lbs
• 4 batting helmets (med)
• 6 baseball mitts Right Hand
• 2 pairs wicket keeping gloves
• 2 pairs wicket keeping pads

Baba Sourjah

The Guild Cricket Club will extend their tour of India to play Bhutan in its first ever home international cricket match. There will be 18 people in the tour party. Details of dates can be found at their website at http://www.theguildcc.com/tour.asp

Provisional dates for the the Guild v Bhutan are 30-31 October 2004.

The Sunday match is planned to be a social mixed match - ie half the guild on one team, and half on the other - with the other places taken up by Bhutanese cricket-lovers, including Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk. The Monday match will be Guild CC v Bhutan.

Hon. Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk, Minister for Foreign Affairs and President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Bhutan, kindly extended the invitation.

The Guild CC will try to bring some equipment with them to donate to the BCCB - stay tuned for requests for assistance to ABFA members for fund-raising.

To add to the cricketing excitement, Cathy Harris, the first Honorary Consul of Bhutan to Australia, is visiting Bhutan in August with her son Lachlan, and meeting with the head of Bhutan Cricket. Cathy is bringing with her a small gift of memorabilia being sourced with the help of famous former Australian cricketer Geoffrey Lawson, and best wishes from the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust.

Bhutan gets a mention in the book!

After lunch at the sanctuary we travelled to the Eyton on Yarra winery for a tasting of local Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines and to enjoy the view from the tower. We also visited Oakridge winery before enjoying afternoon tea at ABFA supporter Kurt's house. Much fun was had on Kurt's trampoline before we returned to Melbourne in the late afternoon.

Thank you to Penny Richards and Kezang for helping organise the event and to Kurt for his hospitality. Also thank you to Simon Walliss for organising the day and hiring and driving the minibus.

Most are from rural and remote small schools in Bhutan, however the group of 20 includes four key persons involved in multigrade teaching in Bhutan also. This is the largest group of multigrade teachers to come to the University of New England and the new England region since the inception of the prograrm in 1994. Altogether 120 people from Bhutan have taken part.

This Bhutanese Multigrade Attachment Program (BMAP) is held for six weeks each year and provides teacher training, both on campus and in regional New South Wales schools. BMAP teachers gather ideas that they can adopt and adapt to Bhutanese schools and they report on their efforts to adopt/adapt on their return to Bhutan.

BMAP provides an excellent example of collaboration between UNE and small school communities encompassing the areas of Armidale, Tamworth and Coffs Harbour in 2004. It is also representative of the important relationship between the School of Education and the Royal Government of Bhutan in that the School is responding to the needs of Bhutan in the area of education.

The Program Director is the Head of School of Education, Associate Professor Tom Maxwell. The Program Coordinator is Dr Peter Ninnes, School of Education.

The Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC), the peak body of the tourism export industry, has welcomed the announcement of the inaugural Board of the new central tourism agency, Tourism Australia. The Board appointments are a positive step for the tourism industry that is now in full recovery mode following several years of turmoil in the aftermath of global events.

The announcement of the make-up of the inaugural Board of Tourism Australia is a very positive step for the tourism industry. The wealth of experience across the Board is substantial with the directors bringing to the table expertise in tourism, retailing, investment, exporting and small business, said ATEC Chair, David Mazitelli.

ATEC, on behalf of its members, applauds the fact that the appointed directors are well credentialed to ensure the growth of tourism exports which currently contribute $17 billion to the Australian economy each year and have enormous foreign earnings potential. Indeed the Tourism Forecasting Council predicts the value of tourism exports to reach over $28 million by 2102.

The new Tourism Australia Chairman, Tim Fischer, AC, has been a long term supporter of the tourism industry. His high profile and understanding of the Australian tourism industry and the needs of regional Australia are a boost for the industry. ATEC is confident that he and his board will drive the tourism industry to new heights over the next decade.

The passage of the Tourism Australia Bill through the Senate last Friday was also an important milestone for the tourism industry in Australia. The approval of the Bill by all political parties highlights the support the tourism industry now enjoys in government, added Mr Mazitelli.

Tourism Australia Board

Tim Fischer AC - Chair

Tony Clark AM - Deputy Chair

Gerry Harvey (Harvey Norman)

Valerie Davis (One2One Communications)

Jane Jeffreys (Adelaide Convention Centre)

Wayne Kirkpatrick (Hamilton Island)

Andrew Burnes (The Australian Outback Travel Company)

Karen Jacobs (Kwillana Dreaming Aboriginal Tour Company)

Mark Patterson (Secretary of Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources)

Managing Director of Tourism Australia (to be appointed)

Tim was sworn in as the new chairman at 9.00am on 1 July 2004.

Indeed, everything about Norbu is unlike most film-makers. Born in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, he is a Buddhist teacher and officially recognised as the reincarnation of a 19th-century Tibetan saint.

Norbu, 42, (also known as Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche) made his first film in 1999, when he wrote, produced and directed Phorpa (The Cup), about a group of Buddhist children obsessed with soccer.

The film attracted critical acclaim and the affection of audiences around the world - not bad for a first-time director who regards film-making as a hobby.

"Film-making was not my interest until I went to London to study psychology," he says. His English is heavily accented but colloquial. "I was supposed to finish my masters but I got distracted by films. I discovered all kinds of films which I'd never seen before and I realised it was quite doable, so to speak."

He had previously thought the idea beyond his means. Watching James Bond films, he was impressed by the budgets for action sequences.

"[In Bhutan] we don't even have a car to drive, let alone one to trash," he says.

Norbu's first movie experience was working under Italian film-maker Bernardo Bertolucci during the making of Little Buddha in 1993. A few years later he made The Cup, and last year completed his second feature, Travellers and Magicians, the first feature to be made in Bhutan.

It is a slow, peaceful road movie about a Bhutanese officer who sets off, with his I Love New York T-shirt and a ghetto-blaster, for a new life in America and encounters some storytelling travellers along the way. "The story is based on the true facts that in Bhutan, being a still-developing country, people wait at the roadside for many, many hours, sometimes days, just to get a ride," says Norbu. "And while they do that they spend their time telling stories, so that's what I tried to portray.

"I think my first film had a universal theme, but maybe not this one.

"This one is more of an internal story about how we human beings think life elsewhere is better, the grass is greener on the other side."

Making a film in Bhutan was not as peaceful as it may now appear on screen.

Because of the isolation, the Buddhist cast (who were not professional actors) and crew were unable to watch rushes or replace damaged equipment. They asked the spirits to make sure things were working.

"We asked 'Is it working?' And they said 'Yes'. We did things like that - it was just out of practicality," shrugs Norbu.

Post-production for Travellers and Magicians was completed in Australia, where Norbu regularly visits to teach Buddhism.

Last week he travelled to Kyogle, near Lismore in the northern NSW hinterland, where he is helping to construct the Vajradhara Gonpa Buddhist meditation centre. So far about 20 people have signed up for a three-year meditation retreat, similar to those regularly undertaken by Norbu.

When not meditating or making films, Norbu runs schools in India, China and Bhutan, and assists charitable organisations trying to end child prostitution in Cambodia and Thailand.

"But my main job is teaching Buddhist philosophy - film is my part-time career," he says.

Norbu has another film project in mind. He breaks into a cheeky grin as he outlines a psychological movie about a sexually repressed couple that he wants to make in Grafton, northern NSW.

"People often ask me if I make my movies with a spiritual message," he laughs. "But maybe if I make that one, they'll change their mind."

Travellers and Musicians will screen at the Sydney Film Festival on June 15 and 17. A national release is expected next year.

Bhutan lost their opening match to Nepal on Saturday. Iran, who are newcomers to cricket gave away 54 runs by way of extras to Bhutan's grand total of 182 all out.

Bhutan's Thinlay Wangchuk top scored with 48 runs. He was ably aided by Phuntsho Wangdi who contributed 18 runs.

The Bhutan team then dismissed the Iranians for 101 runs in 32.1 overs. Only Iran's Mirza Ghasem bought some extra time on the crease for his hard knock of 37 runs. In other matches, Qatar demolished Thailand by 10 wickets in Group A while Oman defeated Afghanistan by four wickets in Group C. In another Group B match, Kuwait defeated Saudi Arabia by 52 runs.

Bhutans national Cricket Coach, Baba Sourjah, from the Queensland Bulls and his assistant, Ashish Kotecha, are founding members of the Queensland chapter of ABFA.

We would like to congratulate our team and the coaches and the team manager for their victory and wish them all the best for the quarter-finals.

Ms Ritchie has gained employment with Dutch development company SNV in a development aid position.

She said her role would be to research the policies that will underpin the developing countrys new tourism strategy.

My job is to research policy and to find a way to develop the tourism industry in Bhutan without completely changing their lifestyle, Ms Ritchie said.

Bhutan is a very traditional country, very religious, Buddhist, with the women wearing kiras and the people dont want to lose that.

But they want to become more self-sufficient without becoming westernised.

Ms Ritchie said the Government wanted to increase tourism from about 5000 visitors a year to between 7000 and 10,000.

She said 70 per cent of her time would be spent in Bhutans capital, Thimpu, and 30 per cent in the regions in an attempt to discover the triggers that bring tourists to the country.

I have to do research into why people visit this country and how much visitors will be prepared to put up with, she said.

Will they forego five-star hotels for traditional accommodation, do they want to go trekking or what do they want to see.

At the moment people go to Bhutan for its culture and religion there are a lot of temples and I think the key will be to build on that.

Ms Ritchie said helping to build the tourism policy in Bhutan, a country that only got television last year, would be a challenge but an honour.

She said she had done a lot of development work in western countries.

Australia's development cooperation programme will provide scholarships to a range of South Asian countries, including the Maldives and Bhutan, in priority areas such as governance, health and education.

ABFA will be pleased to sponsor the nature club at Nangkhor High School in Pemagatshel as they are quite active and the support will definitely give them an additional moral boost.

ABFA Melbourne chapter is already on the way to raising another $500 US to sponsor another Nature club so they can make that one a remote primary school with a RSPN nature club.

Bhutan have secured the services of Mr. Baba Sourjah, currently the Senior District Coach at the South Brisbane District Cricket Club and also the Director of Coaching Metropolitan South West Junior Cricket, who is on his second visit to Bhutan at the National coach of the Board of Control Bhutan Cricket.

The Bhutan Cricket Board has done an excellent job to be recognised in such a short period of time since its inception three years ago. Participating in this years tournament is an acknowledgement of the vast interest and improvement of the game of cricket in Bhutan. Their achievement is all the more laudable as resources are very minimal.

Baba is a member of the ICC panel of Elite Coaches and also been National Coach of the Maldives and has completed assignments for the Sri Lanka Cricket Board.

To assist Baba this year, Ashish Kotecha, a young player who has come through the ranks at South Brisbane, and who is looking forward to a career in coaching is with Baba in Thimphu. He will be travelling to Malaysia and then returning to Brisbane to participate in the winter tournament. Ashish is accompanied by his father Dr Piyoosh Kotecha who has kindly donated cricket shoes to the squad which he brought from Australia.

After completion of the ACC tournament, Baba will be coming back to Bhutan for another month and will assist the Board in Junior Development and a coach the coaches program.

ABFA Melbourne Chapter has raised $500 US. ( $700 AUS ) to sponsor a nature club for 5 years.

On advice from ABFA members in Melbourne it was decided to sponsor a remote primary school that is in need of resources.

One school nominated so far has been, a wonderful school in north Chukkha called Paga Community Primary School. It is a multigrade school and the two teachers, with 53 children in six classes are doing a great job. The principal is Mr Pem Kinley and the other teacher is his wife, Mrs Pema Choeden.

This nomination is being checked with the Education Secretary, Dr Pema Thinley, as there are many other schools also in need of resources ...

In the meantime, plans are under way to start raising funds to sponsor another nature club.

All those interested please contact Chris Faris at chris dot faris @ undp.org - that way we'll have a better chance of putting an XI together!

The citation appears below.

Mr Pema Thinley is a distinguished graduate of the University of New England, gaining First Class Honours in his Master of Curriculum Studies. In his own country, the Royal Kingdom of Bhutan, he has a long record of outstanding public service and he has had an impressive career in education. As a senior government servant he has been respected for his diligence, integrity and commitment. His current position of Secretary in the Ministry of Education is recognition of his past services and achievements over a period of two decades. He was, for example, responsible for overall curriculum design, development and implementation during the time of 'Bhutanisation of the curriculum', a time of major change in Bhutanese education.

Of direct relevance to the University of New England has been his role in establishing multigrade teaching in rural schools. This initiative has allowed many children formerly denied the opportunity of schooling to attend school and gain an education. Part of this process of providing schooling in rural and remote areas has involved the training of teachers and Mr Thinley has been a key person in initiating and continuing to support the University of New England as the institution to provide this training in multigrade teaching.

Mr Thinley has been a central figure in the development of education in Bhutan. The impressive gains made in the country in recent years reflect his energy, dedication, and vision.

Also, as published in the UNE Campus View of 23 April 2004, the Armidale Express and the Northern Daily Leader.

We rarely honour non-Australians with an honorary degree. But this year the University bestowed an honorary Doctor of Education on a citizen of Bhutan, Mr Pema Thinley, Secretary in the Ministry of Education. Mr Thinley is a graduate from UNE, gaining First Class Honours in his Master of Curriculum Studies here. He was instrumental in initiating and continuing to support UNE as the institution to provide training in multigrade teaching in rural and remote areas to Bhutanese teachers. Many school principals in New England will have met Bhutanese teachers and will have been delighted by their friendliness and openness.

Mr Thinley presented me with a book published by the Centre for Bhutan Studies, entitled 'Gross National Happiness'. It is an intriguing title and I was interested to find out how they might define it, how they travel towards this goal, and what it might mean to us.

Unlike Australia, Bhutan was for centuries isolated from the world. In rough and inaccessible territory the small population lived in small rural communities, adhered to Buddhism, and lived a very traditional life.

Economic development is recent. In the 80's the King of Bhutan had proclaimed "that the ultimate purpose of government is to promote the happiness of the people". Happiness was given precedence over economic prosperity, hence the focus is on Gross National Happiness instead of Gross National Product.

And the GNH is enhanced through development of people. There is already a Human Development Index, consisting of life expectancy, literacy and adjusted per capita income, which is used for comparison of countries. But the GNH is a very peculiar Bhutan index. Bhutan's Chairman of the Council of Ministers thought that GNH could be pursued through economic development, environmental preservation, cultural promotion and good governance.

With all of these we could live, I believe, happily in Australia, too. We talk about the triple bottom line - social/cultural, environmental and economic sustainability.

Yet in both countries there are severe impediments to achieving a GNH which benefits all: economic development may have to take second place to environmental preservation with resultant decline in job opportunities for some citizens. And there are examples in both countries. Governance may benefit some citizens and not others, ie power elites get richer, and the gap between rich and poor widens. Education may lead to a dilution in cultural identity, though in Australia we believe it will enhance social inclusion. Education implies openness and while Australia has been an open country for a long time, it is a new experience in Bhutan. More educated Bhutanese want professional employment, want to live in urban areas, question traditional values, promote private enterprise, competition, a market economy.

So will Gross National Happiness eventually be but an abstract, perhaps even an increasingly irrelevant concept? I hope not. Societies, like universities, should have a vision of what they want to be, what values they cherish, what future for their citizens they want. I wish that Australia had a vision of spiritual and material balance and harmony. And I hope that Bhutan will be able to realise the vision of a high GNH despite modernization.

Ingrid Moses

The Japan Prize is an open international contest for educational television programs. Commemorating the 30th anniversary the Japan Prize opened a new division this year - the proposal division to help realize good TV programs which often remains on paper for lack of funds and support. Dorji Wangchuks proposal was judged the best from among 27 countries.

The Prize Award Ceremony was presided over by the Crown Prince His Imperial Highness Naruhito and Princess Masako Owada and was held in the NHK Auditorium packed to its 2500-seat capacity. Accepting the Prize Dorji Wangchuk thanked everybody but dedicated the Prize to all the children and teachers who are working in extreme conditions in Bhutan and the World.

The Prize carried a trophy, a certificate and a cash of US $ 8,000. The Grand Prix Award went to NHKs Children Full of Life - Learning to Care. Canadian CBC and Hong Kongs RTHK were among the stations that won awards in other categories.

After the award ceremony Their Imperial Highnesses granted an audience to the winners of this years edition.

A grand reception hosted by the President of NHK ended the evening and the week-long festival.

Filming of this 90-minute feature documentary will start in April 2004, and post production in October, in time to premiere at the Japan Prize 2004 in November. It will then be shown on NHK and shortly after in South Africa.

N.B. Dorji Wangchuk is a founding member of the Australia-Bhutan Friendship Association.

Interested? Then read about their experiences in detail.

Read this article about Austin and Isabel's Snowman trek in Bhutan in September/October 2003

Try whizzing past locals on a state of the art mountain bike...

Read this article on Mountain Biking in Bhutan published in the May 20, 2003 edition of Tashi Delek

Read this article on the upcoming October 2004 Mountain Biking Tour and Race in Bhutan

INDIA/BHUTAN TRIP SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2003

"No brakes? Just use the horn sir!"

Pearls of wisdom from Arshad, the Indian mechanic who was preparing our 1996 350cc model Royal Enfields for our nightmarish plunge into the chaotic city traffic of Siliguri, India.

Our group of thirteen, eight women and five blokes, were on the first leg of an eighteen-day motorcycle/bus trip to India and Bhutan organized and led by John Cayless of Asian Experience Worldwide Motorbike Tours. We had left Melbourne and travelled via Bangkok to arrive in Calcutta or as it is now known, Kolcata, at around 1am on Sunday 28 September 2003. Driving through the near deserted streets on our way to the Fairlawn Hotel in the heart of the city, we noticed many homeless people sleeping on the footpaths. Apparently Kolcata is unique in that the city and its citizens do bed down for the night.

The three-story Fairlawn Hotel, in Sudder Street, owned and run by a wonderful lady called Violet and assisted by family members, is a fascinating example of the British architectural influence of past years. Violet has furnished the place with old English pieces and pictures plus cabinets full of knick-knacks, cane chairs and tables etc. A dinner gong sits on the sideboard in the dining room. Huge fans circulate quietly in all the dining and lounge areas and bedrooms. Outside are tropical type plants and palms. A favourite spot for guests to sip on a cold beer.

After a good sleep and a hearty breakfast of porridge, eggs (any way you want 'em), toast and marmalade tea and coffee, we climbed into our vehicles for a tour of the city. First up was The Governor's residence then a look over St John's Anglican Church, the largest church building in the city but now with a very small and dwindling congregation. Next stop was a look at the mighty Ganges River where a couple of us went and scooped up a handful of water in company with dozens of Indian people who were washing and bathing there. Then on to a very large flower market where hundreds of stalls sold their produce. After a hectic day we rounded off the evening with a tasty meal at a small restaurant near the Fairlawn Hotel. Meals are very cheap; I paid 95 rupees (A$3.80) for a Lime and soda drink, an excellent lamb masala with rice and a coffee.

Next day, Monday, was a free day so I went shopping around the markets, which are on the streets and bought a few cheap clothes and other small gifts. Later that afternoon, we packed our bags and headed off to the Railway Station to catch an overnight sleeper train for Siliguri, some 600 kilometres East of Calcutta. The train trip was a real "Indian experience". We managed to successfully run the gauntlet of the porters who present themselves enthusiastically to foreign train tourists for business and boarded the train. Quickly finding our reserved seats, we enjoyed the company of our fellow travellers for a couple of hours until two porters arrived around 10pm with a set of sheets, blankets and pillows for each person! It wasn't long before most of our group was sleeping soundly on the bunks as the train rocked along through the night.

We were up and about early and spent the last couple of hours standing in the open doorway of the carriage (there were doors but they weren't all that effective!) and watching the world go by. Small villages, ox carts, dogs, goats, cattle and people standing waist high in the paddy fields all flashed by. Arriving at 8.30am we organized taxis and headed off to the Tiara Hotel for breakfast. After a while we climbed into into the support vehicles with our luggage and headed off into the heavy traffic to the small compound where our bikes were waiting for us.

Driving into the yard mid-morning we saw a gleaming row of Royal Enfields and our mechanic, Arshad who had brought them by truck on a nine-day trip from Delhi where they are kept. The bikes are owned by John Cayless and are used on all his Indian motorcycle adventures.

We made our selections and then fiddled around for a while getting used to the controls and for me, trying to remember the last time I rode a motorcycle with the gear lever on the right-hand side and the footbrake on the left! In fact it was about 1964, a 1955 model Triumph Speed Twin. So after working out the gearshift pattern, One up and three down, I moved on to the starting drill - bike on centre stand, stand to the right of the machine, petrol tap on, left thumb on the de-compression lever, half kick on the kick starter, check that the amp metre was central, then with plenty of body weight, gave the kick start lever a healthy boot.

Nothing.

Another big kick.

Still more nothing.

Ahh! A quick look around, a surreptitious move like switching on the ignition key, repeat procedures and then BROOM! It started. Quickly settling down to a POP, POP, POP, POPATA, POP POP, the 350cc single cylinder anachronism chugged and shook on its centre stand as I donned Dri-Rider jacket, helmet, gloves and boots in preparation for the motorcycle adventure of a lifetime. Riding a bike in India.

At last we were all ready to go. Three girls, Anne, Karen, Hollie, together with four "boys", Dave, Leo, Marcius and yours truly. We carefully rode out of the compound and across the nature strip to the edge of the main road. It was here that we all found out that the front brakes on Royal Enfields are pretty well irrelevant when the lead rider massaged the front brake lever and nudged the back of the support vehicle! The rest of us then grabbed a big handful of virtually nothing and ducked and weaved to miss the bike in front of us! It was about then that Ashard, "the best mechanic in India" advised us to just use the back brake and plenty of horn to get through the traffic. "The gear box is also very good as a brake", says Ashard!

In the melting pot of Indian traffic, on strange bikes, in forty-degree heat with winter style jackets, it didn't take long for the problems to begin. Soon the oil in the bikes became too hot, the clutches cooked and wouldn't engage, the engines stalled and we started to dehydrate. Plus we lost sight of the front support vehicle and a couple of us headed in other directions. Luckily Julie, one of the non-riders, chased us down the road and steered us back on track. One of the amazing things that happened during this stressful period was that all the other cars, trucks, scooters, bikes, pedestrians, rickshaws etc on the road would stop behind us when we stalled and were trying to start the bikes, then patiently waited for us to push the bike off to the side of the road. In all our travels, we didn't see one example of "road rage" silly behaviour or impatience by drivers. Indian motorists would have to be the most skilled drivers on this planet without a doubt.

With some clutch adjustment, a new plug, quick wipe of the points and encouraging words we finally made it out of Siliguri and on to a good country road leading towards the foothills of the Himalayas and Darjeeling, our destination today. As we moved into the mountains, it started to rain so a quick stop to don wet gear and continue our ride on the rough mountain road. Along the way we criss-crossed a narrow gauge (2 foot) railway line which carries the famous "Toy Train" on the 130-kilometre trip from Siliguri to Darjeeling. It was on one of these crossings that one of the girls got caught out by the wet rails and dumped her bike. Luckily there was no damage to bike or rider. Siliguri, the starting point of the Darjeeling-Himalayan Railway, is on the verge of the tract known as the Terai - a region of forest trees and tea plantations skirting the base of the Himalayas. Beyond this narrow belt of level country, the Himalayas rise abruptly in range upon range of wooded mountains, culminating in the highest snowy peaks in the world and the tableland of Tibet. Certainly a majestic sight as we made our way up and into the hills and arriving safely at Darjeeling mid-afternoon where we settled into the Bellevue Hotel. Darjeeling is a large town situated on a plateau in the shade of Mount Kinchenjunga, the world's third highest mountain at over 9,288 metres. (28,146 feet) Darjeeling was established in the mid 1800's as an R&R centre for British soldiers to get away from the heat of the plains below. The permanent residents are generally of Tibetan extraction and are known as Bhutias. We found them very friendly and many were keen to know more about Australia.

Next day was Wednesday and a free day so we visited the Himalayan Mountaineering Museum and saw some great exhibits such as all the gear that Sherpa Tenzing actually wore on his successful ascent of Mount Everest with Sir Edmund Hilary. After the museum we had a stroll through the Darjeeling Zoo and saw some really interesting animals. A very well kept and presented facility. We had a ride on a cable car that took us over tea plantations and we took some good photos of the pickers at work beneath us. Darjeeling is renowned for its tea so off to The Happy Valley Tea Company we went and there we learnt a lot about tea grades and processing.

Friday we packed our gear that was put in the support vehicles, then on to the bikes and off again on the 230 kilometre journey to Jaldapara. The roads were a little damp and one of the blokes got caught out on the narrow gauge railway track and dropped it. Not much damage to the practically indestructible Enfields, just a bent footrest, cracked crash bar and broken rear indicator. After helping Dave pick up the bike, Arshad went to the bus and re-appeared with a spare front fork leg. He removed the spring, wedged the end of the tube over the footrest bar and straightened the thing up! Then the same to the crash bar, taped up the blinker lens and Dave was on his way! Talk about bush mechanics! This was a big day and the end of it done in the dark. Distances weren't so great, just that the roads were rough and windy and we were only able to average around 40 - 50 kilometres per hour, sometimes travelling at only 30/40 kph. Also along here we had a couple of stops to fix the bikes, plugs, points. After negotiating the last couple of hours in the dark with a small yellow blob (the headlight) to navigate by and avoiding long horned cattle, dogs, people and trucks on a winding mountain road with a cliff face on one side and a sheer drop on the other, we finally made it. We were very relieved that no one hit anything. So were the non-riders in the bus and Tour organizer John, most of all!

Saturday was the first week of our trip and some of the crew went for an elephant ride while the rest of us strolled through the nearby village. We talked to some of the local businesspeople, stallholders and the like. The children we talked to liked the small koalas we gave them. We bought some fresh fruit that we really enjoyed because most of the meals we were eating consisted of eggs, rice, fish and chicken. In the afternoon we visited the Jaldapara Wildlife Park but only saw water buffalo, deer, monkeys and elephants. The middle of the day is not good viewing for other shy wildlife. That night we attended a festival in the village and were welcomed by the village headman who said "We welcome the foreign tourists to our Festival of Hindu culture". They provided us with front row chairs to watch the dancing competition. This was performed by young girls and boys then young men and women and finally by mature men. It was interesting to watch as the contestants danced in front of the Buddha, while holding containers of burning scented matter. The headman asked me if I would send him a copy of the video I was filming. I did that when I returned home.

Sunday saw us on the bikes again and riding to Phuentsholing, the border town between India and Bhutan. After attending to Immigration and Visa requirements, we travelled up into the mountains again on an extremely rough road. We saw locals employed to break up stones with sledgehammers then mix with cement and fill holes in the road. A never-ending and hopeless job. After two hours we reached the top at a big landslide, which we had to negotiate in thick fog. A lot of fun on slippery wet clay. A couple of the riders took a wrong turn up here and Terry, our Bhutanese appointed guide and Ashard, our mechanic, had to hire a taxi to go and find them and when found, rode pillion on their bikes to catch up with the rest of who had continued on.

By this time it was getting late and it looked like another ride in the dark to get to Paro, Bhutan's second biggest city. After an hour or so of night riding, we reached an Immigration Check Point. These posts are placed strategically throughout the very limited road system in Bhutan to keep track of the movement of people. The Bhutanese are very much aware of the strain that illegal immigrants can place on their country, both economically and socially. Our guide, Terry, had already organized a smooth passage through and also for the bikes to be left there as we had decided that a prolonged night ride in this mountainous country was undesirable. The riders then bordered the bus and we continued on to Paro where we checked into the Olathang Hotel.

Monday 6 October dawned and after a tasty breakfast we climbed aboard the 20 seater bus that accompanies us in Bhutan and travelled out into the countryside to check out the Drugyal Dzong, a fortress built in 1647 to repel the Tibetans who were interested in taking over the country. Here we noticed young women separating grain by beating the harvested crops with large sticks. There was a large team of mountain ponies waiting nearby for trekkers who were heading off into the mountains. These ponies were quite small animals, obviously fit and very tough as some of the loads we saw being prepared were enormous. These included pairs of 20kg gas cylinders as well as large packs of trekking essentials. Amazing.

Leaving the Drugyal Dzong, we drove to the Taktshang Monastery or Tiger's Nest Temple that was built in 1646 but actually founded as an order in a nearby cave in the eighth century. From the parking area it took us over two hours of mountain trekking to reach the Tiger's Nest which had been constructed on the side of a rocky mountain. Legend says that in the eighth century, Guru Padmasambhava arrived at Taktshang riding a flying tigress. The air was quite thin up there and our progress was adjusted accordingly. We found the best way was to just stroll along, stopping every few minutes to catch the stunning views and take a photo or a few frames of the video. Halfway up we had lunch then tackled the final assault to the temple. We were unable to enter the temple that has a permanent number of monks studying there. However the photo opportunity was brilliant and was taken advantage of. An excellent walk and on the way down I purchased some locally made objects.

Next item on the list for that day was a visit to the Kyichu temple built in 1646. Little is known of Bhutan's early history. In the 800's, Tibetan invaders conquered the Bhutia Tephoo- the country's original inhabitants- and settled Bhutan. By the early 1500's descendants of the Tibetan invaders controlled Bhutan from a number of large Dzongs located in the mid-Himalayan area. In the 1600's a Tibetan Lama took power as leader of both religious and state affairs and declared Bhutan a separate state. Hence the building of more Dzongs or temples around that period. After we had a look around the Kyichu temple, we were just leaving for the bus when, as good fortune would have it, the Royal entourage swept into the car park! We were ushered back to the side of the temple as the King's mother and sister got out of their top-of-the-line Landcruiser and walked towards us, on their way to visit the monks. The King's mother stopped when she reached our party and asked where we were from. When I replied "Australia" she said "We don't get many Australians here, so welcome" I said to her that we would spread the word when we returned to our country. She was a very friendly woman and we were quite excited to have spoken to her. It was the highlight single event of the tour.

Leaving there we drove back to Paro and up to the Paro Dzong which overlooks the city ( a small city of around 8,000 people). On the way down I noticed a group of young ladies walking in front of us and was impressed with their beauty. So, not being too shy in these circumstances, I approached them and asked if I could take their photographs! They shyly agreed and then one of them, Dechen, asked if I could send a copy to her when the film was processed. So we exchanged names and addresses and I will send a copy to her in time. Really nice people.

Back to our hotel for dinner and a few beers then to pack our bags for a trip to Thimpu, the capital of Bhutan, the next day.

Tuesday 7 October saw us up and off in the bus for the 60 kilometre trip to the checkpoint where we had left our bikes on Sunday night. Arshad, the mechanic checked over and started all the bikes and had them warming up while we put our gear on. Pop, pop, popata, pop pop they all went as we mounted up, selected gears, tried the non-existent front brakes for feel and slipped out onto the mountain road for our ride to Thimpu, about an hour to the south. A top ride following the river far below us. Little traffic and an easy pace sitting on around 50/60 ks per hour. Hardly full on touring speeds compared to Australia where I am used to riding for hours at highway speeds sometimes two up and with a trailer in tow. However, in these conditions, it was motorcycling as it used to be in my youth; a simple, single cylinder motorcycle, chugging along country roads and time to take in the scenery and the pleasantness of it all. Not exactly wind in the hair stuff but close to it. Since returning home I have thought a bit about the urgency of life here (and I live in a smallish country town, not the city) compared to the calmness and peace of Bhutan. Where are we going and what are we doing? Maybe these are the questions we all ask ourselves at some time in our life. I will continue to ponder these questions for a while I think.

Arriving in Thimphu we checked in to the Riverview Hotel and following lunch, took the bus to see a big tsechu festival inside Tashichhodzong. This was a huge affair with thousands of people there to witness the religious dances performed by monks and the Royal Dance Troupe. Deities are sometimes manifestations of enlightened beings and are invoked through sacred practices as the dancers take on the form of these protective deities. This was day four and the final day of the festival. We spent about three hours in there and took many photos and video footage of the performers and the people generally. We found that Bhutanese citizens including the children are only too happy to be photographed and they ask many questions about us and where we are from. English is the medium of instruction in schools and most educated people speak it fluently, so conversation was fairly easy in most cases.

After the festival we went to check out another Dzong, the Changangkha Temple, one of the oldest in the Thimpu valley founded in the 15th century. Then into town for some shopping where I purchased a "rachu" for Helen; a colourful throw over garment used by Bhutanese women for carrying babies, loads of wood or anything else. Nowadays there are special ones used for ceremonial occasions.

Next morning we fuelled up at a local servo at just over $A1.00 per litre (all fuel included in the tour cost) and hit the road for Wangduephordang or simply Wangde as everyone called it. Only four bikes on this section, Leo, Karen, Hollie and myself. The other three opted to ride in the bus as we were returning to Thimpu the next day anyway. During the three-hour trip we rode through Dochula Pass at 3,100 metres and an hour from Thimpu then down the mountains for another two hours to the Wangde valley. Along this road, which was quite slippery in places, the two girls, first Karen then Hollie lost the front wheels and slipped off the road. Luckily no damage to the girls or the bikes. Think that New Zealand girls are as tough as the old Enfields! Finally arrived at our hotel, the Dragon's Nest for a late lunch then we all climbed on board the bus for a tour of the valley and a look at a couple of magnificent temples.

Thursday 9 October we left Wangde for the return ride/drive to Thimpu. A wet ride too as rain started to fall as we left. However the weather was warm enough and the riders all enjoyed the ride. After an hour or so the rain cleared for a bit so I took the lead and opened the old belter up through a nice windy section of good road. Around a sweeping lefthander I went, 350cc's chattering along underneath at about 80 clicks when I felt the back wheel step out a bit, then a bit more as I realized quickly that I had a back tyre that was rapidly deflating. A few more wobbles and I managed to stop on the side of the road before the tyre came completely off the rim. No hi-tec fancy synthetic tubeless Michelins or Bridgestones here, just good old rubber cross ply Dunlops with tubes! The bus soon arrived and Arshad was quickly out, toolkit and pump in hand as he assessed the situation. A few minutes later, souvenir nail in my pocket, we were off again. This was the only puncture on the entire trip. That was pretty good I believe.

Arrived back in Thimpu and had dinner at 7pm. Had a phone call from Tshering Tashi from the Australian Bhutan Friendship Association (ABFA) whom I had emailed while in Australia. We arranged for him to come around to the hotel for a beer and a chat with us. He did this and we all enjoyed his company. Tshering is very much involved with ABFA and is keen to promote his country to tourism. He has visited Australia and is a good friend of Ex-Deputy Prime Minister, Tim Fischer, AC. Tim lives near Corowa and Tshering says he will visit my town if he comes out to Australia again. Our Bhutanese guide, Tshering (Terry) Lhatu and his wife Lhamo then presented all our group with a stamp album of beautiful animal stamps issued by the Government. We were so pleased to receive this gift.

Friday was another big ride day from Thimpu back to the Bhutanese/Indian border town of Phuentsholing where we were booked in to the Druk Hotel. It was a fine and pleasant ride through the valleys but started to rain once we started our ascent into the mountains. Very rough roads, heaps of trucks, land slips and long muddy stretches kept us busy and concentration high. As I pulled up at one the end of a muddy stretch to allow a truck through, I noticed Marcius filling my mirrors with a motocross style slide as he attempted to pull up behind me. No ABS here! And no front brake either. I moved forward a few centimetres to give him more room to pull up and at the same time had to shift my right boot smartly to avoid having it run over by the approaching truck! The road works were still in full swing with labourers filling in small holes. I saw one man digging a hole with his shovel that had a rope attached and a woman pulling on the rope to make it easier. Finally we reached an Immigration checkpoint, then the last few kilometres to Phuentsholing where we went over the border to check out at the Indian Customs House. There was a blackout when we arrived so had to complete our forms by torchlight. Apologies all around! We slept very soundly that night.

Entering India officially next morning was a complete and amazing contrast. First we noticed the people, the Bhutanese people were a different looking race, Nepali and Tibetan type facial structure, quiet and reserved. Whereas the Indians were darker skinned with thinner features and by virtue of having to compete so much for space, were considerably more animated. Both peoples were so interesting and easy to talk to. Our ride back to Siliguri took about six hours and passed through open croplands, small villages and heavily forested areas. Along the way we stopped to watch as troops of monkeys crossed the road in front of us. Sometimes a group would stop in the middle of the road and put on a short performance like a little dance, back flips and 360 degree circles.

As we picked our way through cattle, goats, pigs and dogs, many villagers would wave to us as we passed. Everywhere animals competed with vehicles for a spot on the road. Tiny kids (goats) would be sleeping in the middle of the road and trucks etc would just simply drive around them. In all my travels I saw just three dead animals on the roads, a cow and a couple of dogs. Traffic is very aware of the rules of the road where animals have absolute right of way. Here are a couple of road signs we saw along the way:

"The rules of the road are a paradox quite,

stick to the left and you'll always be right.

Expect the unexpected.

Drive, Drink, Death"

Hollie's bike had battery troubles on this stretch however "the best mechanic in India" soons fixed it and she was on her way. We eventually arrived at the compound in Siliguri where we parked the bikes, gave them a pat on the seat then joined the others in the support vehicles for the trip to the Tiara Hotel. The bike ride was over.

Later that evening we were taken to the Bus Station at Siliguri to board an overnight sleeper bus back to Calcutta. It wasn't long before it became apparent that this was THE BUS TRIP FROM HELL! Our group was located on an extremely long overhang behind the rear wheels and even when seated for the first few hours, were bounced and thrown as the bus negotiated the dreadful road to Calcutta. We would have thought that the road would have been pretty reasonable given the amount of traffic it carries between the two cities but it was bad, bad. After the first stop at 9.30pm, two hours after departure, we decided, with great misgivings, that it was time for bed. Big mistake. Tour Organiser John and myself climbed onto the top bunk for a nose-to-tail attempt at sleep. We were bounced up and down on that bunk for the next twelve hours! Next wee stop was at 3.30am, six hours since the previous one and our bladders were at the point of rupture. One young Indian guy was so desperate that John cut the top off a plastic water bottle to help out! Unfortunately the bloke couldn't "do it" and suffered until we stopped at 3.30am. The driver, who incidentally drove for the whole fourteen hour trip , chain smoking, wouldn't stop before that. "No stop, no stop" said he. Soon the air-conditioning packed it in and the whole passenger complement (There were 40 people on that bus) thought that death through suffocation was imminent. A couple of us managed to force open some windows that brought fresh air and relief to all. Finally we arrived in Calcutta at 9.30am on Sunday. We couldn't get out of that bus quick enough! THE BUS TRIP FROM HELL. For the next day or so I had aching muscles across my back and chest from the unrelenting pounding up and down on that bunk. Luckily, one of the group, Rivka, was a Reiki practitioner and she fixed me up the following day.

We spent that day at the Fairlawn hotel recovering, did some last minute shopping and had a final dinner that night at a nearby restaurant. Next day we caught an Indian Airways flight to Bangkok then the long flight home via Sydney and finally arrived in Melbourne at 11pm Tuesday 14 October where Helen was waiting to pick me up. All up a fantastic holiday, the bike ride was tops as were the people, the different culture in each country and the scenery was magnificent. Apart from the bus trip, I would do it again tomorrow! Thanks John, Hollie, Karen, Sally, Leo, Marcius, Rivka, Kirsten, Vasanti, Dave, Julie and Anne for your company.

To view images of the trip click on the Royal Enfield Bike Trip to Bhutan page.

Last spring he was taking over as governor of Gasa, Bhutan's largest and least populated district, and the only one of 20 districts in the country that has no motor roads. It's a place so remote, even by Himalayan standards, that every item brought in has to be carried up on the backs of horses or people which is why Chencho Tshering's office has no huge, bulky photocopier, although it has solar-powered laptop computers.

"Everyone in Bhutan believes Gasa is such a backward district," says the 40-year-old, Australian-educated governor, a former government auditor. "I'd heard the people weren't forthcoming and often didn't pay much attention to government matters.

One reason people in Gasa and elsewhere didn't talk to their officials in the past was that, up until recently, district governors were perceived as almost medieval lords, whose word was law and who could not be questioned.

Yet Chencho Tshering was in for a surprise when he went on his first tour of the four local "blocks" that make up the district. The yak herders and others who live in Gasa, which sprawls along the Tibetan border, had opinions about what development they wanted "lots of them." They weren't afraid to express them. And they weren't afraid to act on them.

"We could discuss things easily," recalls Chencho Tshering, sounding not at all unhappy that he missed the medieval-lord period. "I sensed that I could really work with the people." As a result, new plans approved by the people are in place for income-generating cultivation of high-altitude vegetables such as radish, turnips, cabbage and beetroot, as well as training of yaks as exotic riding animals for tourists.

Governance is a two-way street

All across Bhutan, this new brand of people's participation represents a huge change from just a few years ago, when many Bhutanese still looked at development as "one-way traffic" driven by national Ministries. One official in the capital of Thimphu observed, "People tended to just sit there waiting for something to fall into their laps."

Now, the days of waiting are over. As the government's decentralization policy takes hold in Bhutan, a quiet revolution is under way, all contributing to King Jigme Singye Wangchuck's progressive vision of Gross National Happiness "an idea that looks beyond simple indicators of wealth that incorporates other aspects of well-being" as well as to the Millennium Development Goals, a series of internationally agreed upon targets to reduce poverty.

In the last year, overall responsibility for local development planning and implementation has been devolved to the local level. Gasa district represents a microcosm of the changes taking place across the nation: Even in far-flung Lunana block, a 10-day walk over 5,200-metre passes, ordinary Bhutanese are determining both the content and direction of the national development agenda. Much hope is resting on assistance from the newly-initiated Decentralization Support Programme, funded by UNDP (http://www.undp.org.bt/), the United Nations Capital Development Fund and SNV, the Dutch development organization. The programme grew out of a pilot UNDP/UNCDF project that began in 1999 to bring people into the planning process at the block level, in large part, through a system of political and financial decentralization that provided budgets directly to local officials.

Designed now to help support three levels of governance "the centre, the district and the block" the new programme aims to create a local environment for effective decentralization; to increase public participation in development through provision of up to US$15,000 annually to some 36 blocks; and to build the capacity of the Ministry of Home

Affairs to provide management support to the localities.

Although people's participation actually began as early as 1991 with the establishment of block development committees, this "new era represents the determination of His Majesty the King to further empower the grassroots level in terms of decision-making," according to Lyonpo Jigmi Y. Thinley, Minister for Home Affairs.

Going to the polls

In a watershed event last year, the nation "for the first time" voted in local elections for the leadership of local blocks. In Gasa, 1,459 voters were eligible. Remotest-of-the-remote Lunana was among the first blocks in the country to elect a candidate who had not been previously appointed to office before.

Then last May, Gasa held similar elections for representatives to the National Assembly. "People walked for hours" and some for days "to cast their secret ballot in a clearing in the forest," says UNDP Bhutan Deputy Resident Representative Deirdre Boyd, who witnessed the election on the border of Khatoe and Khame blocks in Gasa. "They had set up a traditional white Bhutanese tent with Buddhist symbols on it, and people had to exit away from where their neighbours were standing so they couldn't be asked who they voted for. Impressive precautions had been taken."

Support for the continuing evolution of people's participation remains high at UNDP. "People's participation does not take place overnight. It has to be learned and promoted, and is taking time, resources, and perseverance," says Renata Lok Dessallien, UNDP Resident Representative in Bhutan. "It may involve making mistakes from learning-by-doing, but in the long run we think the country will benefit. Bhutan is doing very well in bringing this change about."

Throughout, Chencho Tshering "and the people of Gasa" are hoping for a road to be built in their district during the current five-year development plan so that delivering development activities gets easier. Chencho Tshering knows that if the road comes, livelihoods will improve. "People have told me that if there's a road, they can get rid of most of their horses. This is actually a benefit to the environment, because there's a serious scarcity of grazing land, with yaks and horses competing. This is what the people want," he says. "And the people are usually quite sensible."

Note :

Governor Dasho Chencho is a member of ABFA and met Tim Fischer, AC, in Gasa. Tim has also donated some money to the Gasa hot spring.

K.E.S. Kirby Dorji is a freelance writer and communications consultant based in Thimphu, Bhutan.

2nd Note :

Harry Franks, co-director of the EU project "Renewable Natural Resources - Extension Support Project", advised that in a small way they are also trying to help get things going in Gasa. They are supporting a variety of demos of small enterprises for farmers (also school horticulture) as well as promotional activities for livestock owners and, just a few days ago, confirmed their finance for a veterinary hospital. They are however nearing the end of their project and hope that UNDP and others (Australia?!) will take over in giving practical and down to earth assistance to the district.

3rd Note :

Dr Joanne Millar, a lecturer in Natural Resource Management with the School of Environmental and Information Sciences, from Charles Sturt University, in Albury, Australia also suggests there may be opportunities to continue the good work via applications to AusAid or ACIAR. Joanne is currently involved in a similar project in Laos, funded by both AusAid and ACIAR, and managed by CIAT. Charles Sturt University are working with the Lao government research and extension staff in two provinces to build their extension capabilities in the area of livestock production (cattle, buffalo, pigs, chickens and fish) as alternative sources of income to shifting cultivation crops. The methods they use are based on participatory extension/action learning principles.

Peter Horne and Werner Stur have written a series of ACIAR books for extension practitioners in SE Asia, the latest one is titled "Developing agricultural solutions with smallholder farmers: How to get started with participatory approaches" ACIAR monograph No. 99. Charles Sturt University will be publishing another book in this series on how to extend the impacts of participatory extension to more farmers and more villages in a district or province.

Joanne is willing to provide assistance with developing ongoing or new extension projects for Bhutan if anyone is interested. She may be contacted on ph +61-2-60519859, fax +61-2-60519897 or email : jmillar at csu dot edu dot au

Prime Minister Thinley managed to fit in a working visit to Australia, including Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne just before becoming PM and all of us Downunder who are members of ABFA, extend our vey best wishes.

Prime Minister Thinley is the World's newest PM but I think also, from the outset, one of the wisest! Best wishes also to the new Cabinet Team and those stepping down, who worked so hard in moving Bhutan forward.

Below is a photo of Tom, Sonam Tshering, the 100th Bhutanese student at UNE, and Dr. Peter Ninnes.

This was the first exchange visit at the ministerial level after the formalisation of diplomatic relations between the two countries in September, 2002. Lyonpo Jigmi Thinley called on Prime Minister John Howard and held bilateral discussions with Mr Alexander Downer, and other ministers and senior officials in the Australian government.

Co-chair of the Australian Bhutan Friendship Association (ABFA), Tim Fischer, AC, has donated US $ 1,600 to the ABFA. The donation will be used for the upkeep of the Gasa hot springs and the folk heritage museum. This is the first activity of the ABFA.

In Sydney, the former deputy prime minister, Mr Tim Fischer, AC, and deputy vice chancellor of the University of New South Wales Ms Catherine Harris, hosted a reception which was attended by Australian friends of Bhutan and Bhutanese students studying in Sydney.

Mr Alexander Downer hosted a dinner for the Bhutanese delegation, a dinner that "built the linkage and profile of Bhutan and Australia", according to Mr Fischer, AC.

Australia is one of Bhutan's first development partners, providing assistance in the field of human resources development covering education, agriculture, health, and animal husbandry

On Tuesday night the day culminated with a very successful meeting with Alexander Downer, foreign minister and a State Dinner to honour the Minister and Visiting delegation.

Commenting after the Dinner, Co Chair of ABFA Tim Fischer, AC, said that the vibes and exchanges at the Dinner had been excellent. The two ministers picked up from their New York Meeting last year and had a full and frank exchange of views as well as some light hearted exchanges.

"This State Dinner was a cut above and helped build the linkage and profile of Bhutan and Australia. It was attended by business leaders and UNE, ACIAR, AUSAID and other officials", Mr. Fischer, AC, added.

The tour group moves to Melbourne Thursday but will not be trekking to nearby Hepburn Spa Springs, Australia's rather low altitude rough equivalent to the Gasa Hot Springs!