A Walk in the Park

We're just now seeing the end of a bitterly cold Winter and the welcome first signs of Spring. Progress on site is accelerating, the workers are remarkably compliant, and the sweet perfume of blossoms is all around. 

While everybody's spirits have lifted and the pace of work has increased noticeably, it's still frustrating from a landscaping viewpoint.

We're only a week or so away from the final landscaping and actual installation/planting, but it doesn't look like it...

In the almost 18 months I've been here now on this project, I've been able to observe the full cycle of seasons and weather, and more closely study and understand the soil, as well as meet local experts and exchange ideas. And that's a great thing, because many of my original plans, especially in choice of plants, have changed.

Hardy trees and shrubs that may struggle through a less severe winter than Bhutan's, don't have a hope here. They curl up their toes and die. And this landscape, when completed, needs to be low maintenance.

So today I decided to mix business with pleasure, and took a stroll up the hill to the Royal Botanical Gardens, to see what was happening in their displays. 

Remember, this is no lush, tropical rainforest here...it's survival of the fittest!

A typically quaint greeting...

But don't be fooled. This is FAR more than just a garden display...

The entrance provides a reassuring welcome...

 Hedges are really popular here....

...but these paths were leading somewhere, so I followed....

Past the chhorten with its water-driven prayer wheel. We're building a similar one in the IT Park marsh-garden next week...

 
...and a lovely waterfall. We're creating one of those at our site, too!

...over the traditional cantilevered bridge... (no plans for one of these, but it's got me thinking)...

..and yet ANOTHER sign...

Then, just around the corner, a traditional Bhutanese picnic. And just like everywhere else, men grouped on the left talking football, women on the right under a tree talking about...I never could work that out!

Continued past some lovely blossoming cherries and magnolias...

..and was suddenly struck with a wonderful wave of nostalgia. Something I could smell and instantly  recognise before I even saw it...Australia's national flower, the Wattle.
High in the Himalayas!
Actually felt a little choked up at this...must have got some pollen in my throat...

By now, the path was leading up towards a lookout point I remembered from a previous visit...

And there's a reason it's called a "lookout"...

 After a brief hour or so of quietly taking in the view and contemplating life, it was time to get back to work, refreshed, recharged and with a few new ideas.

So back along the path...

...out the gate...

past a man in a funny hat...

and took a new  shortcut where I was rewarded with a view of our work-site I'd never seen before...a nice ending to a day of new perspectives.

Reflections

I’ve been living and working in this truly wondrous country for about 16 months now, and just a couple of days ago, returned from a quick trip home to Australia, where I visited family, friends and old stamping grounds. It also gave me time to reflect, from a distance, on the nature of life in one of the most intriguing nations on the planet. Bhutan is a nation truly at the crossroads of its future; a most enviable yet extremely daunting place to be.

This blog is never meant to be about me, but in order to explain my own thoughts on this country, a little background may help.

I accidentally spent many years working in the corporate world in Australia, climbing as one does, the slippery rungs of that clichéd ladder to achieve a modest level of success, before throwing it all in to follow my passion of horticulture. But even in those days of hustling, bustling meetings, appointments, business-travel, budgets, deadlines, suits and ties, I never really believed it was important in the grand scheme of life. I was always able to step back mentally, observe life as an outsider and treat it as a psychological and sociological experiment on myself, on those with whom I interacted, and on society at large.

People who know me also know that I constantly rant and rage against overt capitalism, rampant consumerism, the uncaring greed and selfishness of individuals and corporations. The dog eats dog existence of a materialistic world where “things” come before all else. A widespread deficit of “soul”, and the inability or lack of desire to put the needs of others first. The gross injustices and inequalities of society have always rankled with me badly.

That all sounds a bit bleak and gloomy now that I see it on the written page, but strangely, I’ve always considered myself to be an optimist...so here’s a pretty picture to momentarily break my tirade...my grandson, Jack!

Bhutan existed, deliberately isolated and blissfully untouched by the rest of the world until 1950, when China invaded nearby Tibet. Not unexpectedly, that set off the alarm bells, and to paraphrase decades of history, Bhutan’s king made the decision to align his country with neighbouring India and to embark upon a national program of modernisation. Royal rule gave way to a democratically elected government (although the Royal Family still has an enormously strong presence and is genuinely loved by the people.)

This Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan is often thought of and referred to by westerners as “Shangri-La”, and while of course perfection is unattainable, I believe this country is closer to it than any other. Simply because it has been protected from and unsullied by most of the vices of the rest of the “civilised” world. But (to misquote Shakespeare!), therein lies the rub.

Due in part, I am sure, to the recent introduction of television and western media, the people here want a more modern lifestyle, with easier travel, better and wider communications, new technologies, exotic foods and all the creature comforts enjoyed by more developed economies. And of course they should have these things.

  

But the benefits of modern living always come with strings attached. Drugs, crime, cultural cynicism, a loss of innocence, a more frenzied pace of life, and yes, capitalism and its attending greed, jealousies and other ugly traits. While no-one would claim the basic human failings don’t exist here, they are greatly diminished in this peaceful Buddhist nation.

It is this conundrum that the nation’s leaders are trying to solve, in an extremely delicate balancing act.

And these are very clever people trying to solve their nation’s greatest problem.

The current King was educated at Oxford and all government ministers are required to have a university degree before standing for election. Collectively, they have studied at some of the world’s greatest educational institutes.

This may be the planet’s last chance to get it right. Here is a nation that hasn’t imploded yet, still has the opportunity to set up that Utopian society, and the high government officials and key decision makers are well aware of this fact. This is why I feel so lucky and privileged, and excited to be here as this transition takes place.

So, although I’m just one person with a dream rekindled, I’ll do anything within my ability to help, figuratively and literally, to Landscape Bhutan.


STOP PRESS: An interesting and  related article in today's The Guardian newspaper for anyone with the time and inclination to read it...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/bhutan-advise-united-nations-happiness

Stonework (aka I've Got Rocks in My Head)

I've always loved working with stone. It's an honest material, rugged, strong and not manufactured in a laboratory or factory. It comes from the earth, and we only have to re-position it, not reconstitute it. It deserves to be seen, and demands to be appreciated.
 

 
The main focus of our project here, the  IT building itself, is constructed from steel and concrete. These materials are necessary, as we're in the centre of regular seismic activity, and must build to withstand mighty earthquakes. Our engineering specifications go way beyond what is normal for similarly sized structures in most other parts of the world. I often think that if a cataclysmic earthquake were to strike this area, ours would be the last building left standing.

But this project covers 5 acres of land, and around the building, apart from the sweeping tree-studded lawns and general softscape, will be internal roads, paths, external staircases, retaining walls and a magnificent huge water feature that runs the full width of the building's entrance....30 metres! All great opportunities to incorporate stonework.

This is where the water feature will go, between the pine tree and the building...

So let's dig a hole and start it!

Give it a bit of shape...

Find some suitable rocks...

And let the work begin!

And while the water feature construction continues, we have another team working on a curved entrance road around it, which also acts as a retaining wall for the road above...

And also the staircase coming down from the top car park, through and under the security room...

This soil will be replaced with better quality stuff, then levelled and planted with grass and a few flowering Japanese Cherry Blossom trees and small magnolias...

 But not to forget the water feature, where work continues....

 

The actual fountain will be in the centre one third of the structure (10 metres wide), and there will be a 10 metre garden on either side of it. These will be grassed and have native clematis planted at the edges, to overhang the stone walls. I'll be planting specimen trees in there too, but haven't decided which ones yet...

These concrete Hume pipes (an Aussie invention!), will encase the incoming fibre-optic data cables, the arteries to the heart of any IT Park!

And finally, this is where we're up to today...still plenty of work to do, but it'll be worth the effort when it's completed!

Update to a few months later...

Picnic in Dochula

Had a rare day off on Sunday, and travelled with my Indian family (Ganesh, Rita and their son, Ritesh), with a new colleague, Vikram, to beautiful Dochula, a village only 45 minutes' drive from our home in Babesa, near Thimphu (the capital).
Dochula is most famous for its 108 chhortens.


THIS is a chhorten....a religious icon that sometimes contains prayer wheels.

And THIS is 108 chhortens...

 We needed to get permits to visit, and show them at a checkpoint to enter this sacred place. Strangely, I drove through this same checkpoint a year ago on the way to order windows for our new building, and don't remember stopping. But I do remember the guards waving at us very enthusiastically as we went past them. At least I THOUGHT they were waving...

Spent some time looking around the area, before moving on to the  Lamperi Royal Botanical Gardens...officially opened by a different Queen Mother from the one who  inaugurated our IT Park back in November.

I think our plaque is better than theirs. And so it should be, for what it cost us!

After a delicious lunch of chicken biryani, washed down with a cheeky South African shiraz, it was time for a gentle rest before strolling  through the gardens.


VIKRAM, RITA and GANESH...and RITESH's arm. That tent in the background on the left is made from yak's hair. I also ate a couple of yak cheese cubes. Hard as rock, and lasted for hours, unfortunately...

At the entrance, we'd seen a display of some of the animals we might encounter on our tour....

But unfortunately, we only came across the ubiquitous Bhutanese dogs. And there was no way we were going to get lost in these gardens.

As it's still winter here, there were few floral displays to enjoy...


 Native Daphne...sweet perfume!

But I've always been a tree man, myself. And there were plenty of those!

And the day wouldn't be complete without a magnificent example of the national tree, the Bhutan Cypress.

And yes, of course there was water around....

And some interesting little stuff I couldn't identify....

Time then, to head home. On the way, we stopped to admire an old dzong (fortress) in the hills.

And as most Indians haven't seen too much of the white stuff, I took time out to explain the difference between snow and ice to Ganesh...

And so ended our delightful day discovering Dochula.