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We leave after a small lie-in and head to Thimphu, the capital of this magnificent country. The road is in a surprisingly good state, mainly considering the sheer drops of the valley. It is a huge engineering achievement. The ride is pleasant if at time a little stomach tightening. The journey takes approximately one and a half hours, filled with amazement at the countryside and fear of the other trucks (however nicely decorated they are).

Dancing policeman enforcing no smoking and no traffic lights policy

Degrubenc
2006-08-12 14:55:18

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We leave after a small lie-in and head to Thimphu, the capital of this magnificent country. The road is in a surprisingly good state, mainly considering the sheer drops of the valley. It is a huge engineering achievement. The ride is pleasant if at time a little stomach tightening. The journey takes approximately one and a half hours, filled with amazement at the countryside and fear of the other trucks (however nicely decorated they are).

Thimphu is not a rip-roaring metropolis but it has roads and roundabouts (where policemen direct traffic with wonderfully flowing arm movements, as if they are doing Tai-Chi). It is said to be the only capital in the world without traffic lights. To be fair, there is hardly the need for it: there are two "important" road junctions in the city, both with a police booth in the middle directing traffic until 18:00 at which point the traffic is left to sort itself out.

Bhutan is also the only country in the world where there is a complete ban on smoking. No one is allowed to buy or sell cigarettes; only a few lucky expats can import cigarettes and smoke them in the privacy of their own homes. I
have spotted a few people having a sneaky cigarette but it looks like they are smoking hay rolled up in a newspaper. I have to admit I find it a very pleasant state of affairs. Of course, such a project can only be radically undertaken in a country like Bhutan, as the population is so small (about 800,000, for a country nearly as vast as Switzerland) and so tightly regulated. The ban on smoking does not seem to affect the population much, as they are all addicted to this betel nut thing. This consists of a green leaf in which is wrapped a white paste with a few chillies and a betel nut. I tried it; it is bitter, strong and surprisingly fun to eat. The taste evolves from bitter and spicy to become acceptable and even enjoyable. The only major drawback to this otherwise exotic habit is the constant need to spit out the ...