Bhutan - Lindsay Brown [80]
SAARC Building
The large traditional Bhutanese-style building across the river from Trashi Chhoe Dzong was built in the early 1990s to provide a venue for a meeting of the heads of state and government from the South Asia Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC). That meeting was never held in Bhutan but plans are in the pipeline now that Bhutan boasts several hotels that meet the five-star needs of the SAARC officials. The impressive structure now houses the planning and foreign ministries, and the National Assembly was relocated to this building in 1993. Long ‘corridors of power’ lead to the elaborately decorated National Assembly (held twice a year), while nearby is the Royal Banquet Hall.
National Institute of Traditional Medicine
Established in 1978, one of the more interesting facilities in Thimphu is the National Institute of Traditional Medicine (Map; 324647; www.health.gov.bt/indigenous/index.htm; Serzhong Lam; 9am-3pm Mon-Fri, to 1pm Sat). The EU provides funding for this project, which prepares and dispenses traditional herbal and other medicines. There is an impressive laboratory and production facility that manufactures quality products, the components of which may include plants, minerals, animal parts, precious metals and gems. All kinds of pills, tablets, ointments and medicinal teas from here are distributed to regional health-care units around the country.
There is a day-care facility and clinic where doctors diagnose patients and prescribe appropriate medicines or treatments. Tour operators can arrange visits to the institute. There is a small museum and gift shop where you can purchase tsheringma, a safflower-based herbal tea.
The institute also researches the use of medicinal herbs and plants and has a trial plot on the premises. It has field units that collect medicinal plants from far away places such as Lingzhi in western Bhutan, where a number of significant medicinal species grow in abundance.
National Textile Museum
Thimphu’s National Textile Museum (Map; 321516; Norzin Lam; SAARC national/adult Nu 25/150; 9am-4pm) is worth a visit to get to know the living national art of weaving. Exhibitions introduce the major weaving techniques, styles of local dress and textiles made by women and men. There is usually a small group of weavers working their looms inside the shop, which features work from the renowned weaving centres in Lhuentse Dzongkhag, the ancestral home of the royal family in northeastern Bhutan. Each item is labelled with the name of the weaver, at prices ranging from Nu 1500 to 25,000.
Changlimithang Stadium & Archery Ground
The national stadium occupies the site of the 1885 battle that helped establish the political supremacy of Ugyen Wangchuck, Bhutan’s first king. It is now the site of the national archery ground, a large football stadium and parade ground, basketball, tennis and squash courts, as well as the headquarters of the Bhutan Olympic committee. It’s always worth checking to see what event is taking place when you are in town.
Voluntary Artists Studio Thimphu
The impressive Voluntary Artists Studio Thimphu (VAST; Map; 325664; www.vast-bhutan.org; Chang Lam) is hidden away on the top floor of a not-so-impressive building on Chang Lam. After negotiating several flights of betel-stained stairs you emerge at the study, which can be incredibly busy with after-school and weekend classes in drawing and painting for young artists. The goal of the studio (which accepts donations) is to use Bhutanese artistic values to create both traditional and contemporary works and to provide vocational training. There’s a small library and coffee shop where budding artists are encouraged to congregate. Art by the students and instructors is sold in the