The central monk body has begun teaching computer operations to monks in its bid to electronically archive Bhutan’s rich collection of Buddhist manuscripts, biographies and historical documents.

Twenty monks of the central monk body recently completed a two-week computer operations course conducted by the National Technical Training Authority under its special skills programme. Among the skills taught were using Dzongkha (the national language) fonts with MS Word, typing, editing and formatting in Dzongkha, typing pechas (scripts) and using templates for pechas, printing techniques and an introduction to the internet. With this training the monks will be able to save all the scripts on computers using CDs as back up storage. The central monk body has already purchased twelve computers for the project and will soon buy another eight.

This project was personally initiated and funded by His Holiness the Je Khenpo, His Holiness contributed Nu 1.8 million (£25,289/$36,815 source http://www.xe.com) to the project.

To start with the Drukpa Kagyued text will be compiled. “Some portions of the text have been lost”, said Karma Lhendup of the central monk body, “but we have borrowed the text from Buddhist monasteries in India and Nepal to fill in the missing bits and make corrections where necessary.” He added that other rare Buddhist texts, which once existed in Bhutan but are now lost, will also be borrowed and archived. Important religious texts of other Buddhist lineages like the Nyingma tradition will be compiled at a later date.

“When we complete compiling, our archive will be accessible to the public and those interested in research” said Karma Lhendup.

Keep up to date with news from Bhutan by visiting Bhutan’s national newspaper online at www.kuenselonline.com

This article was taken from the April 2002 newsletter of The Bhutan Society. With thanks to Lucy Hornberger and Kevin Brackley from the UK.

Meeting news from our branches around the world.

Where is it? South of France, on the Med

Why would I know it? The French Connection? The Count of Monte Cristo? Beautiful people in the south of France?

How do I get there? It is possible to fly direct, alternatively, get into Paris, by plane or train (Eurostar from the UK) and take the train a grand vitesse (TGV) to cover the 700km from Paris to Marseilles. It only takes 3 hours!

What’s it like? Old, the Phoenicians landed in the natural harbour around 600BC, had a bad rep with drugs and immigrants from French immigrants. Nice harbour with cafes, a castle and a large cathedral on the hill.

Is it safe? Well, it’s a lot different from the image projected by the French Connection! No, seriously, like all big cities, you stick to the good areas at night – there’s been a lot of money pumped into the city to do it up and make it a really attractive place these days!

What’s there to do? These days, it’s got good shopping, vibrant nightlife, try out the bouillabaisse (fish stew), get a tan, mix with the “beautiful people”, eat well, try out good bars, visit the ballet or the opera, buy some soap (seriously, a Marseille speciality!)

Take the ferry to the Château d’If, (famous from the Count of Monte Cristo) from the quai des Belges, otherwise, wander around the Vieux Port, shop, eat, drink….

Would my mother approve? Um, take her shopping, then for a good bouillabaisse, keep her away from the railway station, then, yes!

OK, when should I go? It’s a bit windy with the Mistral during February and March and also October and November. Otherwise, any time, but maybe avoid August – it’s almost national holiday time.

Our first speaker was Mark Honigsbaum, whose talk was entitled The Fever Trail, after his book of the same name, which documents the discovery of the Cinchone tree (Cascarilla), which was found between 4,000 & 10,000 ft up in Ecuador. This tree provided the cure for malaria and was brought back to Europe and then planted in other malarial regions of the world such as India and Indonesia.

Mark’s slides however showed us a trip he made to Ecuador in April this year. He travelled into the mountains with a guide following an old treasure hunter’s trail for seven days and a distance of around 30 km’s. His scenic photo’s reflected this stark area that the sun hardly seems ever to penetrate, the mountains seemed to always be covered in cloud. As well as the scenery he showed us the revered grave of an old treasure hunter, where today’s treasure hunters leave an offering.

Our second speaker was Toby Green whose talk was entitled Travels in West Africa to Senegal, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau. Toby’s mission had been to find the Marabout, who are shamens and charm makers who can reputedly make you invisible with their ju-ju magic! Toby’s slides were not for the squeamish as they depicted what goes into the making of the charms, such as parts of black cats and used funeral shrouds.

Toby heard of cases where these charms were used to cure snakebites, but this did not stop him coming down with malaria! His pictures showed us the regions green valleys, volcanic cones and waterfalls and scenes of village life including millet pounding and tea making. We saw a photo of a “Magic stone” these stones miraculously come back to the same place even if removed; this has resulted in dead straight roads taking diversions around them.

Toby did finally meet a Marabout who for a price would make him invisible, but he wouldn’t divulge whether he managed it, we’ll all have to read his book, “Meeting the invisible man” to find out.

The next London meeting will be on the June 8th (the second Saturday due to the golden jubilee bank holiday weekend). Speaking will be Peter Eltringham — Travelling in the Maya World and Mary Russell — Travelling around Syria, digressing to Baghdad.

London meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden at 2.30pm the ussualy onfirst Saturday of each month. There is no London meeting in August, but we will be back on Saturday 1st September. For more information, you can contact the Globetrotter Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the website: www.globetrotters.co.uk

Who, you might ask? William Speirs Bruce, let’s call him Bruce, may not be as famous as other Antarctic explorers, such as Scott and Shackleton, but he certainly did his bit for Antarctic exploration!

Bruce was from Scotland and headed up the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition 100 years ago. Bruce wanted a place on Britain's “Discovery” expedition – which was ultimately to be led by Scott, with Shackleton among the crew, but he was snubbed by the organisers, who took so long to make a decision on whether to include him or not, that Bruce made his own expedition. Bruce was actually an experienced whaler, and he had already been to Antartica and had spent almost a year at the meteorological station at the top of Ben Nevis, (cold, brrrr!) training himself in the methodology of recording weather and climate. So, really, Bruce was the best qualified person to be on any Antartica expedition with all his polar experience.

But by launching an alternative expedition to the one he’d been waiting to go on for so long, he annoyed the wealthy and powerful Sir Clements Markham, of the Royal Geographical Society. So Bruce raised funds from the wealthy Coats family of Paisley, near Glasgow, and set off on the voyage he dubbed the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. He took a converted Norwegian whaling ship, which he named the Scotia. Unlike Scott, he had no interest in a race to the South Pole – his priority was to do original scientific research. The aim had been to establish a scientific research station on the continent, but bad weather prevented that.

Instead, they set it up on a sub-Antarctic Island, called Laurie Island, where scientists are still working today.

David Munro, president of the Scottish Royal Geographical Society, in Glasgow, said: “Bruce began to believe that polar exploration was becoming more of an adventure than a science and it was only the science he was interested in.

“From that point of view the expedition was a huge success – they discovered several hundred miles of previously unknown Antarctic continent, collected a wealth of geological and biological specimens and when they came back, published six volumes of scientific reports on their results.” Bruce even took a photo of a Scottish piper dressed in a kilt serenading a penguin on the ice! Apparently, the idea was that they were going to play it jigs, strathspeys, reels, slow marches, etc, and see if the penguin had any reaction.

Some people say that it is because Bruce’s expedition was so well run, that this is why so few people today have heard of him!

Hello Globies!

June 1st is our next meeting. A timely and interesting topic; Afghanistan. We will NOT have a July meeting due to all of our summer travel plans and the July 4th holiday. Hope to see you June 1st.

See below for a glimpse into Jason's adventure in Afghanistan.

Travels in Afghanistan August 2000 and August 2001 by Jason Florio When I journeyed to the Taliban controlled region of Afghanistan in August 2000 it was by default. I was on my way to Kashmir when I got a call to join a journalist colleague who said, “This [Afghanistan] is where it is happening”. In August 2001 my Afghan journey to the North eastern region was fuelled by a need to complete a picture of a divided country. The North eastern area of the country under the control of the Northern Alliance (who opposed the Taliban,) was a Shangri-la compared to the Taliban held region where I constantly felt a great sense of general and personal paranoia (I was arrested by the Taliban Vice and Virtue police for taking pictures of a football match, and then being accused of spying by their military). I wanted to experience Afghan life without the confines of the extreme Deoband form of Islam practiced by the Taliban.

My first attempt to cross into the Northern Alliance region (2001) from Pakistan by horseback, disguised as an Afghan woman in a head to toe burqa failed. After subsequent weeks of waiting. I finally made it in after landing a flight on an Russian made Northern Alliance helicopter crossing from Tajikistan into the Panjshir valley, the lair of the legendary “Lion of the Panjshir”, Commander Massoud. This idyllic valley is the gateway to the north, and who ever controls it controls the region. Being allowed to roam freely and shoot photographs without the constant monitoring of the Taliban was liberating. Working closely with the Afghan Ministry of Foreign affairs, I was granted permission to photograph on the front line at Bagram as well as deep in the Panjshir valley where multi-national Taliban POW's were held. In addition, I also photographed girls' schools (non-existent in Taliban territory) and fighters en route to the front line.

While waiting for the Massoud interview I was promised by the Ministry upon my arrival, I headed deep into the mountains with five Kalashnikov carrying mujahideen fighters to find the Kuchi nomads. After twenty-two years of fighting in the country, their life style had changed very little. They were still camel-riding transients who showed they were virtually immune to the effects of the war by crossing through the frontline without hindrance from either side. The Kuchi we encountered greeted us with open arms, until one of them thought I was trying to photograph his wife. We were then asked politely to leave in the form of a group of young nomads palming rocks at us. Before heading to the sandy wastelands of the northwest and eventually onto our UN flight back to Islamabad, we finally were granted audience with Massoud, “The Lion of the Panjshir” met us in his fortified bunker office and gave us forty -five minutes to interview and photograph him.

Within a week of returning to NYC on Sept the 5th, commander Massound would be assassinated by Al Qaeda operatives posing as journalist, and the attacks in the US would indelibly link the US and Afghanistan, finally giving the Afghan “Silent Majority” a world voice.

New York meetings are held at The Wings Theater, 154 Christopher Street (btw Greenwich St and Washington St), to the right of Crunch Fitness, in the Archive on the first Saturday of each month. Meetings start promptly at 4:00pm and end at 5:30pm. $10.00 for non-members, $8.00 for members.

Koh Samui Airport, Thailand is good. No doors here! This has to be one of the prettiest airports around. Liz, England

Koh Samui, The most tropical airport ever! The most beautifully in all Thailand:

Sukhothai…I could live there 🙂 Greetzzz Erik Jan, The Netherlands

A site recommended by Erik in the Netherlands, identifies good and bad airports around the world to sleep over night. Canadian Donna McSherry has put together a brill web site called http://www.sleepinginairports.net that allows people to make comments on which airports are good (and bad) for sleeping in. Donna has allowed us to show which airport web contributors feels is the best airport to sleep in:

Best Airport – Hands down, the Best Airport Award goes to Singapore's Changi airport.Unless the Singapore airport were to burn down, it is and will remain the reining mother of all airports that airport sleepers simply MUST visit on their sleeping travels. Airport sleepers worldwide will be brought to tears of joy when they find out all the wonderful amenities available. Several contributors have raved about this airport and I am almost inclined to travel to Singapore, just to camp out in the airport. Best of all, it is comfortable, safe, quiet (so quiet in fact that students study there during exams) and there's even a karaoke bar. One other fun fact about this little piece of heaven is the signs all over the airport that read ” no pets, no skateboarding, no smoking and no studying”. Check out the Singapore Changi web site before you go.

More from Donna next month with the runners up!

Write in and tell us your best airport nominations! the Beetle!