Now we are in Thimphu (pr. Tim Poo) which is the capital of Bhutan. Thimphu is only about 33 miles from Paro where we landed at the airport. Thimphu is the largest town in Bhutan but only has about two streets of around three or four blocks each that make it look like a town. One of the things that I loved about Bhutan was the consistent architecture in the country. Our guide said that recently, and only slowly, was this starting to change. Taller buildings are being built and different designs are being used. But the construction itself looked like many other countries that we have visited. Scaffolding and construction support beams are all bamboo. Most of the work is still being done by hand. As you look at these photos, you might notice that the bamboo scaffolding is not always very perpendicular. Some of the poles are at substantial angles to perpendicular.

You can also see in the next two photos that there are four guys unloading bricks from a truck into the building. They are putting them in the building, by throwing one brick at a time like two guys playing catch with a baseball.

All of this seemed quite amusing to me until the thought occurred to me that I was on the fifth floor of a hotel that was no doubt built in the same manner and maybe even by the same people. I chose not to dwell on it. I did still keep staring at those darn bamboo scaffolds though.