THE PROMPTS FOR THE MONTH
MONDAY 1st I AM: Vicky - an Australian, a wife, a traveller, a cook, and organiser, a swimmer, a reader, a teacher, a cyclist, an optimist, and a planner but unfortunately also a worrier. I am also happy to lead a simple life and my guiding principles are gratitude and integrity
TUESDAY 2nd MY FAVE BELONGING: This is going to be a tricky month for me, as we are travelling so of all the things with me right now my camera is my fave belonging. It’s been getting a real work out too. It’s old but it’s done good service and still works perfectly perhaps a little like me
WEDNESDAY 3rd MY FAVE VIEW: is most definitely prayer flags flapping in the wind at the mountain passes in Bhutan. We were fortunate today to drive through three passes and fly our own flags for the benefit of all sentient beings at each. This is Yongtong La at 3411 metres and the vibrant flags in the top of the shot are the ones we strung up today. I love Bhutan
THURSDAY 4th I’M GOOD AT: devising engaging learning activities to suit the abilities and interests of my students. This is an archive shot of our little monks taken not so long ago in Kep
FRIDAY 5th IM NOT SO GOOD AT: travelling these windy mountain roads but this is the ninth crossing of the kingdom. Anyone who knows me knows I do not travel well but our driver is a dear friend with whom we have done this journey several times in the past nine years. We were in the high passes and surrounded by clouds for a large part of the morning today but are now descending into the heat and blue sky of the sub-tropic zones
SATURDAY 6th MY FAVE COLOUR: is orange as anyone who knows me already knows. Another favourite thing is butter lamps, which just happen to burn orange despite appearing white before they are lit. Taken yesterday at Kore La-the final pass on the lateral road before reaching Trashigang
SUNDAY 7th I LOVE EATING THIS FOOD: Momos! Not the same as Chinese dumplings though I love them too. We have been eating as many as possible since arriving. Yesterday was a momo party with Ian’s former class 4/5 students who are all now finishing high school or already studying at a tertiary level. Love those cheese momos!
MONDAY 8th A HIGHLIGHT FROM MY DAY: After heavy rain all night and all morning we scored a dry spell at 2pm and hiked down the farm road and through the scrub on a rough track with lots of leeches to find our driver patiently waiting for us at the road head. Our aim was to reach Trashigang to see the newly restored interior courtyard of the Dzong. Last time we saw it in 2016 there were piles of rubble and it was a sad picture. With 15 minutes before it closed we managed to convince the security guards to allow us in. Finally, we got to wander around the courtyard alone and see it looking resplendent with only a handful of monks sharing the space with us and somewhat mystified about why we would want to be there
TUESDAY 9th I LOVE THIS ABOUT ME: I take a great deal of pleasure in simple things, I try to adapt to the customs and rituals of the places I have lived and in which I travel and I am curious and very interested the culture and daily life of other places. This is me, early this morning lighting a butter lamp at Kore La (the first of the passes we encountered today) photo credit goes to Ian
WEDNESDAY 10th MY FAVE HOBBY: would have to be photography. Recently I’ve mostly been using my phone but here in Bhutan the camera has been getting a real workout. This is my favourite shot from today’s Tshechu (religious ritual combining storytelling, music and dance) in Nimalung. It was hard to choose just one shot
THURSDAY 11th MY HANDWRITING: is not particularly uniform or neat but this is it. I wrote the 100th quote for my 100 days of inspiration, gratitude and calm today - just one day late but I was a bit too overwhelmed by Tshechu yesterday so I gave myself a break
FRIDAY 12th THIS SONG MAKES ME HAPPY: “A Case of You” by Joni Mitchell. It was hard to choose just one as there are so many songs that make me happy but this one came to mind. I particularly like the version by Prince on the ”A Tribute to Joni Mitchell” album
SATURDAY 13th I GREW UP IN: Adelaide. spending long summer holidays on the beach and so many times all four of us kids very badly sunburnt (before anyone knew the dangers of skin cancer), jumping off the jetty, cars bogged in the sand, keys and kids lost and fish and chips wrapped in newspaper for picnic lunches. I have now strayed far from where I was born and raised but I never quite feel I have come home until I visit the beach and usually manage to do so on the day I arrive
SUNDAY 14th I DO THIS MOST DAYS: I write 3 things I am grateful for at the end of the day and add them to my gratitude journal. When I do forget I do it the following morning. Do not take things for granted but take them with gratitude
MONDAY 15th THIS FLAVOUR MAKES ME HAPPY: It’s called thingay here in Bhutan and it’s almost onomatopoeic as it leaves a tingling feeling on your tongue. Combined with chilli in thukpa it’s the quintessential Bhutanese flavour. I just went out and bought it because of this prompt and now I will have to try to make that delicious rice porridge with paneer when we get home
TUESDAY 16th I LOVE THIS FILM: We happened to be living in Bhutan when it was released in 2016 and one of the animators is a dear friend. But what I love most about it is that the visuals are so strikingly Bhutanese and it’s so important for young children to see their own culture displayed, surviving and thriving in a modern medium
WEDNESDAY 17th I’M GRATEFUL FOR: blue skies and sunshine in sleepy little Haa. This view onto the main street from our hotel window is also pretty spectacular. Actually, I’m also very grateful for the opportunity to be in Bhutan right now
THURSDAY 18th MY FAVE BOOK: long story follows..... It’s a bit of a stretch because we are travelling but I’ve been trying to make these prompts about me and our trip. I can honestly say this my favourite Bhutanese writer and I have read every book she has written (except the recipes in her book about Bhutanese food) many of them several times. I taught one several years in a row and love it so much I tried to buy another copy this trip but had no luck. We went to 5 out of the 6 bookstores I know in Thimphu to find a single copy of any of her books and then miraculously found a new children’s book to add to my collection just an hour before the book store closed on our last day in Thimphu on Tuesday. I went straight back to our hotel room and read it so it’s my new almost fave book
FRIDAY 19th MY FAVE PLACE IN THE WORLD: It’s a tough one. There are lots of places I love. Somehow Bhutan is the one I talk about most when we are not here and now that we are the love is rekindled. I always say I left a piece of my heart here when we left and now I think an even bigger piece will stay behind when we depart in two-days’ time! It’s the everyday sights, the people the culture and the sheer majesty of the kingdom that brings a sense of inner calm. I love Bhutan
SATURDAY 20th MY FAVE PEOPLE: Of course, my family and the wonderful friends, who have stuck with me through thick and thin are up there on this list, but if I’m honest with myself right now the little monks of Kep win hands down. After a month of travelling I miss them. I have loved every reunion in the kingdom and the many friends and former students we have spent time with but these guys (and their other classmates not in this archive shot) make my heart sing
SUNDAY 21st TODAY WAS GREAT BECAUSE: after deciding to pay our final hotel bill in the country with a credit card we had some spare cash. I found a great book in the airport and then worked out a way to get the extra cash to Lama Shenphen for his work with recovering addicts in the kingdom. We are sad to go but grateful for the memories. “Palden Drukpa Gyalo”
MONDAY 22nd A SCENT THAT MAKES ME HAPPY: Nothing beats the smell of coffee in the morning - well perhaps drinking it! I always have to buy freshly ground coffee first when we do our marketing and then sniff it until the shopping is done and we can relax with a brew before heading home. This routine ensures any forgotten items are remembered when my brain wakes up. Oh yeah .... my go to perfume is also “Happy” and I haven’t had any for over two years- this was a duty-free purchase on our return to Thailand yesterday. Blissful start to our Bangkok sojourn
TUESDAY 23rd I ACHIEVED THIS! Despite almost always cycling or swimming these days on our final day in Bhutan I achieved a personal best for 2019 with the hike up to Taktshang - almost 18kms and 158 floors for the day.
WEDNESDAY 24th MADE ME SMILE TODAY: We made it to the Kingdom of Wonder today. Our luggage has grown at every destination and we left the airport in the smallest vehicle of the whole trip. I wanted to take a shot of Ian in the Cambodian Rickshaw with all our bags and the driver photo bombed it so only half the bags are visible
THURSDAY 25th THREE THINGS I’D TAKE ON A DESERTED ISLAND: Hope, calm and inspiration. Then everything else would fall into place
FRIDAY 26th A MEMORY OF MINE: That time in 2012 when to celebrate education in Bhutan, representatives from every school walked to the capital of Trashigang district from their schools and joined each other on the road. It was a 16-kilometre hike from my school and a wonderful experience. With hundreds of children and teachers converging at the main intersection and staying overnight to participate in a full day of entertainment and celebration. Of course, every foreign teacher in the district was included and along with principals I led the charge out of Rangjung Higher Secondary School. Some primary children walked for 3 days! What a feat of coordination and harmony
SATURDAY 27th A FAVE OUTFIT: I wore yesterday. I love it because it’s simple, casual, comfortable, my favourite colour combination (orange and black) and everything except the shoes and necklace are more than a decade old. It still fits and I still love it. Photo credit to Ian who took a zillion shots in this art filled laneway in Phnom Penh before I was happy with one of them - as I’m fond of saying, “That’s as good as it gets!”
SUNDAY 28th MY FAVE SEASON: Here as in most of Cambodia, there are really only two seasons- the wet and the dry. It’s always hot. It’s is officially the wet season but there was no rain today so we had the best of both seasons dry and a little cooler without the bright sunshine
MONDAY 29th MY FAVE ANIMAL: I haven’t had a pet since I was a child as my lifestyle is too nomadic, so I get a big kick out of seeing and spending time with wild animals in their native environment. Birds especially but the pedantic in me won’t allow myself to call them animals, so an elephant it is. This is an archive shot taken in Mondulkiri last year
TUESDAY 30th SOMETHING I WANT YOU TO KNOW: I’m a total foodie. I love cooking and baking and sharing original vegetarian food with family and friends. I delight in trying new dishes in restaurants. I also love to alter and experiment with recipes and in fact rarely make anything but adaptations or fusion dishes. This is a snapshot of a few recently homemade meals
WEDNESDAY 31st MY FAVE THING TO TAKE PHOTOS OF: would have to be the little monks of Kep. After a six-week break, we will start classes again tomorrow so this is an archive shot. I’m so excited to see them and also very curious about the changes that may have occurred at the monastery and among the boys themselves
