Headed back

No internet again last night. We spent a lovely day in the countryside yesterday. These are the shots I have been looking for. We stopped at a school to give them the school supplies we picked up in Thimpu. Grades 2-6 have half days on Saturday. They were thrilled with the new pencil boxes and pencils. This is a small school so only 2 classrooms for these students (24 in all on this Saturday). We had a picnic lunch at a farm house in the Ura Valley.

Here are the 4-6th graders in their classroom.

These are a couple of pre=primary students who do not go to school on Saturday, but were hanging around. We gave them pencils and pencil boxes as well. 

We split into 2 groups and got to visit both classrooms. Each child had a notebook and the old children were working on math. Younger students on English. 

When it came time to hand out the supplies, they all lined up outside. Very quietly - girls in one line, boys in the other. We were able to hand each of them a new pencil box and pencils. 

They were very excited, We tried to capture their excitement, but as soon as they saw the cameras, they sobered up. 

Making use of the barbed wire fence to dry the laundry. 

Our driver and guide sharing a joke while they served us lunch at the farm house. We are int he kitchen, siting on rugs on the floor. Note the TV in the background. 

This is our hostess and her tea pot on the stove. In addition to the picnic put up by the hotel we enjoyed the local ara - a distilled liquor made from rice, corn, or wheat, depending on the location. And butter tea - definitely an acquired taste. 

We have an early start this morning (7 AM) and a long drive back to Whang Du. I'll try to get some pictures up tonight. Gotta get the luggage out.