I’ve decided to keep track of my limited wardrobe. Today, I am wearing a new tegu (jacket) and also a new wanju (shirt). I was going to try Leyla’s trick of having fabric sewn onto the tegu just at the sleeves and the neck, but I couldn’t cope with the tailor’s look of utter incomprehension. In the end, if I can work out how to live with the pins, this is probably easier, at least in terms of doing laundry. The wanjus are so thin, they dry more quickly in the endless rain and mist.
I ride up the mountain in another shiny white truck, driven by Pema. It stops outside the guesthouse to pick me up at 8:45. Then we stop at the lower edge of Upper Market (the first shop past the prayer wheel on the main road). UT (the IT Ugyen Tshering) and Nakchung (the librarian) climb in. Another two bends of the road and we stop for Professor Chitra. Then the truck, seats filled, swings around the many switchbacks of the mountain.
This morning, I have thrown things off in many directions. Pema forgets to pick up “Madam Chitra,” perhaps because he already has a female professor in the car. We have to turn around to go back to the Upper Market, and then turn the truck laboriously again. Then Thinley calls at about 9:00 to ask me to come to the president’s office at 9:30 to meet with the president, but I am already half-way up the mountain. We agree to try again the next day (Tuesday).
In the evening, we visit “the lookout, “ a spot just behind the guesthouse, with beautiful views down the valley (when the fog permits). James proposes to visit every day and compare the ever-changing view.
