Small country with many interesting people

In Bhutan, there are 670,000 inhabitants, around 100,000 of whom live in Thimphu, the capital, where I'm based. During my four days walking around I realized how small the town is. Here is a list of few interesting people I accidentally met, got introduced and had a chat with:

• John Collett, Water Sanitation and Hygiene Specialist working for the Ministry of Health. John gave a few valuable advices about hygiene and invited me to an upcoming event at a center supporting drug abusers.
• Alain Duhaut, advisor to the General Manager of Drukair, the national airlines. He introduced me to the restaurant scheme in the city. He's French, so one would expect such advise from him :)
• Tashi Dorji, General Manager of the National TV Department who was buying local tomato before me and then kindly explained how to prepare them.
• Sangay Tshering who has recently started his business, Mops&Condoms. I met with him in Ambient Cafe and he turned out to be one of the young entrepreneurs who has received loan and support from the Loden Foundation where I am volunteering. You will read more about what his Mops&Condoms is all about in my future posts.
• Khenpo Tashi, an international Buddhist teacher, curator of Bhutan’s national museum, and friend of the royal family. We were sitting at the same table at a small restaurant that has pizza and goulash on the menu. He and his friends were kind enough to speak English with one another so that I could follow the conversation.
• Sofie de Roos from Gent, Belgium working for RENEW, a local nonprofit that supports battered women.
• Andre Brantz from Canada consulting for the United Nations and spending a few days here.
• Kunzang Norbu from the Tourism Council of Bhutan who briefly spoke about key ethical principles followed by the government when strategically and gradually developing tourism.

What a fascinating group of people! I have decided to get back to most of them and learn more about their life in Bhutan. Of course, I will post what they have to share with us.