Update #3: Permit denied
My request to go to the restricted border of areas of Merak and Sakteng in the far eastern part of the country at the Indian border has been denied, or at least delayed, so tomorrow I will go a few hours down the road to Trashiyangtse, another eastern district, and begin village interviews there.
Merak and Sakteng are rarely visited villages, 10 hours’ walk from the end of the road, where the nomadic yak herders still wear animals skins (it’s said that you can smell their villages, before you can see them), and practice unique customs unlike anywhere else in the country. So I couldn’t resist trying to get a permit to visit the area. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize the necessity of the permits (two, actually) before leaving Thimphu, but they have to be processed in Thimphu.
This past week has been the epitome of the unglamorous part of field research: the waiting and wading through bureaucracy. I have been unable to begin a new round of interviews because each day has required numerous faxes and phone calls, and the permits are always just about to come.
In the meantime, I learned “why social science is a good field for ladies: it doesn’t require that much effort,” according to a Nepali engineer, approving of my field of study.
Just so you know…
Hope your days are going more smoothly!
Xo
elizabeth
Merak and Sakteng are rarely visited villages, 10 hours’ walk from the end of the road, where the nomadic yak herders still wear animals skins (it’s said that you can smell their villages, before you can see them), and practice unique customs unlike anywhere else in the country. So I couldn’t resist trying to get a permit to visit the area. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize the necessity of the permits (two, actually) before leaving Thimphu, but they have to be processed in Thimphu.
This past week has been the epitome of the unglamorous part of field research: the waiting and wading through bureaucracy. I have been unable to begin a new round of interviews because each day has required numerous faxes and phone calls, and the permits are always just about to come.
In the meantime, I learned “why social science is a good field for ladies: it doesn’t require that much effort,” according to a Nepali engineer, approving of my field of study.
Just so you know…
Hope your days are going more smoothly!
Xo
elizabeth
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