A monthly letter · Posted from Thimphu
A piece of Bhutan in your letterbox, every month. Postcards, photographs, a recipe and a letter from the Himalayas.
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Thimphu, Bhutan
Kuzuzangpo la,
This is a letter club for people who cannot stop thinking about Bhutan.
Once a month we pack an envelope here in Thimphu. Inside are the things we would show you if you were sitting across the table. Postcards. Photographs of the month just gone. A recipe from a real kitchen. Stickers and prints by Bhutanese artists. And a letter about what happened here: the festival, the first snow, the cranes coming home.
It is slow on purpose. There is no app and no feed. There is a real stamp, a real postmark, and a long road from the mountains to your door.
Open it with tea.
Tashi Delek,
How it works
Put your name on the list. Members are told first when the club opens.
Each month's envelope is put together by hand in Thimphu and stamped at the post office.
A letter from Bhutan lands in your letterbox. Yours to keep, pin up, cook from and send on.
Inside the envelope
Every month is different. This is the shape of it.
Recipe card · No. 1
Chillies and cheese. The dish of every Bhutanese home.
Simmer the chillies, onion and butter in the water for ten minutes. Add tomato and garlic. Lay the cheese on top, cover for three minutes, stir once. Serve with red rice.
The letter
The cranes came back to Phobjikha this week. People in the valley say they circle the monastery before they land.
Sticker sheetThe national flower, the takin, the crane, the dancer
What the letters are about
Bhutan is too much for a screen.
So we put it in the post.
Why a letter
Bhutan printed its first postage stamps in 1962. Then came stamps in 3D, stamps on silk, stamps on steel foil and stamps scented like roses.
In 1973 came the talking stamps: tiny vinyl records with glue on the back. On a record player they played folk songs and the national anthem.
Mail from Bhutan has never been ordinary.
A year of letters
A sketch of the year, by season.
JanuaryDeep winter in the valley where the black-necked cranes wait out the cold.
FebruaryNew year. Butter lamps, new clothes and food for days.
MarchThe spring festivals. Black hats, drums and a courtyard full of silk.
AprilThe passes turn pink and red.
MayJacaranda in bloom along the walls of the dzong.
JuneFlooded terraces and songs in the fields.
JulyThe national flower, high up, in the rain.
AugustMonsoon keeps everyone indoors. A letter about cloth.
SeptemberThe capital stops for its festival.
OctoberChillies drying on every roof and hillside.
NovemberPhobjikha welcomes them with a festival on 11 November.
December17 December. A whole country in its best gho and kira.
The artists
Draft only. These works are samples from the VAST Bhutan online gallery. The artists have not been asked yet. Do not publish this section until each one says yes.
Questions
One envelope a month, posted from Thimphu. A letter, postcards, printed photographs, a recipe, stickers or a print by a Bhutanese artist, and one small surprise.
The club is being put together now. People on the list will be told the date first.
The price will be announced when the club opens. Joining the list is free and commits you to nothing.
The plan is to post worldwide. The list of countries will be confirmed when the club opens.
A gift option is planned. Tell us on the list form where the letter should go.
No. Letter from Bhutan is an independent project. It is not connected to Bhutan Post or the Royal Government of Bhutan.
Join the list
Leave your name and we will write when the first envelopes are ready to leave Thimphu.
Join the club