Afterword

ThimphuTech was the first technology blog in Bhutan. We started writing it in 2009, just as broadband and mobile internet started to take off. (Although internet in Bhutan was launched in 1999, it was either super-slow or super-expensive, and was only used by a selected few).

In the blog, we wrote about technology and food, but also about plenty of other stuff. The blog became popular and influential in Bhutan. A companion bi-weekly column -- Ask Boaz -- was published for many years in the Kuensel, Bhutan's national newspaper. (The complete Kuensel columns are available as an ebook, Blogging with Dragons).

We stopped updating the blog when we left Bhutan in 2014, but the information within the posts can still prove useful, and thus we decided to keep it online.

We thank all our readers.
Tashi Delek,
Boaz & Galit.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Arunachal Pradesh to Thimphu: The Google Maps version

Google Maps, the free mapping service, is constantly improving its support for Bhutan. Search for Thimphu (see here), and you'll see that many of the lams are already there. You can use Google Maps to get driving directions, but within Thimphu city they are likely to be misleading. For example, I tried getting directions from the Post Office to the Memorial Chorten. Google sends you in the wrong direction at Norzin Lam, since the Thimphu street data does not (yet) contain information about one-way streets.

You can also get directions for long distance trips, both within Bhutan and across the border. Note that the directions don't take into account road conditions, visa requirements, etc and are likely not to be optimal, so take them with lots of salt (or better yet, ema). Still, they might be useful for various purposes, such as finding out distances between places. For example, check out the route from Arunachal Pradesh to Thimphu. Google Maps can even show you how to get your Maruti Alto from Thimphu to London...

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