Mike and the folks from Friendly Planet, a non-profit that Mike started, are working on a book, Growing Up in Bhutan. The idea is to teach children around the world how children in other parts of the world live, primarily through pictures. (Growing Up in Bhutan is actually the second book in a series. The first book, Growing Up in Cambodia, is in final production now and will go to press soon.) All proceeds from sales of the book will go toward supporting primary schools in Bhutan. (The project, “Learning from Pictures,” is being sponsored by Friendly Planet and by the MIT/Microsoft iCampus, a grant from Microsoft to support research in education-related technologies at MIT. This photo journey is also part of an exciting new program of expeditions at MIT that Mike has started.)

Growing Up in Bhutan tells the story of two children, Choki Lhamo and Gyelsey Loday, as they discover their own country, experiencing the sights and festivals and meeting some of the country's most interesting people. Choki is a 7th grader from Sherubling Middle Secondary School in Trongsa, in the center of the country. Gyelsey is a 13-year old monk from the Drodul Dongug-Ling Monastery in Phongmey, in the far eastern part of the country. Mike has given each of them digital cameras to document their everyday lives at home as well as their travels throughout Bhutan. The photos they take will appear in the book, alongside the photos that the rest of us are taking to record their experiences.

Also traveling with us are Dorji, age 22, originally from Phongme, who was the number one student in Yangchenphu Higher Secondary School in Thimpu (the 1500-student high school in the capital city) and who is now a first-year student in Sherubtse College, the only college in Bhutan; and also Karma Dorji, (“Pani”) who is a tour executive from Chhundu Travel & Tours, and who is a lover of English poetry and Bhutanese whisky.

We arrived in Bhutan on December 4. Mike had arranged for a helicopter from Nepal to take us clear across the country, saving three long days of driving. (There is only one helicopter in Bhutan, but that service does not yet have permission to fly—go figure. After many days of long-distance wrangling from Boston, Mike was able to negotiate a helicopter from Colonel Pun, a high-ranking minister in Kathmandu.) So, on December 5, we flew in a helicopter from Paro, where the airport is, all the way across the country to Phongme, picking up Choki in Trongsa on the way. In Phongme, we went to the Drodul Dongug-Ling Monastery, where we met Gyelsey. I'll leave the rest of the story to the postcards, at least for now....