Home » Bhutan » Paro, Thursday the 4th of August

Exceedingly early morning, considering I am on holiday: up at 05:00. Once at the airport, I am faced with the usual mind-boggling burocracy, get papers from left, go to right and get a stamp, pay in centre, bring luggage at front for security check, get another stamp, go and get tag on baggage at front left, bring luggage at rear where my paper is taken, etc..
 
Of course, the paper for the visa for Bhutan is not waiting for me as was planned. This means we need to call the agency in Bhutan to get the number; bad luck, both the people in charge of it are in Bangkok and unreachable. After much phoning and begging, the under secretary for tourism confirms that they are waiting for me.
 
I am allowed to board the plane.

Paro, Thursday the 4th of August

Degrubenc
2005-12-09 17:57:05

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delicious lunch, which I eat with enthusiasm. After lunch, I am served a cup of tea and admire the tip of the Everest to our left when H.M the King comes and sits next to me. He speaks terribly good English and insists on welcoming me personally to his country. I am most touched. We converse about our lives. He is interested to know what draws me to Bhutan, about my trip so far, what I do in the UK. He was partly educated in the UK, so we swap school stories. He is a very kind gentleman with an engaging smile and a simple welcoming character. He is clearly very proud of his country.

The arrival in Paro is an experience I am unlikely to forget for a long time. The country is uniformely mountainous and has no or little flat terrain. The little there is, is (or rather, was) in Paro: it is now the International airport (not that there are any other airports). It is said (according to my guide book) that the longest straight road in Bhutan is indeed the runway. Access to the runway is made by zigzagging through the valleys. H.M warned me that I would see the mountains closer than I ever had before. He was right: we skimmed over trees and rocks on either side of us. At a number of occassions, I thought the tip of the wings was going to go through someone's window or cut the power lines. The plane landed using the entire length of the runway and practically makes a three point turn to taxi back on the runway to the terminal. The entire cabinet, the four wives, the buddhist hierarchy and countless servants and well-whishers are there to welcome back H.M the King, he bids me luck and attends to his duties.

Bhutan has been described by the Earl of Ronaldshay in his book "Lands of the Thunderbolt" in this manner:

“With our passage through the bridge, behold a curious transformation. For just as Alice, when she walked through the looking-glass, found herself in a new and whimsical world, so we, when we crossed ...