Firstly, apologies for the quality of the blogging thus far, not up to standard I fear, but the germ I brought with me from England as now sunk to my chest and I'm feeling pretty rubbish. Ian too has got something more than his usual blocked up nose and just walking around is quite difficult for us both, the pollution in Kolkata definitely not helping. I took many more interesting photos in Kolkata but haven't had the energy to go through them. I'd promised myself after Zambia I'd get a faster travel laptop but I couldn't find one suitable without spending a fortune on it - wish I had now!
A very early 4:15 wake up as we had to be at the airport at
6:15 for our flight to Paro. I’ve been
looking forward to this flight so much after finding out it’s the world’s most
dangerous airport and only 26 pilots are qualified to fly there. The problem is you have to fly literally
between the mountains. It won’t surprise
anyone to know that Ian was somewhat less keen!
The views of the mountains were incredible and I’d
fortunately asked the best side to sit on (left) so when the captain said Mt
Everest was clearly visible at about 4 o'clock on the left I was
transfixed.
I found it a really
emotional experience – I have seen the world’s tallest mountain with my own
eyes – something quite special. Actually
if I’m totally honest, I know I’ve seen it but I’m not too sure which one it
was – everyone kept saying the pyramid shaped one but I couldn't tell.
Then very soon we were flying into Paro with the wings practically touching the mountains, as I’d read. The runway only becomes visible when you turn
a corner at about 500m I believe and then we were down. The view and clear air as we disembarked was
just beautiful and everyone was standing around on the tarmac taking photos.
The terminal
Our guide Tenzing is only 25 but seems very knowledgeable although
a little hard to understand. The drive
to the capital Thimpu took about 1 ¼ hours and it was like driving though the Alps, just beautiful scenery.
These very atmospheric prayer flags are strewn all over the place.
The hotel is rather basic and a bit of a shock after Oberoi Grand but it’s clean and not damp so it’ll be fine.
The view from our hotel room just across the little river
After dumping our bags we headed up to the Buddha Dordenama which we could see in the distance from our hotel.
It's not quite finished yet but after 4 years has been opened to the public. It's extremely ornate and has been funded by two very wealthy benefactors from Singapore, apparently it might become the 8th Wonder of the Modern World.
