We could see that he wanted to talk. A smile on his face, eyes large and innocent, the ones with the intent to strike a conversation. We waved and said Hi. That opened the floodgates, and trying very hard in English, he said, " Go on road. When it bends, don't bend with it, go up". It was a 5 year old boy, feeling very important that he had help two tired and lost souls on their quest to climb a hill which , though off the beaten track, helped them to avoid the motorway and reach the National Museum. "Kya ada , kya jalwe tere Paro, I told myself".
True to it's image, Bhutan promised happiness - and happiness was what we encountered throughout. Be it getting VVIP treatment as solitary guests at the Kichu Resort , a cab driver who found places of solitude for us to capture photos which recreated our honeymoon, our hotel manager, Mr. Subba took pains in dropping us off at the city from the resort, or the expansive hospitality we received thanks to Sas at our anniversary dinner at the COMO - Uma Paro, this was as convivial a rendezvous as it got. Even the stray dogs politely waited for scraps and let you through, rather than growling at you.
More on that later. Bhutan was planned as a surprise for my better half, and this required our travel time to be minimal, so as to intensify the element of suspense. So, an early morning flight from Kolkata was booked, sleepily we trudged into the airport and cleared immigrations in a somnambulant state.
Within minutes of departing from Kolkata aboard the Druk Air A319, the majestic Himalayas were in sight (make sure you take seats to left). While we were arguing on whether we were seeing the Kanchenjunga or the Everest, the Cheese Sandwich served for breakfast got us requesting for a second helping, and pondering on whether this was a taste of things to come
Hardly had we settled in the flight, when we found ourselves descending into....Mountains??
At this point, I would like to inform that this flight was in my bucket list due to only 8 pilots being qualified to land at the airport . The number has since increased to 17 now , as the knowledgeable Sas informed me during our conversation, but nonetheless it made for a compelling ride.
Paro is surrounded by mountains on all sides, so while making the landing stick, our flight needed to literally skim the mountain peaks, and make sure the descent happened before the aeroplane ran out of airstrip.
So, one moment we were amongst mountains and the next we were taxiing on the airstrip. Looking ahead, I saw some mountains ahead, and with a start, realized, we may not make it. The brakes were applied, and grudgingly the aircraft slowed, as if it were a galloping horse being reigned in. At this moment, I was not looking, and had braced myself. With a loud screech, it stopped finally; we were within 15 feet of the edge of the runway. I sighed out loud, my heart was beating fast; I realized that I had been holding my breath for a long long time! To imagine how it looks from the view point of a bird, maybe this would help:
As we stepped out into the biting cold, we also drank in the clear blue skies and the pureness of air around. The airport terminal looked more like a monastery, or a fancy hotel (The grey skies in this picture were taken on the date of our departure - we were so lost in enjoying the azure skies on arrival that all cameras were forgotten then):
We had made it to Bhutan, and couldn't wait to get started on finding out how a nation survived on Happiness.
True to it's image, Bhutan promised happiness - and happiness was what we encountered throughout. Be it getting VVIP treatment as solitary guests at the Kichu Resort , a cab driver who found places of solitude for us to capture photos which recreated our honeymoon, our hotel manager, Mr. Subba took pains in dropping us off at the city from the resort, or the expansive hospitality we received thanks to Sas at our anniversary dinner at the COMO - Uma Paro, this was as convivial a rendezvous as it got. Even the stray dogs politely waited for scraps and let you through, rather than growling at you.
More on that later. Bhutan was planned as a surprise for my better half, and this required our travel time to be minimal, so as to intensify the element of suspense. So, an early morning flight from Kolkata was booked, sleepily we trudged into the airport and cleared immigrations in a somnambulant state.
Within minutes of departing from Kolkata aboard the Druk Air A319, the majestic Himalayas were in sight (make sure you take seats to left). While we were arguing on whether we were seeing the Kanchenjunga or the Everest, the Cheese Sandwich served for breakfast got us requesting for a second helping, and pondering on whether this was a taste of things to come
Paro is surrounded by mountains on all sides, so while making the landing stick, our flight needed to literally skim the mountain peaks, and make sure the descent happened before the aeroplane ran out of airstrip.
So, one moment we were amongst mountains and the next we were taxiing on the airstrip. Looking ahead, I saw some mountains ahead, and with a start, realized, we may not make it. The brakes were applied, and grudgingly the aircraft slowed, as if it were a galloping horse being reigned in. At this moment, I was not looking, and had braced myself. With a loud screech, it stopped finally; we were within 15 feet of the edge of the runway. I sighed out loud, my heart was beating fast; I realized that I had been holding my breath for a long long time! To imagine how it looks from the view point of a bird, maybe this would help:
As we stepped out into the biting cold, we also drank in the clear blue skies and the pureness of air around. The airport terminal looked more like a monastery, or a fancy hotel (The grey skies in this picture were taken on the date of our departure - we were so lost in enjoying the azure skies on arrival that all cameras were forgotten then):
We had made it to Bhutan, and couldn't wait to get started on finding out how a nation survived on Happiness.
No comments:
Post a Comment