Steeped in myth and mystery, the little known Kingdom of Bhutan hides among the majestic peaks of the mighty Himalaya mountain range. Buddhism reigns supreme here and its history is steeped in folklore and mythology. It is said that a saint who had the ability to appear in eight different forms, one of them being Guru Rinpoche, visited Bhutan on a flying tiger and left the imprint of his body and his hat on rocks. School texts describe demons that threatened villages and destroyed temples until captured through magic and converted to Buddhism. Tales abound of ghosts who destroyed temples and angels who rebuilt them.
And this is my next stop on my travels through Asia...
This morning at the airport in Dhaka I was nervous to see so much fog and to see the weather forecast for Paro being snow. To my delight the Druk Air plane emerged out of the fog on the runway and pulled up to the loading ramp on time. Next thing I knew we were in the air and heading north. I was shocked to see the skies clear and the Himalayas open up on the horizon.
Now, the next thing I knew the Airbus 319 was playing slalom with the Himalayas! It was like something right out of a movie, seeing this giant plane manoeuvre through very narrow valleys on its side while the tops of the mountains loomed above us. As you approach the runway the plane actually has to go sideways to avoid a ridge which sticks out on the final approach. Pilots for Druk Air (the national carrier) are specially trained to fly through these mountains and actually have special licenses to fly these airliners in Bhutan.
More to come from this "last Shangri-La"!
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