<script data-ad-client="ca-pub-7996443132864226" async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>Bhutan is a place of great theatre, a place where it is illegal to kill animals, catch fish or chop down trees, a place of theatrical festivals, friendly people, great historic architecture, wonderful scenery, tasty marmalade, Archery is their national sport and decorating your house with hairy testicles and a penis is ok!
At the risk of being boring, Paro Airport was one of the most ornate Airports I have ever flown into and also one of the trickiest landings, the pilot clearly having qualified with the 'Red Bull' acrobatic flying team, swerving to avoid the mountains on either side. Not only that but he only had 2 1/2 km strip of runway to stop within, so anticipating the handbrake turn at the end, most of us adopted the 'brace' position. Paro Airport was only built in 1983 and the only planes allowed to land are Bhutanese Druk Air. Before that the only way into Bhutan was by land through 3 border posts. They are currently building their first major Airport in the South, which will allow International flights to enter the country and I suspect create a huge increase in tourism.
One of the small problems of getting to Bhutan was that Jo was actually on the plane as an 'illegal immigrant' .......... a slight complication in our plans. This had arisen when our friendly Government Agent, 'Khandhu' (I think she had a very negative sister called 'Khantdhu' and a very willing sister called 'Luvdhu'!), had emailed us while in the Jungle in Nepal, requesting an urgent copy of Jo's passport. With no internet connection we received the email late on Friday, just as the Government Departments were closing. We emailed a copy of the passport to Khandhu but she explained it was too late to get the Visa as everyone had gone home and they would have to deal with it on Monday. .............. This was a huge problem as we were flying out from Kathmandu Monday morning, 10.10am, and could not fly without the Visa. Khandhu, in the true sense of her name, managed to get hold of someone in the Visa Dept. who promised to deal with it first thing Monday and fax it over to the Airport. ................. The phrase ........ 'don't panic Mr Mannering' ........ did spring to mind.
At the Airport we all checked in, except Jo, explaining that she was waiting for a fax, but the very abrupt and unhelpful official exclaimed .... 'we do not have a fax ..... you will have to get her to email it to us' ........... Alas, apparently no WiFi in the Airport. With tension mounting, we tracked down the small Druk Air office and explained the situation. A very helpful man contacted Khandhu requesting that she get the Visa Dept to email him the Visa. ............... wasn't quite ready yet! .. 'I will give you 15 minutes and then we will have to close the flight' .............. things not looking too good as he explained that Jo would have to miss this flight and fly out tomorrow. I explained that our luggage was on the plane and he would now have to get it all off if Jo couldn't go. .... 'don't worry', he explained ... 'I will put her up in the Airport Hotel tonight, and I can gaurantee her a seat tomorrow morning when she can meet you in Bhutan' ... He explained that whilst he could guarantee a seat for one person tomorrow, he could not guarantee seats for 5 people and with that we had no choice to go to boarding, leaving Jo behind. - (I think at the thought of camping in the mountains for 6 days, Jo was more than happy to book into a local Kathmandu Spa Hotel on her own for the duration!!). Whilst queuing for passport control, now 09.45am for 10.10am flight, our friendly Druk Air official came up trumps. (unfortunately the Visa didn't). He had spoken to a friend of his in the Visa Office who said it should be ready by the time the plane lands in Bhutan and he would email it over to them. The bad news was that if his friend did not perform, Jo would be entering as an 'illegal imigrant' and be immediately deported, with a $5,000 fine. ..................... 'don't panic Mr Mannerring' was just about to turn into ........'don't tell em your name, Pike'.
Paro Airport, Bhutan
Fortunately everything turned out fine, and with a country who's Official Language was 'Dzongkha' and who's currency was 'Ngultrum'!! ............... things could only get better.
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