Arrival in Bhutan
Our day started early in Bangkok, Thailand for the final leg of our journey into Bhutan. You could feel the tempo of the trip change as we walked onto the Royal Bhutan Airlines (Druk Air) flight. The ambience, calm rhythmic Bhutanese music playing, and the warm inviting smiles of the Bhutanese flight service attendants greeting us. Everyone’s shoulders dropped and the transitions from the very busy way of life in Bangkok shifted to something much simpler… and more peaceful.
The approach and landing at Bhutan’s Paro airport is the experience of a lifetime. Rather than the typical airliner approach of descending in altitude in a relatively straight line to meet the runway, the Himalayas rise up out of the clouds as our plane picks its way through the Paro Valley banking left and right as the runway rises up to meet the plane. We were honoured with views the big Himalayan Peaks in Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan as we approached the range. Everyone on the left side of the airplane could see the Everest Mastiff in the distance looming over the Indian subcontinent below. As our plane touched down, the cabin erupted in applause, honouring both the place we had arrived in, the long journey we took to get here and the incredible skill of the elite and small group of pilots who are trained to navigate an airliner into Bhutan.
