The flight from Kathmandu to Paro went by far too quickly. We had a beautiful view of the Himalayan mountain range, including Everest along the way. Flights in and out of Paro are only allowed during day-light hours due to the location of the airport (a valley). The view was outstanding.
We were met at the airport by Nima, our guide and Mr. Dowa, our driver. They had been waiting for quite a long while as they had expected our flight to arrive sooner, but after loading our bags we were each given a ceremonial welcome scarf.
We had a 90 minute drive from Paro to Thimphu ahead of us and because of the delayed flight, our planned afternoon itinerary would have to be postponed and hopefully we would be able to make up some of the time we missed over the next couple of days.
Unfortunately, no cell coverage as we had expected…so no SMS messages. But, we arrived at our hotel and got settled in after a quick snack.
Since Nima lives in Thimphu with his wife, he would not be joining us for dinner, but he did walk with us into the downtown area where we quickly were able to get our bearings and once we went our separate ways, Mark & I continued to walk around and enjoy the town for an hour or so.
Thimphu is the capital of Bhutan, but the population is only 80,000 approx. It’s not a large city at all, but Bhutan, as a country, also has a low population – less than a million for the full country.
To travel from Kathmandu which is a crazy, busy place…to Thimphu…the quietness seemed a little surreal. The chaos seen on the city streets in Kathmandu would not be seen in Thimphu. In fact, there are no traffic lights in Thimphu. During ‘rush hour’, there is one junction where an officer helps direct traffic.
No comments:
Post a Comment