KTM airport - queue after queue!

Gyan told us that we should arrive to the airport approximately 3 hours before our flight to Paro, Bhutan from Kathmandu.  The queue wound its way along the front of the airport and we quickly got in line after making sure we were in the correct one.  It took awhile and despite the wait, we were surprised at how relaxed most people were…none of the pushing, shoving, and complaining that we some times hear when traveling in other places.

After finally getting inside the front doors, we had our bags scanned and we were patted down by security personnel.  Next, we then had to find our way to the check-in counter.  But…there wasn’t one for Royal Bhutan Airlines (Drukair) and after being directed back and forth between check-in areas we found out that the reason we couldn’t locate our counter is that it was shared with another airline and check-in hadn’t opened for our Paro flight. When it did…a mass of people quickly ran into line. 

We ended up being directly in front of a Buddhist monk.  hmmm, wonder what the protocol is with respect to priority check-in for monks.

Once again, a long line to check-in.  During this time we met someone from Bhutan who spoke English and was able to give us a quick language lesson on the basic greetings.  Although we had a phrasebook, it really didn’t help with the phonetics and he was able to clarify some of the sounds.

Bags checked, visa information verified…we now had to go through immigration/passport control.  There were separate lines for foreigners and residents of Nepal.  Once through that line, we were then separated by men and women - another line to get patted down and then directed to a table where our carry-on baggage was checked, boarding passes stamped, and then sent on to the gate/boarding area.

Within a few minutes, the boarding area was overflowing with people.  Three hours ahead of schedule…and as it turns out, we had only 35 minutes to spare in the end.

And then…we sat…waiting…our flight was delayed almost 90 minutes.  We knew this would impact things for the afternoon itinerary in Bhutan, but it was out of our control.  Nothing to worry about.  The monkeys that were hanging around outside the airport windows kept us amused.

Finally, one more line to head off for our flight…we were on our way to Bhutan! I wonder if it will be anything like what we envision it to be.