Bhutan: Reynoldsburg to Paro

Joan and I were away for Christmas -- far away. We had visited Bhutan in 2005, and among all our trips, this was the one that left us thinking, "We must come back in a few years." Bhutan is a place that has gone from the medieval to cellphones and the Internet in less than 40 years, and is attempting to do so without being overwhelmed by Western culture. (For a fascinating account of sneaking into Bhutan in the late 1960s, when you needed an invitation from the royal family to enter, try to find a copy of Michel Peissel's Lords and Lamas.) When we saw the brochure on Geographic Expeditions' Living Edens Trek, we had to go. This would take us into central Bhutan (Trongsa), where we had not been before, and give us some hiking at moderate altitudes. Our earlier Bhutan trip had also been with GeoEx and their Bhutanese correspondent company, Yangphel Adventure Travel, and they had given us an excellent experience.

We flew via Chicago and Tokyo to Bangkok, where we spent two half-nights (checking in at 3am on the first night, and checking out at 4am on the second) adapting to the time change and having spare time for catching the Druk Air flight. We stayed at the Novotel at the new Suvarnabhumi International airport, and it was a smoothly running operation (both the hotel and airport). The transfers to and from the hotel were almost instantaneous.

Christmas has caught on in parts of Asia, and the lobby of the Novotel was no exception:

Regardless of your religious affiliation, wreaths, Christmas trees, and Santa Claus make for a wonderful winter festival.

Here's a photo out one of the hotel windows, showing a small temple under construction and one of the wings of the airport:

We checked in for the Druk Air flight with the assistance of a representative from the company that GeoEx works with in Bangkok. It's necessary to obtain a visa for entry into Bhutan, but that's all behind the scenes (the travel companies take care of it). Sally had our visa information ready for the Druk Air counter. At the gate we met two of our fellow trekkers, Jim and Jillian, as well as a couple doing volunteer work in Bhutan.

The last half hour of the flight into Paro, the only airport in Bhutan, was spectacular, with Himalayan scenery up close. Paro is often listed as one of the 10 toughest approaches in the world, and indeed, only a handful of pilots are qualified to attempt it. The ridges make it a visual-only approach -- if it's clouded in or raining, you can't land or take off. Here's one photo of the runway, which gives you some idea:

For you aviation buffs, I should mention that Paro is at 7,000 feet, and this was the biggest patch of level ground in the entire country. Druk Air has a fleet of two Airbus A319s.

We were met in the arrival lounge by our trip leader, Tsewang Rinchen, the local guide, Namgay Tenzin, and driver, Tshering. (Our fifth and final trekker, Jennifer (Jen), was arriving on a different flight, from New Delhi.) Pausing to take in an archery match, we were amazed at the length of the field, about 125 meters with targets at either end.

Yes, that's the target down there. Shorter ranges are used for traditional cane bows, but, if you can afford it, modern compound bows are popular.

The little white tablet is the target. Who can possibly hit that? Well, each colored strip hanging from the belt of the archer's gho represents a point made. Each point made is cause for celebration.

Archery is the national sport of Bhutan. It has roots in the military tradition of the country, where the farmers would gather their weapons and muster in the dzongs to repel invasions. There were no large standing armies, nor any aggressive military adventures, reminiscent of the Swiss. They did need to repel the occasional Tibetan incursion.

That afternoon we also visited the Paro dzong, the multipurpose fortress/monastery/administrative center for the area. Above the dzong on the hillside is the watchtower, which now houses the National Museum. To our regret, the National Museum was closed, because Bhutan observes a winter break during which schools and sometimes other facilities are closed. There is no summer break.

The red band around a building signifies a religious or sacred character; in the case of the dzong, it is there because of the temples and monastic facilities inside. Temples, chortens, monasteries, and such all have the red band.

Interestingly, the style of architecture represented by the dzongs of Bhutan inspired many of the buildings of the University of Texas (El Paso). Here's a view towards the town from a window of the dzong.

Our hotel that evening was the Zhiwa Ling, an international class hotel north of Paro town. All its buildings are in the Bhutanese style (for buildings other than dzongs); the builder/owner wanted to demonstrate that having modern buildings did not mean abandoning traditional architecture.

We got a good night's sleep at Zhiwa Ling. The next two and a half days would be largely spent traveling to the beginning of our trek.