Kazuzhoubo-la!

Now you know how to say hello in Dzongkha, the language of Bhutan.

I woke up early this morning and left Justin behind - asleep - at the guest house in Bangkok. I had a plane to catch to Bhutan. Justin opted out of this part of the trip ... it's rather expensive to be in Bhutan and you have to have a guide and a driver for the entire experience. This has been a long time dream of mine, so off I went. Besides, I was in the neighborhood.

On the way into Paro we could see one of the high peaks of the Himalayas - Jhomolhari. Then the plane dived into the clouds and the next thing I new I was looking in people's houses. Literally eye level. And I could see details. This is a country of narrow valleys. We banked sharply right and landed fast using most of the runway. Paro is the only place with a flat enough space to build a runway capable of handling a passenger plane.



We walked down the steps from the plane and everyone started to take pictures. I've never seen anything like it. When I left the airport I met Ghempo (my guide), Singye (my driver), and the Hyundai Tucson that would drive us around the country.