Everest

I took the first couple photos on the flight from Bangkok to Paro, Bhutan. First, you'll see some of the storm clouds leaving Bangkok, where it rained ferociously for several days. Rain drops in the tropics are much bigger than in other places. It seems the only way to land on the one-way land strip in Paro is to circle a bit west beforehand. Thus, one gets a pretty good view of Everest and friends. The average cruising height of a commercial airline is 30-32,000 ft, not much higher than Everest herself. The mountains seemed eye level as we circled into the valley. Awe inspiring indeed, it is no surprise the mountains hold spiritual significance to the Bhutanese.

I noticed that my flight was special when the flight attendant kept saying "your majesty" over the intercom. When we landed I found out why. First class was reserved for the queen (one of 4 lucky women married to the King) and her entourage (including a toy pooch). I got a couple of pictures as she left the plane but they are not that special (no flowing robes, paparazzi, etc) and takes a long time to load them here so they are not included.

After the Royal party left the strip and the proletariat were allowed to disembark I waited at the airport for my ride. Two hours later it arrived (not that unexpected) and we began the drive from Paro to Thimphu, which takes about an hour, depending on your driver. Karma Lam drives a nice 4-wheel drive SUV at seemingly unsafe speeds. I took the picture below of the river valley adjacent to the road shortly after Lam told me I didn't need a seat belt and should take it off. Seat belts are only required in cities by law and laws of this nature are never enforced anyway. I did not venture to tackle the potential life saving elements related to seat belt use because this point seemed mute, since Lam was a fantastic driver (according to Lam). The most harrowing part of the trip was avoiding the many fallen rock/avalanches which spilled into the road, sometimes though both lanes of traffic. Autos were forced to go even closer to the edge of the cliff avoiding boulders sometimes the size of cars. The driving experience rivals anything I have encountered in India, Indonesia, the Dominican Republic, or New York, as the only generally accepted rule seems to be use the left side of the road (unless it's blocked of course).