2013 Bhutan by Bike

Paro, Bhutan, Thursday May 16th

In just a few short hours we will be flying out this little country and our amazing adventure will be coming to an end. Although we will be leaving, I am sure that part of our hearts will be here forever. From the moment we landed just 11 days ago we were immediately captivated by the beautiful scenery and the gentle, quiet spirit of the people. Wherever we have travelled our affection has grown and now we are at the point when we are genuinely sorry to be leaving.

We all count ourselves fortunate indeed to have had the privelege to visist this secretive country where they revere their animals and mountains so much that all animals are protected and their towering Himalayan peaks are sanctuaries that are out of bounds to climbers. What a contrast this is to the situation that you find in neighbouring Nepal. I wonder how long the people will be able to stay relatively untouched by western influences now that they have access to TV and the Internet. I suspect that this will inevitably erode the strict standards of dress and morals that they currently have. It wonderful to see everyone, from toddlers to elderly, dressed in the national costume of white sleeved gown. Especially refreshing has been the complete absence of smoking - no clouds of noxious smoke, no cigarette buts under foot. Cigarettes are banned throughout the country, that alone says a lot about the attitude that happiness is really the most important goal to be achieved by the government.

I just saw on the news that a big cyclone is heading for Bangladesh. That is a bit of a concern just when we are about to take off from the world's most dangerous airstrip and then fly directly into Bangladesh ! Oh well, maybe our adventure is not quite over yet......

Bye from Bhutan

Part 2 (written in Bangkok)
Bangkok May 16th
The old saying reminds us that "what a difference a day makes" and we certainly witnessed the truthfulness of that today. This morning we packed up our bags for our final day in Bhutan, said goodbye to our faithful guides and made our way to the tiny Paro airstrip. Since this airstrip has everything going against it - including being at high altitude, having a short runway and being nestled between towering mountains on all sides, we were all a little apprehensive about the takeoff. I must admit that I had been hoping that the plane would be only half full and thus give us a better chance of lift after takeoff, however when I inquired of the check in girl she calmy assured me that "every seat is full sir". Looking at the overladen bags of brass buddhas and similar heavy souvenirs being checked in, my anxiety levels rose even more. On the other hand, if we were going to fly headlong into a cliff face, at least it would be painless.

There was one other plane too take off before us and I was pleased to see that it took off in the direction of the slightly less high mountain range. When it was our turn to take off the pilot decided to add some extra spice by taking off towards the highest mountains possible. Obviously he wanted a challenge and he put on quite a display as we roared off with engines straining and then rapidly swerving from side to side in a series of stomach twisting maneuvers. In spite of his best attempts to prune the tree tops, somehow, we did manage to break away from gravity and climb through the thin air - right into the centre of a huge cyclone.
the morning news told all about the massive cyclone that was currently devastating Bangladesh, but I did not know then that we would be flying right into it. With massive thunderclouds all around us the plane tossed violently from side to side as the pilot warned that "the drinks service will be suspended". He also announced that we would be landing for a refuelling stop in Dakar !

Nobody told us about that in the itinerary. As we dropped to a landing our views of Bangladesh revealed a country almost completely under water, in fact the whole place looked like a huge swamp. Dropping lower the rain started sheeting across the window beside me. Although we did not have mountains to consider I just hoped the pilot's windscreen wipers were in good order. With a few side shifts the plane did manage to crab its way onto the runway but then had to dramatically execute a high speed left hand turn when a tractor appeared on the runway in front of us. I guess that probably happens all the time here but it did convince me that we would NEVER conduct a Ghostriders Bangladesh ride !!!!!

After a 45 min stop and a bellyfull of fuel the plane took off again for a rough 2 hour flight to Bangkok. The towering cloud and storm formations all around us were quite spectacular and the Drukair plane seemed to be taking the battering in its stride. Needless to say we did land safely and are now resting in our hotel in Bangkok. Tomorrow our next adventure begins when we confront the searing heat of Thailand to begin our first Thailand ride.Read more