An incredible journey of a lifetime to Bhutan, Kalimpong, Darjeeling and Gangtok!

[Chevy_lover]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Gosh, Chevy_lover, we are all following this thread eagerly and you still thought it necessary to throw in suspense!
At least don't keep us waiting too long!

I assure you, you won't regret the wait! Some stunning pics coming up tonight!

[RufRoc]

One of the best travelogues and very very informative ... keep it coming . It's totally changed my perception of Bhutan.

[Chevy_lover]

Originally Posted by RufRoc

One of the best travelogues and very very informative ... keep it coming . It's totally changed my perception of Bhutan.

Thanks, RufRoc, just wait till you see the rest of the pics!!!

[SirAlec]

yeah ! king is crazy for soccor. he installed a huge screen for people to see last woldcup matches.

[Chevy_lover]

Some pics of Boomerang bar in Thimpu!

[Chevy_lover]

Day 7;

We woke up early that day, January 3rd. We had a long journey ahead of us to Paro. We were in high spirits and were looking forward to traveling on the beautiful ghat roads again. After breakfast, we checked out from our hotel and arranged a taxi for the 61km drive to Paro.

We left Thimpu with a heavy heart. We had fallen in love with this beautiful little city and its wonderful people! We made a promise to ourselves that we would be back very soon!

Our driver filled up petrol at the BP pump in Thimpu. I remember that Petrol prices in Bhutan were much lesser than the prices in India. Our Omni taxi was a pretty new one and had very good upholstery. We made ourselves comfortable and started our journey to Paro. The roads were in very good condition. We were very relaxed and were enjoying the picturesque route.

Suddenly, my wifey shouted “Fire!!!” I got the fright of my life and asked her "where"! Then she showed me an amazing sight! There was a forest fire on a nearby mountain. We stopped our car and what we saw was an astonishing sight. What started as a small fire, some seconds back, had become a massive inferno and was roaring forward, eating up trees and vegetation in one gulp!!!

We were mesmerized by the scene and did not know what to do. There was absolutely no one on the road and there were no vehicles too. We were all alone, watching one of the most astounding sights we ever saw in our lives!!!

There was nothing we could do. The fire had grown immensely and we decided to move on for our own safety.

[mezereo]

wow buddy, that is one astonishing sight that you can see

[anupmathur]

Isn't it VERY unusual for this to have happened in January? Did you get any more information on this later?

Such forest fires are routine in Uttaranchal & Himachal every summer!

[Chevy_lover]

Originally Posted by mezereo

wow buddy, that is one astonishing sight that you can see

It was truly a frightening experience! The noise of the fire was even more scary!

[Chevy_lover]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Isn't it VERY unusual for this to have happened in January? Did you get any more information on this later?

Such forest fires are routine in Uttaranchal & Himachal every summer!

It was indeed very unusual. That too when the temperature was just above freezing!!! I enquired about this to my hotel's staff in Paro! They never heard of anything. The newspapers in Paro also did not carry any info or photo about the fire in Thimpu. Although the paper was in their language, I tried my best to translate!!!

The fire may have been started inadvertently by some campers or from some bonfire.

[rippergeo]

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...tml#post826653 (An incredible journey of a lifetime to Bhutan, Kalimpong, Darjeeling and Gangtok!)
the last pic in this post looks like a dream! love it. sun shadow and scenery working together to create a very magical effect.

never even heard of the "taikin" before! this thread is very informative. keep it coming.

[Chevy_lover]

We touched the Paro highway soon after and the 2 hour journey along the banks of Pa Chu (river of Paro) and Wang Chu (river of Thimpu) was fascinating and at the same time, terrifying!

There was a very steep ravine on our right and at the bottom, was the river! Just looking at it made our heads spin!!!

In the photo, two roads can be seen, one on the right and one on left. The right road leads to Paro and the left one leads to Thimpu! Awesome and at the same time, scary!!!!

[Chevy_lover]

We got delayed by two hours, as the road work was going on in full swing. Traffic was completely stopped to both sides for road work. There was heavy machinery all over the place. Most of the workers were Indians.

Our car was stuck in a big traffic jam, which was over three kilometers long. All we could do was wait patiently. Some locals came from a nearby village and started selling super tasty chicken and pork Momos. It was very cheap at Rs. 10 for 3 Momos. We devoured the Momos in no time!!! I think I must have had 30 or 40 Momos!

[Chevy_lover]

We finally reached Paro by 1 pm. Paro has the only airport in Bhutan.

The airport was a sight to behold. Tucked into a tightly cropped valley and surrounded by 16,000-foot-high saw-toothed Himalayan peaks, this is the world’s most forbidding airport to fly into!!!

It requires specially trained pilots to maneuver into this gut-wrenching descend by employing visual flying rules and then approaching and landing through a narrow channel of vertical tree-covered hillsides. Can you believe this? Only eight pilots in the world are qualified to fly into Paro!!!

We could see some aircrafts and two Helicopters in the Hangar. The airport has one runway and is served by only ONE airline, the national carrier Druk Air. No other airline is permitted to enter Bhutan’s airspace.


Note: Three close-up pics were bought from a Bhutanese travel agency.

[Chevy_lover]

Paro is a very small city compared to Thimpu. The river Pa Chu runs alongside Paro. The natural beauty of Paro is beyond compare!!! My pictures can express what a thousand words cannot!!!