In order for us to carry the weight we had in our bags, we flew business class from Bangkok to Thimphu. The flight was delayed from 6:50 AM until 8:10 AM. I rarely fly business class, but discovered today that one of the perks was to use the Air France Lounge, so we killed time eating French pastries and drinking French coffee. Once on the plane I heard my first Bhutanese language from the stewardessses - Dzon ha. It is a beautiful language - almost sing song like birds. Fortuanately they also repeated each anouncement in english (with a bit of a british accent). The stewardesses were dressed in traditional Bhutanese kiras and the stewards in ghos (the national dress of Bhutan which I soon saw on the streets). The last 30 minutews of the flight was impressive. We flew past massive snow covered Himalayan peaks and then th plane dove into a valley between the montains. It is very strange havig mountains rising up higher than your plane and the ground still miniscule below.
Once on the ground however, the real adventure began. Ed and I were picked up by a jeep from the hospital with no operational seat belts. We spent an hour winding thru some of the most beautiful mountainous countryside I have ever seen. Pagoda like homes were scattered over terraced montain sides with numerous creeks and rivers with suspension bridges crossing them. The road generally had no center line and the proper technique seemed to be to drive right down the middle. When we caught a slower care, our driver beeped the horn and we passed regardless if there was a hair pin coming up and we had no idea i a care was coming in the opposite direction. People (frequently in traditional dress), dogs, cats, and cows wandered along and across the road. It was far more thrilling then the landing. Still one of the most marvelous drives I hav ever experienced.
Well tonight we meet our fellow ex-pats for dinner. That is all for now.
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