The plane that wouldn't land!

That to land a plane at Bhutan's Paro International Airport takes special skill and training, cool nerves and crazy expertise is a well known fact. What is not such common knowledge is that every once in a while the magnificent men in their flying machines who fly in and out of Paro on a regular basis also have to make several attempts to land before they actually do so!

Today happened to be one of those days! We were flying in from Delhi on a very early morning flight departing Delhi at 5 am IST. Though Bhutan is thirty minutes ahead of India, it was still early enough for there to be poor visibility and some lingering fog hovering over Paro airport as we neared it. For those who do not know this, instrument landings do not happen here - all landings at this airport are totally pilot controlled. I had dozed on the entire flight, but was awakened by the sensation that we were flying low. Bleary eyed and woolly mouthed I asked my husband sitting in the seat next to me if we were ready to land. What he told me made me sit bolt upright and become fully awake!

Apparently the pilot had descended, prepared to land and then realized he couldn't. He had circled away from the airport and tried another landing, only to abort it again. I thanked God that I had been asleep when all of these acrobatics had been happening. I was informed by my husband that the pilot was now preparing to fly to Gauhati in Assam or Bagdogra in West Bengal, refuel and then come back when the weather was clearer. Oh no, I was looking forward to going home to Thimphu, but it looked like home would have to wait for a few more hours.

And then the pilot announced that before he took us back to India he was going to make one last attempt to land. And so with me fully awake this time, the plane once again ascended a little, turned around in a wings-almost-skimming-the-mountains circle in the little valley, and then as the pilot found a little hole in the fog, came in to make a superb landing that made the runway seem like velvet! Bravo I wanted to say and clap my hands for this top gun aviator, but held back seeing the faces of the Bhutanese around me who probably had had this experience before and did not look like anything out of the ordinary had happened.

Now I hope you land on the first attempt when you arrive in the Land of the Thunder Dragon but don't be surprised or worried if you don't! I can assure you you will be in very safe hands!           

Bumthang - a tale of a winter's day

Entering Bumthang Dzongkhag from Mongar, you would go through Thrumshingla (la = pass), at an elevation of over 3500 mtrs. When you arrive at the pass don't let the icy cold keep you in the car, even in the high winter! The passes are all typically at the top of a mountain between two valleys and/or Dzongkhags (districts), and are cold and windy even in the summer. Thrumshingla like all passes in Bhutan is festooned with prayer flags. Unfortunately the once pristine snow at Thrumshingla has turned to slush today, thanks to the movement of cars through the pass, and sullied the sacredness and serenity of the prayer flags planted there in memory of sadly departed loved ones perhaps. My husband and I are returning to Thimphu in the west. Our vehicle is just one amongst hundreds making the journey west through Mongar and Bumthang after the Bhutanese national day celebrations in the eastern district of Trashigang, if that helps to make the ugly slush and the tyre marks easier to bear!                         

                                    Thrumshingla  

Carry on through the pass, and almost the first thing you encounter is a big board announcing the Situ Rhododendron Garden.  It must be breathtaking in the spring but right now in the middle of the winter we just drive past, making a mental note to return when the rhododendrons are in bloom.

                                                                                                  

The Situ Rhododendron Garden is part of the Thrumshingla National Park which falls within the boundaries of four Dzongkhags, including of course Mongar and Bumthang.  From here the road winding down towards Bumthang Valley is on the side of the mountain that does not receive the direct rays of the sun for a while. Here in the crevices in the mountainside is a fabulous show of icicles for anyone who is mindful enough to notice them.

Stop, have a roadside picnic at Kesamchhu, and enjoy the combination of the bright, warm, midday sun and  patches of virgin snow all around. The air here is clean beyond measure. Don't take my word for it - check out the lichens that not only grow in abundance but also grow very long - the longer and more abundant the lichen, the purer the air they say! 

Notwithstanding that lichens are known to be bio-indicators of air quality as they need very clean air to thrive, or that some of them look beautiful and colourful, I must admit that the the long wispy ones like in the pictures above don't look very pretty, at least not to me or anyone with an overactive imagination! They kind of remind me of cobwebs, which bring to mind ghostly places that have been untouched or undisturbed by time and the human hand. An undisturbed environment is incidentally another condition (in addition to very clean air) required for lichens to grow and flourish. 

As we continue on our way we see Ura Valley with its wide terraced fields in the distance. But instead of heading for Ura we take the Shingkhar Bypass around it. And then the road takes a turn that suddenly brings us face to face with the the highest peak in Bhutan - the mighty Gangkar Phuensom, standing there larger than life beyond so many mountains and valleys, yet seeming so close by due to its size, and bringing to the fore all my heart stopping awe of the mountains! How lucky we are to have a bright and beautifully clear day to view this giant with the unique, unmistakable shape!

Gangkar Phuensom

The Shingkhar Bypass I am told reduces the travel time from Ura to Bumthang Valley from two hours to 45 minutes! Bumthang Dzongkhag is comprised of Ura, Choekhor, Tang and Chumey Gewogs, which are sub units within the district. The most populated of these is Choekhor, also known as Bumthang Valley. We arrive in Bumthang Valley but drive past it and head straight for Druk Yathra, a wonderful little home based weaving factory in Chumey. Small though it is, it nevertheless produces some very fine articles with the typical Bumthang motifs and patterns. There are bags, jackets, runners, mats to sit on, kiras and more. The young factory owner Jigme takes care of the marketing and supplies, and his mother and wife take care of the running of the little factory in the courtyard. In addition to the regular weavers who are drawn from several households in Chumey Valley and who have been organised into a kind of cooperative, students are also employed to lend a hand with the weaving in the tourist season when the demand is high, which is understandable considering the factory is located smack bang on the main road to Trongsa and onward to Thimphu. Karma's wife treats us to hot tea and some special Bumthang preparations in a little coffee shop he runs right next to his factory. 

 Lightly sweetened little dumplings made of flour and sweet sticky rice with raisins 

The light begins to fade and the sunny day gives way to an icy cold evening. Bumthang Dzongkhag tends to be much colder than Thimphu in the winter, but that's hardly surprising given that it is slightly north of the capital. On the drive back through Chumey towards our hotel in Bumthang Valley, our escort informs us that the houses here are built of local stone, earth, timber and sometimes cement. Bricks are banned by law. Bumthang is often called the Switzerland of the East, but this is certainly not reflected in the construction of the dwellings which are clearly Bhutanese in their design and building materials. By the time we reach the Yu-Gharling Resort, built to resemble a Swiss style chalet on the inside, and one of the upmarket hotels in Bumthang Valley, the reception party of hotel employees has almost frozen into icy statues in the driveway of the hotel! We rush inside to find a beautifully warm wood panelled lobby and a warm chalet type suite. What the online reviews of the hotel say about it being the only hotel with radiators in the bathrooms is one hundred percent true:) That we are served one of our worst, most ugly looking and unappetising dinners ever that night is five hundred percent true.....hahaha! Also believe it or not there is no television in the suite, but it is brought in as soon as we ask for it. A nice touch and something a lot of tourists who just want to get away from it all prefer, I am sure!

This is terribly off season, but the district offers its own winter attractions. Nearby Gyetsa is where some black necked cranes from Tibet have migrated to this year, though the migration hub really is in Phobjikha Valley. We set off early the next morning in search of the birds. Gyetsa disappoints us, so we drive to the lovely little Chumey Nature Resort whose frontyard according to the friendly and well spoken owner, is literally a playground, feeding ground and perhaps a breeding ground for the elusive birds. It is one of two or three places (including Gyetsa) they have been spotted in in Bumthang this year. 

Chumey Nature Resort

Well, the birds elude us yet again, but we sit outside the resort and our trusty, thoughtful and highly organized escort pulls out flasks of hot tea and something to munch. We drink our hot tea and eat our biscuits while admiring the view and lamenting that we are too late for the birds' 7.30 am appearance and too early for their midmorning showing:( 

Will we stay and wait for the birds to show up? Wish we could but no way, we have a flight to catch from Bumthang to Paro to get us home to Thimphu! The owner happily chats with us, totally unresentful that we have perched on her benches and made ourselves very comfortable without ordering so much as a pot of tea from her......even off season, this is not something many hotel owners elsewhere in the world would do! She even rushes in and brings us little bench mattresses so we won't feel cold on our bottoms! Makes me want to come back and stay at this resort! So I go and check out the rooms - the ones above the front porch at the top of the resort have the best view of the playground of the birds! 

Our never-say-die escort has made it his personal cause to give us a sighting of the birds who are playing hard to get! So we go past Gyetsa again on the way back to our hotel, where we need to pack and leave for the airport. We give up after about fifteen minutes of waiting, but the wait has given us a chance to take in the beauty of the evergreen forests covering the mountains above the wide valley.....and..... 

   ........ these very interesting plants with the very bright red stems! They seem to be everywhere where we  are standing and they fascinate me, so vivid is the colour of the stems!

Even our determined escort has given up on the birds by now. Crestfallen, he instructs the police escorts at the head of our carcade to head back to the hotel. Within minutes of hitting the road, there is a call from someone in Gyetsa. Two pairs of black necked cranes have just flown in and landed not far from where we were so hopefully waiting for them! Mr. Never-Say-Die visibly brightens up - he is willing to turn back even now, but we are wet blankets, having finally accepted that we will have to come back here next year or catch them in Phobjikha, much closer home. 

Back at the Yu-Gharling Resort, as if to to make up for last night's awful dinner, we are served the fluffiest, lightest, most amazing omelettes, and to lessen our disappointment with the birding expedition, we have the birds in question right on our table under our noses.....to think we went from pillar to post looking for them.....what were we thinking:) Oh but wait these are not black necked......we just have to come back!    

It wears an off season look and needs work on the plastering and carpeting and exteriors, but at breakfast time Yu-Gharling does itself proud with the views it affords of the Choekhor chhu ( river), the wide valley, the grazing cattle, the Jakar Dzong, the beautiful blue rooftops, some weighted down by rocks....! While I am sure it must definitely resemble the picture perfect lush green Swiss countryside in the summer, Bumthang's winterscape is very unlike that of snow covered Switzerland, though no less perfect. For now, Bumthang has its own unique, soft brown and golden winter beauty that is totally Bhutanese......take a look!      

Jakar Dzong

Seeing Jakar Dzong through the smudgy windows of the hotel restaurant at breakfast time is just not on, but then again for the serious tourist (which I am) it is better than saying we did not 'see' supposedly the largest Dzong in Bhutan ....hahaha! Heading out to the airport to catch our flight, a shopping stop at the Bumthang cheese factory (started in the seventies with Swiss collaboration and know-how) en route is a must for the cheese lovers that we are! The adjoining Red Panda Weiss Beer Brewery, started by the same Swiss gentleman who set up the cheese factory, also calls for a shopping stop but only if we can finish all the beer we buy between now and the flight, or if we can carry it on board, both of which we can't! 

So we give it a miss and carry on to the little airstrip aka Bumthang Airport and wait on its colourful flag decorated tarmac for our flight to arrive ......

The tarmac of Bumthang Airport

Then we see it coming in to land, the little plane that we will board in a minute with a minimum of fuss and formality, and that we hope will one day bring us back for a sip of Red Panda, rich and sinful raclette or fondue at the nearby Swiss Guest House, a real look-see at Jakar Dzong and a rendevouz with our bird friends from Tibet!