Will There Be a Plane to Take Us to Kolkata?

Our last stop in Bhutan was Paro (2,280) and we spent three nights here.

While it is smaller in size and has a much smaller population than Thimphu (20,000 vs. 100,000), it is by far the most interesting place we had been so far in Bhutan. The hotel was also the best (see the section under ‘Hotel’).

About 65km south west of Thimphu, Paro is also the only town in Bhutan with airport. And being the one and only airport of the country, it also means there is no domestic flight.

The airport always looked so ‘empty’ and without aeroplanes (the airport is so strategically located that we often had to pass by wherever we went). We actually wondered if we were going to have a plane to fly us to Kolkata! Our guide Tshering assured us that there would be! But the fact remains that flights are often cancelled or delayed due to poor weather condition.

Aerial view of Paro town

Fertile valley, farmland everywhere (above and below)


The quaint old town in ‘black and white’

Shops in the ‘standard’ Bhutanese architectural design

Paro airport – airport without aeroplanes!
Rinpung Dzong (Paro Dzong) in the background