On my way to Bhutan

Seated With Royalty
Amazing!  It is not often that you have a unique cultural experience even before entering a country. But that's what happened on my trip to Bhutan.

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For my flight from Bangkok to Bhutan, I had been bumped up to the front of the plane (aisle seat in row 2), as it was the only seat available. Seconds before takeoff, an entourage of apparent VIPs boarded, most decked out in traditional Bhutanese attire. All were being quite deferential to one woman in particular, by keeping their head lower than hers, covering their mouth when they spoke to her, and backing away head down, with their arms stretched out and downward, palms facing up.  Yep, this woman was some big VIP, and she sat down just across the aisle from me! I smiled at her, she smiled back.

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But later in the flight I noticed that she was being deferential to an older man seated directly in front of me. The man was clearly a monk, dressed in a red robe with both a saffron and gold-colored sash. The important woman held her head lower than his, meaning that his rank or status must be even higher than hers. (This is a fun game for me, trying to figure people out from a distance).  I smiled at the monk when he visited the washroom, and he smiled back.


When we arrived in Paro Bhutan, the VIPs were escorted down the stairs, to a waiting red carpet line of dignitaries. I was held at the top of the stairs as people lined up for blessings from the monk and to bow to the woman. So I asked the flight attendant if perhaps they were part of the royal family. "That's our queen," he answered. Turns out, the woman was a wife of the 4th king of Bhutan. And the monk? It is the Je Khenpo, the highest-ranking lama (holy person) in the country - at the same social ranking as the King. Amazing. I had just been smiled at by two of the most-important people in Bhutanese culture, and I hadn't yet even set foot in the country!

Roller Coaster Landing

the one and only runway in Bhutan

Landing in Bhutan is quite thrilling. The Paro airport (the only one in the country) is surrounded by steep mountain peaks. The pilot appeared to be flying manually the whole time, banking sharply left, then right, skimmed closely over a hill, then dipped quickly into the valley runway. Cool.