The land of the Thunder Dragon

Flying into Bhutan we passed by the third largest mountain, Kangchenjunga.  Its in Nepal but can be seen all over this part of Asia.  Fluffy clouds greeted us as we entered the Paro valley on our Druk Air flight (the only way to get in and out of Bhutan). The pilots have to navigate between mountains in this narrow valley and it seems they swerve to the left and then the right to get through.  All traffic on the ground stops when a flight lands because the runway is adjacent to the main thoroughfare. 

There is a law in Bhutan that all  buildings must be constructed in their traditional style so the airport is probably the most ornately decorated one I have ever seen.  The arrivals and departure gates are the usual, busy! 

Our guide Chung Du met us in traditional garb which is a knee length robe of sorts with white cuffs and also wearing knee lenght black socks and dress shoes.  I understand that Bhutanese are required to wear traditional garb for business, school and official functions.  However, i noticed lots of young people wearing jeans later in the day and even more on the weekend.  Fashion exists everywhere! 

He took us to a rather eclectic museum that looks like a fortress on a mountain that had a wonderful natural history overview of the country and a collection of the many Bhuddhist spirits and  various other iconography that I had a hard time following.  There are so many deities I am easily confused.  The Buddhist painting and the masks were incredible to see.  

lunch in the town of Paro.  It is a small city but on the move, building everywhere.  What is interesting is all the  architecture  is built in the traditional style so new building fit with the building from the 16th century.  That and the prayer flags, prayer wheels, new cars and cows and endless amounts of stray dogs makes it seem like a different universe.  

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