Bull's eye

Bhutan's national sport is ...archery. We made our way to a nearby field to watch a group of men having a friendly competition.

Two teams  were lined up 150m across the field from each other. 150m....that's the distance to the wooden target. Olympic target distance is only 50m! 

After the arrow is fired, the men then huddle around the target. If the arrow missed the target, the men would howl, chant and basically shout back at how bad the archer's aim was. On the other hand, when an arrow hit the tar­get, the men would perform a celebratory dance and sing the praises of the shooter.

We had no clue about the rules of the competition, but it really didn't matter. We really enjoyed it!

Surviving landing on the world's most dangerous airport, Paro - Bhutan

I really freaked out. I wasn't until the day before my flight to Bhutan when I read that my next flight to Paro, Bhutan, was to the world’s most dangerous airport.

Here is the link to the news:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2079836/The-Himalayan-airport-dangerous-pilots-qualified-land-there.html

The airport is located 7,300 ft above sea level, surrounded by 16,000 ft Himalayan peaks, and has a landing strip only a mile long. It’s the only airport in the world where the altitude exceeds the length of the landing strip! Pilots must dodge the mountains and houses on either side as they come in for landing. Not only that, there are reports that because of the complexity in maneuvering the landing, only eight pilots are allowed to land at this airport. For all these reasons, Paro is reportedly the world’s most dangerous airport. Flights are only allowed during the daytime and under visual meteorological conditions - strict light allowances in which the pilot must make his judgement by eye rather than rely on instruments as is the case in nighttime flights.

Despite the perilous conditions, the views over the Himalayas are breathtaking. I didn't know what to expect so I started praying. This was the most nervous I’ve ever been while flying. For a moment I thought a stiff drink would take the edge off, but could one start drinking before noon?

Flight from Dhaka to Paro was really short – just under 50 minutes.

Before I knew it, we were on our descent already. The plane curved sharply left and right as it headed toward a valley between the mountains.
The pilot must have known what he was doing because literally sneaked thru the mountains. We did come closer to the mountains then what I felt comfortable with, but in the end everything was all right.

Landing in Paro feel like stepping back in time. Airport terminal is the coolest one I have ever seen. Everything is just so different.

In other news, I am really excited to be in Bhutan. It is a country that did not even make it to my bucket list because I never thought I would be able to get to.