Marc on top of Mount Everest
Well not really on top, but pretty, pretty close. Flying to or from Bhutan is always an experience and if you are lucky with the weather, the pilot will take you over the Himalayas and bring you close to the Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world. Today was such a unique day when I left Bhutan. I saw the Everest but also the K2, the Kangchhenjunga the Lhotse and the Makalu… all memorable peaks which I only remember from pictures or movies. We flew within one mile from the top of the Everest, and you could see the climbers…… A marvelous experience, flying over the border between Nepal, Bhutan, India and Tibet. Just another day which I will never forget in my life and another trophy on things that we have seen on this globe. I decided to open a special page on this.
Flying into Bhutan this time was also another experience not to forget. Paro airport is the only paved airport in Bhutan and the airport is located at an altitude of 2,235 m in a steep valley on the bank of Paro river, it is like diving in a black hole through the mountains when you land.
Coming into Butan
With some of the surrounding mountains as high as 5,480 m it is considered to be “one of the world’s most challenging airports“. Flights into Paro are only allowed under very good visual meteorological conditions during daytime hours and this time I nearly did not get there. This is the image right after coming out of the low clouds, and getting visibility 3 minutes before landing and one hour before a heavy rain!!!! I discovered that only eight pilots in the world are certified to land at the airport. Today’s pilot was Australian with a good sense if humour. When coming close to the Everest, he announced… The folks on the right of the airplane might have now a view of the Everest, but don’t tell it to the people seated on the left of the plane, because if they move to the right, I will not be able to keep the plane straight…..
If you click on the picture, I share with you a manual which Boeing has produced for the pilots wanting to fly into Bhutan. I have added an additional special page to our Blog also.. see pages Bhutan.
