From the archive record
Agricultural fields on the steep-ish slopes around Paro give way to rice fields and quaint Bhutanese architecture as one speeds out of the Paro valley for taking off from Bhutan's only airport. The plane's acceleration is strained to the maximum as the plane needs to accelerate out of a relatively short runway to labour out to far higher altitudes within a very short period of ascent. Paro airport itself has got to rank among the quantiest and cutest airports in the world, at par with Nice's Cote D'Azur airport for the promise of even prettier landscapes beyond! The descent into Paro airport in Bhutan is a precipitous affair for any pilot - he or she has to suddenly negotiate a steep descent into the relatively narrow valley, dropping altitude rapidly after crossing the steep ridges before