Traveling on this trip was longer than I anticipated. Well, actually I knew how long each flight was going to be, but somehow, the flights seemed to take much longer. I was thrilled when we finally reached India’s Delhi Airport and my first reaction was “I thought it was going to be hotter.” Upon actually stepping out into the midnight air in Delhi, my immediate thought was “There’s the heat.” At 77 degrees Fahrenheit, which is approximately 25 degrees Celsius (I’m getting much better at unit conversions thanks to traveling internationally), the night air was not as refreshing as I would have hoped, but the city of Delhi was still a welcoming sight. The most glaring difference from the United States that I noticed was the driving and rules of the road. The drivers in India have way more confidence in their skills of driving and reaction times. The lack of regard for driving lanes on the street was astonishing. I don’t mean that in a bad way; I mean it with much respect. I know I would not be able to drive as smoothly as our driver did under those conditions (or at least, it would take me a long time to learn).
As much as I was thrilled about our arrival at the airport, I was much more thrilled to arrive at Pamposh Guest House after a 25-minute drive from the airport. We were welcomed with refreshing showers, good food, and clean beds. With our bodies cleaned and our stomachs full, we knocked out after a full day of traveling… only to wake up three hours later to head back to the airport for our Druk Air flight to Bhutan. The plane was small compared to the planes we took from the US to Germany and then from Germany to India, but we got to sit by one another and the food on the plane was excellent. A quick two-hour flight and we were finally at our final destination… for now at least. I cannot explain the awe we felt as we stepped out of the plane onto the tarmac. The airport stood lavishly decorated not far from the plane. The mountains surrounded us as if guarding the airport from anything that might harm it. The air was thin and clean; my lungs felt like they could breathe in more air here than I could back home. What an amazing feeling we all experienced as we landed in Bhutan. The setting of Bhutan’s only international airport—Paro—is truly breathtaking. We just reached a place that is magical (or is it mystical?!). A great learning experience is about to begin….
Kaley D.
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