Druk Air - Himalaya

This does not look like a promising day to fly out of Paro	Driving to Paro Airport not feeling confident. Departures require good cloud clearance to visually avoid terrain	Bridge between town and Paro Airport for light vehicles only	Welcome to the Land of the Thunder Dragon, Paro Airport
Bhutan2009 2481.jpg	Arriving at Paro Airport on Departure Day	The passenger terminal of Paro, Bhutan's only airport	Flag of Bhutan - the Thunder Dragon with Buddhist orange and the royal yellow
Drukair - Royal Bhutan Airlines - checkin counter for flight KB202 to Delhi	Banner of the 25th Anniversary of Drukair, Royal Bhutan Airlines	Faunal Biodiversity of Bhutan - outline of Bhutan with photographs of its native animals on a background of the Himalaya, Paro	Our aircraft being towed from the hangar to the terminal for our flight to Delhi
Drukair Royal Bhutan Airlines Airbus A319 (A5-RGF), Paro Airport	Drukair Royal Bhutan Airlines Airbus A319 (A5-RGF), Paro Airport	Fueling the Drukair A319 for its flight to Delhi	Departure Hall - Paro Airport, Bhutan
Royal Portraits at Paro Airport - the 5th King of Bhutan (r. 2006-current)	Royal Portraits at Paro Airport - the 4th King of Bhutan (r. 1972-2006)	Royal Portraits at Paro Airport - the 3rd King of Bhutan (r. 1952-1972)	Royal Portraits at Paro Airport - the 2nd King of Bhutan (r. 1926-1952)
Royal Portraits at Paro Airport - the 1st King of Bhutan (r. 1907-1926)	Mandala painting, Paro Airport	A few breaks in the clouds over Paro	The Captain is happy, we board our flight
Boarding Drukair A319 (A5-RGF) at Paro Airport	Economy in the back, Drukair	The tail logo of Drukair	The tail logo of Drukair
View of Drukair - Royal Bhutan Airlines - A319 from the front	Captain and his young First Officer preparing their A319 for departure from Paro Airport	Paro Airport, elevation 7340 feet	Back Taxi at Paro (Runway 15/33 only 1964m/6445ft)
The Terminal of Paro Airport, Bhutan (PBH)	As an airline captain myself, I'm invited to sit in the cockpit for the flight, a great honor!	Lining up on Runway 33 at Paro Airport. It will be a visual departure, firs to the right, then down the valley to the left	There is so much terrain around, Drukair's SOP is to turn off the terrain warning system for the initial visual climb
Airborne from Paro Airport	Climbing out past Paro Dzong and the National Museum of Bhutan	Rice fields and farm houses along the river northwest of Paro	Flying up the valley of the Paro River
Climbing out of Paro Airport, Bhutan	The mountain where the Tiger's Nest temple is	Climbing out over the Tiger's Nest - it's obscured but you can see the temples at the mountain's summit	Snow capped Jomolhari (7326m/24,035ft) comes into view for the first time
Climbing out of the Paro Valley, Bhutan	Climbing out of the Paro Valley, Bhutan	Jomolhari (7326m/24,035ft) on the Bhutan-Sikkim border, a popular destination for trekkers	Circling climb over the Paro Valley
Paro's upscale Zhiwa Ling Hotel	Kyichu Lhakhang far below	Aerial view of the Paro valley and its irregular rice fields	Successful departure from Paro - a very challenging airport even for the highly experienced Drukair captains
The serpentine dirt road over the pass leading from Paro Valley to neighboring Haa	The cadet first officer at Drukair, a lucky man	Bhutan Himalaya - Jomolhari (7326m/24,035ft) and the neighboring peak, Jichu Drake (6809m/22,339ft)	The highest peaks in Bhutan are almost all on the international borders with Sikkim (India) to the west & Tibet (China) N
Bhutan Himalaya - Jomolhari (7326m/24,035ft) and the neighboring peak, Jichu Drake (6809m/22,339ft)	Paro Valley, Bhutan	I just noticed, but when I was labeling these photos and zoomed in, there's an inflated note air balloon	As we climb out of Bhutan, the massive snow covered peaks of the Himalaya make an appearance
As we leave Bhutan westbound over Sikkim, we leave Jomolhari behind	Leaving Bhutan climbing out of 20,000 feet, we first route towards Bagdogra, India, before turning right to fly across Nepal	Our route of flight from Paro to Delhi is along the Himalaya past Everest and over the top of Kathmandu	Number 3 on the list of the World's Highest Mountains, Kangchenjunga (8586m/28,169ft) on the Sikkim (India)-Nepal Border
My Drukair crew westbound for Dehi	The young Bhutanese First Officer of Drukair	Kangchenjunga (8586m/28,169ft)	The Nepal Himalaya begin to the west of Kangchenjunga
Kangchenjunga (8586m/28,169ft) won't be the tallest mountain we fly past on the way from Paro to Delhi	Goodbye Bhutan...I remember the good times whenever I see Jomolhari on the horizon	Druk Air Airbus A319 checklist includes the names and elevations of the 10 most significant peaks on their route structure	Kangchenjunga (8586m/28,169ft), the world's 3rd highest mountain, sits on the Sikkim (India)-Nepal border
The Himalaya of Sikkim (India)	The India-Nepal borderlands	Siniolchu (6887m/22,595 ft ) with the Yaling Glacier, Sikkim	Kangchenjunga (8586m/28,169ft)
The Himalaya of Eastern Nepal	Eastern Nepal with Mt. Everest just right of center	Flying over eastern Nepal on Drukair	Makalu, the world's 5th highest mountain (8484m/27,838ft)
The Great Himalaya Range on the Nepal-Tibet (China) border with Everest on the left and Makalu on the right	The Great Himalaya Range on the Nepal-Tibet (China) border with Everest on the right and Cho Oyu (8188m/27838ft) on the left	A privileged view of Mount Everest from the cockpit of a Druk Air flight from Paro to Delhi routed over the top of Kathmandu	Mount Everest and Lhotse, the world's 4th highest mountain, from the Nepal side
The deep valleys that form Nepal on the southern slope of the Great Himalaya Range	Mount Everest, the highest point on earth	Cho Oyu (8188m/26,864ft), the world's 6th highest mountain just west of Everest on the Nepal-Tibet (China) border	Flying 9,000 feet above the summit of Mount Everest courtesy of Drukair, Royal Bhutan Airlines
Nepal Himalaya from Everest (left) to Makalu (right)	Nepal Himalaya centered on Mount Everest, our world's highest mountain	The Nepali Himalaya to the west of Everest centered on Cho Oyu	The Nepal Himalaya to the west of Cho Oyu
The Nepal Himalaya between Everest and Kathmandu	The southern face of Mount Everest, known in Nepal as Sagarmatha and in Tibet as Chomolungma, the Holy Mother	Nepal Himalaya with Cho Oyu on the right	The Nepal Himalaya from 38,000 feet
Flying towards Kathmandu, Nepal, at 38000 ft, a mere 9000 feet above the summit of Everest	Overflying eastern Nepal at 38,000 feet	Beyond Cho Oyu, the 6th highest peak in the Himalaya (8188m/26,864ft), Lake Peiku is visible in Tibet (China)	After re-entering Indian airspace, I return to the back of the bus
Dennis on the Drukair flight to Delhi	Tashi Delek, the inflight magazine of Druk Air, Royal Bhutan Airlines	Druk Air's bilingual safety notices	A Druk Air steward passing through the cabin