[ { "id": 215466, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2001", "page_number": 243, "title": "RAS-2001", "content_text": "192\n\nOn arrival, I was immediately impressed also by the warmth of the Bhutanese people. Our guide came up to me and shook my hand in welcome. The 27 of us piled into the minibuses, and were presented with a white silk scarf each, a traditional Bhutanese form of welcome. The scarf proved to be a very welcome first line of defence against later chilly winds.\n\nThe road from the airport is reputed to be the longest stretch of straight road in the country. It has no choice, considering that it shares the narrow flat valley with a river and the runway. Half way up the winding road that took us from the valley floor to the hotel, I was rather touched to see the Department of Civil Aviation building - or perhaps \"cottage\" would be a more appropriate description. This delightfully small, two-storey wooden structure, beautifully decorated with traditional patterns, had a commanding view over the entire airstrip. One could imagine Mr Director looking at his pocket watch with pride as KB125 made another greaser of a landing exactly on schedule.\n\nInto the Interior\n\nI have spent many holidays in the Appian Alps in northern Tuscany, and my first impression of Bhutan's scenery was that it is all very similar, but more so. The mountains are bigger, the valleys steeper and wider, the light brighter. Comments also abounded comparing the scenery with Switzerland - mountains, neat and tidy, uniform. It soon struck us that the houses were all from the same design catalogue. Later we found out that this was in fact the case and was due to government decree - there is a standard traditional design that must be followed. And followed it is. At 7,200 feet above sea level, the air at Paro was very fresh, and being a mile and a half nearer the sun, the ultra violet was very much in evidence. (I thanked my wife for reminding me to pack my sunscreen.) Not many of us had been for long at such an altitude and there was much debate about altitude sickness. Would we all fall over or feel nauseous?\n\nThe minibuses quickly delivered us to the Olathang Hotel, about ten minutes from the airport. First impression was that it looked a bit like a monastery, but that was a function of the required building style making everything look somewhat religious. The reception desk had above it a large framed photograph of a good-looking man wearing", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2001.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215495, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2001", "page_number": 272, "title": "RAS-2001", "content_text": "221\n\na joke or do a trick. (See the evening's programme, set out in the appendix.) The laughter and applause must have been heard all the way up and down Paro High Street.\n\nA last munch\n\nThe last day dawned, beautiful and sunny as ever, and was celebrated with scrambled eggs on toast aplenty. Checking in at the airport was as depressing as it can be anywhere, except that this time there were 27 people with some very happy and unforgettable memories behind them. For me, my last example of the friendliness and humour of the Bhutanese people was at the shop in the departure lounge. I had not realised I had chocolate withdrawal symptoms until I saw a pile of Kit-Kats on the shelf. I rushed up and asked how much they were. '25 Nu' I was told. When I found that I only had 20 Nu left in local currency and looked suitably crestfallen, the young girl at the counter said: 'Never mind. For 20 you can have a munch.' I was impressed. Was she actually willing to let me have a munch on a Kit-Kat, and presumably put the rest back for the next customer? Actually, no. She laughed when I explained to her my misunderstanding. There was a smaller and slightly cheaper chocolate bar called 'Munch'.\n\nI have known for some time that Paro is one of the most challenging airports for pilots, and so I was pleased to see all that I have learnt about short-field take-offs is applied equally in a BAe 146 as in a Cessna 172. Full length of the runway, two stages of flap, full throttle before releasing the brakes, and then best angle of climb to avoid the mountains. Then course was set for Calcutta - and that was that.\n\nNOTES\n\n1 [Hon. Editor, I have always been a little bit worried about Robert. This article confirms my suspicions!]", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2001.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215501, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2001", "page_number": 278, "title": "RAS-2001", "content_text": "Paro Airport\n\nVIRO\n\n227", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2001.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 216184, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2002", "page_number": 483, "title": "RAS-2002", "content_text": "30\n\nParo Airport\n\nBHUTAN, FEBRUARY 2002\n\nPHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE HKBRAS VISIT TO\n\nROBERT NIELD\n\n417", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2002.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278", "rank": 0 } ]