plinko83

This, without a doubt, the best post in the history of the Delta forum.

kevfletcher

Here is a link to an article from the Tashi Delek, the Druk Air inflight magazine, entitled "The Woman and Her Rotten Tummy".

https://www.facebook.com/drukairmaga...580208475702:0

You can't make this stuff up!

andymo99

As promised, here goes...

Druk Air Trip report

24 December, 2013
KB 401, KTM-PBH

We had a leisurely morning since our flight to Paro didn't leave until 11:50. We slept late, relaxed, and got picked up at 9:45. Traffic in Kathmandu is horrible, but our hotel was pretty close to the airport so it was a fairly easy 15 minutes ride (at least as easy as getting anywhere in Kathmandu is). On the way, I commented that I hoped this wasn't one of airports where you need to show a ticket to get in the door since we did not have a copy of our itinerary. Sure enough we were asked to show our passports and tickets on the way into the airport. Fortunately, explaining that we had electronic tickets led to a wave through and we didn't even have to show our passports.

We made our way to the check in counter, which is where the first round of excitement began. There is ALWAYS drama when flying between third world countries! My favorite part was approaching the counter. Before we even got there, the agent said “Mr. and Mrs. Andymo99?” We thus learned that not only is this a small plane, but that we were among the last to check in. We hadn’t taken the two hour check-in guideline seriously, but were still there plenty early. The guy checking us in asked for a copy of our visa documents, which had been arranged by the tour operator in Bhutan. The agent who was helping us told us that we were lucky and he had secured us the last two seats on the left hand side of the plane, which would afford us a view of the Himalayas.



With boarding passes in hand, we made our way through immigration and headed over to a little coffee shop to buy a snack for breakfast. We then made our way through security, which had separate lines for men and women, since there was also a pat-down after going through the metal detector.

The ground facilities at KTM were spartan but sufficient:



Our plane was bright and shiny and looked like it would be reliable.


Everyone was taking pictures as we got aboard (boarding was from the aft of the plane).



As we approached the plane, we noticed a Caucasian pilot. I was not too surprised, as I know that many Western pilots contract out in their off-peak season to such airlines. When I later spoke with the flight attendant, I learned that this particular pilot was Czech.

We settled into our seats in the last row.


Take off was quick and we had a good view of KTM airport from the air.



We also had a view of the city upon takeoff.



I chatted with the flight attendant who was sitting next to us. We learned that we would see Mt. Everest en route, which we were excited about.

The flight was just an hour and shortly after takeoff we got drinks and little snack boxes with peanuts, butter cookies, and some sort of white bread sandwich that we skipped. We kept our eyes peeled to the window and identified two huge mountains. If it were up to us, we would have assumed that the whiter one was Everest, but my FA friend set the record straight. It was a gorgeous day and an amazing view.









My wife was worried about the landing in Paro, which we had heard was scary. She took the aisle seat, and later declared that it wasn't scary. The landing was fun and scenic, but not nearly as harrowing as legend holds.


Here are a few shots of landing:





We also took some shots of deplaning and the ground at PBH:









Later in the week, while traveling in Bhutan, we met a couple of private pilots who had flown their clients to Paro on the family’s G4. I asked all about the landing at the famed Paro airport. It turns out that they had to be joined by a Druk Air pilot for their final segment, departing from Seoul. The landing is too difficult for the Bhutanese to allow pilots without experience at the airfield to do it alone. They really seemed to have enjoyed the experience, showing us cockpit photos (they took video as well) of the approach.


31 December, 2013
KB 130, PBH-IXB-BKK




After breakfast, we loaded everything in the car and were driven to the airport. We were there two hours before our flight and secured seats on the right side of the plane, which our guide said would have a better view.

There was a total of about three flights from the Paro airport and there's just one gate. The TV screen showing the departures listed G1 as the gate next to every flight. This is one airport where you definitely didn't need to arrive two hours early!


In the gate area, we noticed a window "vandalized" by travelers with stickers from all over the world.





There were two sources of entertainment – watching both of Drukair's Airbus planes land and arrive, and trying to watch a somewhat intoxicated Indian guy "make friends" with everyone from fellow passengers to the airline staff. I could not figure him out, but he was going to Mumbai (so with us only as far as IXB), comes to Bhutan 15 times a year, and was complaining that he was not going to be served on the short flight – though the staff assured him he could be served a drink if he asked. At the time of this conversation, he was holding a small bottle (airplane size) of some sort of liquor. We were glad that we weren't going too far with him and I'm not sure an American airline would have allowed him to board. I could smell the alcohol from several feet away. Before we boarded, the Indian guy also declared that I could be a Hollywood star, based on my dashing good looks! (Further evidence of his inebriation!)

Here he is for posterity:



We also spotted the G4 whose pilots we met earlier:



This larger Airbus boarded via stairs at the front:



Our incoming aircraft arrived late, so we were delayed about a half hour. We noticed some locals planespotting outside the airport security fence.



Upon takeoff, the plane banked a bunch of times to get over the mountains.





As promised, we had a lovely view of two high Himalayan peaks.











As soon as we reached cruising altitude, it was time to descend to Bagdogra, the Indian city where we would drop off some passengers and pick up a bunch more. The stop was just over a half hour and soon enough we were on our way.





On the next leg, we were served a decent lunch of rice and chicken curry. The second part of the flight was about three hours, and we made up a little time en route, so we only landed about fifteen minutes late.

We made our way through immigration quickly, but had to wait forever for our bags. The first set of things off the plane was about 15 crates from the Royal Queen Grandmother of Bhutan (I couldn't quite keep their titles straight, so I'm not exactly sure her relation to the king) addressed to people in the Bhutanese embassy and Bhutanese royal family members and, according to another passenger, members of the Thai royal family. The boxes were picked up by an official and it was probably another ten minutes before other bags arrived. My wife’s suitcase came off fairly quickly, but mine took quite some time to arrive.

jordyn

I admit to not paying much attention to in-flight magazines. Maybe a future reviewer could also include a comparison of the quality of the magazines as well.

NotHamSarnie

This fabulous thread really makes me feel like traveling, particularly Andymos' photos, quite a feat given that I'm usually reading FT when in transit for work or frustrated about some travel-related thing.

Esltroy

Ok. Very few threads have had me really want to travel more. This thread does. I may just do a Druk air trip this year. I can only hope to see the same drunk Indian man.

makin'miles

Big thanks to both of you for these posts - I'm Bhutan-bound on Druk next month.

As much as some can complain about SkyMiles, it likely has a leg up on Druk's "My Happiness Reward" program. I'm seriously tempted to join...

airplanegod

As others have said, this thread does make me want to travel more. That report that andymo99 posted makes that look a lot more fun than flying ATL-JFK...

Esltroy

^^

mikeef

Druk Do, anyone?

Meanwhile, that plane is so cute. I want to pinch its little cheeks.

Mike