All the buildings of the downtown were constructed in the 1980s. They were all painted on the exterior. The stores all had uniform blue signs in English. The remarkable similarity of these buildings and their contrast with older structures on streets and alleys just behind the main street, with no such signs and exterior decorations, gave downtown Paro the feeling of a shell stage set for movies.
The terminal buildings, built in 1983, vaguely resembled Swiss chalets. They were different in the trefoil cut out (horzing) at the top of their windows which is the trademark of Bhutanese architecture (but said to be of Persian influence). The buildings’ wooden exteriors were decorated with designs and patterns, each with a special significance in the ancient land’s iconography.
Bhutan, the land of “the people from the highland,” which is the Indian Sanskrit name for this Himalayan nation, calls itself Druk Yuel, or “Kingdom of the Peaceful Thunder Dragon”. We went through some exciting turbulence as we descended into a narrow, windy valley surrounded by green hills. The scenery painted an imagined Shangri-la. In the pristine air of late fall the yellowed leaves of weeping willow trees danced against a blue sky which was covered in some corners by fluffy white clouds.
On one side of the tarmac a huge billboard made clear who virtually created this country. This was the portrait of all five successive members of the ruling hereditary monarchy.
Title | Date | Comments |
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Islamo Fascist Paedophiles in London. | Dec 01 | 87 |
Forgotten Captive | Nov 27 | 61 |
The New Iranian.com Is Ready! | Dec 05 | 39 |
The Women of Camp Ashraf | Dec 01 | 35 |
Persian parties are like Persian history! | Dec 03 | 34 |
Person | About | Day |
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نسرین ستوده: زندانی روز | Dec 04 | |
Saeed Malekpour: Prisoner of the day | Lawyer says death sentence suspended | Dec 03 |
Majid Tavakoli: Prisoner of the day | Iterview with mother | Dec 02 |
احسان نراقی: جامعه شناس و نویسنده ۱۳۰۵-۱۳۹۱ | Dec 02 | |
Nasrin Sotoudeh: Prisoner of the day | 46 days on hunger strike | Dec 01 |
Nasrin Sotoudeh: Graffiti | In Barcelona | Nov 30 |
گوهر عشقی: مادر ستار بهشتی | Nov 30 | |
Abdollah Momeni: Prisoner of the day | Activist denied leave and family visits for 1.5 years | Nov 30 |
محمد کلالی: یکی از حمله کنندگان به سفارت ایران در برلین | Nov 29 | |
Habibollah Golparipour: Prisoner of the day | Kurdish Activist on Death Row | Nov 28 |