Transport in Bhutan

[2] Because of the lack of paved roads, travel in Bhutan was by foot or on mule- or horseback until 1961; the 205-kilometre (127 mi) trip from the Indian border to Thimphu took six days.

Despite the construction of paved roads linking the principal towns in the south, mountainous terrain elsewhere makes travel difficult even from one valley to the next.

The road begins in Phuentsholing on the southwestern Indian border and ends in Trashigang in the far east, with spurs to other major centres such as Paro, Thimphu, and Punakha.

Much of the country's geology is unstable and there are frequent slips and landslides, aggravated by the summer monsoon and winter snowstorms and frost heaving.

Teams of Indian labourers are housed at work camps in the mountain passes to clear blocked roads.

Conditions in the camps are poor, with workers breaking rocks into gravel on a piece-rate basis when not clearing the roads.

A major Japanese aid project aims to replace most of the narrow, single-track bridges with two-way girder spans capable of carrying heavier traffic.

[5] On 25 January 2005 the king of Bhutan and the prime minister of India signed an agreement to establish the following the link and initiated the feasibility study.

Paro, the country's only international airport, is in a steep-sided valley with its approaches restricted to visual flight rules.

Winds and bad weather may delay or cancel a flight, and the best travel times are April to May and October to November.

[10] The Royal Bhutanese Government's 10th Five-Year Plan (2008–13) included the construction of a domestic airport at Gelephu in Sarpang District.