Bhutan dawn

It's a long story, but I went to Bhutan in the eastern Himalayas to make a film about Antarctica.

The hot-air balloonists, whom I'd met through a writer, were 'collecting' countries they'd flown in,

and were looking forward to being the first to fly balloons in Antarctica - by which time, we were all

hoping, I'd have secured a commission to film the story for TV. However, I needed some practice

at filming from balloons and microlights, so I was invited to Bhutan - the next country on their list

- to get started. The King of Bhutan had given us permission, everything was trucked in from

India, and everyone survived the experience. I eventually managed to get a short 'Bhutan' film

on Channel 4. This shot is on the only road through Bhutan, near Tongsa (now called Trongsa),

on an early morning tea break at about 11,000ft.

But the Antarctica expedition was called off. Whilst doing a recce on the Russian base that we

were to be stationed on, the Swiss pilot slipped on the ice and broke his arm. It couldn't be set

until he'd got back to Switzerland. Then a Norwegian from the twice-yearly supply ship (and our

potential delivery vessel) fell down a crevasse and, because none of the Russian tractors worked,

he couldn't be rescued. He's still there. It was clear that it would be suicide to attempt some

dangerous flying - the balloons would go up like rockets - where there was no logistical or

emergency support. So the idea had to be abandoned. I later discovered that they wouldn't have

been the first anyway - Scott had had a tethered balloon on the Ross Sea ice in fateful 1911.

It's a long story, but I went to Bhutan in the eastern Himalayas to make a film about Antarctica.

The hot-air balloonists, whom I'd met through a writer, were 'collecting' countries they'd flown in, and

were looking forward to being the first to fly balloons in Antarctica - by which time, we were all hoping,

I'd have secured a commission to film the story for TV. However, I needed some practice at filming

from balloons and microlights, so I was invited to Bhutan - the next country on their list - to get

started. The King of Bhutan had given us permission, everything was trucked in from India, and

everyone survived the experience. I eventually managed to get a short 'Bhutan' film on Channel 4.

This shot is on the only road through Bhutan, near Tongsa (now called Trongsa), on an early

morning tea break at about 11,000ft.

But the Antarctica expedition was called off. Whilst doing a recce on the Russian base that we were to

be stationed on, the Swiss pilot slipped on the ice and broke his arm. It couldn't be set until he'd got

back to Switzerland. Then a Norwegian from the twice-yearly supply ship (and our potential delivery

vessel) fell down a crevasse and, because none of the Russian tractors worked, he couldn't be

rescued. He's still there. It was clear that it would be suicide to attempt some dangerous flying - the

balloons would go up like rockets - where there was no logistical or emergency support. So the idea

had to be abandoned. I later discovered that they wouldn't have been the first anyway - Scott had

had a tethered balloon on the Ross Sea ice in fateful 1911.