the drunkman's trail

the trail we were hiking was the old connection between the villages of thimpu and punakha up over the pass between valleys. before the roads connected the valleys, the trek was anywhere between 3-4 days. thanks to some of the roads pushing farther up the hills, we were set to hike 2 days, 1 night. 

distance is a bit of a shifty thing here in Bhutan. tshe tshe, our guide, said we would be about 2 hours up to the pass, and then 2+ down the other side to camp. I've quickly come to realize, not knowing what to expect is probably the best thing. 

once we turned off the fire road into the trail, it became obvious why it is called the drunkenmans trail... the trail is so worn from hundreds of year of use that it is literally cut into the mountain. the path is a few feet wide, with walls of dirt, trees and plants on either side for long stretches... tight enough to keep even a drinkmam from falling off the pass. ha. 

up, up, and up we went. true that it zig zagged and leveled out occasionally, but it was just as strenuous as the previous day's hike. it didn't take long for the horses to catch and pass us! it kinda amazed me that the horses could even make it through some of the tight and steep sections of the trail. 

the day was a little overcast and foggy, but we still caught some amazing views along the way when there was a break in the spruce, oak and bamboo forest.