trekking out of thimpu

on our third morning, we loaded up onto the bus, and drove to the far end f the thimpu valley, and started up the hills. our trust bus took us as far as it could, and then we met up with one of the pack horses. we loaded up our personal gear for the night, said goodbye to the bus and out driver... then started hiking up the road. 

 we passed a few farmhouses (gorgeous homes and locations!), and finally met up with the rest of the horses and our trek crew (2 horsemen, a cook, and 2 assistants). they had all the gear for our overnight on the pass, lined up and ready to load onto the horses... all we had to carry was our day gear and water. definitely feel pretty fancy! 

ready or not, one more selfie... we are off to trek! 

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. 

the high abbot comes to town

after a post-river lunch (we are being well fed here!), our plan was to go back into town to tour the dzong. that day happened to be the day that the high abbot (head monk in the country, equal to the king) was moving residence to the punakha dzong for the winter (he spends summers in thimpu). it is a big affair, all the townspeople come out to receive a blessing from him as he goes by. 

somehow (couldn't have planned it if we tried), we caught the final part of his procession into town and to the dzong. we walked along with the rest of the town, and were so lucky to witness the procession. 

the abbot is in the car, in yellow robes. 

procession of the monks into the dzong. the line up from eldest to youngest. the little ones at the back were super funny. 

pizza party for dinner

for our last dinner in the big city, we went to the pizza parlor in town, the owner of x-plore Bhutan met us for dinner and more Druk beer to tell us about the adventure that lies ahead. we will be trekking for the next 2 day out of thimpu valley, then spending three days rafting three rivers ranging from class II-IV. we will also be camping and visiting the palaces of king 2 and 3, action staying for a night in one of them. 

can't wait for to see what the next week holds. anticipating we will be fairly offline for the next period of time (pretty excited bout that!). 

more updates on the flip side! 

coming down

we spent a few hours wandering around the monestary, and then headed back down. the monks left a few signs around to remind us chilips of what is really important. it was both funny, and a good little reminder. 

the hike down was less lung intense, but these old knees sure felt it. 

walking around thimpu

made a quick stop at the zoo preserve on the way back down to town to see the national animal, the Takin, basically a cow with a head like a goat, and mustache horns on top of its head. wasn't able to get pics on the iPhone from behind the green fence. 

we also made a quick stop along the road to see the thimpu dzong. this is both the center of government, the headquarters of the monestaries, and the residence of king 5. 

the driver dropped us at the far end of the main town strip, and we walked (ok, most of us had quite the hobble going on) back to the hotel. thimpu is quite the bustling town, with shop lined streets selling anything you could possibly need. this is the last we will see of this for the next couple of weeks. ;) 

the upper temples

contact need to walk around after lunch, and saw the old upper temple that was badly damaged from an earthquake 3-4 year ago. the monks had moved all the valuables to another small building while they wait to work with the government to restore the place. it is going to to a lot of work, the place was pretty beat up. 

the fog cleared out a little, and the views in the the valley were stunning from every angle! hard to balance just being there, and taking photos. 

lunch with a view

as we came out of the temple, the noon bell rang, and all the students ran around to grab their bowls, and get to the dining hall for the noon meal of rice and curry. it was fun to see the boys go from studious monks to giggly boys joking around with each other and chatting. 

we wandered farther up the hill a little to a pavilion and ate our own lunches of boiled potatoes, fried chicken, cheese sandwhich, banana and juice. we even had a treat of French fries!! ha. 

as soon as we stopped moving however, the chill of the high mountain air hit (probably high 40's), and we had to pile on all our layers to keep warm. tricky eating lunch with totally numb hands. 

past, present, future

the it took us about 2 1/2-3 hours to hike up, and it was all worth it. the monestary is a campus of at least a dozen buildings spread across the hillside. they are old, but carry the life of being constantly inhabited. 

when we arrived, the students were strewn across the front stairs practicising their lessons. it is always awkward being outsiders looking in (and taking pictures) of someone else's world... but as we moved into the inner courtyard, some of the students chatted with us a little. 

our guide took us through the inner courtyard (surrounded by the dorm rooms), and into the inner temple. no pics were allowed in the inner temple, but it was quite stunning. I was a medium square room, with an alter on one end, not elevated, just set back into the walls. the centerpiece was a giant (12-15') Futire buddah, presiding over dozens of other buddah and offerings the walls of the temple were elaborately painted, with colorful scenes, and the ceilings were draped with silky windsock looking hangings that were rainbow colored. this vibrant display is there to welcome the spirits after ascension. 

it was really special that the sacred place was shared with us, and that we had such a great guide to really explain what we were seeing. 

the hike up to Pahjoding monastery

the hike was indeed straight up the mountain side. the monastery was first established somewhere around the 1400's, and the path was well worn, with many "short-cuts" (usuall twice as steep as the main trail). everyone in our group, except rachel, basically lives at sea level, so our acclimation to the altitude and first hike here kept some of us at a slower pace... but we kept moving. and chatting away to distract from the big hill ahead of us. 

our guide (going to ask him how to spell his name tomorrow so I can stop calling him guide) chatted with us along the way to give us insight into both the history of the monestary, as well as some of the traditions of Buddhism as well. 

there are about 50 resident of the monestary at any given time. a lot are students (ranging from 7ish to teenagers) who attend school at the monestary, learning the teachings of Buddhism from the monks who live there. there is also an area (off limits to all outside contact) where monks in one of their final stages of education, spend 3 years, 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days in small huts in complete solitude practicising prayer and devotion. 

the morning was cool (perfect for hiking up hill!), and there was a bit of doc hanging over the valley. as we ascended, the fog lifted a bit, and the views got more and more spectacular. 

if you zoom in, you can see the buildings of the monestary in the distance on the hill side. 

day 2 - a "little" hike up to a monestary above thimpu

our crew met for breakfast at 7am, and compared stories of hearing the dogs bark all night. rachel, the resident vegetarian threatened to hunt them down and eat them. not very Buddhist of her, but I was willing to look the other way. 

at 8am we set off for a big day hike. from our guide we understood it was up hill the whole way there, anywhere from 2-4 miles each way, and close to 3,000 ft elevation gain (8,000ft - 11,000ft). yup. I was pretty sure I was going to get worked, but excited to get out! 

the van drove us to the drop off point (well above town, thankfully... I was counting every foot we didn't have ahead of us). they gave us packed lunches to put in our bags. and we were off to go see the Pahjoding monastery. 

a little rest, and then dinner

we all took a little rest in the late afternoon. the entire crew except me is still running on jetlag adrenalin, and are in differing states of sleep deprived and woozy. the sun goes down at 5:30, so our evenings will likely not be too late on the trip. 

at 7pm, we walked a few blocks down, and had dinner at another delicious Bhutanese restaurant. our guide ordered us his favorite beer, Druk 11000, "super strong" Bhutanese beer. he said it was a dark beer, however it is fairly golden. it is under 8%, and pretty darn tasty. strong wheat beer. there will be more of these while we are here.

I'm such a good junkie, and I haven't tasted anything yet that I haven't liked in Bhutan yet. dinner consisted of a light chicken soup to start, mixed veggies, veggie patties (kinda like a veggie burger, but way better), ginger garlic greens, chicken in a delicious sauce, momos (traditional cheese dumpling... that was amazing!), and a green chili and cheese. slightly different flavor from the red one at lunch, but just as tasty. 

after dinner we were all so wiped out, we crawled back to the hotel, and were asleep before 10. would have been a pretty good nights sleep, except all the wild street dogs spend the wee hours of the night / morning barking at each other incessantly. it's crazy! I probably slept till 4am when dog opera picked up, and tossed around in and out of sleep after that. I hope I get used to the noise and start to block it out, cuz I think we are going to encounter this in every town. 

around town

after lunch, we checked into our hotel, the Jumolhari guest house, in the middle of the main downtown area. we have very nice rooms, with all the necessary comforts (including tv, which I have no intention of turning on), including this wifi that allows me to post for the time being! 

we settled in, and then went back out to the women's weaving workshop / market. got to take a look at the ladies in action on the looms making incredibly intricate fabrics... then of course went up to the second floor where they had the showcase shop for us to purchase some tradition Bhutanese crafts. 

I would love to have to bought some yards of the fabric, but don't know what I would have done with it... or how I would have gotten it into my duffle! ha. 

these mannequins were just a tad bit scary. 

our first lunch in Bhutan

we arrived in the capital city of thimpu, and they took us directly to lunch of traditional Bhutanese food. 

everything was really fabulous, and we went back for seconds! 

locally grown red rice, buckwheat noodles and dumplings, pumpkin with garlic, ground meat, sautéed veggies, and the local specialty of chili with cheese. 

the local cautiously gave us "chilips" (foreigners) a taster version of the chili's with warnings that it was very spicy... but we gobbled then up, and went back for more. just the right amount of flavorful spicy! so good. 

our first scenic stop

not far out of paro, we made our first stop to see a bridge over the river that leads up to a momentary. the original chains on the bridge date back to the 14th century... but the current surface is more wired together chain link fence. sturdy, but slippery. covered in prayer flags flapping in the wind over the rushing river. I definitely feel the overwhelming beauty of the place already. 

the gate house to the bridge was a shelter for travelers passing through before the big roads were put in in the 60's. it is a sturdy little building with elaborate paintings of the guru rimpoché (left), buddah (center), and the first king who United Bhutan (right). 

our trusty steed (Toyota van)

our guide and driver were waiting for us as we left the airport, and took us to our van for the trip. a really nice van, with plenty of space for all of us and our gear. 

arrived in Bhutan!

most of the flight from Thailand was fairly uneventful. we had a brief layover in India, and then continued on for only another 30-45min to paro. as we got closer, we were able to see some huge mountains poking up above the clouds, and the we began the descent below the clouds. the mountains surrounding the valley are steep, and we literally wove our way through the hills down to the single landing strip. it was a rush, and freaky being so close to the hills as we descended! 

stepping off the plane, the mountain air was crisp and fresh, and I was instantly overwhelmed at the awesomeness of being here. big smiles all around in our group. 

expedition queen of the selfies

traveling is part where you go, and part settling into the people you travel with. my specialty is proving to be the selfie queen! I have had loads of practice on this one.... and the kids are getting good at falling into position for documentation of our fabulous 5-some. ha. 

you'll be pleased to know we survived 1 night in bankgo without anyone going to jail, and no one got stopped at the border going out, and we made it onto the (right) and to Bhutan. all we need to do from here is get through immigration, and find our expedition guide... then we are done thinking and an bing, and someone else is responsible for our crazy crew for the next 2 weeks. may buddah give them the serenity to deal with this posse. ha. 

drukair (dragon air), royal airline of Bhutan. 

water taxi, pool and bedtime.

somehow we had the great fortune to get right onto the water taxi as it passed by, and made the same perfectly timed connection onto the boat back to the hotel. the breeze on the river was so nice after the sweaty streets of town, the light along the way had the same flair at night as all the glitter during the day. 

we made it back with just enough time to jump into the pool for a quick refreshing dip (ok, kinda chilly... but so nice), before we showered, packed and passed out for the night. all of us did such meticulous jobs of packing every inch of our duffle bags... that every time we need anything out of them, it is a wicked challenge to get them closed again. anticipating the duffle shuffle game is going to be a daily challenge for the next 3 weeks. ha.