After hiking back down through the mud, we stopped at some hot springs, which were really nice. The weather improved steadily each day we descended, giving us one beautiful sun-filled morning to dry out our soaking wet tents and to dry our clothes and bathe in the rays of the light by a gorgeous lake. By the time we got down to the road head, we had figured out a plan for our remaining days. We would drive to the end of our planned hike (near the town of Gaza) and hike up to the mountains from the other side. Everyone's spirits had lifted and things were looking good. We stayed one night in a hotel and had hot showers, always a nice treat, and we were off, although two members less than we began with; Briggita and Eberheart, two of our German trekkers in phenomenal shape for being in their 70's, decided not to join us in our trek for fear of more mud. They stayed in Bhutan and had a "cultural trip" instead.
Bhutan has a huge plan to expand their roads from one lane to two lanes in the next year or so, allowing easier transportation for tourists and locals alike. It was interesting to watch out the bus window and see such a project. First of all, the people who do the road work are mostly men from India. They blast the roads (it sounds like someone is shooting!) and use massive Caterpillars to move giant boulders and smooth out the road. Then, the men take the boulders and break them with sledge hammers until they are small rocks that are then laid down on road and then sometimes paved over, but usually just driven over as is. The work to make ditches along the side of the road for the water run-off is amazingly time intensive and beautiful once finished.
But back to the trekking! The first day was our first day of perfect sunny weather, not too hot for hiking but warm enough to enjoy the sun's energy. We hiked up to Gaza, the town, the first day through a forest that was very jungle-like without the mosquitoes and searing heat. It was wonderful to see monkeys and birds of paradise (as my friend John taught me they were) with vines wrapping around large tree trunks. It was such a peaceful walk with a gentle ascent past farms and beautiful rural houses. We even saw black bears! (you have to look closely in the center of the photo below to see the bear that is climbing down the trunk)
Stephan had read about the animals of Bhutan in a guide book before leaving, however, and he thought that we saw a bear that is a relative of the panda, because he could have sworn that he saw the bears eating the leaves of the trees. Oh, by the way, the trees surrounding our path were filled with beautiful, purple wild orchids hanging off off their trunks and branches! The first picture of this post is a picture of Gaza with the Kang Bum Mountain behind the top of the dzong in the background. In the foreground are some houses and a local street dog bathing in the sun. At Gaza we were given some fresh vegetables, one of which was called "crow's beak" and was delicious, by a local old woman who had to lean over practically horizontally to walk with her cane. Also, John, one of our trekkers from Britain, began feeling so dizzy that he consistently fell over when trying to walk. He had to go back down for fear that he had had a mini-stroke of some kind or something else equally serious. He is now doing very well...no worries. They for some reason couldn't find anything wrong with him when he got down to the doctor.
The next day we had a very long hiking day all the way to the town called Laya, famous for its beautiful women, said to be the most beautiful in all of Bhutan! The woman seen above, although not from Laya, does have a lot of the same features. I met her along with walk and although we could not speak to each other, she asked if I would take her picture. I was more than happy to oblige. I also met a 17 year old mule herder on his way to Laya with about eight mules (shown below). He went to school until he was 15, so his English was pretty good. He told me about how he was going to sell rice to make money for his family and that there are two different circuits that he takes, depending on the amount of rice and the time of year. Basically, he and his eight mules hike by themselves about twice as quickly as we do for much of the time away from his family. It was pretty amazing to witness and learn about.
The rest of the time hiking was following a beautiful river with the hills and mountains behind it. We had to stop at an army base to show them our permits, and because there was a volleyball net, played volleyball poorly with a soccer ball with some of the yak herders for a while until we were approved to continue. At the gate entrance to Laya I met my first Laya woman. She is shown below. The hat that I am wearing is a typical/traditional Laya hat that is worn by the women there. Although I had no intention of shopping, this woman managed to sell me her hat! That is the Laya way, as I came to understand. There are no shops...the people who want to sell something, wear it, and ask you if you want it when you come. I LOVED it!
We had a rest day in Laya. Within an hour we were invited into a woman's house for some tea. She and her two year old daughter fed us and gave us tea as we sat, trying to communicate and failing pretty miserably. After a short while, we thanked her and made our way straight up the mountain. Being close to the Tibetan border at this time, there were many many very high peaks and we were itching to see them up close. So, we hiked for about four hours straight up. Yes, I mean straight up and incredibly steep hill that had no path other than the occasional yak tracks.
Because it was our rest day, some of the group decided to rest or walk around Laya; because of this, we were trekking without guides. I felt a little like I did on our "adventure hikes" as kids in Whistler when me and my three siblings would set off without our parents into the woods and play around. It was very freeing. The sun was beating down, the wind was whipping around us, and we were all so happy--the happiness you can only get when surrounded by mountains free from everything other than the moment. I think you can tell by reading that this was by far my favorite day! All the below photos are from the trip up the mountainside.
Sorry, I don't remember this mountain's name. Although it is possible it has no name as there are many in Bhutan that are not named.
360 view of mountains!
Tiger Mountain with Andrea on my left and Emily on my right
Bernhard and Stephan half way up the mountain side with prayer flags behind them.
The next day we changed our plans yet again because the Laya mules that were to take our equipment would not go up to Naratang, because they had recently had two of their mules die up there...so we went along the river to Masa Gang Base Camp instead, which is about as close as you can come to Tibet without actually going. We reached the camp, which was a very windy plateau that made me think of the tundra. It was the coldest night we had had, and I was very glad for my -20 degree sleeping bag. The next morning we decided to once again split the group in the morning with half of us booking it up the side of the mountain and the other half leisurely walking along the valley...I bet you can guess which group I decided to join. So, although it was well below freezing, we set off before the sun had reached the camp (because of the high mountains the sun didn't actually get to the camp until 9:45am!) and started up.
When we reached the river, I, of course, fell in. I didn't see the inch of solid ice on the rock that I decided to use, and I was in the water before I realized it. I was fine, but I felt it prudent to go back to camp instead of try to continue to the top. Disappointed, wet, and cold, I spent the rest of my morning trying to dry my clothes and shoes to get ready for the afternoon hike down. I had lots of help from Ugen, Sue and Richard and was very well taken care of. We even managed to get a fire going!
On the way back down we had easy hikes and some extra time. I just wanted to take some time to plug the Kindle. Thank you mom for this wonderful gift. An amazing machine! Some highlights from the trip down include a starry night with tall trees silhouetted against the sky and a river-side sandy beach spot to have a relaxing snack with a fellow trekker.
When we got back from trekking we stopped for the night in Thimpu, left early in the morning for Paro, and spent the day in Paro climbing the Tiger's Nest and shopping. Above is a photo of The Tiger's Nest. We got our flight the next morning and now I'm back in Kathmandu!
