Thursday and Friday, March 21and 22, 2013
Day 5 Gangte
We make the beautiful drive to Gangte (approx. 2-3 hrs) and visit the extensive 450-year-old Gangte Goemba. We also take the opportunity to explore the Phobjikha Valley region on a nature walk (approx 2 hours).
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The road to Gangte is basically a one lane road that winds and soars to a 10,000 foot pass. Much of it is under widening construction and strewn with rubble from construction and landslides. The inside cliffs were steep and the outside cliffs even steeper. It was just better to trust our driver and not pay attention to how close our wheels were to the crumbling cliffs especially when making wide turns on the outside edges, wheels inches from the side and on collsion course with any oncoming vehicles.
We stopped for lunch in a little restaurant just before the summit. There was a a consignment table at the restaurant for local handcrafts by yak farmers and villagers. As we climbed higher in the mountains, it was getting colder and colder. The increasing chill factor prompted my purchase of brightly colored Yathe yak wool jacket woven and made by a local. Of course I didn't really need an excuse because I loved the jacket, but it is so special to buy it here. I immediately wrapped my self in the jacket.
A few miles further up the road, we stopped at a 450 year old monastary. An old Bhutanese woman approached me pointing at the jacket with a grin and a gleam in her eye. I don't know what she was saying, but I think it was something like "I recognize this jacket..it was made from the back of my yak."
Later in the day, we took a lovely trek down the sides of a high mountain valley, studded with towering pines. It felt very much like Sierra Valley. The sky was darkening with clouds and the wind was blowing them down from the crests.. We passed through farm lands where people were hand chopping trees and milling beams and planks by hand. There are only oxen plow trails to many of these mountainside farms, and the cows definitely have the right away.
We arrived at the rustic guest house where we would spend the night only minutes before the clouds opened up with a crash of thunder and a freezing sleet. We were the only group here. The guesthouse is only a few years old, but is quite rustic with only a wood burning stove in the dining room for heat. We gathered around the stove and warmed ourselves with tea and coffee, and sweet biscuits. The staff were very sweet and accommodating.
Our rooms were small, modest, and very cold. The little heater, single pane windows and lack of weather stripping did little to lessen the chill. When the electricity flickered off, those of us who were in our rooms getting settled, grabbed our books, ipads and kindles and returned to the dining room circling the stove. We spent the late afternoon and early evening reading, eating, and chatting by candlelight as the storm continued. The scene reminded me of Little House on the Prairie where the Ingalls family huddled around the stove in a blizzard.
We talked with our guide about the beauty of the valley. Our guide said he thought it would be a good idea to have mountain bike trails for tourists. Bhutan is working hard to attract not only trekking tourists, but those who might have other recreational ideas. We suggested the mountain bike trails could also be used for cross country skiing. Yes, he thought that sounded good, but the roads are not very passable and treacherous during wintry snow season and the summer monsoon season.
When we were ready to retire, we were each given a hot water bottle filled from the kettle on the wood stove to warm up our beds. Once we were in bed with our thermals, hot water bottles, and stacks of blankets, we didn't feel the chill at all. It could rain or snow all night. As I drifted to sleep though, I couldn't stop myself from thinking that we would be back tracking down the same road we had snaked our way up, and what that might be like with snow and mud.
Day 6 Paro
When we awoke, neither of us wanted to get out of our cozy bed nest, but we did. The electricity had come on during the night and our little heater had taken some of the chill out of the room. The pine trees on the surrounding mountain sides were powdered with fresh snow. We hurriedly dressed and went outside and down to the dining room where the wood stove was fired up and fresh pots of tea and coffee sat steaming away on top. By 8:30, we had eaten an excellent breakfast of toast, fried eggs, fried potatoes (potatoes are the primary crop in this valley)' and lady finger bananas, and were on the road back to Paro where we had come from on our first day in Bhutan.
It's a long slow trip, and the road is not as bad as I feared it would be, but is certainly still a challenged for our driver as he negotiates the steep, sharp, mud slick roads in a long wheel based bus. Everyone has been pretty quiet today, as we have each purposely either looked at the scenery or turned our back and avoided looking at the road and the rubbly steep cliffs looming up and down on either side of us. The road is dry and untouched by rain and sleet in some places while other places are muddy and puddly. It's been cloudy and showery off and on throughout the day.
As we approach Paro the sun is peaking out a bit. Tomorrow, we hike to Tiger's Nest Monastery.
All is well with the Worrall Travel R's
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