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Tsochenchen
As the horseman Tenzin lights a fire, Cranky gets his hope up for thawing his feet at their campsite at 3870 meters. The air temperature measures – 4°C but feels much colder due to a light breeze blowing from the glacier above.
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Chamkhar Inferno
The morning brings the smell of fire and sight of smoke in the valley. A smoldering gap the size of a city block opens where the stores were where we had bought trekking provisions just last night. The town’s only fire engine was overwhelmed by the flames right in the heart of town. Dreary residents…
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As Far As The Road Will Take Us
Chamkhar, our eastern most point from where we will hike north towards Gangkhar Puensum, at some 7570 meters the tallest unclimbed mountain in the world. We leave the mountain alone and look for some hot springs instead. A couple of passes above 4500 m will be plenty to tackle for us lowlanders.
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School Kid In Bumthang Valley
As we take a stroll down the #1 and only highway going west – east we chat with children who have mastered a perfect rendition of the Queen’s English with a slight touch of India. Since most school subjects are taught in English, communication with Bhutanese is a breeze for us.
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West Of Dochu La
The old growth forests leave us bedazzled. Everywhere we look, seemingly endless slopes of trees. We can’t stop staring at the trees as if they are an apparition soon to disappear.
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When Weather Really Matters
If the sun doesn’t come out in full force very soon, the rice farmers’ labors of an entire season will go unrewarded. Note the red chillies drying on the roof … the food can be very, very spicy here.
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Paro Dzong
We need to let our first impressions settle before we can really describe what we have seen but here is a place we have visited …
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Bakthapur
A breath of fresh air after Kathmandu, Bakthapur impresses with less traffic and more traditional architecture. It doesn’t take a stroll too far to break away from the tourist infrastructure and get a glimpse at day-to-day life. In the morning we stumble across a mostly disassembled cow on our doorstep and buy the Kathmandu Daily…
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Sunset and Sunrise
A couple days in the hills and we find new appreciation for quiet days where watching the sun rise or set is the big event.
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The Himalayas Are Rising
As if to announce the quadruplet of 7000+ meter Ganesh peaks soon to emerge from 3 days of mist we were awoken by an earthquake at 2 a.m. this morning. The vibration lasted a few seconds, noticeable but much too weak to break anything in our vicinity. The epicenter of this 4.9 magnitude quake was…