Bhutan - Day 4

Day 4 was supposed to be an "easier" day and even shorter.  Well it didn't turn out that way for sure.

We left camp and embarked on a 90minute descent into the valley.  It was more technical than the day before but going downhill made it quite fun.  Then began the uphill portion which appeared from a visual inspection to be insane and go on and on forever!  We were to climb to over 4,100m (13,450ft).  A few minutes into the ascent a light rain started.  The guide said it would be light and wouldn't last long.  So we climbed to an area in the woods that was protected a bit and decided we would have tea/coffee and follow that with lunch.  Well we had the tea/coffee and then out of no-place the rain suddenly turned into hail!  We decided to skip the lunch and get to our camp which was about 2.5 hours away.

 A nice simple downhill was a good way to start things out...

 It was here where we crossed a small creek early in the morning that our feet began to get just a bit wet, which would not be fun as the day went on.

 Our guide, Pema, getting a little rest on the side of the horse before our coffee break.

 Here is where we stopped for the planned lunch.

 And here you see the hail getting a bit stronger as a few of the folks decided to get on the horses to go a little bit faster.

 Yeah it's hailing a bit harder isn't it?

 By this point we were all freezing cold and soaking wet from head to toe.  While we had some rain gear we probably weren't prepared (nor were our guides) for the onslaught of snow/hail.

While there were complaints about the weather that day, I personally thought the day was a blast!  The snow/hail created a whole different complication and technical aspect to the climb.  While it was cold, the ground never got slick so it didn't seem too dangerous.  Although it did for the tour company owner.  She was totally unprepared for the weather and was already a slow hiker.  She finished probably an hour after us and only after one of the guides went to find her and make sure she safely got to our camp.

Finally at camp we see the hail has left a fair amount of snow on the ground.  You can see another campground in the back right of the photo.   Unfortunately when we got there we were only shortly behind our guides so they only had the ability to get the dining tent up and everything was thrown in to keep it dry.  So all five of us jumped in this small place, scurried around looking for dry clothes...hopefully.

 After about an hour the hail had stopped and we were warming up.  Lunch was served (although it was about 4PM) and from there we were feeling better.  There was concern about our boots and clothes we had worn.  It was going to be impossible for them to dry by morning and we still had two days of trekking to go.

The night before we learned that bonfires are strictly not allowed in the mountains because of fear of forest fires.  Bhutan doesn't have helicopters to help fight the forest fires so basically when there is one (and they are common due to lightening) then all the locals climb into the mountains to fight them.

However we had convinced the guides the night before that this evening we should find a way to have a fire.  Their answer was they would "try" to accommodate our request.  Thankfully they came through.  As you see below in the photo one of the people used the fire to warm the feet.  We also used it to dry our clothes as best we could.

 Nothing like some wine and whiskey to warm us up after the hike.

 Nearing sunset the weather had chilled and it became beautiful...but still chilled.

 Below is a Bhutan custom called "Beetlenut".  The beetlenut is chewed to give the body warmth, although in Taiwan they also eat beetlenut as a stimulant often used to keep truck drivers awake for a long time.

We all decided to try and figured since we were still chilled this would be the perfect time.  As you see you have the bettlenut on the left, a white paste on the leaf and then the leaf itself.  The paste is actually crushed limestone and the leaf comes from a subtropical environment in Bhutan.  You put it in your mouth, chew it up, occasionally spit the excess liquid that forms and chew it all as long as you can.  It's rather biter and when the nut breaks up it breaks into tons of pieces in my mouth.  The spit that is produced is bright red.  All five of us gave it a try with some chewing it to completion.

After the long, cold and wet day, we totally loved the bonfire and hung out until the wood was gone before heading to bed.