We left Thimphu at 4:45 AM and drove down to the only east - west highway. It has improved in the last few years and much of it is well paved and we made good progress driving up to Dochu La, the pass at 10,000'. We walked a miles or so along the road passing several types of blooming
rhododendrons and magnolias. We finally stopped at a turnoff where our kitchen crew had set up our table. After porridge with honey and raisins and great local cheese and we were off heading down out of primary conifer forest into lower elevation dryer areas of small farms and villages.
Crimson-browed Finch
Rhododendron
We came to the junction of two rivers, one of which the Bhutanese consider male and one female. On the land between was the large Dzong of Punakha where the seat of government and religion was located until it was moved to Thimphu. We turned left on the Tashitang Trail which follows the Mochhu (female) River.
We noticed a lot of traffic going our way until Ugyen, our Bhutanese leader, remembered that today was a special ceremony in which various relics of the "Unifier",Ngawang Namgyal, who arrived in Bhutan in 1616 and brought the various Buddha sects together into the present country. These relics are only on exhibit very rarely - this being the 400th anniversary - of his arrival - so this was a very special occasion.
As we approached the spectacular Dzong we could see an enormous line of people winding around the building. We inquired and were told that if we wanted to go in but not view the relics we could bypass the line...so in we went, climbing some very steep steps and entering a hall full of people.
Ugyen lead us through into a large courtyard full of people, many of whom were musically chanting. The relics were displayed on one side and Ugyen lead us over and pushed us into the line!! We thought this wasn't a great idea but no-one seemed to object so we gave the monks some offerings of cash and looked at the various object: hats, shoes and one tooth! On one wall was a quilted tapestry well over 100' wide and high depicting a large golden Bhudda and ornate designs - really amazing and unfortunately no photography was allowed.
Ugyen lead us into the temple where people were prostrating themselves in front of other golden Bhuddas. We finally left along with large groups of school children and found our bus that took us a short ways to our cooking crew who had a large lunch all ready for us: the national dish of chilies and cheese, chicken, squash, eggplant, among other dishes! Amazing what they can produce under pretty primitive circumstance.
We continued driving up the Mo Chhu Valley on a narrow rutted dirt road and into another part of the enormous Jigme-Dorji National Park we had visited yesterday. The woods became dense and we birder here and there. I actually skipped one excursion and fell asleep on the bus.
Our First Camp-site
At 4:15 we pulled off the track onto a grassy areas next to the roaring river and found our kitchen crew once again , plus others who had set up five tents, plus two toilet tents and an eating tent. Bob and I picked out a tent which was pretty spacious with two comfortable cots and even a small solar powered lamp! All of our luggage was brought to us and we found we have to organize ourselves better for future camping - sorting our stuff so we can have just one suitcase each in the tent. It got a little chaotic figuring where our stuff all is!
We had another good dinner and David produced a bottle of local whiskey which enlivened the evening. We soon went off to our tents and had a surprisingly good sleep!
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