Druk Path Trek - Day 4

The sun didn't hit our campsite until 8am so we stayed in our sleeping bags until 7am. It was so cold overnight that the water in our water bottles froze inside the tent! Although we were quite warm in our sleeping bags.

I got up to see the view, and also to see if I could spot some blue sheep with the great curved horns in the sun at the top of the mountain. I saw some animals, but they turned out to be yaks.

Yesterday we had seen some blue sheep in the last stretch before camp. However we were so focused on getting to camp while it was still in the sun that I didn't stop to take out my camera and take pictures. Earlier in the day we also saw pheasants and Oriental turtle doves.

I took some pics in the morning of the yaks at about the same distance we had seen the blue sheep, about 500m above us at the crest of the mountain. At that distance the yaks looked like blurs, barely recognizable as animals. So it's just as well i didn't try to take pics of the blue sheep - we wouldn't have seen the horns at all.

Today's walk was shorter, and as we were adjusting to the altitude, a little easier too. We crossed a number of passes between 4,000m and 4,200m. There were some flat stretches (finally!) that were more our style of trekking.

Lunch was yummy (tuna cooked with onions and garlic, with rice and vegetables). I was impressed that it took until Day 4 to get into tuna - based on our last trekking experience in Ethiopia I was expecting tuna or boiled eggs for every meal. But on this trek we haven't had the same thing twice yet, including breakfasts!

We reached the final pass at 4150m and had a great view of Thimpu in the valley below. Our camp was near Phajoding Goemba, an organized campsite with washroom facilities. It felt strange to have other people around after trekking with just our group the past few days. The last stretch from the pass to the campsite was very steep (more than 45* at places). It took us an hour to descend at our knees were pretty sore, even with using poles.

Our whole trek we had been followed by 4-5 rather healthy-looking dogs. They latch onto a group because they get the leftovers from meals. They follow a group one way, and then catch another group going back the other way. Because we're getting out of busy season there wasn't another group going back, so the dogs just hung out at the Monaatery. Animals are well-loved in Bhutan so they should be okay.

We had our last dinner cooked by our trekking chef, which was excellent again. We chatted with the crew - they had all completed the Snowman Trek, supposedly the hardest trek in the world. Our trekking guide, Sunam, had done it three times!

We went to bed around 7:30pm. Just in time too, as it started snowing (more like small snow pellets) at 9pm and continued through the night.