September 28: The Road to Paro

Five o’clock comes early after a shot of whiskey the night before. Nevertheless, we had to be up a 5:00 today so that could be cleaned up by 5:30, when Tashi and Tanzin arrived to help me don my gho for the day.

We were on the road back to Paro by 6:00. Once again, winding and rough. After an hour of being jostled around, we stopped for breakfast with a view of Bhutan range of the Himalayas.

A few minutes later, we returned to the Donchula Pass and visited the temple there.

Another two hours of rough riding,and we were back in Paro and ready for our hike to Tiger’s Nest Monastery–a round trip of five hours. The hike was by far the most physically challenging thing I’ve ever done. Having a bad-ish cold didn’t make it any easier. Nor did climbing from an altitude of 2500 meters up to 3000 meters (Columbus’s altitude is around 150 meters). I made it, though, and it was well worth the effort. I’m certainly looking forward to getting to bed, though, as are my feet and knees.