It may have been the coldest camping night yet, but it also may have been our best sleep as the rushing river sound was quite peaceful. We got ourselves organized and packed and then had a quick breakfast before hitting the trail around 7:15 a.m. The path would take us along the river for a while before heading up.
We got to a river crossing with no bridge so we gathered some wood and Lhab and Pema assembled a makeshift bridge.
From there we started climbing. At times it was steep, which was expected. We caught a few sights along the way.
One local stopped our group and asked about us and our walk. When our guide told her how far we walked she was impressed but thought we were a little crazy. As we started walking again I (Ed) said “Jo Gay!” which means Let’s go and she laughed at my Dzongkha. We continued the tough climb until around 10:30 when we came to a village by the main highway. We decided to check our elevation and we were at 9,500 feet. We had climbed 3,200 feet in just over three hours! We were quite surprised and encouraged. After a fairly flat walk for a few minutes, we started the next big climb. It got harder and harder but we kept breathing and taking momentary breaks.
Finally, at 11:56 after 14 kilometers we arrived at the Pelela Pass, 11,140 feet and hours ahead of what we thought we could do (Almost 5,000 feet of gain in less than five hours!). Thus ending our trek on the Trans Bhutan Trail! What a tough journey that we are proud to have accomplished.
There were some shacks set up with people selling items made from Yak hair, but we checked it out and were leery the wares were not legit. So we said goodbye to our camp crew, hopped in the car with our driver, Namgay, and started heading back west.
We would drive almost three hours back to the Dochula Pass Resort where we would spend tonight. It felt so good to get bathed. The camping we did was pretty nice but it’s great to be warm and dry again. An early dinner tonight (with table saw chicken) and now we are organizing for our last days in Bhutan before our long flights home.
(Our previous day’s blog posts have been updated)
Ed & Joan Walk in Bhutan: Land of the Thunder Dragon 
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