The most arduous road trip so far, the first hour and a half was fine, a slow zig zag on a good road up to Dochu La at about 10,000 ft where I was hoping for some magnificent Himalayan views but the cloud was there before us .As we descended all the way down to 4,000 ft and the valley floor the road gradually deteriorated to a potholed unsurfaced track and progress became painfully slow.We had lunch at a small hamlet and as I ate I looked out on the adjacent dry rice paddy where two young men and a young woman methodically cut the rice stalks bundled them into sheafs, built a stack and baby sat a tiny little girl toddler,it was people watching at its best.There was a cat too, supervising.
Near the ruins of the burned out monastery at Wangdue we crossed the river for the ascent to the Black Mountains which proved to be as scenic as it was scary,the road an easy rival to the worst that India had to offer.Our driver is excellent and our Hyundai Santa Fe in as new condition,but it somehow dosnt count for much when you seem to be balancing on the edge of an abyss for hour after hour,creeping higher and higher.Then at 11,000 ft and shadows falling we began the easterly descent into the Phobjikha valley.Totally isolated,broad,fertile and sparsely settled,this is probably the most remote place I have ever been to.I am spending the night in a guesthouse after the seven hour drive and the silence is deafening,I can hear my slightly laboured breathing (it is still 10,000 ft) and nothing else.Tomorrow some hiking and hopefully a glimpse of some wildlife perhaps the fabled Black necked Crane,Muntjar,Boars,foxes,Leopards and Black Himalayan Bear, all are said to make this area home.Obviously there is no Internet here,they have not long had electricity,so this post will be queued pending....
108 Stupas at Dochu La 3300 mtrs
Wangdue Monastery (Destroyed by fire 2012)
Rinchengang
Phobjikha valley,first sight.
From the Guesthouse.
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