Today we hiked to 4600m, just below the sacred 5000ers on the route between Labatama and Panka. The famous "Thousand Lakes Trek" finally delivered some lakes, along with endless vistas of the surrounding high peaks.
Our trek into the high mountains of Bhutan had began and we eased our way up the hillside to a camp at 3300m amongst the trees. The next day, our procession of horses, cook, guides and horseman hiked to the pass at 4300m before descending to make camp on the plateau at Labatama. Behind us, the 7000m peaks of the Tibet-Bhutan border ringed the horizon, with Kangchenjunga just beyond.
Erinna and I did our best Kate and Will impression in the heavy rain as we hiked to Paro Taktsang, the Tiger's Nest Monastery, on our second day in Bhutan.
Taktsang Palphug Monastery, the Tiger's Nest, is sat 900m above the town of Paro in western Bhutan. In the 8th century, Guru Rinpoche flew here on the back of a tiger from Tibet and mediated for 3 years, 3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days & 3 hours. Now it's a prominent Buddhist sacred site, and a beautiful pilgrimage spot 2 hours trek up from the valley. For the lazy tourists, a horse ride will take you half way.
A weekend skiing at Zell, catching the last of the (rapidly melting) off-piste tree skiing.
Our last day of the tour and there was just enough time for one last adventure. We had heard almost by chance of the Tälligrattunnel, a kilometre long shortcut beneath the mountain which would take us to the ski resort and town below. The hut had barely enough signal to allow us to retrieve a likely GPS co-ordinate, but we arrived at the hillside and dug in good faith. Our work was rewarded and soon the entrance revealed itself. The shortcut was ours!
Another day of very challenging weather and navigation as we crossed to Konkordia over the Grünhornlücke. I led the route uphill in near zero-visibility, using a rope on the pole to look for terrain changes in the landscape ahead. We roped up for the ski down, which was equally exciting!
