A suspension bridge, a modern one this time, marks the start of the trail
As their driver dropped them off at the starting point, and discussed the time to pick them up at the end of the hike, the husband broached the topic of hiking back to the hotel. The guide looked embarrassingly baffled by this suggestion, but quickly acknowledge that there *could* be a trail back and mumbled something vague about taking around an hour to hike back.
The husband asked his wife, "What do you want to do? Go back by car or hike back?" The wife thought to herself, "Go back by the comfortable air-conditioned car or hike back via a trail that the guide does not seem too convinced exists? Wow, what a conundrum!"
The wife turned to the husband and replied, "By car".
The husband turned to the guide and replied, "We'll hike".
My husband loves me, my husband loves me, my husband loves me...
The walk up to the temple was a path along lush paddy terraces of incredible shades of vibrant green
The Bhutanese have no qualms about reusing and recycling objects. These tin can rubbish bins are officially put up by the local municipality and can be found everywhere.
After a heart-pounding 45-minute walk uphill - a preview of what was to come - we arrived at the entrance to the temple
The temple complex was a graceful 5-storey building, located on a ridge with commanding views over the valleys and mountains
View from the top of the temple
Meandering river, lush valleys, majestic peaks, and fluffy white clouds to top it all off - all the ingredients are there!
When we were ready to leave, our guide asked the resident caretaker monk for directions back to the hotel. We were supposed to walk down the mountain slopes across the orange groves, then follow the river upstream until we come to another suspension bridge. Across the bridge, and across the paddy fields yonder, lay our hotel.
As we searched for a trail among the bushes and then later the open, steep mountain slopes (does it actually exist??) where a fall will not see death immediately until I complete rolling down several hundreds of metres of orchard terrain, I reminded myself:
I love my husband, I love my husband, I love my husband...
OK OK so I was exaggerating a little bit. It can't be that bad if there's a family living on the slopes right? (A wooden hut with satellite TV reception, no less). But did I mention that the locals are reincarnated mountain goats who can skip up and down the mighty Himalayas in flip flops?
Our guide stopped to ask for directions downhill from the breastfeeding mother with one exposed breast who was perched at the front platform of the hut. I *knew* no one in his 9 years of tour guiding career had asked to hike back when a perfectly comfortable private car waited nearby
Except this man
We hiked downhill for about 30 minutes, and then came to the valley floor.
The refreshing scent of wild lemons. The smell wafts so clearly through the skin, unlike those in the stores
Finally, the river
Ahah! And the suspension bridge
Can you spot me?
Ooolala...I survived!
That's the temple up on that ridge, and the slopes we came down on.
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