Bhutan - Lindsay Brown [187]
To visit Ngang Lhakhang, make a short, steep climb to a settlement of old-looking houses at 2800m. There are two water-driven prayer wheels; the water comes down an interesting sluiceway of carved wooden pipes. This is Ngang Lhakhang, the Swan Temple. See the description of this interesting temple on Click here.
From Ngang Lhakhang it’s a 30-minute walk to the camp at Sambitang.
Day 2: Sambitang to Ogyen Chholing
18km / 6-7 hours / 750m ascent, 670m descent
The day’s walk starts out across meadows, with a lot of dwarf bamboo and several little streams to cross. The trail cuts across the top of some fields, goes over a small hill and down to a stream. Soon you will be convinced that this cannot be the correct trail and you are hopelessly lost. Don’t worry; stick with your guide or the horsemen because it is a narrow, indistinct trail through forests.
After crossing a stream the trail starts climbing, crossing back and forth across the stream on a series of slippery logs and stones. Birches, sycamores, dwarf bamboo and lots of tall bamboo form a cold, sunless forest. Spanish moss drapes from the ancient trees, giving an eerie feel to the steep climb.
Finally, the stream disappears and the climb continues through a rhododendron forest in a dry gully to a rock cairn and a little stone shrine stuffed with offerings of branches and a few ngultrum notes. Tattered prayer flags stretch across the path atop Phephe La (3360m). There is no view from the pass; it is a forested ridge with big birch and fir trees.
There is more deep forest on the opposite side; the trail leads down to a stream at 3200m, then into a side valley covered in dwarf bamboo, passing a small mani wall and a khonying chorten. Much of the walk is delightful, breaking out of the forest into broad meadows full of grazing yaks and cows.
It continues through ploughed fields and wide meadows and then into a broad valley, surrounded by rounded, treeless hills. Near a herders’ hut the trail becomes indistinct as it crosses a meadow. To stay on track, just aim for the trees on the right side of the meadow.
The route keeps going downhill. As it approaches the bottom of the valley, there are several side trails that lead to pastures and buckwheat fields. Take the most prominent trail, which leads downhill to a large stream and a substantial wooden bridge at 2790m near the village of Tahung. Behind Tahung is the Australian-assisted Wobtang sheep development project. A rough road suitable only for tractors follows the right bank of the Tang Chhu from the project all the way down the valley to Tang village. The trekking route leads downstream in meadows next to the river, sometimes on the road and sometimes on a footpath. It crosses the stream you have been following on a road bridge and turns a corner into the main valley of the Tang Chhu at 2640m.
Cross the Tang Chhu near Gamling, a large, wealthy village noted for its yathra weaving, about 45 minutes downstream. Walk downstream from Gamling, crossing a stream and following the trail around a farmyard. Soon it starts climbing onto a ridge, reaching four chortens and several large houses at 2760m. Ogyen Chholing is on the top of the hill to the right. You can camp near the palace or splurge on a room in the guest house. For more information about Ogyen Chholing Palace and its fascinating museum, Click here.
Day 3: Ogyen Chholing to Kizum
16km / 1 hour / 130m descent
It’s a short walk downhill to Kizum where the vehicles should be waiting. It’s then a 25km drive to the junction of the paved road near Membartsho.
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DUER HOT SPRING TREK
With special permission, it might be possible to extend this trek to the base camp of Gangkhar Puensum itself, although this is a rough, difficult route. It is also possible to vary either the upward or return route to travel via the Mangde Chhu valley to meet a gravel road that leads west from Trongsa.