Bhutan - Lindsay Brown [189]
Day 4: Phokpey to Pemi
20km / 6-7 hours / 480m ascent, 1160m descent
The trail goes through a small notch and onto another ridge at 3700m. It traverses the east side of the ridge, passing big rhododendrons with large leaves that curl up in the cold. Soon you will see the pass up ahead. After a long traverse at 3770m, the trail begins the final climb to the pass up big stone slabs and a steep stone staircase. Rodang La (4160m) is about a two-hour climb from camp. There’s a small stone chorten here.
Once across the pass it’s a steep descent of nearly 2500m to the valley floor. The descent starts on some rough rocks and an unbelievably long and steep stone staircase that was built when this was the only route between eastern and western Bhutan. This is the same near-vertical slope that the road descends on the eastern side of Thrumshing La, which is only 20km to the south.
You can see the trail far below, snaking down the ridge to the east. This is a tough route for horses, and it is said that even the king walked downhill here.
Part of the route is along a vertical face and the trail is on wooden galleries fastened into the side of the cliff. There are a few small meadows as the trail winds its way down on a complex route through a region where sightings of ghosts and yetis have been reported. Leaving the rhododendrons and conifers, it makes a gentle descent through a forest of broad-leafed species along a ridge to the east to a big meadow called Pemi at about 3000m. After a short walk through some dwarf bamboo you reach the ruins of a house and a camp site at 2950m. This is not an ideal camping place because the water is 15 minutes down the side of a hill; go easy on the washing here. The ruined stone building was the grain storehouse during the time of the first and second kings, when royal parties travelled regularly between Bumthang and Kurtoe.
Day 5: Pemi to Khaine Lhakhang
21km / 7-8 hours / 350m ascent, 1340m descent
From Pemi the trail tumbles into the valley of the Noyurgang Chhu. The route leads from the camp through dwarf bamboo, then heads down a damp, rock-filled gully with lots of leaves, moss and wet rocks to pick your way through.
At about 2600m the vegetation changes to ferns and more tropical species and there is a long level stretch through the mud. It then goes down steeply again, working its way out towards the end of a side ridge and a meadow called Sang Sangbe (2300m), where a ghost is said to live. High on the hillside on the opposite side of the valley is Yamalung Goemba, hidden behind a bunch of very tall trees planted in a circle. The trail drops off the side of the ridge to a bridge over a stream at 1700m. The village of Ungaar is on a ridge above the stream and downstream is another small village named Zhobi. It’s then a short walk across rice fields in the bottom of the valley to a suspension bridge over the Noyurgang Chhu at 1660m.
Cross to river left and start climbing through ferns and tropical jungle to Bulay (1800m). The trail passes above the rice terraces of the village, turns a corner and climbs up a little draw. The valley below is covered with rice and temporary shelters used by planters.
The trail makes a long climb as it heads along the valley, traversing in and out of side valleys and passing numerous villages. Kulaypang (1930m) is a few simple houses and some cornfields. There’s an inviting-looking trail that goes down and cuts across the next ridge but the correct trail goes up.
The trail passes below the settlement of Gomda (2040m). The language spoken in these villages is Kurtepa, which Dzongkha speakers cannot understand. After passing a chorten, the trail drops to cross a stream at 2000m, then climbs to a mani wall at 2020m. Then it’s a level walk past cornfields to the few houses of Gongdra and a Tibetan-style chorten.
Beyond Chanteme, a spread-out village with extensive cornfields, the trail crosses a stream