Trekking Day 10 - Down... and out!

The fire was still going when we got up this morning... Two of the horsemen had slept beside it all night. It was a great treat to wake up to a campfire, especially after another chilly night!

Our guides had to drag us away from the fire to begin our hike, but we were almost immediately rewarded for doing so.  We had a long uphill to start, over mud that had frozen in the night.  Right near the top of the hill, one of the group looked down and noticed a giant paw print frozen in the mud.  It was easily the size of a bear paw, but with no claws showing.

Our two local guides were divided as to whether it was a Bengal Tiger (I'm not sure the print was THAT big!) or a leopard. Not a snow leopard, he said - just a 'regular' leopard. Right!

We took some photos of the print - I can't wait to get home and try to confirm who it was that had shared that trail with us the day before.  How exciting!

We hiked for a few more hours, mostly dropping elevation at this point but occasionally climbing as well.  Then suddenly we dropped down a final hill... And came out to a real road!

We walked the road for about an hour - a brand new road that wasn't even finished yet- and it was actually nice because we could look around and not mind our footing so much!  We passed tall rhododendron trees, and several stands of small bamboo growing up through the understory.  We came to a dam along the river, walked around the curve beyond it....

And there in the field to our left was an unbelievable sight: all of the crew that had helped us, all 50+ horses that had carried our gear... And a long linen-covered table with a catered Bhutanese lunch, complete with local beer, whiskey... And potato chips! (I'm not sure that part was Bhutanese...)

We all celebrated and ate our lunch in the warm sunshine, stunned that it was really over. Then we gathered around to do giveaways for the crew...

This part was really rewarding.  We had been told that we could donate any items we didn't need anymore, and they would go into a drawing for the crew.  

These people had taken amazing care of us for the past ten days, and it was evident from their clothing that they didn't have a lot of gear to spare.  So everyone put in a few items, whether clothing, socks, or a jacket... Dad actually offered up his sleeping bag because he wants one that is warmer... And the very last thing we did was have the crew draw numbers to pick the items.  It was really cool - and it felt like the least we could all do after the great service we'd been given.

Once the drawing was over, the crew went to gather their things and prepare to leave.  I'm not sure what prompted the thing that happened next.  Maybe the first horseman was ready and urged his horses to start moving... 

Instead of a few horses starting down the road, what happened was nothing less than a stampede.  All 50 horses suddenly decided to break for the exit at the same time... Running past our dining table and gear, the vans and all of us... And off down the road they went.

I guess they were ready to go home!

From there, we said thankful goodbyes to the crew and climbed on the bus for the 45 minute ride to Thimphu.  Showers, a fantastic dinner of pizza and salad, and a nice warm bed were waiting for us on the other end of that ride.  

The hiking part of this adventure was now complete.