Day 13 to 21 - Bhutan

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Well we all landed safely in Bhutan and although we were the last passengers to leave the Airport, sorting out Visa issues, we were met outside by our BTCL Guide who had a small bus waiting just for us to take us to our Hotel. As all of this accommodation had been booked for us directly by the Bhutan Tourist Corporation as part of the country's entrance fee!, we had no idea of what to expect, but it was a very pleasant surprise. We were given 3 traditional, 2 bedroom, timber cottages in the grounds of the Hotel, one for Jo and I, one for Freddie and Imogen and the last for Harry. The children we're in their element, their own little houses complete with Living room, TV and telephone. ........... It wasn't too bad for us either!!

After breakfast we went to the Annual 'Paro Tshechu Festival' which ran from the 2nd to 6th April. This was one of the most important festivals in the Bhutan calendar and it was extremely colourful and impressive to watch. The King and Queen had been to the festival the previous day and each morning began with a large procession from the Dzong. This was a huge ornate fort which now housed the government offices and the monks. Everybody turned up in their local dress, the men wearing a 'Gho' and the women wearing a 'Kira' made of beautiful cloth. Jo once again, with the help of our guide 'Tshering' (nickname Drox) used her VIP Pass and we managed to sit on the front row, normally reserved for Family ......... and as we were a Family, I suppose that qualified! We stayed at the festival all morning before getting lunch and the children thouroughly enjoyed the experience. It was now time to head to the mountains for our 6 day trek.

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As a new road was under construction through the villages the bus got us as far as it could giving us a short 40 minute walk to Base Camp 1 where we would stay for our first night. As part of the trek we were provided with an entourage of support, comprising 1 cook, 1 waiter, 2 horsemen, 1 porter, 9 mules and 2 ponies, carrying 3 sleeping tents, 1 dining tent, 1 kitchen tent and 1 toilet tent (to cover the hole), food, cooking facilities etc, etc, etc .................. Now that's what I call camping!! ......... One of the mules managed to drop the Hot Tub on the way up!!
We had also inherited a stray dog from one of the villages that Imogen named 'Odie', he was great,........ ok,........ flea bitten and suffering from mange, but a wonderful dog who seemed to be our gaurdian on the whole trek. There were many dogs in Bhutan, all wild and nobody seemed to look after them.

The next day was going to be a big one, as we were informed by Drox, our guide!! .......... It turned out to be a really big one!! ........................ 9 hours trekking following the river up to second base camp. The river was a constant white water river with water crashing over rocks, a wonderful sound to be walking to. The path was continualy rocky with many ups and downs, a lot more ups than downs as the day progressed, but it was beautiful just being miles from anywhere in the complete wilderness. The chilldren were getting back to basics, birdwatching (unfortunately only one type of 'bird out here!!'), skimming stones, fishing (although illegal iin Bhutan! .......... Iuckily they didn't catch anything!), sucking the nectar out of the flowers of the rhododendron!!, sitting round camp fires and wittling wood from the Nepalese army knifves they had acquired and playing the Bhutanese game of 'stone throwing' ............... quite a simple game really, you find a nice round but flat stone and throw it at a stick some distance away! closest to the stick wins! ......... hours of fun for the children and it did get very competative. All in all generally doing things that young children should be doing and thoroughly enjoying it.

Our trusted team delivered a hot lunch from their food flask and after a few minutes we were on our way again. The mules and crew were now way ahead of us as they would have camp set up by the time we arrived. Jo was now flagging, having caught a chest infection (that most of us had before the trip) that was not helped by the fumes and smog of Kathmandu! but luckily we had some antibiotics with us and with the increasing altitude (now at 3000m) she was, understandibly starting to get tired. ............... I think the thought of divorce was now at the forefront of her mind!!! Jo started off before us, after lunch, to get a head start but we soon realised after a short while that she had taken a left fork, rather than a right fork! ............. Jo was now on her way to the China!! .......... and would reach the border in 2 days!!! .......... alone!

Fortunately we managed to rescue her and carried on our way, with each of the children enjoying a cool respite, riding part of the way by pack pony - rather nerve racking coming down some of those rocky paths! .......... certainly something they would not have done at home!! The boys got to Base Camp 2 way before us, but it was certainly a good sight when we eventually made it. Just before getting to camp we spoted a wild polecat running over the rocky shore on the other side of the river, which Imogen thought was awesome! Reminds me of 'Gerald the Gorilla' sketch ........Explorer being interviewed: - "when we caught Gerald, he was in fact wild!". Gerald the Gorilla: - "WILD, I was livid!!" ............... Great sketch!

The weather at Base Camp 2 was not looking encouraging as the temperature had dropped quite significantly, passing some patches of snow and ice on the previous day and you could see a storm brewing over the mountains. This coupled with Jo's chest infection and now at 3700m with 1000m to go to Main Base Camp, we decided to change our plans and trek back down, but this time break the journey into 3 days, rather than 2. This made it much more enjoyable on the legs and the right decission was made as the following night we could hear a large thunder storm higher up the mountain witth rain at night, followed by hailstones for a short part of the day. The weather cleared on the last day, giving us a bit of sunshine and we all enjoyed the last day at camp generally chilling out and having a good family conversation around the camp fire with the children, from Napoleon to the football!

Descriptions from Harry, Freddie and Imogen: 'Loved the wilderness', 'feeling like an animal', 'cool whittling', 'trailing the river', 'tiring up and down rocky paths', 'awesome polecat', 'trying to cross the river on rocks', 'watching mummy and Harry slip in!', 'drinking water from the river', 'crossing log bridges', 'the constant noise of the river', 'very cold at night', 'yellow popcorn for breakfast!', 'the stray dog that looked after us, which we called 'Odie'', 'the see through water', 'the power of the rapid water', 'loved looking for snakes whith daddy and our snake stik it was awesome!!!'
Description from Jo: 'loved everything above, but camping is camping!! - 'nights were cold and uncomfortable'
Back in the comfort of a soft warm bed in our traditional Bhutanese cottages the children were again very excited at the responsibilty of having their own home (without the mortgage!) and playing grown ups ........... especially Imogen.
The extra couple of days enabled us to go to Thimphu, the capital city and home to the much loved Royal Family. This was a very cultural day visiting the huge Dzong (Fort and Temple) and local farmers market. We also went to see the new Giant Bhuddha, which is still under construction at 149' tall and we are informed will become the eighth wonder of the world - the diamond on Bhuddha's forehead proportedly cost 33 million.

The Eighth Wonder of The World - The 149' Giant Bhudda ................ and Imogen!

The last day we managed a trip into Paro, where we bought Imogen a traditional 'Kira' and having a go at Archery, with bamboo bows and arrows; Archery being their national sport. We will all miss Bhutan, a great chilled place to visit with very genuine and freindly people, a humbling experience as most people in the villages had very little, with some people frequently walking 15 hours each way through the jungle to the Tibet boarder, to buy cheaper cloths for their children. If caught they would be sent to prison.