Day 6 - Solo Ride from Kolkata to Land of Thunder Dragon

Day 6

Yesterday when I was having dinner, I found a group of foreigners also having their dinner in the dining hall. One of them Steve was curious at me. They were the Geology students from Arizona State University. It appeared that Steve too worked for IBM for a couple of months and he is very amazed to see a software professional doing such a solo trip all alone from India. He asked me to join their trekking session on the next day to Taktsang Monestary as they will have a guide and all needed equipment with them. I did not gave a second thought to it and nodded. Just thanks the Almighty to give me such a opportunity. We were about to start from hotel around at 8 am in the morning. The bus will come to pick us up. Theie tour co ordinator assured me to wake me up in advance.

Next day on the day 6th, I was about to experience my first ever trekking experience on a mountain. It was really a challenge to me. We were provided fiber sticks, hydration packs. We were about to stop at the middle of the trek where a small cafeteria is built for the trekkers. Below is some snaps :



Steve at extreme right.

 The trek route was full of the horses and donkeys which were carriying the ration for the lamas and the cafeteria at the mountain top. The cattle could not resist their speed at the downhill, so we need to make space for them in the narrow trek road, that was a hell of experience!!

Taktsang Monestary is the place where you can witness the highest architectural wonders done by the ancients Bhutanese architects, the whole places is created just by cutting the stones and using the same stones to build the walls. It's a real marvel!!

We started climbing down towards the plain after spending 1 hour around at the top. Photography is prohibited in the Monetary, so could not tried to get out the camera as I did not want to spoil the resident's privacy. It took less time when we climbed back down. Bid good bye to the team and started again my solo journey towards the Drugyel Dzong. The Dzong was fully devastated in a forest fire, so there are only some walls were standing there. Met a person there who used to go to the Dzong before it was devastated, had a long chat with the old man, shared a cup of tea and chocolates with him. I left the Drugyel Dzong around at 1pm. Paro Dzong was yet to visit, so hurried up and reached to Paro Dzong within no time. But after Punakha and the Taktsang this one seemed dull, so decided to head for Phouentsholing on the day itself. It was not a wise decision to make, but I took it. It was 170 kms I had to cover only relying upon my headlight, my fog lamp were out two days ago already!! 

Reached Phuentsholing at around 9pm at the night and decided to stay at Jaigaon which is comparatively a cheaper place to stay rather than Psoling. Booked a room for 200 bucks with a proper garage so that my bike stays safe at night, freshened up and had my dinner. I was damn tired. I did not think if I would start for Siliguri on the next day or not. Will decide at the morning. Finished some call with my family and some friends who were tensed back in Kolkata for me and went to bed. That day I got a sound sleep.