The Curse is Broken!

At around 5 o’clock in the evening, as I descended from Sinchula Pass (3,315masl between Thimphu and Punakha) with my team, some of whom were exhausted from walking the whole day, some from knee and ankle disorientation from the downhill descend, some still in high spirits way ahead, when suddenly in front of us on the black topped road stood a white colored monster on four wheels ready to take us back home. Surprisingly the day ended without the need to walk in the dark, without using phone or torch lights and without getting off track or ‘lost’ as me and my team are almost habituated with for every hiking trail we explored in the past. As the day ended with great success and well on time, deep in me I felt the curse was finally broken.

We are Bhutan Swallowtail’s usual R&D team exploring new trails, hikes, overnight camping and trekking adventure in Bhutan. This time we were 8 men and 1 woman, with packed lunches on our back and all the men wearing big knives around the waist in the traditional style to clear the bushes lest we lose our way and end up bush walking as we usually used to before.

We started from Dochula Pass (3,116 masl) which is about thirty minutes drive from Thimphu.  The pass itself is a land mark and an attraction with the 108 stupas perched on a hill top with panoramic view of various Himalayan snow-capped mountains of Bhutan like the Gangkar puensum, Table Mountain, Gangchen Tag and many more.

From Dochula it is about 16.7 Km walk along the mountain ridges till Sinchula Pass with the view of Punakha on one side, Thimphu valley on the other and an almost 360 degree view of snowcapped mountains all the way. The trail leads through the Jigme Dorji National Park, the second largest park of Bhutan and is adorned with numerous species of the beautiful Rhododendron flowers. Among 36 mammals are recorded with the common sighting of the Red Panda, Snow Leopards and even the Bengal Tigers sharing the habitat. The highlight of the Trail is the 360 degree view of the snowcapped Himalayan ranges accompanying all the way till the descend from the Sinchula Pass into Kabesa village in north Thimphu.