Today we left The Gangtey Valley and made our way back to Thimphu. We started out at about 9:00 this morning and made a couple of stops along the way for some tea and photos. We stopped at the pass again for lunch, but couldn’t see any mountains because of the haze and fog. I’m so lucky we got to see the mountains the other day! Couldn’t see anything today. Most of today was spent in the car just enjoying the scenery and each others company. It feels like I’m on a road trip with two friends. I guess that says a lot about what a good guide Sangay is and driver Ganesh is. It’s just really comfortable with both of them.

We arrived back in Thimphu in the afternoon. After being out in the countryside for a few days, I forgot how hectic the city is. I wanted to go back to the countryside. We stopped at a weaving factory, an amazing art studio where I got to talk with the artist a bit. A really talented man. After that we went to a paper making plant and I got to see how handmade paper is made and got some souvenirs. Our last stop was a memorial temple built in 1974 as a memorial to the 3rd King. The current King’s Grandfather. It was filled with locals praying, spinning the prayer wheels, and walking around the temple. Of course there were a lot of tourists, but it felt like more local people than tourists. It was a special place.

After the temple Sangay and Ganesh dropped me at my hotel and I had the rest of the afternoon/evening free. I was going to walk around town, but I was tired so I took advantage of the hotel’s steam room and sauna. Super relaxing. After some down time I tried to update the blog but the wifi isn’t great today and I’m still trying to upload yesterday’s blog post. I’m hoping to get both yesterday and today done tonight but it’s almost 9:00 and I’m tired. I hope I can get them done.

Tomorrow we will see sights around Thimphu city and go on a hike. Oh, yesterday there was a wild tiger roaming the streets of Thimphu. They caught her and will be releasing her back into the wild as soon as possible. So, no worries about tiger attacks tomorrow. So that’s the plan for tomorrow.

Hope to update when I can.