I’ve been offline for a few days, and today (Day 10 of the trek) we are in the town of Laya 12,600 feet. We have a rest day here. It’s beautiful. 

A few nights ago we had a dinner lecture about Bhutan’s four pillars of Gross National Happiness:

• Good governance
• Environmental protection
• Social and economic development
• Cultural preservation

As for being the happiest place on earth, Bhutan ranks about 95th out of 179 countries. It’s a goal.

We are trekking!  The trail keeps going up and down, up and down, bouncing between 12,500 and 16,500 feet. We cover about 9 miles a day, which takes around 7 hours including a lunch stop. It’s doable for everyone on the trip. We do have one sick member… I’m hoping no one else gets what she has.

The views are mind-blowing. All the mountains we see are in Bhutan, and last night (Sept. 28) we were only about a 12-hour walk from Tibet.

There are two other teams on the same schedule as us. We don’t mix much, but I did meet one woman from Seattle named Mindy. 

The weather has been perfect! Sunny days, warm but not too warm. We’re lucky to have broken out of the rain!

From here, the passes get higher and the route more remote. I doubt there will be service for the next many days. 

I’ll report from the other side.