We slept in today--clear till 6:45am :) Breakfast wasn't until 8 so that gave us some time to read, talk, and lie lazily in bed enjoying the view of the sun rising over the mountains--which was excellent. It was still cold this morning, but so much warmer than yesterday. At breakfast Dorgee went over today's agenda with us. He said it would take us 3 hours to get to Ghandrung (where we would be staying tonight). He said we would stop there for lunch, and that we needed to take showers there, then we would hike to a museum.
I tried to joke with him asking him if we stink, but he didn't take it as a joke, he just answered "yes" in a very matter-of-fact tone. Although, I'm sure we did stink. Once we saw our first "lodge" here, Heather and I agreed to go without showers until we finished the trek--which I was fine with, but apparently Dorgee is sick of smelling us, so alas, I did shower upon reaching Ghandrung. I should mention that the toilet, shower and sink are all in one small room, which sounds typical for a small bathroom I suppose, but the difference is there is nothing separating the shower from everything else, so the whole bathroom gets soaked when you shower.
I've gotten a touch ahead of myself though. I have to say, this mornings 3 hours of hiking was gorgeous (of course--everyday has been). We were in jungle territory today though so we saw (actually we heard them long before we saw them) lots of big white monkeys (and a few baby monkeys) in the trees reeking havoc on the branches as they leaped from one tree to another.
After a quick, almost hot, shower, Heather and I had lunch and then she stayed at the lodge while I went on a tour of the town with Dorgee and our porter. I thought we were going for a 1-hour hike to visit a museum, but it turns out it was just down a few rock stairways and around a few bends. The museum wasn't the most impressive one I've ever seen, but it was entertaining. It was in a little adobe house, but the lights didn't work, so we got three little flashlights and read about the artifacts and the typical jobs/days of the people that used them. There was also a latter like staircase we followed upstairs, but there was even less to see there.
Upon existing the museum, Dorgee asked if I wanted to see the monastery--which was kind of funny because it turned out to be a Buddhist temple (like all the ones we saw in Bhutan only not as fancy) and Dorgee is Hindu. After we finished exploring the temple, Dorgee led me to another building, which turned out to be a clinic of sorts with a helicopter landing pad behind it overlooking the valley. Dorgee and I sat on the cliff edge there and took in the valley below. It was a beautiful moment, and then, eventually, it started to feel a bit awkward, so I suggested maybe we should head back. Good times.
Heather and I tried to read out in the courtyard since we had the luxuries of time and sunshine today, but despite the sun, it was still a bit cold and we ended up spending the remained of the afternoon huddled up under our scraggly blankets in our room. I don't understand how the sun did not warm up our room (at all), but I will be so grateful to finally be warm again--hopefully tomorrow :)
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