SIKHIM AND BHUTAN
From Simtoka a good road led us up the Lhung-tso Valley to the Dokyong-la (9570 feet), through beautiful glades of oak, chestnut, and rhododendron, while on the higher slopes forests of Pinus excelsa reappeared, in pleasant contrast to the barren slopes of the past two days. But on reaching the east side of the pass we seemed suddenly to come into a completely changed climate, and the valley we were entering might have been in Sikhim, not Bhutan. It was evidently a wet zone, and with a very bad path leading to our camp at Lungme-tsa-wa, we were glad when our march was over.
Next day we continued our descent down a steepish lane overhung by rhododendrons in full bloom, until we reached a bridge across the Teo-pe-rong-chhu. After crossing we gradually ascended a fair road on the side of hills quite different from those on the opposite side, sparsely clothed with Pinus longifolia, and a remarkable contrast to the flowering thickets on the way down. High above us were the monasteries of Norbugang and Ta-lo, and after rounding a ridge which parts the Mochu-Pochu from the Teo-pe-rong-chhu we again began to descend to our camp at Gang-chung-Dorona (5800 feet), the last before reaching Poonakha. Neither Poonakha nor Angdu-phodang were at any point visible.
It was in heavy rain next morning that we had to make our entry into the capital of Bhutan, along a road of heavy clay, on which it was almost impossible to keep one’s footing. Close by a choten built at the junction of two valleys, and commanding a most picturesque view of the castle, I was met by a curious collection of musicians, dancers, &c., in gay clothing, sadly out of keeping with the constant rain and mud. Preceded by them, we managed in time to reach the bridge across the Mo-chhu, and after a little pause to cross, under a salute of guns—fifty now instead of thirty—heartily glad to reach the shelter of our camp, where a wooden house of two rooms was prepared for us.
In the camp waiting to receive me were the Tongsa
138
