SIKHIM AND BHUTAN
Our next camp was in a village called Pemithang, crossing on our way the Be-la Pass (10,500 feet), from where we had a magnificent view of Chomolhari to the north. The road was fairly good, except that in a few places it was covered with ice for several hundred yards; but it was easy to have earth thrown on it, and the mules crossed safely. We were now using animals provided by the Tongsa, and very good ones they were, and as even our servants were mounted it did not take long to move from one camp to another.
At Chalimaphe our camp was again pitched round the magnificent old weeping cypress, measuring over fifty feet in circumference at the base. Unfortunately I had another attack of fever, and had to halt for a couple of days. It was bitterly cold at night, unusually so for that elevation, and water standing by my bed was frozen solid.
Hyslop and Campbell utilised the time by visiting Tashi-cho-jong, the summer capital. They found that since my last visit the Thimbu Jongpen had built a magnificent new gompa, on which he appears to have spent a great deal of money. The decorations were good, and the central figure of a seated Buddha was quite twenty feet high, and heavily gilt. Above and around it was a canopy and background of golden leaves, and the figure itself was richly studded with turquoises and precious stones. On either side were attendant female figures, and in double rows more than life-sized images of Bhutanese gods, while the walls were hung with brocades and embroidered banners; and altogether it must have cost the Thimbu a good deal.
Next morning we left Chalimaphe for the last camp before reaching our destination, Poonakha. The mornings here are always exceedingly cold until the sun rises, when one’s wraps become oppressive, but the ride up the valley was beautiful. This time we visited the fort of Simtoka, which has some ancient figures and carvings
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