Our next trip was a five day hike across the mountain passes from Paro valley to Thimpu valley. With a small army of ponies and porters we set out from above Paro valley hiking through rhododendron forests in the sunshine, along hill  ridges and passing isolated monasteries. The campsites had toilet tents, carpets to sleep on, a dining tent and roast potatoes with dinner. Utter luxury. Not to mention being woken up by hot tea or coffee and warm water to wash your face.

On the third day we experienced an unusual turn of weather for the time of year. A light flurry of snow in the late afternoon soon became a heavy snowfall. The last sound before drifting off to sleep was the sounds of our porters brushing settling snow from the tops of all our tents. We woke to a winter wonderland. Blue skies, bright sunshine and over four inches of crunchy virginal snow. The ponies were huddled under the trees looking decidedly unimpressed along with a heard of yaks that had wondered onto the plateau the previous evening. We ate breakfast in the open air at our campaign table surrounded by white peaks and blue skies. Although beautiful the snow meant we had to head back down the valley. This was fine until we got below the snow line and then had a three hour slip and slide through thick mud before reaching the bottom!