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Up and out by 4:30 am to catch the Blood Pheasants along the road to Chele La (pass), 12,500 ft. The Pheasant pairs turned out in high numbers, always good-lookers. The male has grey and white feathers, blood red feet and throat. Blending into the snow at this altitude yet standing out once you find him. The female is brown with a deep red throat. Early success at daybreak. Rain turned to snow, fog banks moved rapidly obscuring or clearing mountain vistas within minutes.
A camp was set up for our breakfast at 8; prepared and ready for us when we arrived. Long table, chairs, a tarpaulin strung over us as protection from the elements, a made-to-order latrine complete with zippered tent was quite the civilized facility. The hot breakfast of porridge (oatmeal), omelet, hot drink, banana warmed us up. More birding among the tall conifers, rhododendrons, barberry, small pink primulas poking out of the snow. Unfortunately a couple of us seemed to react for awhile to the altitude medicine (light headed, stomach upset) but it passed by noon.
Lunch was another picnic in a different spot; same setup amidst a forest of prayer flags. But it started to hail just as we got there. The crew was prepared for anything, escorting us with umbrellas to the tent, serving up another hot meal (beef in sauce, pasta, rice, asparagus (now in season), tea, coffee, hot chocolate). These crews work as well for the trekkers; all the equipment, precise routine, digging a hole for the latrine with a toilet seat on a stand over it, hand towels, soap and hot water, they think of everything to make us comfortable out in the woods.
Funny coincidence we learned today: one of our fellow participants' son was an ES student of Russ' in the early 2000s. Loved his time at Colby.
Late in the afternoon we arrive in Thimphu, the capital with 100,000 of the 700,000 people in Bhutan. This looks more like a big city although still no traffic light; they tried one once, "it didn't work out", so now there is a traffic cop instead.
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