The Road to Gasa

An Auspicious Weekend: Part II

We were forewarned that the road to Gasa could be treacherous. Rain was in the weekend's forecast. A four wheel drive would be necessary to negotiate the muddy terrain, and the last 1-2 hours of the journey, which were to be accomplished by walking, were promised to be in the company of leeches. We thought about changing locations but pushed ahead. We had already been granted area permits for this region of Bhutan, and now even had a place to stay. Thanks to Roger, HVO Ortho Doc, connections with the right people at the right time were going to allow us to stay at the Royal Guesthouse in the Hot Springs area of Gasa ... originally the Royal Grandmother was to vacation there, but at last minute she cancelled her plans due to the projected weather. Next in line ... the American JDWNR Hospital volunteers!

Seated in an 8 passenger Bolero, early Friday afternoon we departed Punakha for Gasa. With mountains rising to our left and fields of wheat and chili descending to the right, we drove along on a nicely paved road. It seemed to be a perfectly clear, sunny afternoon, until suddenly, firm balls of ice were storming down from the sky and into the open windows of a car! It was a hailstorm! We caught the balls of ice, passed them around to one another to feel, and were just mesmerized at this mysterious act of nature we found ourselves caught in the middle of.

Some time passed, the hail disappeared, and the road turned to dirt. The curves sharpened and I had to hold onto the seat in front of me to keep myself stable. As we tackled the mountain, rain began to drop from the sky. We continuously looked across the valley to the clouds, waiting for the time we'd be above the source of our rain which was steadily turning into a downpour. Craning his neck to look up the mountain, our driver checked periodically for signs of a mud slide and trudged ahead. Several hours later, after the guys in our party cleared rocks to the side of the road to open up space to drive, pushed the car when it got stuck, and negotiated with our driver to stay with us and reach us to the end of the road point (at one time he stated he was just going to drop us off and we could walk several hours the rest of the way! How could he have possibly turned around on a narrow edge of a cliff anyway?!) we reached the end of the road point.

Careful of every step I took and getting past my fear of leeches sucking my blood along the way, I was guided by Ugyen (our driver, who decided to come along for the adventure!), the orthopedic technicians, and my own determination to stay up on my own two feet while negotiating this muddy path with a huge pack on my back (oh, did I learn my lessons about what to bring, or more importantly, what not to bring when backpacking!) Reaching the guest house that was confirmed to be ours for the weekend, the hot springs (the Great Outdoors' natural version of a jacuzzi bathtub!) couldn't have felt better. Again, what strokes of luck we came by to find ourselves safe and sound in this beautiful land!

Pictured Above: Willy, Pema, Samten, Roger, and Ugyen clearing the road for the car to trudge along through to Gasa.

Next Up! Relaxing in the Hot Springs and Forest Fern for Dinner