Avid Canadian mountain climber looks for greater challenges abroad. How about biking through Bhutan, the world's last Himalayan Buddhist kingdom? (canada.com)The grin on my face is as wide as the Bhutanese suspension bridge I'm flying across is long. And it defies all logic. I'm terrified of heights and way out of my comfort zone. But I'm cycling in Bhutan -- the Land of the Thunder Dragon -- a wonderful, welcoming place in the Himalayas, and everything in life feels possible.
Two of my cycling buddies have just flown across the nearly 400-meter span, the longest suspension bridge in the country. It bridges the banks of the north-south running Punakha Chu River, just north of Punakha Dzong, in central Bhutan.
Collection of Yeti or "Abominable Snowman" evidence in Bhutan's Paro Valley includes tracks, hair samples, and documentation of regular sightings.
The wheels of my mountain bike whir across the steel slats and keep rhythm to the mantra in my head: "Don't look down, just pedal, Don't look down, just pedal."
Bhutanese Buddhist novices joyfully play their version of stick-wheel meditation.
I'm part of a group of 13 cyclists on the adventure of a lifetime -- eight days of cycling in Bhutan, where seeing a bike is almost as rare as sighting a black-necked crane. Walking is a primary means of transportation, usually on trails shared by mules and across suspension bridges like this one that link valleys and people throughout the country. Buses, cars, and four-wheel drives fill roadways closer to the towns of Paro and Thimphu, the capital.
Tiger's Nest Buddhist Monastery, a Bhutanese national treasure
We started our trip in the Paro Valley. After two days of acclimatizing by hiking 900 meters up to the Tiger's Nest Monastery and peddling up-valley to the ruins of the Drukgyel Dzong, we begin cycling in earnest with the biggest climb of the trip, a 1,700-meter ascent over 36 kilometers to Chele la, the highest road pass in the country at 3,982 meters.
Our guides, Kesang and Rinzin, ride with us. Ugyen drives the sag wagon. Kesang rates this climb, with multiple switch backs through blue pine forest, "gentle but endless." More>>
