Thousand lakes Trek

During my second last week before leaving Bhutan, I went on another trek. Once again, the nature was so stunning and beautiful that it was easy for me to get completely lost in that beauty and in the present moment.
The last few weeks had been very busy, with finishing everything off and saying goodbye. A month earlier, I had asked the guide from Himalayan Unique Travels, who by now has become a close friend, to organise this final trek for me with him and his crew. But when it was finally time to go, I started wondering whether I really had time for it, as the trek would take five days. Since everything was already organised and ready, I felt I couldn’t really say that I no longer wanted to go. On the other hand, I also thought it was a good opportunity to get away from the stress of finishing everything, enjoy nature once more, and have time to reflect on my year here in Bhutan.
Higher up, the rhododendron bushes were in full bloom, along with many other flowers, so the landscape was incredibly colourful. The Dagala trek is also called the “Thousand Lakes Trek,” and there were indeed many beautiful lakes. There are five main lakes, which are sacred and represent the five daughters of Mount Jomolhari. They are believed to protect the country from invaders. Many people only visit one to three of these five sacred lakes. Even my guide friend had only visited three of them before. But this time he was determined to find the other two as well and take me there.
I found it funny because in Switzerland we would simply look at a map to see roughly where the other lakes were located. But here, they don’t really do it like that. Maybe the five lakes are not even marked on a map; I don’t know. My friend said that one of his friends had told him the other lakes were somewhere up behind the third lake. So we went off exploring, looking at the terrain and trying to guess where it would be most likely to find the next lake. I did check whether I could find our location on Google Maps, because I was curious whether it would be accurate enough to show the lakes, but I had no connection, so that was not an option either.
In this way, it became much more fun and adventurous. We did not know exactly where to find the last two lakes, so we kept climbing higher, hoping that behind every ridge or plateau there might be another lake. During our search, the clouds, which had been far below us, started rising quickly and wrapped themselves around the route we had taken up. I just hoped it would not be too misty when we climbed back down to the third lake, because I was not sure whether I would find the way in the mist. But my friend was not worried and said he would find it.
After about an hour of searching, we had found both of the remaining lakes. We were very happy and also a little proud, as not many people have visited all five sacred lakes. Later, we found out that, from our crew, only the horseman, who had grown up in that area, had visited all five lakes before.
In the evenings, we once again played UNO for hours and had a lot of fun. The crew was simply amazing, and I felt in such good hands with them. The food was delicious and varied. Even though I already knew this from my first trek, I was still amazed by the kinds of dishes they could conjure up with the basic kitchen tools they carried with them on the trek.
Just like last time, it was an amazing adventure with the crew.