Food has been good here so far – definitely catered to western tastes. Buffet includes rice, chicken dish, beef of pork dish, lots of veggies (cooked to perfection) then some odd dishes at each meal such as little battered fish pieces & chips or spaghetti noodles with veg. There is inevitably their national dish lurking off to the side: chillies with cheese sauce with or without veg. Delicious but fiery – the fiery stays on the tongue but not the throat though. Desert is something super sweet sometimes cake-y, sometimes fruity. All in all no complaints. Except the coffee. The hotel coffee tastes like it was made by Elly May Clampett…the Brits are finding the tea weak. First world problems! 🙂

The weather has been glorious. 8C in the mornings with a little misty cloud cover in the mountains so I start with a wind breaker and ditch it at the first stop. Then it’s a pleasant sunny ride in the high teens/low 20’s. The sun is super intense at this altitude – hope i have enough sun screen.

Because of the peace-prayer-palooza in town, we drove out of the city to avoid the traffic – our destination Cheri Monastery, founded in 1620, it is Bhutan’s first monastery. It has been closed for a number of years to repair earthquake damage and just reopened a few months ago. We are fortunate indeed. The idea is to ride up to the trailhead on one side of the river, trek up to the monastery, lunch at the chorten and cycle back down to town on the other side of the river.

The ride was steep! Many of us had to walk sections, gasping for breath – all the views being breathtaking didn’t help matters!

There are dogs everywhere here – about seven came and eyed our boxed lunches. lots of barking on our rides but no chasing, yet.

My legs were so shaky after descending that I passed on the return ride. I’m also having a hard time discerning potholes in dappled shade – even more concerning in downhill mode.

Our meet point with the riders was at this rather odd bridge. It’s a traditional style but made of concrete. Scratching my head over how the forces would be resolved.

Distance: 8.02

Elevation gain: 225 m

Calories: 184