Paro

The entire trip was rather luxurious, I must admit. Quite a bit of it was spent within the car too, gliding through a picturesque country. So, I decided it was time for some hiking. I hiked up an altitude of more than a 1000 metres (to the Taksang Monastery at a height of almost 4000 metres), parts of which were rather treacherous. Initially, I took the short cut the locals take. But with my backpack, the heavy camera and smooth flat soles, it became incredibly difficult. Had to come down on all fours to start off again on the 'regular' route. On so many occasions I was absolutely out of breath. The wind swirled all around.

I won't start writing on the hike because it will only run into pages. It reaffirmed one thing, though: I never feel along in the hills.

Also, I realized that fir trees and violins go very well together.

(Met a lot of very interesting people on the way too.)

This shot was taken around sunset on a leisurely stroll around the countryside. This is again at Paro, where we started from.