Mountains and Hiking

July 8- More driving than anything else. We had to get on smaller buses today to get through the small roads up into the mountains. I could definitely see why with the hairpin turns and mostly one lane roads. Slept a lot but while awake the views were amazing. We stopped at a beautiful coffee house in the mountains and got to relax while looking at the scenery. Just beautiful. The weather is so much milder which is nice.
We went through a nice hike this morning and went and climbed up to a temple that was on the mountain. It was a long climb to the top of the temple but definitely worth it. The breeze and view was awesome from the top of this one tower.

July 9- Today involved a lot of hiking. Very exhausting but got some great pictures and great views. We woke up this morning around 4 and watched the sunrise as climbing up to the top of a mountain on one trail. Then we had two more smaller trails in the morning. The second was rockier and the third went through some of the trees and saw a few laughing thrush there. There is so many diverse plants and animals everywhere you look and the view of mountains covered in clouds. I need to remember to shut out my laziness because I'm never going to be able to see these types of views in the US. My favorite plant I saw today was a type of fake orchid. I can't remember the name but was a sharp white contrast to the greenery in the forest of our third trail. My favorite flower had to be the edelweiss we saw on our first trail in the morning. I had flashbacks of my mother who used to sing it to me when I was young and that with the background of sunrise across cloud peaked mountains was amazing.
After our hiking, everyone was dead beat. We did a DIY with bandanna making. Mine turned into a collage of one of the flowers in a green, purple, and peach color. Was a nice break from the hiking and a great souvenir to take home with me. Planning on watching a movie and probably sleeping for the rest of the night. Gotta be bright and bushy-eyed for the 6 am start tomorrow!