
Our yak man Wangye is drunk, and only he knows the way to Lunana. We're two days out of Laya, climbing the 16,700-foot Gangla Karchung pass in driving snow and it's not even lunchtime.
I first met Wangye in 1994. My ten-year-old daughter, Maile, and I traveled back to Thimphu with Wangye, along with Chimi Tshering, Chimi’s young grandson Wangchuk and two perfect little donkeys that they planned to present to the King on his birthday. Wangye came along to tend the animals. Now, he no longer works for his uncle because Tshering doesn’t drink and they got into a fist fight over Wangye’s alcoholism.