For the people of Lunana who headed home from the lower valleys of Saephu in Wangdue Phodrang with the onset of spring in April this year, the journey back home has been the longest and most arduous one so far.
The journey that normally takes a month took an additional 45 days this year. An unusually heavy snowfall this year on the higher reaches of the mountains made the journey back home extremely difficult for the Lunaps.
After struggling for over two and half months, digging and clearing the trail covered in more than five feet of ice and snow, some 30 Lunaps along with a caravan of hundred horses finally reached the safety of their homes on Wednesday. For this group, who returned exhausted and weather-beaten, the worst is over.
However, more than 60 Lunaps with around 200 horses are still en route, making the exhausting journey back home. With starving horses, fast 
depleting food supplies, and without any access to communication networks, these Lunaps are on their own, battling harsh conditions.
According to the Lunana Gup, Kaka, the highlanders normally begin to return home by April and reach home by May. However this time, the route was covered with an unusual amount of snow and ice.
“Around eight to nine horses are reported to have died from starvation on the way. Our people are also going through an extremely difficult time, digging their way back home with dwindling ration,” said the Gup.
The people of Lunana descend to the lower valleys along with their cattle in November, as the snow makes it difficult for their cattle to graze in the highlands.
The people of the Lunana use two routes to make this journey. The route towards Punakha via Saephu Gewog in Wangdue Phodrang cuts through three mountain passes – Rinchenzoe, Tampela and Jadala. The other route, from Goentshephu in Punakha, crosses two mountain passes called Gangjula and Setshola.
A combination of unusual conditions and a large number of horses made the journey back home for Lunaps extraordinarily hard this year.
Gup Kaka said that they usually keep their horses in Punakha area before the farm cultivation starts and after that, they take their horses to Phobjikha and Khotakha in Wangdue Phodrang. “But we have been facing a lot of conflict with the locals in these places as it falls under other districts. So, we don’t have a proper place to keep our horses,” he said.
The Gup said that some of them had to even leave their horses behind at Ramena below Gangjula under Lunana Gewog due to the snow. “People of Lunana would be grateful if they were allowed to keep their horses in Phobjikha and Khotokha area in Wangdue Phodrang until their travelling route became safer,” he said.
Meanwhile, people back in Lunana Village anxiously await the return of 60 people and over two hundred horses that are still making their journey home in snow and ice.
Chenga Dorji
