A long climb day with forest and seasons changing along the way. We climb past two monasteries on our way up to Mandala Pass. It is a steady climb with very little automotive traffic. Tropical plants give way to large and weathered conifers. Eventually we enter the cloud layer. We stop at the snow line for lunch and in comes a storm with snow pellets. A roadside campfire is most welcome. There are rhodendrons and birds fluttering about. Above Mandala ridge the road is intermittently covered with snow. Most precipitation arrives here in the summer monsoon, but there is snow on the road, but still rideable with 50 mm tires. We add several layers of insulation over the top of the pass. There is a large Buddha in the wooden village up top. There seem to be a reasonable number of large and aged conifers, looking like cedar to my eyes. Crossing Mandala Pass, we drop out of snow and back into a misting rain. Now it is time for hand fatigue as we use our brakes for the next hour plus descent. For awhile we are between cloud layers, other times in dense fog. We exit the valley after many switchbacks into Durang Dzhong. Now we are back on the main 13 road briefly. Then we turn off, crossing the river and ascending the gentle Sangti Valley to Sangti village a a dirt road. Our homestay is more like a cottage in the valley. In the evening, we head further up the valley to the end of the road and then hike up to visit Lobsang Serap, a storyteller @Zewa_himalayantrekkers for dinner along the river and a few stories about Yeti and Ata shapchang.