Jomolhari Trek
10 days and 9 nights
(8D / 7N trek)
Start
Sharna Zampa
Finish point
Dodina
Access town
Paro
Max. elevation
4930 m
Our philosophy is to ensure that all visitors, travelers, and adventurers get an authentic touch of the life and environment as it is – exposure and immersion to the country’s culture, tradition, people, environment, and nature as it is. We value and respect empathy and compassion in the effort towards making everyone’s lives and surroundings engaging, joyful, meaningful, and memorable. Our philosophy is to ensure that all visitors, travelers, and adventurers get an authentic touch of the life and environment as it is – exposure and immersion to the country’s culture, tradition, people, environment, and nature as it is. We value and respect empathy and compassion in the effort towards making everyone’s lives and surroundings engaging, joyful, meaningful, and memorable.
Program
Discover all the details of the tour and live a unique experience during your trip to Bhutan.
Towards afternoon, enjoy your day visiting few of the iconic destinations within Paro valley such as Kichu monastery, Ta dzong (Museum) and Rinpung Dzong (fortress).
22 km/ 8 hours/ 770 m ascent/ 10 m descent
Today is a long day. We start our day by driving from hotel till Sharna Zampa for about an hour. From the trailhead, we begin our journey upward through the rhododendrons and conifers alongside the Pa Chhu River. After around 15 minutes into the journey, we enter Jigme Dorji National Park.
Further 2 hours trek from here, through rhododendrons, oaks and fern we reach Shing Karap, a stone house. Little further up is a juncture; to the left which leads to Phari Dzong in Tibet. This route was once used by Tibetan for both trade and invasion and as of today it is used by Royal Bhutan army to ferry their rations to the border. Avoid following this route and keep right. Few meters away from the juncture is a wooden bridge over a small stream.
Across the stream, over a small ridge, we descend down to cross Pa Chhu once again. From here it’s occasionally ascend and descend through a forest of birch, fir, larch, Maples and blue pine. Following this route for about 3 hours, we reach once again to a bridge. After crossing river to the right side, follow this trail and continue upward for 20 minutes, through a beautiful meadow with Mt. Jhomolhari at sight is Thangthangka (3610 m), our campsite for the night.
Today there will be a significant gain in terms of elevation. In the morning we wake up with a beautiful view of Mt. Jhomolhari. After hiking up for just under an hour from the campsite, we reach an army camp (3739 m). Little further from army camp is a bridge. Across the bridge as we follow the hillside for a while, the trail then takes sharp right turn around the small mani wall. A short distance from here is a small stupa and then into the meadows.
The trail then continues through the hill side covered with larches beneath Soe village. An hour hike from here is Takethang village (3940 m), cluster of houses built with stones on a plateau. We continue through the plateau crossing small stream, opposite the Dangochang village
From the plateau end, it’s an uphill walk for a while till we reach our campsite at Jangothang. From here you can enjoy a spectacular view of Mt. Jhomolhari.
Your pack animals which started their journey from Sharna zampa will return back from here. From here horses or yaks from nearby villages will follow you till the end of your trekking journey.
We will spend one extra day here at Jangothang which is also referred to as Jhomolhari base camp, the highlight of our trek. From number of options to explore around, we will take a 4 hour roundtrip excursion up the northern side to have a view of Mt. Jhomolhari and Mt. Jichu Drakye. It’s an open walk across the slope till we reach the hilltop at 4750 m. If luck favors we might spot some Himalayan blue ships grazing on the slopes.
Back at campsite you can enjoy playing a traditional game called Degor with your crew members. This is a very simple game. You just need to pick up a pair of flat spherical stone and hurled it over and back to a pegs fixed in the ground at an approximate distance of 15 – 20 m. Stone with nearer the peg gets the point. Usually a strong guy with strong arm powers stay at the end with heavy pair of stone to push the stones of opponent which are near or over the pegs or to crush it into pieces.
Done with acclimatization and resting, we move further up towards our next stop. We begin our day by crossing three stone houses which are used by park rangers. We continue across a log bridge alongside the left bank of Pa Chhu River. Heading eastward from here, we will have a clear view of Mt. Jichu Drake and Jhomolhari. The trail then continues below the big rocks into the glacial valley. Pass the valley, climb to a small submit, dips and then a final push, we reach Nyile La pass (4870 m) after about 4 hours trek from Jangothang.
From here, the trail then descends down to the valley floor near to a stream. We continue our journey to the north following the near flat track for while until we see army camp near Jaje chhu River and a view of Lingzhi Dzong in the distance. The trail then descends down through the Birches, rhododendrons and pasture land towards our campsite below Lingzhi dzong located on the opposite side of Jaje Chuu River.
We begin our day trekking alongside Mo Chhu valley crossing numerous small streams for around three hours before we cross Mo Chhu River. From here on, it’s an uphill trek till we reach Yeli La pass (4900 m). From the pass we can have a spectacular view of Mt. Jhomolhari, Tserimgang and Gangchen Ta. Descending down, we reach a small lake and following the outflow from the lake we continue to Lake Khedo. The trail then crosses Jaradingthang River which later becomes Wang Chhu River and follows the river south crossing numerous small side streams. We continue further down crossing the river back to the east bank and to a Chorten from where the trail turns eastward and enters upper Wangchhu valley and finally to our stopover after a long and tiring day at Zhudo just above tree line.
19 km/ 7 hours/ 250 m ascent/ 700 m descent
From the campsite we cross river to the left and continue our journey across the steep cliffs and down again to the river. For the course of next three and half hours we will cross same river for 6 more times. The trail then leads us upward for about an hour to Barshong (3700 m). Some trekkers decide to camp here but we will continue further down through the forest of rhododendron, conifers and birches till we reach the bank of Wangchhu River once again. Further 45 minutes trek from here is our campsite at Domshisa.
Today is fairly an easy day. Staying on the left side of the river, we continue for a while ascending and descending over few ridges before climbing up to a cliff face (3340 m). From here we descend gently through the forest of rhododendrons to beautiful meadow at Dolam Kencho, our tonight’s campsite.
We begin our day by ascending till a cairn (3400 m) before descending down to stream. From the stream we again trek up till a small pass. Continue through the forest bamboos till we reach a dirt road. Follow the road alongside Wang Chhu River for a while till we meet our tour vehicle.
From here, we will drive to Thimphu city for the lunch. After lunch, spend some time exploring Thimphu valley before heading back to Paro for the night.
Included
About our company’s services:
Taxes
All government taxes
Visa fee
All government taxes
Entrances
All government taxes
English guide
All government taxes
Transfer
All government taxes
Accommodation
All government taxes
Meals
All government taxes
Snacks
All government taxes
Excluded
- Flight tickets
- Health insurance
- Bank transfer
- Tips for guide and driver
- Bar/Beverage
- Laundry
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