Bhutan Snowman Trek

Wednesday 24 Oct 2016 We leave for Thimphu on our last full day in Bhutan with an auspicious full moon. On route we visit the most beautiful and significant Dzong at Punakha, it was built in 1637 by Zhabdrung who united Bhutan and sits at the junction of the Mo (mother) Chu and the Po (father) Chu. This Dzong is not only the resting place of Zhabdrung but with him is the precious relic, a small bone which has a perfect image of the God of compassion. The Tibetans spent many years trying to capture it until one day Zhabdrung hid the relic in the white sleeve of his gho then placed a copy in his hand. He then declared to the invading Tibetans, while pointing at his wrist (so pointing at both real and fake), that he will throw it into the Mo Chu river to end the war. Understanding that no Buddhist could lie, the Tibetans retreated and there ended the conflict between nations. One interesting twist to this story is that while the Bhutanese have the smart turned up sleeves in their nat...

Tuesday 23 Oct 2018 Our last morning greeted us with warm sunshine again and as we descended to the road head, the vegetation turned from alpine to tropical. The Rhododendron leaves were now the length of a large foot rather than finger sized. They were once used to wrap food such as cheese and butter- perhaps a return to their use could reduce the amount of plastic we have seen on the trails! Bamboo also started to appear but mostly the blackened remains from a mass die back that happened across the country four years ago. This occurs after 10-15 years and only now are new shoots starting to return. Landslides have caused path diversion but make beautiful green pools in the river and our return to muddy forests revealed the presence of a Royal Bengal Tiger- only the footprints were seen however but all thanks to the wildlife corridors that connect the national parks. We arrived at the finish to be greeted with an incredible banquet including Bhutanese wine and beer then spent the...

Monday 22 Oct 2018 We woke to probably the coldest morning but the clear blue sky and sun descending the valley was assurance that warmth would be with us soon. We made two rising traverses while, in the morning sun, flocks of Mountain Finch oscillated from ground feeding to a perch on the vertical cliffs above. Presenting our Kata (white scarf) on our last pass, we descended to the sacred lake known as Om Thso where Guru Rinpoche left treasures- we saw no gold but did spot a small shrew-like creature swimming along the bottom of the shallows before disappearing under a rock. Passing the lake quietly and reverently, we then plunged down a well engineered cliff path into forests and our first building for six days, then onto to a camp known as Maurothang (3610m) on   the banks of the Nikka Chu. Distance 14km 6hrs

Sunday 21 Oct 2018 With just three days left of our journey, the conversation at breakfast was whether or not we would recommend the Snowman Trek to others. Ordinarily there would be no issue and a resounding ‘yes’ but since we have been so supremely lucky with the weather, the probability of someone else experiencing the same is very unlikely. The chances of getting few or no views is high and so hard to justify the cost. However, exploring one corner of this country and trying to understand it’s culture and environment has been a pleasure. The sun soon started to warm this cold valley, as we descended there was a gradual return of vegetation which now was showing it’s full autumn colours. The Tampe Chu flowed at a constant rate matching the gentle gradient of our path, Black Redstarts danced above the river catching insects in the morning sun and small wrens sang to us as we perched and wobbled on the stoney path. We eventually reached a meadow at 4010m just before our horses ar...

Saturday 20 Oct 2018 Today we leave the isolated district of Lunana, it is bound in all directions by high mountains and difficult passes. Electricity has not arrived here yet but our last horse contractor is optimistic that it won’t be long as he has bought a washing machine- I hope he doesn’t have to wait too long! Our yaks are incredible, 2 were tethered about a metre from our tent and made no movement or noise in the night- preferable to the scary snorting and trampling that we are used to with horses. We woke to a very hard frost but each yak had a halo of thawed ground around them, if the tent were bigger I would have invited them in. A low cloud had shrouded our valley and we were less optimistic about views but as we climbed, the the sun burned it all away and yet again we were blessed with views. Our path took a gentle rising traverse onto a moraine ridge to the Rinchen Zoe La (5320m), our highest pass in the trek. Thankfully the track had little snow- we had heard tal...

Friday 19 Oct 2018 We woke to yet another fine day, in fact probably the clearest morning so far. Our drunken team member seemed to be back with us this morning and apparently he was deeply remorseful- but clearly not enough for him to help Sangay pack away the tents! Leaving our lake we walked over a small shoulder with fantastic views of the mountains we have passed fo far, the gentians were opening earlier than usual in the heat of the sun- such a hardy flower in this otherwise barren 5000m landscape. A  well made path brought us to the Loju La (5140m) where we waited for both horse and yak trains to pass through before descending to “mother lake” for lunch. In Bhutan it is wrong to throw stones into lakes or rivers. If you do, in your next life a string is tied to your testicles and you have to pull out all that you threw in- no one attempted to skim any stones! Finally after crossing a small saddle (5100m) we entered a wide glacial valley and the trail descended gradually...

Thursday 18 Oct 2018 In the dark our yaks looked like giant shadows just metres from our tent. They remained motionless throughout the night apart from occasional munching which set off the soft chime of their bells and lulled us to sleep. After yesterday’s antics from their missing friend, it seemed as though they were on best behaviour and continued in this manner for the rest of the day. Yaks are fiercely independent, they don’t go in single file and will often disappear into the vegetation either side of the path where they remain silent until they are convinced no one is looking, then turn round and head back to their village or pasture! The threat of a storm seemed unlikely and the low mist soon started to rise and give way to sun shine. Jeje Kangpho towered on the horizon along with Table Mountain giving us one final farewell to the frontier range and Tibet beyond. We were now heading in a consistent southerly direction, the climb to the pass was promised to be hard with st...

Wednesday 17 Oct 2018 Today is auspicious in the Bhutanese calendar as it is the 8th day lunar month and in spite of some early cloud, we were treated to some blue sky and continued views of ‘Table Mountain’. The track up the wide Pho Chu valley soon turned to sand and we arrived at a lone Gompa, two men dressed in their ghos had lit juniper and as we continued many more people were drawn to it carrying a flask- not with tea but melted butter as an offering for the butter lamps in the monastery.  A cave adorned with prayer flags looked down on the Gompa, this is where Guru Rinpoche (who brought Buddhism to Bhutan) had meditated. Many of the people we had met in Lunana greet you with hands out stretched, palm upwards, it looks like begging but is simply a sign of welcome. This is accompanied by the usual ‘kuzuzangpo la’ meaning hello. We crossed the Pho Chu for the last time and arrived in Thanza, the biggest village in Lunana. In 2016 the King had walked this route to find the mo...

Tuesday 16 Oct 2018 At 6am the tents were all frosted and an alpine glow surrounded our camp, the vast expanse of ‘Table Mountain dominated the head of the valley to the East while Jeje Kangphu towers above the village to the North. By 7am the valley was shrouded in a low mist so back to bed with tea on our rest day! By the time we had breakfast the sun was burning back to blue sky and a team of yaks were being loaded for the remaining New Zealand Group. They were heading due South on a shorter alternative taking another day off their trip but a hard 7 hour climb over 5200m (Sintia La). We started getting reports of a bad storm in Nepal that had resulted in the death of 9 Koreans and their team while at a base camp to climb a 7000m peak (Mt Gorja). The Thimphu office also informed us that bad weather was on it’s way for us the day after tomorrow when we are going over a 5000m pass. This may be our last day of comfort! Chozo villagers sauntered through our camp while we cleaned and...

Monday 15 Oct 2018 We walked for 4 hours up the Pho Chu in a vast valley headed by table 'Table Mountain' Zongophu Gang (7094m). The weather was again fine and weird mountain shadows loomed to our East while the impossible ridges of Zongophu Gang gradually revealed themselves. We arrived in Chozo (4120m), this is is the heart of Lunana district, cut off from the rest of the country, where few people speak Dzongkha. The New Zealand Group had had their rest day here and were due to be sending 2 of their team out by helicopter due to ill health, the town was poised in readiness as these flights are used to make deliveries of supplies to remote areas. A group of women were hard at work processing their barley crop a few metres from the helipad and only paused momentarily for the the helicopter to land, deliver its load and take the 2 trekkers back to Thimphu. Distance 9km 4 hrs

Sunday 14 Oct 2018 At midnight, the sky was a blanket of stars with a beautiful Milky Way. Again we woke to a very cold but clear blue sky, Tshering was visibly shocked at how clear it was as, in six Snowman Treks, he had never actually seen both Kangphu Gang and Jeje Kangphu (7300m), both of which glowed in the early morning sun. We made easy progress up to the Keche La (4661m) and great views unfolded behind us, Teri Kang emerged from a notch on the horizon and resembled a breaching humpback whale. The frost seemed to vaporise from the rhododendron leaves as the shadow descended into the valley. After a short stop on the pass, a young family of brothers and sisters arrived from Laya, they had loaded their horses and walked to Lunana to sell their goods and were now going back home with a total return trip time of 6 days. The descent track was well built and was just a year old. It had been constructed by representatives from each local village and was fully funded by the governm...