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| Duration : 24 Days |
| Although a complete Lunana trek is a very long one it is both exotic and enthralling. During this Trek while you see the fascinating Chomolhari 23,999ft/7,314m the route also takes you through fabulous mountains and uninhabited areas to reach the village of Laya . From here you walk east again into Lunana. perhaps the most remote region in Bhutan - even the king has not visited it. It is closed throughout the winter by snowbound passes and indeed the lowest pass to enter Lunana is 16,500ft/5,029m. Lunana trek is very much rewarding and perhaps the experience will be unsurpassed by any. |
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| FLY TO PARO Reach Paro by Druk Air. |
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Day 01: TREK TO SHANA . (9,148ft/2,788m) 11 miles |
| Start from Paro valley. It is a half hour drive to the end of the road while the horseman and staff sort loads for the ponies. You walk up to Drugyel Dzong, sadly now in ruins; it was burnt down in a fire caused by a butter lamp in 1901. From here you are within sight of the battlegrounds where the Bhutanese armies on a number of occasions defeated would-be Tibetan invaders in the early part of the 17th century. You are afforded beautiful views of the Paro Valley and see your route for the next couple of days. You start walking along the Paro River and continue through cultivated fields and tiny villages, alive with many birds and brightly-colored butterflies, until you reach Shana, where there is a delightful campsite. You may camp overnight. |
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Day 02: TREK TO SOI THANGTHANKA (11,545ft/3,519m) 14 miles |
| The route still follows the river in heavily forested country, with isolated farmhouses and plenty of wildlife. The Bhutanese will advise you to walk in pairs, as there are bears in this area. You pass a junction en-route, where another path leads north over the Tremo La to Tibet . Camp overnight if necessary. |
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Day 03: TREK TO JANGOTHANG. (13,416ft/4,090m) 12 miles |
| You can get up early to click beautiful dawn colors on Bhutan 's second highest mountain, Chomolhari 23,997ft/7,314m, which is visible at the end of the valley. After about an hour's walk, you gradually leave the forest line and steadily climb into a beautiful valley, passing Tengethang, a winter home of yak herdsmen. You are likely to see lots of yaks before arriving at a large round hut, which is the Base Camp for Chomolhari overlooking the camp. Nearby there are the ruins of an old fortress which used to guard Bhutan against Tibetan invasion. Camp overnight here. |
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Day 04: TREK TO LINGSHI (13,612ft/4,149m) |
| Start climbing instantly and after some 3-4 hours reach the Nyelela Pass , 15,400ft/4,694m. You pass yak herders' Jhas (tents). It is very special meeting these lovely people and make sure you make a full use of your camera. After the pass you descend to a circular hut just before Lingshi, where you camp for the night. Coming down to Lingshi you obtain your first views of the truly mystical dzong atop its 600ft/183m high hill. |
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Day 05: TREK TO CHEBISA (12,628ft/3,849m) 9 miles |
| Begin yet another magical day. Leaving Lingshi behind you contour and ascend smoothly to reach another delightful village, Gung Yo, which is set right below a 1,000ft/304m cliff. Another hour's walking brings you to a lovely little valley with a huge waterfall at one end and the Shangri-la village of Chebisa , where you camp by the side of the river. There are plenty of Himalayan Blue sheep in this area and you should be able to get quite close to them. Camp overnight here. |
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Day 06: TREK TO SHOMUTHANG (12,972ft/3,954m) 11 miles |
| A walk up to the top of the waterfall before breakfast is recommended for lovely early morning views of the valley. It is quite a stiff climb up to the Gombu La, which is located at a height of 14,698ft/4,480m, before dropping to a deserted valley and crossing a river. There is another lovely day's walking. You might see blood pheasants passing through an area of rhododendrons. You can camp next to the river overnight. |
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Day 07: TREK TO ROBULATHANG. (14,465ft/4,409m) |
| A long haul over the Jarela Pass at 15,088ft/4,599m where once again you get stunning all round views including Tsering Kang towering above. There is then a steep drop on a forest trail to the Tcharijathang valley, where herds of Takin roam before crossing a river on a log bridge and climbing to Robulathang where your camp can be located. |
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Day 08: CROSSING THE SHINGELA PASS (16,420ft/5,005m) |
| Climb slowly up to the Shingela, which takes about 5 hours, seeing with stunning views of mountains, including the spectacular Gangchentak at the head of the valley. On a clear day almost all the mountains on the northern border are clearly visible, 10 - 20 miles distant. Eagles, griffin vultures, blue sheep and yak abound in this area and on the descent you once again meet up with nomadic Yak herders, who may offer tea and curd in their yak-hair tents. Camp can be set in a lovely spot on the riverbank. |
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Day 09: TREK TO LAYA (12,596ft/3,840m) |
| A leisurely walk of 4 - 5 hour alongside the river leads to the largest village on the trek. The people of Laya are famous for their vertically striped yak hair clothing and strange conical bamboo hats. The women wear long hair and a great deal of turquoise and jade ornaments. The features of the people are even more Tibetan/Mongolian than the Bhutanese who live in the central valleys. The rest of the day is spent at leisure or visiting village houses. There are good views of Masagang 23,507ft/7,165m and other peaks. In the evening the local girls will probably dance for you. Camp overnight. |
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Day 10: TREK TAKSAKA - RODOPHU 13,520ft/4,121m 6-7 hours |
| Descend from the village a long way down into the start of the gorge. Look out for the ancient wooden gateway leaving the village. It is an hour or two to reach Taksaka. We then start to head east towards Lunana. Turn east and gradually climb through forest to a clearing. Proceed in and out of the tree line, all the time climbing gradually into a high altitude valley with an impressive river and rapids. Eventually enter a flat-bottomed valley ringed with rocky Mountains. Camp overnight here. |
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Day 11: RODOPHU TO BELOW GANGLA KARCHUNG LA 5- 6 hours |
| A walk of about 2-3 hours will bring you to a small pass called Tsome La, 15,450ft/4,709m. You are now in a region that is totally remote and exceedingly beautiful and as the day wears on, the views and remoteness become even more acute. Crossing a plateau to begin with and then contouring round a large mountainside, you will see a yak herder camp below. On and on and closer and closer to Gangla Karchung until it rises sheer in front of you. The campsite below the face is spectacular. |
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Day 12: CROSS THE GANGLA KARCHUNG LA 16,670ft/5,081m 6-7 hours |
| The climb up to the pass is rewarded by wonderful views of the glacial lakes, hemmed in by moraine dams at the head of the first of the Lunana valleys. These lakes are the source of the Po Chu and are like snakes twisting down the valley. The path down is runs through a wide belt of rhododendron and is extremely steep and slippery - watch out for flocks of blood pheasant. Camp amongst stunted heather. Altitude of camp site 13,120ft/3,999m. |
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Day 13: TREK TO WOCHE 12,530ft/3,819m 6-7 hours |
| A pleasant walk down the valley past a clearing named Tarina. You may have to wade through a small river shortly after this, as last time we were there the bridge had been washed away. The valley is hemmed in by rock walls on all sides and rocky peaks and every half mile, spectacular waterfalls thundering into the valley and pine clad hillsides. The valley itself is a mass of colourful heather, flowers, brushwood with no sign of human habitation. Finally there is a steep climb through the forest at the end of the valley and contouring round to the first Lunana village of Woche . There are only eight or so houses with the people being amazed to see you. Having set up camp it is well worth a wander down to the houses, where you will undoubtedly be guests of honour and be given yak butter tea. Due to there being no proper fire places the rooms are smoke blackened with many brass and aluminium pots, chests of clothing, piles of blankets, dried meat hanging up and the usual Tibetan tea churn. Camp overnight. |
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Day 14: TREK TO LHEDI. 7 hours. |
| First there is a gentle walk through the forest, dropping down to cross a river, and then a steep haul to cross the Kashe La, 14,5550ft/4,435m. On the way you pass a sacred lake, a beautiful pea green colour, into which you should not throw stones, as this will anger the spirit of the lake. Continuing, there is a huge cairn of stones and prayer flags on the pass before walking down the other side quite, steeply, to the little village of Tegar . Watch out for the very pretty chorten just before the village. Again, take pleasure in watching and participating in Bhutanese family life before carrying on towards the day's stop at Lhedi. The path now contours high above another big river, eventually dropping to it. There is a particularly exciting cantilever bridge over a roaring torrent coming down between two cliffs. Lhedi is a string of houses on a terrace high above the river, rock walls behind and terraced fields in front. Camp overnight. |
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Day 15: TREK TO THANZA. 13,020ft/3,969 7- 8 hours |
| There is an interesting little temple above Lhedi, which is well worth the climb, before starting off towards the upper valleys of Lunana. On a previous trip we were lent the services of a 10 year old boy who guided us for the day and stayed with his relatives overnight. Firstly we follow the river for several hours to a junction of valleys, the main river flowing out of a much higher plateau down through numerous rapids. We cross another exciting cantilever bridge, to a large chorten where we stop for lunch. Once into the upper valley it broadens right out flat, with the river forming lakes and broad reaches and shortly after we arrive at the village of Chozo . This is the only village that has a Dzong in Lunana, which is well worth a detour to take a peek. The people of Lunana are very superstitious and have very strong beliefs in the spirits of seven Tibetan brothers who many hundreds of years previously were defeated in a battle in Tibet . Each of these spirits dwells in their own locality in Lunana. The most powerful, Chumna, lives in a wood near the dzong of Chozo. Carrying on across the plain, you eventually reach another rise into an even higher upper valley. Here there is a big village split either side of the river. To the north are the rock walls behind which is the 24,000ft/7,300m Table Mountain and to the south are more snowy mountains. Again the village people are friendly, although many might be quite frightened of white faces. Thanza is the largest village in Lunana. Camp overnight. |
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Day 16: TREK TO BEFORE GOPHU LA. 16,570ft/5,051m 6-7 hours |
| Climb steadily for an hour to a cairn, undoubtedly sad to be leaving Thanza, but full of excitement of crossing the Gophu La. Looking back down the valley, Chozo and its dzong can be picked out, and as it is an early start, smoke will still be drifting off the roofs of all the houses in the villages below. We carry on now, up a valley, more rapids and minor waterfalls, towards a large, pointed rock peak at its head. Slowly but surely we come opposite the granite mountain, to have lunch in a circular low stone wall shelter. Carrying on, the scenery becomes more magnificent, until we camp near a lake surrounded by snowy peaks. Camp overnight. |
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Day 17: CROSS THE GOPHU LA, (17,200ft/5,243m) TO GECHE WOMA (14,600ft/4,450m). 8 hours |
| This surely must be one of the most beautiful trek days anywhere in the Himalaya . Try to see the sunrise, as the pink colours on the high snows are really fabulous. It is, in fact, not far to climb to the main pass, skirting around the edges of lakes, which, on a still day, mirror the ice- fluted peaks that we are passing between. As you come to the Gophu La, the highest mountain in Bhutan , Gankar Punsum, 7,50ft/24,770m, towers above the horizon. It seems to be a piece of earth elevated to a higher, purer plain and is completely dazzling. It is a long and tiring descent to Geshe Woma. This is just a camping place with old fires and semi-stone shelters/wind breaks, in a deep valley below the pass. Coming down into the valley look back and see a 'Rupert Bear' peak framed at the end - perfectly conical and if you are lucky, ringed with cloud. Camp overnight. |
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Day 18: TREK TO TSERIYANGO |
| The path follows on down the valley now, completely uninhabited, before a track leads back up the hillside to a small plateau. From there it climbs again for 45 minutes to the lunch spot. After a welcome rest we cross a small pass and wind down to some yak herder huts. We then pass up a narrow defile, past a large slope of sand, perhaps part of the old Tethayan Ocean . Coming to the top of the slope we are faced with an amazingly beautiful lake, locked in by a circle of rocky peaks, with a path contouring up and round to a col. From this pass, we drop to a wonderful camp site, next to a small lake, with cliffs and rocky peaks all around. Camp overnight. |
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Day 19: TREK TO DUR SACHU (10,830ft/3,301m) 6-7 hours |
| Not far to another pass, past granite cliffs, which offers wonderful views down into the big valley of Warhang and the peaks beyond. Carry on across the valley floor passing some yak herder huts and up over another pass, prior to the long decent through forest and jungle to Dur Sachu, where there are some wonderful hot sulphurous springs, useful both for washing body and clothes. One feels here that we are almost back in the bowels of the earth and it is almost sub-tropical. In the evening, from the wooden huts, watch the myriad of small birds in the bushes opposite. Camp overnight. |
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Day 20: TREK TO TSO CHEN CHEN 12,630ft/3,850m 8 hours |
| Perhaps this is one of the physically hardest days of the trip, as there is a long climb from Dur Sachu, 10,830ft/3,301m to the Djule La, 14,930ft/4,551m. The first part of the climb is through forest where musk deer have been seen. Having climbed into the alpine pastures, we will cross the Gogden La, 14,110ft/4,301m, before walking around the shores of a lake, prior to the final pull to the Djule La. Descending the other side we go through a band of rock which is peppered with garnets. Having hit the valley floor, it is still quite a long way down to Tso Chen Chen, past the group of huts where giggling girls may come out to try to sell you woven scarves. Tso Chen Chen is a yak herder's camp and there are likely to be herds of yak here. Camp overnight. |
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Day 21: TREK TO GORSU. 8,790ft/2,679m 7 hours |
| On our first trek, much of the path was washed away by heavy rainfall and we had to make several diversions, which was a long nine hour day. This should now be rectified and it is a pleasant, gradually descending path through forest to a camp near the road head. Camp overnight here. |
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Day 22: TREK TO BHUMTHANG. 2 hours |
| The valley is one of the most sacred in the kingdom and innumerable legends surround the area. It is here that the kings are cremated and the present royal family traces their ancestry back to a famous saint called Pemalingma, who was a smith in Jakar township. It is said that he discovered burning treasures at the bottom of a lake and that female heavenly spirits visited, encouraging him to preach their contents around the country. It is said that whenever he spoke, crystalline flowers appeared in the sky and dissolved as they drifted down to earth. We stay overnight at a Tourist Lodge. |
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Day 23: DRIVE TO TONGSA 3-4 hours |
| From Bhumtang we drive across the Yotong La and down to Tongsa. It has the largest monastery/fortress in the kingdom and it was from here that the present royal family emerged as the most powerful force at the beginning of this century. Overnight at a Tourist Lodge. |
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Day 24: DRIVE TO THIMPHU . 7-8 hours. |
| Leaving Tongsa the road climbs via a series of zigzags over the Pele La before the long descent to the town of Wangdiphodrang . Half an hour from here we can make a short detour to see the old winter capital, Punakha. After this we climb again, out of the cultivated valley to the Dochu La, 10,223ft/3,116m. On a clear day panoramic views can be had of the eastern Himalayas , including Bhutan 's highest mountain, Gangkar Punsum, 24,741ft/7,541m. The road drops through varied forest and cultivated valleys before reaching Thimphu , the capital of Bhutan . Overnight New Motithang hotel- see end notes |
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| Festivals (Tshechus) are held in Bhutan through out the year at different locations. These festivals are celebrations of faith, legends, myths and history of Bhutan in ancient rituals of colourful dance and music. The most popular for tourists are those held in Thimphu, Paro and Bumthang. They mark the busiest time of the year for tourism and reservation are difficult to come by festival time is one of the only periods during a year when tourists are permitted inside the courtyard of the Dzongs. |
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| Paro valley is one of the most populated areas of the whole country. From a Buddhist’s point of view, Paro was the first stop for Guru Rimpoche on his crusade from Tibet to Bhutan over one thousand years ago. |
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Tashigang is momentous as it marks the end of a 547 kilometer drive from Thimphu. The town, also high up on a mountains, is busier than any other Bhutanese town. Its proximity to Samdrup Jongkar in the south has enabled it to grow as a center of commerce.
Tashigange is used as the market place for the hill people from Merak and Sakteng who are remarkable for their exceptional features and for their costume which is brightly coloured and different from customary Bhutanese clothing. |
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| Thimphu is the capital of Bhutan and is therefore the most populated district in the country, with about 60,000 people. |
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Lunana Trek 
