Jhomolhari, aka Chomolhari or Jumolhari, no matter what the spelling of Bhutan’s second biggest mountain peak, trek to Jhomolhari is the most preferred trek in Bhutan for trekkers that genuinely feel they are in a fair enough physical shape. Confirmed as different than trekking in Nepal, Bhutan treks lead through almost no villages thus offer considerably a lot less exposure to local inhabitants. Bhutan Himalayas only have handful of distant settlements and getting there requires to cross a number of Himalaya’s most ferocious passes. In Nepal, on the other hand, trekkers pass through a lot of villages that appeal to all their desires, notably offering quality accommodations. Trekking in Bhutan is sleeping in tents only. Although Bhutan provides two or three soft treks suited to a casual hiker, all high altitude treks in Bhutan package not just steep ascents and descents day after day and cross lots of high passes, being forced to walk around 8 or 9 hours a day, most importantly it is the high altitude that is the significant dilemma for all trekkers. Many people seem to still naively imagine that being younger or in superior physical shape they’re not going to have to endure the unwanted side effects of high altitude. But the assumption is incorrect as altitude influences each of us in a diverse fashion, hence before you may begin encountering altitude sickness on the Jhomolhari trek it makes sense you make a decision on your options what to do when that will happen to you before you leave Paro.
Jumolhari base camp trek is exactly the trek that you will get best knowledgeable about before you sign up. First four days are very simple and you’ll arrive at Jangothang. Plan to put in some seven hours every day on the hiking trail with altitude gain of some 1,200 to 1,800 feet per day. When you get to Jangothang you will have arrived at a destination with a magnificent view of Jhomolhari, and quite simply it is exactly what you came for.
Though there is some exploration to be done once you get here, it’s quite possible that by this point you will begin feeling some warning signs of the altitude sickness as a result of being over 12,000 feet above sea level. The decision time will be here. Rest a day doing as little as possible and see if you get adjusted to altitude. If your throbbing headache and queasieness will ease off you will have two options. If you’ll think you are really feeling fine, then carry on the next day to the out of the way village of Lingzhi. But fact is it is not a stroll. Think of the Bactrian double-hump camel and you have the trek profile for what is coming up next when it comes to getting to Lingzhi and from there on to Thimphu. After you get going you will need to keep going. No turning back!
Those two humps are two crucial passes of some 15,000 feet, and Lingzhi is way on the bottom in between those two humps. So that will mean you will face long and arduous trekking up and down and up and down again. If you want a figure consider 3,000 feet considerably uphill, then 3,000 feet steeply downhill and you will get to replicate that more than just couple times to get to Thimphu. Regarding distance that means some 10 to 17 miles a day. If you were in self-denial that you were feeling fine and felt no nasty effects of the altitude, let alone the physical suffering you may well be battling, be ready you will suffer results of your bad call. No reason to distress you with the phrases the kind of pulmonary edema or cerebral edema, only the absolute fatigue and a feeling of sickness will take their toll on you to where by the time you’ll get down from the mountains you likely recollect nothing of the attractiveness of the Chomolhari trek.If you are sincere with yourself and deduce you can take on a few more passes but instead select a little less difficult route than the one via Lingzhi, then select coming back to Paro via “Chomolhari trek 2″ over the passes of Bhonte La, Thakung La and Thombu La, each progresively lower yet still more than 12,000 feet.
If you are seriously out of it, with huge throbbing headache, nausea and vomiting, not eating, barely managing to drink, tell your guide you like to return to Paro the way you arrived, back down via Drukgyel Dzong, the very same steady way, retracing your steps, no surprises. Good job, you most likely made a right decision which is perfect for all, you as well the fellow members of your party and your guide.