Jomolhari Base Camp Trek: Border, Lakes & the Snow Line
Destination: Laya & the Highland Passes
Duration: 9 days / 8 nights
Difficulty: Strenuous
Best season: Sep 2027 — Nov 2027
Price: from 6,350 USD per guest
Nine days on the classic high-altitude trek to the Jomolhari base camp beneath the 7,314-metre snow mountain, with a camping crew and no pack animals beyond Jangthang.
Highlights
Base camp at 4,900m directly beneath Jomolhari's north face
Gochula La crossing at 4,850m above the clouds
A clear-sky morning on Jichu Drakye, the sacred snow peak
Bhutan's cleanest trekking air and very few other groups
What is included
Licensed trekking guide and full support crew
Camping equipment, mess tent, kitchen crew and cook
All meals on the trek, plus breakfast and dinner at each end
All permits, SDF and the Jomolhari special entry permit
Fifteen-night buffer on the trek so no flights are put at risk
Emergency evacuation contingency held with a helicopter company
Day-by-day itinerary
Day 01 — Thimphu to the trailhead, and the first camp Meet the trekking crew in Thimphu, cross the Dochula Pass and drive down to the Jomolhari valley, where the trail begins below a monastery that has stood above the river for centuries. An afternoon briefing on altitude and pace, then a short walk to the first camp in pine forest, with the equipment…
Day 02 — Through the pine into the rhododendron A steady climb out of the valley, leaving the last of the tall pine for rhododendron and birch, with the trail following the Jomolhari river up. Camp higher in the afternoon, where the air has already changed and the peaks above are visible through the afternoon cloud.
Day 03 — Above the treeline to the Gochula La The day the trail leaves the trees for good. Scrub and grass give way to rock, and a long climb reaches the Gochula La at 4,850 metres — a pass between two of the great massifs, and the highest point of the walk. Camp just below it, where the Jomolhari massif is now unmistakably close.
Day 04 — Jomolhari base camp beneath the north face A short, deliberate acclimatisation day to the base camp at 4,900 metres, with the mountain filling the entire northern horizon in a wall of ice, rock and hanging glacier. An afternoon of photographs and absolutely nothing else — the walk to camp is the walk you take, and there is no hurry at this…
Day 05 — Base camp to Ratesha, the long descent begins Leave the high camp and drop back down the valley, a full day of descent through the same zones in reverse — rock, then scrub, then rhododendron. Camp in the valley bottom, with a clear sky and the whole walk visible above you, which is the most satisfying view of the entire trek.
Day 06 — Ratesha to the lower camps A shorter day down through thicker forest, following the water down, with the trail softening into the village landscape and the first signs of the road returning. Camp in forest, and the last of the cooking, dried vegetables and dried yak meat that got you this far.
Day 07 — The trailhead and the road to Bumthang The final morning on the trail, down to the roadhead where the vehicle is waiting, and a long transfer into Bumthang for a hot shower and a real bed. An evening in Jakar at nothing more demanding than a walk through the town and dinner of red rice and Bumthang cheese.
Day 08 — Bumthang to Thimphu, and the buffer that makes it safe Drive west to Thimphu with a deliberate buffer day built in, so that weather on the passes cannot put a flight at risk — fifteen days are held for exactly this reason. A free afternoon in the capital, a farewell dinner, and a night in Thimphu before the short flight to Paro.
Day 09 — Return to Paro and departure Flight or road back to Paro, with the last of the trek photographs edited and handed to you as a set, and time in Paro town if the schedule allows. Emergency evacuation cover remains in force to the last hour of the buffer day, not the last day of the walk.