Bhutan - Lindsay Brown [158]
LONG
A short trek in Bhutan is three or four days in duration, an average trek is a week, but a trek of 25 days or more is possible. Every day your walk leads you one day further into the hills and you will have to walk that same distance to get back to a road. Make proper preparations before you start so that three days into the trek you don’t find that you are ill-equipped, exhausted or unable to cope with the thought of walking all that distance back.
PHYSICALLY DEMANDING
A Bhutan trek is physically demanding because of its length and the almost unbelievable changes in elevation. If you add all the climbing in the 14-day Laya–Gasa trek, for example, it is more than 6800m of elevation gain and loss during many steep ascents and descents. On most treks, the daily gain is less than 500m in about 18km, although 1000m ascents are possible on some days. You can always take plenty of time during the day to cover this distance; the physical exertion, although quite strenuous at times, is not sustained. You can take time for rest, but the trek days in Bhutan are long, requiring seven to nine hours of walking and you do have to keep moving to get to camp before dark.
Many of the climbs and descents are on rocky trails. Bhutan is amazingly rocky and on many routes the trail traverses long stretches of round river rocks. It requires some agility to hop between these. The trail is often extremely muddy, sometimes requiring a diversion to keep your feet dry. It can be a tricky balancing act on stones and bits of wood to get across stretches that have been ground into sloppy mud by the hooves of passing horses, yaks and cattle.
Many of the treks are on old trade routes that fell into disuse once a road was built. Some trails, especially in eastern Bhutan, have had little or no maintenance for 20 or 30 years. It’s always possible to encounter snow, especially on high passes.
Probably the only physical problem that may make a trek impossible is a history of knee problems on descents. Throughout the Himalaya the descents are long, steep and unrelenting. There is hardly a level stretch of trail in the entire Himalayan region. If you are an experienced walker and often hike 20km to 25km a day with a backpack, a trek should prove no difficulty. You will be pleasantly surprised at how easy the hiking can be if you carry only a light backpack and do not have to worry about setting up a camp, finding water and preparing meals.
Previous experience in hiking and living outdoors is, however, helpful as you plan your trek. The first night of a two-week trek is too late to discover that you do not like to sleep in a sleeping bag.
Another unpleasant aspect of a trek in Bhutan is attacks by leeches during the rainy season. Leeches are rare during the normal trekking seasons, but if you want to see alpine flowers you need to come during July and August when the rain and leeches make life more difficult.
NOT A CLIMBING TRIP
A Bhutan trek will not allow you to fulfil any Himalayan mountaineering ambitions. Bhutan’s regulations prohibit climbing any peak higher than 6000m because of local concerns for the sanctity of the mountain peaks, which are revered as the home of deities.
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WHEN TO TREK
The most important consideration as you decide when to trek is weather. Most trekkers come in autumn; spring is the second most popular season. The high tourist season is during the period of best weather in autumn. Flights and hotels are fully booked and you will probably meet other trekkers on the popular routes.
Winter snow and summer rain limit the ideal trekking season in Bhutan to two brief periods. Late September to mid-November is recognised as the best time for trekking and the March to April period is the next best time. No matter when you trek you will have