Bhutan - Lindsay Brown [193]
Looking up the valley you can see the following day’s route to Lhedi. There have been reports of theft of hiking equipment or clothing here; keep all your gear safely inside your tent.
Day 16: Woche to Lhedi
17km / 6-7 hours / 980m ascent, 950m descent
The path to Lhedi begins below the camp and climbs the Woche valley, crossing a stream and climbing over a moraine before descending to a wooden bridge across the Woche Chhu. It then climbs on a wide trail past an extremely clear lake to Keche La (4650m). From the pass there are excellent views of the surrounding mountains, including Jejekangphu Gang’s triple peak, the source of the Woche Chhu.
The route descends steeply into the Pho Chhu valley, the heart of the Lunana district. In the small village of Thaga (4050m) the farmers grow buckwheat, potatoes, turnips and radishes. From Thaga the path drops towards the Pho Chhu, then turns northeast towards Lhedi, which is visible in the distance above the river.
In 1994 a moraine holding back a large glacial lake north of Thanza burst, hurling millions of litres of water down the Pho Chhu. The resulting flash flood caused considerable damage, which is still visible along this stretch of trail.
Passing a few scattered settlements and crossing below a waterfall on a wooden bridge, the trail descends to the banks of the Pho Chhu. Continue along the river bed until you reach Lhedi at 3700m.
Lhedi is a district headquarters with a school, BHU and wireless station, but there is no shop here (or anywhere else in the Lunana district). Everything is carried in by yak trains across 5000m passes. Strong winds blow up the valley in the late afternoon, making it bitterly cold in autumn and winter.
Day 17: Lhedi to Thanza
17km / 7-8 hours / 400m ascent
The trail follows the north bank of the Pho Chhu past several small farms. In clear weather there are excellent views of Table Mountain (7100m) to the north and Tangse Gang across the river. Floods have destroyed parts of the trail so a temporary path winds its way among massive boulders in the river bed, crossing small, rickety bridges across several channels of the river. Around lunch time the trail passes the small village of Chozo at 4090m. The village has a small dzong, which is still in use.
If you are pressed for time, you can gain a day or two by stopping here and taking a direct trail to Tshochena, but most trekkers continue to Thanza (4100m), a couple of hours further up the valley. The first part of the trail to Thanza leads through lush yak pastures on the wide river flats, but soon the grass gives way to a large expanse of fine glacial sand. Protect your camera; if it is windy the sand will enter any little opening.
Eventually the trail leaves the river bed and climbs a bluff overlooking the villages of Thanza, straight ahead, and Toencha, on the other bank of the river. Table Mountain forms an immense, 3000m-high wall of snow and ice only a few kilometres behind Thanza. Most groups camp in Toencha (4150m), but there are places to camp in Thanza as well.
Day 18: Rest Day in Thanza
Schedule a rest day here. This is as far as the yak drivers from Laya go. It takes time to round up enough yaks for the rest of the trek and you may get a rest day even if you have not scheduled one. This provides a good opportunity to explore the villages and glacial lakes up the valley. The closest lake, Raphstreng Tsho, is 100m deep and caused the 1994 flood. A large crew of Indian workers dug a channel through the moraine to prevent a recurrence, but there are several more glacial lakes in the area that could burst through their moraines at any time.
Day 19: Thanza to Danji
8km / 3-4 hours / 80m ascent
If your party is very fit, you can do the hike to Tshochena in one day, but it’s a long, hard walk at high altitude and it’s better to split it into two half-days.
The route climbs from Toencha to a large boulder on the