Trekking expedition · 28 nights
Snowman trek
Twenty-five days through Laya and Lunana, the hardest walk in the Himalaya.
Overview
The Snowman crosses eleven passes above 4,500 m on its way from Paro to the Lunana valleys and out to Sephu, through country that sees fewer visitors in a year than the Tiger's Nest sees in a morning. It is called the hardest trek in the Himalaya for the altitude, the length and the weather, which closes the passes with snow from late October. Laya's women in their conical bamboo hats, the glacial lakes of Thanza, the yak trains at Rinchen Zoe La: this is the kingdom as it was.
Fitness and altitude
- Twenty-five consecutive days of walking, many of six to nine hours, with eleven passes between 4,500 and 5,320 m and most nights above 4,000 m; this is an expedition, not a holiday.
- You need a strong history of multi-week trekking at altitude and should be comfortable with cold, wet and long days without rest.
- Train for at least six months with long back-to-back mountain days under load, and tell us honestly about every previous altitude experience.
- Weather is the main reason Snowman treks fail; snow can close the passes in any month, and the itinerary carries contingency days our guide may use without notice.
- Helicopter evacuation insurance is required, and our guide carries a satellite phone, oxygen and a full medical kit; a doctor's letter is requested at booking.
Camps and support
Twenty-four camp nights across the full route, with full dining, kitchen and toilet tents and a crew of horsemen and, above Laya, yak herders who move camp ahead of you each day. Village camps at Laya and Thanza allow a visit to a home and a washing day. Lodge nights in Paro before and after, and a boutique hotel in Trongsa at the trail's end.
A licensed trekking guide and a full support team (cook, horsemen, pack animals) are required by regulation for every trek in Bhutan. We arrange all of it.
Day by day
29 days, loosely held.
Every day can bend. This is the shape we would start from.
Met at the aircraft steps and settled in a lodge above the valley. A walk along the river and an early night at 2,200 m, the first of many.
Stay: Paro Valley Lodge · placeholder name
The climb to Taktsang at 3,100 m in the morning, back for lunch. The afternoon is a careful gear check with your trekking guide, a briefing on the route and the weather, and the first meeting with the crew.
Stay: Paro Valley Lodge · placeholder name
A drive past Drukgyel Dzong to the trailhead at Gunitsawa, then the Paro Chhu through oak and conifer forest to a meadow camp at about 3,610 m. Six to seven hours, with the river for company.
The valley opens into yak pasture and Jomolhari appears ahead and grows all afternoon. Camp at about 4,080 m beneath the mountain's north-east face. Five hours.
A walk to the lakes of Tshophu at 4,380 m among blue sheep, and an afternoon of rest beneath the mountain. The body needs this day before the passes begin.
The climb to Nyile La at about 4,870 m with Jomolhari and Jichu Drake behind, then down to camp below the white dzong of Lingshi at about 4,010 m. Seven to eight hours.
A visit to Lingshi Dzong on its hill and to the village beneath it, where the medicinal herbs for the Thimphu hospital are gathered. An easy day to settle at altitude before the long traverse north.
A short and beautiful day along a high valley to the village of Chebisa, a cluster of stone houses beneath a waterfall at about 3,880 m. Time in the afternoon to visit a home and watch the yaks come down.
A steep climb to Gogu La at about 4,440 m, then a traverse through rhododendron and across a side valley to camp at Shomuthang at about 4,220 m. Six to seven hours, with blue sheep on the slopes and the chance of a takin.
Over Jhari La at about 4,750 m with the first view of Sinche La ahead and Gangchhenta, the Great Tiger Mountain, to the north. Down to the river and up again to camp at Robluthang at about 4,160 m. Seven hours.
The long climb to Sinche La at about 5,005 m, the first of the five-thousand-metre passes, then a descent beneath the moraine and the hanging glaciers of Gangchhenta to a meadow camp at Limithang at about 4,140 m. Seven to eight hours.
A gentle day down the river through forest to Laya at about 3,800 m, the highest village of its size in Bhutan, where the women wear conical bamboo hats and the houses are stone with carved windows. Camp at the edge of the village, with the evening in a Layap home.
A washing day, a resupply day and a day among the Layaps, whose yaks and cordyceps have made this one of the wealthiest villages in the mountains. The crew exchanges horses for yaks here for the high country ahead.
Down to the Mo Chhu and then a long climb through forest and across a high meadow to the camp at Rodophu at about 4,160 m. Six to seven hours, and the last trees you will see for a fortnight.
A climb to Tsomo La at about 4,900 m, with the Tibetan border peaks along the horizon and Jomolhari far to the west, then a short descent across a bare plateau to camp at Narethang at about 4,900 m. Five to six hours, and a very cold night.
Over Gangla Karchung La at about 5,120 m, where the whole of Lunana opens below in a wall of glaciers and the peaks of Teri Gang and Jejekangphu Gang, then a long steep descent into the Tarina valley to camp at about 3,980 m. Seven to eight hours, the day most trekkers remember.
A walk down the Tang Chhu beneath waterfalls, then a climb to Woche, the first village of Lunana, at about 3,910 m. Five hours, with the strange rock-and-timber houses of the valley appearing on the slopes.
Over Keche La at about 4,650 m with glaciers on every side, then down to the Pho Chhu and along the river to the village of Lhedi at about 3,700 m, which has a school, a health post and a small shop that is the only one for a week in any direction. Six to seven hours.
A gentle day up the valley past the village of Chozo and its small dzong to Thanza at about 4,090 m, beneath the great wall of Zongophu Gang, the Table Mountain. The glacial lake of Raphstreng Tsho lies above the village, the water held behind its moraine. Five hours.
A day in the last village of Lunana: a walk to the glacial lakes, time in a home, a chance to wash, and a change of yaks for the long stage out. The crew watches the sky, because the passes ahead are the ones that close.
A short day up a side valley with yak herders' camps and views back to Zongophu Gang, to camp at Danji at about 4,400 m. Three to four hours, deliberately easy before the highest passes.
Over Jaze La at about 5,150 m, with snow peaks in every direction, and down past a chain of small lakes to camp at Tshochena at about 4,970 m, beside a lake that mirrors the peaks. Six hours.
Over Loju La at about 4,940 m through a landscape of moraine and lake, then down to a camp at Jichu Dramo at about 5,050 m, among the highest camps in the country. Five hours, and a night where the stars are very close.
The highest point of the trek: Rinchen Zoe La at about 5,320 m, with Gangkar Puensum, the highest unclimbed mountain in the world, to the east. A long descent beside a chain of lakes and the first dwarf rhododendron in two weeks, to camp at Chukarpo at about 4,600 m. Seven hours.
Down the valley through yak pasture and then a steep climb to the lake of Thampe Tsho at about 4,300 m, held in a bowl of cliffs. Five to six hours, with the forest returning below.
The last pass, Thampe La at about 4,600 m, then a long descent past the lake of Om Tsho, where the treasure-finder Pema Lingpa is said to have found relics, down through forest to a camp among the first trees at Maurothang at about 3,610 m. Five to six hours.
A final morning down the Nikka Chhu through bamboo and farmland to the road at Sephu, where the vehicle waits and the crew is thanked. The drive east over Pele La to Trongsa, a hot shower and a bed with a view of the dzong across the gorge.
Stay: Trongsa Hillside Hotel · placeholder name
A morning at Trongsa Dzong, the seat of the royal family, then the long drive west over Pele La and Dochula with lunch in Punakha, arriving in Paro for the evening. A hot stone bath and the first proper dinner in a month.
Stay: Paro Valley Lodge · placeholder name
Breakfast with the valley below, the short drive to the airport and farewells with a guide who has walked every step with you.
Inclusions
What is in the price, and what is not.
Included
- Sustainable Development Fee (SDF) for every night in Bhutan, including camp nights; the fee funds free healthcare, education and conservation and is what keeps the trails as empty as they are. Verify against https://www.bhutan.travel before launch.
- Bhutan visa fee and visa processing, arranged by our Bhutanese partner operator. Verify against https://www.bhutan.travel before launch.
- Licensed trekking guide throughout. A licensed trekking guide and support team are required by regulation for every trek in Bhutan; this is not optional and we would not want it to be. Verify against https://www.bhutan.travel before launch.
- Trek cook and kitchen crew, serving three hot meals a day and tea at every pause.
- Horsemen and pack animals (horses or yaks at altitude) to carry camp, kitchen and your duffel; you walk with a daysack.
- Camping equipment: sleeping tent, dining tent, kitchen tent, toilet tent, foam mattress and camp chairs; sleeping bags on request.
- Private driver and private vehicle for every road day, including transfers to the trailhead and from the trail's end.
- All meals in Bhutan, on the trail and off it.
- All monument, museum and dzong entry fees on the non-trekking days.
- Accommodation in Paro and at the trail's end as described.
- Airport transfers in Paro.
- Your dedicated Dzong House specialist, from the first message to the day you fly home.
- Yaks and yak herders above Laya, where horses cannot go, and a resupply at Laya and Thanza.
- Satellite phone, oxygen and a full expedition medical kit carried by the guide.
- Contingency days held in the schedule for weather on the Lunana passes.
Not included
- International flights to and from Paro (we book them for you at cost; Paro is Bhutan's only international airport).
- Travel insurance with high-altitude trekking and helicopter evacuation cover, which we require for every trekker.
- Alcoholic and soft drinks beyond water, tea and coffee at meals.
- Tips for your guide, cook, horsemen and lodge staff (we will suggest a range).
- Personal trekking gear, boots and clothing; a kit list follows your booking.
- Personal items, laundry and anything of a purely personal nature.
- Helicopter evacuation or an unscheduled helicopter exit from Lunana, covered by your insurance.
Pricing
Per person, sharing, all-in.
Every figure below includes the Sustainable Development Fee (100 USD per adult per night) and the 40 USD visa fee. Fees verified as of 2026-10-14.
Comfort
From $11,900
per person · 28 nights · SDF included · visa fee included
Full expedition camping with licensed trekking guide, cook, horsemen and yak crew; warm hotels before and after. SDF and visa fee included.
Premium
From $17,500
per person · 28 nights · SDF included · visa fee included
Larger standing-height tents, thicker mattresses, hot washing water and a dedicated camp host; boutique hotels before and after. SDF and visa fee included.
Ultra luxury
From $29,000
per person · 28 nights · SDF included · visa fee included
A private expedition with heated dining tent, camp shower, a chef and a doctor; the finest lodges before and after, helicopter out from Lunana where useful. SDF and visa fee included.
Prices shown in your selected currency are approximate conversions from USD. Children and Indian nationals pay a different SDF; we adjust the quote accordingly. Verify fees at https://www.bhutan.travel.
Route
Where the road goes.
Map placeholder
Paro → Thimphu → Laya → Lunana → Wangdue Phodrang → Trongsa
An interactive route map (Mapbox / Google Maps) slots in here.
Stays on this journey
Where you will sleep.
Placeholder names until partner agreements are signed.
Begin
Begin the Snowman trek.
Tell us when and who. We reply with a first sketch within two working days.