Snowman Trek

Meet the full expedition team in Paro — guides, cooks, horsemen — for gear checks and the route briefing for one of the world's hardest treks.

Enter Jigme Dorji National Park at Gunitsawa and follow the Paro Chhu through farmland and forest to first camp.

Climb past yak herder settlements into open high country, camping beneath Jomolhari's colossal 2,000-metre face.

Over Nyile La (4,870 m) between Jomolhari and Tserim Kang, descending to camp below the lonely white fortress of Lingshi Dzong.

Climb through yak pastures over Gobu La (4,440 m), watching for blue sheep and bearded vultures, to a riverside camp at Shomuthang.

The route's first 5,000er: Sinche La at 5,005 metres, prayer-flagged and windswept, then down past moraine lakes to camp under Gangchenta, the Great Tiger Mountain.

A day among the Layap people — butter tea in stone kitchens, yak wool spinning, and the village's easy rhythm at 3,800 metres. Resupply before the remote Lunana leg.

A short, high day over Tsimo La (4,700 m) to camp on the barren shoulder of Narethang beneath the peak of Gangla Karchung.

Follow the Tang Chhu past waterfalls to Woche, a huddle of stone houses and barley fields that marks your arrival in Lunana — the most remote inhabited region in Bhutan.

Walk the wide glacial valley to Thanza, Lunana's chief village, backed by the 3,000-metre wall of Zongophu Gang. You are now further from a road than almost anywhere on earth.

Begin the southern exit over Jaze La (5,150 m), camping between snow peaks at the turquoise lake of Tshochena.

Cross Rinchen Zoe La at 5,326 metres, the highest point of the entire trek, with Gangkar Puensum — the world's highest unclimbed mountain — filling the northern horizon. Descend to camp at Chukarpo.

Over Thampe La and down through bamboo forest to the roadhead at Sephu on the lateral highway — 25 days, 11 passes, and one of mountaineering's proudest walking achievements complete. Drive to Thimphu for a celebration dinner and transfer onward to Paro.