Five walking days across a high lake plateau with Jomolhari and Kanchenjunga on clear mornings
The Dagala plateau holds dozens of small lakes and almost no other trekkers, because the trailhead is a ninety minute drive from Paro with no signposts. Camp altitudes stay between 3,300 and 3,900 metres, which is high enough to feel the mountains and low enough to sleep. We keep one rest morning at Labatama because the side ridge above it is the best view on the route and nobody wants to walk past it with a heavy pack.
Fit walkers on a first Himalayan trek who want lakes, silence and short walking days
Meet the guide and trek cook, check your boots and sleeping bag, and walk an easy hour along the Paro Chhu to loosen the legs. Dinner is a briefing on the next five days of walking.
Drive to the Genekha trailhead and climb slowly through oak and blue pine, passing a village temple and the terraced fields that mark the last trekkers of the route. Camp sits in a broad clearing at Gur with a view north to the high ridges.
Cross a yak pasture saddle and follow the ridge line past clumps of rhododendron, with the first of the plateau lakes appearing below the path. Camp is beside the largest of the Labatama lakes.
A late start and a short climb up the ridge behind camp for the long view to Jomolhari and, on clear days, Kanchenjunga far to the west. The rest of the day is for reading, laundry and fishing talk with the crew.
Walk past three small lakes and over a shoulder at 4,300 metres where the ridge opens on both sides. Camp at Panka below the Yan Tso and Setso lakes with the wind dropping after sunset.
Climb the last saddle at 4,520 metres for the final high view, then descend steeply through forest to the road at Chamgang. Your vehicle waits with clean clothes and cold drinks, and a Thimphu hotel bed is an hour away.
Sleep late, then visit the craft school and the weekend market only if you feel like walking. The afternoon is left free, with a dinner booking for the whole group in town.
Transfer to Paro airport after breakfast with a short stop at Tachog Lhakhang iron bridge if there is time before your flight.
Travel insurance strongly recommended: cover mountain medical care, altitude evacuation, and Paro weather flight delays. Read the travel insurance note
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