Hoping to see sunrise over Jhomohari, we got up at 5.30am and were not disappointed. The peak of Jhomohari had just caught the rays and was glowing in a golden colour. Despite the biting cold (approx. -10 deg C), we stood in the open enjoying the beautiful view of Jhomohari revealing its full glory to us. The sun rays cast shadows and highlighted the faceted snow covered face of the mountain.

The first clouds started to move in at about 9am. After breakfast, we explored the ruined Dzong (fortress) before proceeding on our trek across the river to the other side of the mountains to Tshophu Lake. It was a strenuous trek up the mountain slopes but the view was fantastic as we proceeded higher.

Looking down, we could see the campsite and the tiny coloured tents, the ruined fortress that stood guard over the campsite, the few houses next to the river and the trail that leads to Lingshi. Looking up, we could see all the surrounding snow covered mountains as well as the magnificent Jichu Drake with its distinctive pyramid-shaped peak composed of razor-sharp ridges. Jhomohari was already covered by clouds and was no longer visible.

From the top of the mountain slope, the trail to the lake was fairly flat and easy to walk. But the winds rushing through the valleys and from over the mountains were extremely strong and bone chillingly cold. It really debilitated energy out of me. The weather was also slowly turning lousy and the sun hid behind clouds that threatened to rain/snow soon. After snapping a few quick pictures at the lake, we went to a yak herder shelter nearby and hurdled behind the low stone walls for a quick lunch.

Light snow flakes fell while we were on the way back to the campsite. By early evening, a heavy snow storm had started. The wet towel that was hanging outside of the tent was frozen solid hard!

The temperature plummeted at night at 3,500m and the ground was covered with frost early in the morning. Getting out of the warm sleeping bag and getting out into the cold was quite a task. After a nourishing breakfast of warm oatmeal, we started on the trail to Jangothang which was my favourite.

We finally saw the peak of Jhomohari shortly after being on the trail. The scenery changed as we gained altitude. The landscape changed from the alpine forests to the vastness of the highland with sturdy and thorny shrubs, Juniper trees, semi-nomadic settlements and yaks grazing in the open. The trail changed from bumpy rocks to fairly flat terrains, making walking a pleasure. It was very windy out in the vast open without the protection from the dense forests.

We past by several settlements of the nomads who were mostly yak herders. Houses were also sparse at the high altitude, passing through several villages each with only a few houses. We past the second army post and had to be registered again. Because of the strong winds in the vast open, we could not find any suitable places to take a break for hot tea.  We ended up having lunch inside an empty shed at the last village before the base camp that was recently used as the voting post.

From the last village to the base camp, we had spectacular view of Jichu Drake, At 6,974m, it is located directly east of Jhomolhari and has a distinctive pyramid-shaped peak composed of razor-sharp ridges.

Jangothang is also known as Land of Ruins as a ruined fortress towered over the campsite from a rocky outcrop with coloured prayer flags spanning its forlorn walls. In the early afternoon, the clouds had already set in and even though our tent was pitched directly in front of Jhomohari, all we could see was a partial view of the glacier with the ruined Dzong in the foreground.