Trek from Shingkharap to Thangthangka, 3580 meters
The morning was very cold and the heat from the camp fire was very welcoming. The trek to Thangthangka was a little strenuous with plenty of ascent. The trail was still very bumpy and hopping between rocks and boulders was quite a constant thing. The view along the trail was still limited to the pine trees, narrow gorges with the gargling river slicing through it. We hardly met any trekkers along the way except a group of Koreans but instead met a number of Bhutanese proceeding back to Paro after having gone back to their own village for the new government voting.
We started seeing yaks in the later part of the trail, a sign that we were gaining on altitude.The surrounding view at the Thangthangka campsite was again limited to the immediate surrounding mountains. We were supposed to be able to see the Jhomohari peak from the campsite but had no luck as the peak was covered by a thick veil of clouds.
We rested for a day in Thangthangka as part of the acclimatization program since we had ascended nearly 600m from Shingkharap - twice the recommended daily altitude gain of not more than 300m. Plus we had already ascended 1000m from Paro, it was yet another reason to rest and to avoid altitude sickness. Always seizing the opportunity to speak to other trekkers along the way, we came to know that two trekkers had to return to Paro because of altitude sickness, something which they could avoid with proper planning!
Having the time to sit around, we spent the morning trying to catch a glimpse of the Jhomohari peak which played hide and seek with the clouds. We could only get a tiny partial view of the mountain at any one time in the morning. The reason was that clouds move towards and envelop the peak from both sides. By mid day, the chance of seeing the peak became nil as the sky became cloudy.
