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| Jomolhari (7324m) from Jangothan Base Camp (4040m) |
Instead of 24 days , I only did six days walking in Bhutan. After the first hard day trekking; 22.7 km, 1000 m ascent, 10 h 25 m of walking, and difficult terrain - switchbacks, mud, rock, and flowing water; I was totally exhausted. By the end of the day I was moving extremely slowly.
The second day confirmed I was having difficulties acclimitising. An easier day; 6 hours walking, 16.8 km, 350 m of ascent, and similar but less muddy terrain. but I was exhausted and moving slowly by lunchtime. One possible cause was that I developed a minor chest infection, with a rubbishy cough, and a snuffle. I assume I had caught this en-route to Paro, either in Delhi, or on the flights. While I did not feel ill, and would have said that it was not affecting me, I was not performing as I have in the past, nor as I expected to.
These difficulties put in perspective that there were only three break out points on the entire route; that the first was very close to the start, and was the only one that it was possible to walk out from; that the second was seven days or more into the trek and the last about 21 days into the trek; and from these latter two the only way out was by helicopter.
It was obvious that I would have very great difficulties if I were to continue, so it wasn't even a decision. I opted to break out, and walk out from the trek back to Paro. In all I had done six days walking. I covered about 60km; climbed at least 4100m; reached an altitude of 4430m.
The whole trek would have worked out at:
24 days trekking
270 miles (432 km)
at least 10 km ascent (possibly as much as 15 km)
Having got down, I accepted that all the money spent on the trek had been spent. I arranged with the tour operator to set up a culture, sightseeing and wildlife photography trip for my remaining time in Bhutan. So an enjoyable time but not what I had gone there to do.
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