Base Camp
Rigorous trekking; 26 days
Nestled high on the Tibetan borderlands, the Laya Valley is one of
the most culturally and ecologically pristine redoubts in the long
arc of the Himalaya. This effortful, eventful, and very rare trek
takes you into Laya, and branches off to the base camp at the foot
of Masa Gang (circa 22,900 feet; no one knows for sure) for some
glorious solitude and thundering views. Rarity has its charms, but
there's far more: the scenery along the way--past elegant
Chomolhari, into the yak-hair tent-villages of the highlands and
on to Laya and the embrace of the Bhutan Himalaya--is an aesthetic
triumph, And Laya's welcoming people are a treat for the heart.
You will begin trekking near Paro, walking through tidy farmland
toward Tibet's Chumbi Valley and Chomolhari, Bhutan's patron peak.
After one day rest at Chomolhari Base Camp, you will slowly shed
the 20th century, trekking northeast toward Laya and Masa Gang.
You reach the highpoint, 16,500-foot at Sinche La, just before
descending to Laya. On the fall version of the Laya trek you
arrive during harvest season, when the semi-nomadic Layans are
gleefully gathering their barley, mustard, and turnips. In the
spring the land is bursting with wildflowers and song. Then you go
up valley to Masa Gang, a major chapter in any trekker's life
story.
