| SLIDESHOW | BHUTAN'S GODDESS MOUNTAIN |
Slideshow: Bhutan's Goddess Mountain
Although the growing impact of tourism and creeping modernity can no longer be denied, Bhutan's Jomolhari, or "Goddess Mountain," remains one of the world's great treks.
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1. Kado, 26, Mountain Man.
Over the nearly two decades that I have been guiding the trails to Mount Jomolhari (24,038ft), I have fallen in love with the people as much as the landscape. To breathe the rarefied air of these mountains one must pay a price. International trekkers and recreational hikers have to train for months (and save a lot) to get here. The people who are born in these mountains must deal with the extreme cold of the winters, and the lack of creature comforts most people take for granted. The landscape has a way of chiseling out the inessentials. Each time I walk these mountains among my proud Drokpa cousins who live here year-round, like 26-year old Kado, I am reminded of all the things we should let go to live life right: things like pride, vanity, the illusion of “control,” and the worst habit of modern conditioning—the tendency to move on to the next thing without showing up for the present, the precious here and now.
Slideshow: Bhutan's Goddess Mountain
Although the growing impact of tourism and creeping modernity can no longer be denied, Bhutan's Jomolhari, or "Goddess Mountain," remains one of the world's great treks.
2. Unveiling the Goddess
Each year, our annual trek into the lap of Mount Jomolhari—Bhutan's second highest peak—feels more like a pilgrimage. Streaked by waterfalls and fingers of perennial snow, the massive exposed rock face of Bhutan's mountain goddess gives no sense of the sheer magnitude of the peak. No camera can capture the scope and grandeur of the holy mountain. Black cliffs disappear into a sea of towering mist that extends to the sky that, when the “goddess smiles,” reveals the immensity of her snowy crown. According to the Drokpa people who have always lived under her gaze, Ama Jomo or “Mother Goddess” watches over them, and over the world. “Chomolhari (alternate spelling) gives a greater impression of sheer height and inaccessibility than any other mountain I know”, wrote the well-known English explorer F. Spencer Chapman in 1939. “It drops in a series of almost vertical rock precipices to the foothills beneath. It is thought by many to be the most beautiful mountain in the whole length of the Himalaya.”
Slideshow: Bhutan's Goddess Mountain
Although the growing impact of tourism and creeping modernity can no longer be denied, Bhutan's Jomolhari, or "Goddess Mountain," remains one of the world's great treks.
3. Beauty & Respect
The powerful landscape of the Jomolhari region quiets the mental chatter of our days and brings an awed silence in its place. No room here for ego-driven exploits, no place too for the closing of doors on one another. The immensity of the mountains and the landscape makes specks of us all and the stark vagaries of mountain weather means we always tread respectfully. As native-born Himalayan guides to trekkers and mountain enthusiasts, it is our great responsibility and privilege to care for the safety of everyone who travels with us. We constantly train ourselves to watch and learn from local mountain weather patterns, we are always respectful of the indigenous knowledge the Drokpa nomads and herders share so generously with us. We listen and learn from local lore, the advice of local elders, the experiences of other guides, park officials, local authorities and conservationists, always putting the safety of the group first. It is a fine balance, this enjoyment of the abundant beauty of the Mountain Goddess and her people, and doing it in ways that are safe, respectful and non-exploitative.
Slideshow: Bhutan's Goddess Mountain
Although the growing impact of tourism and creeping modernity can no longer be denied, Bhutan's Jomolhari, or "Goddess Mountain," remains one of the world's great treks.
4. Entreaty from the Mountains
Our longtime friend Ap Dawa, pictured here in front of Mount Jomolhari, and his sons provide and handle our trekking mules through the Jomolhari region. Although pushing 70, Ap Dawa is nimble and surefooted. Each year he leads us on a merry chase up and down the high slopes that provide some of the best views around Basecamp Jomolhari. As a respected local elder, he also performs an ancient ritual that has now become a regular part of our treks. From a simple open-air stone altar on the spreading yak meadow below Bhutan’s second highest peak (24,038ft), Ap Dawa offers our prayers to the entity his people call “the Mother Goddess Mountain.” Ap Dawa’s ancestors have lived in the shadow of Mount Jomolhari since time immemorial. As Mangi Ap or designated village elder of the settlements around Jomolhari Basecamp for many years, he advocated for the needs of nomadic communities in the region. His standing in the valleys surrounding Jomolhari ensures our smooth passage through the region. Speaking about the effects of climate change Ap Dawa says he has noticed receding glaciers in his lifetime. “When I was young our precious goddess was covered head to toe in a gown of pure-white snow. Not so much anymore," he says. “If all the wise and powerful people in the advanced nations of the world work together [to reduce the effects of climate change] I am sure they can help us save our way of life.”
Slideshow: Bhutan's Goddess Mountain
Although the growing impact of tourism and creeping modernity can no longer be denied, Bhutan's Jomolhari, or "Goddess Mountain," remains one of the world's great treks.
5. Elemental Things
Crossing the Nyile La pass, in excess of 16,000-feet, you come upon this view. The first glimpse of the Lingshi Dzong after cresting the high ridge always makes me think of two things. That we are, in the overall scheme of things, really quite puny. Yet, something about the way the snow-clouds drift over the muscled slopes and ridges of the mountains, the occasional roar of a waterfall, a calving glacier in the distance, the audible shifting of great banks of snow—which can sound like a jet airplane—and the way one can truly kiss the clouds in this high region of the Bhutan Himalaya, also reminds me that we can be one with the grand, inexplicable movements of nature. The superfluous melts away, replaced by vital elemental things: Gratitude. Breath. Beauty. And, of course, Weather!
Slideshow: Bhutan's Goddess Mountain
Although the growing impact of tourism and creeping modernity can no longer be denied, Bhutan's Jomolhari, or "Goddess Mountain," remains one of the world's great treks.
6. Rich or Poor
One time, we set up camp near a yak-herder's tent, at an altitude of about 12,300 feet. There we met Drokpa matriarch Keza Om (62, right), head of a family numbering three daughters—one of whom, Zom (30), is pictured here—a niece, two grandchildren and two sons-in-law. From her seasonal stone-enclosure "roofed" by nothing more than a sheet of fraying tarpaulin, she manages a herd of some 80 yaks. Keza Om weathers snowstorms, freezing rains and high winds with unwavering equanimity, only pausing in her chores to stoke the small smoky fireplace that warms the tiny space. There's not much here but everything is essential: the little plastic containers of cooking oil that have been cut away at the neck to be re-purposed as water buckets, the aluminum pots and pans for cooking meals and boiling milk, the churns for making butter and cheese, the prayer beads around her neck for remembering her daily rounds of Buddhist chanting; even the incongruous rubber tire carried up the mountain by a son-in-law now reincarnated in the meadow as a feeding trough for her yaks! Sitting amid such meager cobbled possessions Keza Om's life seems hard and penurious. But the depth of her smile, and the largess of her welcome, says otherwise.
Slideshow: Bhutan's Goddess Mountain
Although the growing impact of tourism and creeping modernity can no longer be denied, Bhutan's Jomolhari, or "Goddess Mountain," remains one of the world's great treks.
7. Blue Sheep
At the source of rivers, near the lairs of snow leopards, we see a stampeding herd of rare Himalayan Blue Sheep (Pseudois nayaur). [Watch Video Clip] These elegant ungulates were perhaps made most famous by the detailed studies of the celebrated biologist George B. Schaller, who wrote “Since blue sheep are the snow leopard’s principal prey…the two species are ecologically bound to each other.” In Bhutan, local conservationist friends of the snow leopards take heart from the sightings of such healthy herds of blue sheep. Depending on size, maturity and season, their coats (“pelage” is the proper scientific term) range from brown to slate blue. The strong numbers of blue sheep, combined with recent photographs of snow leopards captured using camera “traps”, and the frequent sightings of the beautiful cats by local yak herders in the Jomolhari region, provide encouraging circumstantial evidence. There are indications that the extremely endangered cat, sometimes called the “ghost of the mountains” because of its elusive nature, continues to survive—perhaps even thrive—in Bhutan where strong environmental policies protect their habitats. Traveling through this incredible landscape I am always reminded of the words of Peter Mathiessen, author of The Snow Leopard:
“All is moving, full of power, full of light.”
Slideshow: Bhutan's Goddess Mountain
Although the growing impact of tourism and creeping modernity can no longer be denied, Bhutan's Jomolhari, or "Goddess Mountain," remains one of the world's great treks.
8. Jewel of the Mountains
No narrative of Jomolhari would be complete without mentioning yaks. In the high, arid region where agriculture is impossible, many locals say they probably would not survive without their herds. "Our yaks give us life," Apa Penjor an elder of Jomolhari (now deceased) told me nearly 20 years ago, when I first visited the region to write about a livestock disease affecting the region's herds. "They are our most precious possession." Cheese, milk and butter from the yaks are bartered for grains, fresh produce, spices and other provisions that are in short supply in these high valleys. Yak hair is spun into blankets, ropes and yurts, and yak dung provides fuel for fires. When we hike the spectacular slopes and valleys around Jomolhari, we often meet men, women, children and elders herding their yaks—sometimes called Norbu Rinpoche or "Inexhaustible Precious Jewel"—following traditional grazing patterns that have remained unchanged for centuries.
9. The March of Progress
And yet, despite the immense beauty of the landscape, the steady march of "progress," is also creeping into the formerly pristine Jomolhari region. While it would be easy to bemoan the visual dissonance of electrical poles and lines in these beautiful surroundings, we can no longer deny the aspirations of local people for what they deem to be better lives. For one, electricity means children can study longer and do better at school. These men carrying the metal poles up into the mountains are paid by business contractors who have the mandate to supply electricity to the settlements around Jomolhari. I recently spoke to a young man who was working the route to support his parents who are farmers in another part of the country. Norbu (26), was carrying 55lbs to 60lbs daily, the weight of the metal poles on which will eventually be strung wires carrying an as yet indiscernible number of modern impulses into the heart of Jomolhari. Wearing cheap rubber flip-flops, he was weaving a little and stopped to rest when I talked to him. "I sometimes make about Nu. 2000 a day (about US $30) doing this work," he said, catching his breath. "I am saving the money so I can help my parents put a new roof on our house in my village." More recently, a helicopter service took to delivering these heavy poles and frequently creates a stir in a place where such intrusions were previously unknown.
10. Protecting the Magic
Yet, despite encroaching modernity, Jomolhari remains one of the most magical places in the world. We routinely enjoy such incredible experiences with our guests as this starry night at our camp in front of the snow-covered peak. The challenges cannot be ignored but Bhutan has some of the most stringent environmental policies protecting its untouched places. We take hope from the fact that—as a country that sets aside more than 42 percent of its land mass in a system of protected areas—there are strong measures to mitigate tourism impacts: campsites are designated to reduce potential environmental conflicts, everything brought in is packed out, and special fees pay for environmental cleanups. Nationwide, regulations concerning land use, the use of natural resources, and environmental protection laws have made Bhutan a carbon-negative country. Places like Jomolhari have a sacredness that should be preserved for all time, an endeavor in which we all have a role to play: those of us who seek to share the life-transforming beauties of the region with our guests, the visitors who are fortunate enough to walk the hallowed valleys beneath the gaze of the mountain goddess, and the local governments and environmental agencies who seek to balance the needs of the people with the imperative to "leave nothing but footprints."
Slideshow: Bhutan's Goddess Mountain
Although the growing impact of tourism and creeping modernity can no longer be denied, Bhutan's Jomolhari, or "Goddess Mountain," remains one of the world's great treks.
By Karma Dorji
Our Travel Programs Coordinator has been trekking into the lap of Mount Jomolhari for over two decades. Here he shares his insights about the region alongside images he shot during our recent journeys there. Inspired? See dates and prices for our upcoming Bhutan's Jomolhari Trek
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