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The people and the landscape of Bhutan’s Mountain Goddess: a Photo Essay

Updated: Dec 8, 2020

As we open our 2020 fall expedition to the base of Bhutan’s Mount Jomolhari (slated for October), our Travel Programs Coordinator, Karma Dorji, showcases in words and pictures why, despite the growing impact of tourism and the onslaught of modernity, a trek to the basecamp of the kingdom’s second highest peak remains one of the world’s great hiking experiences.

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Photos & text by Karma Singye Dorji


1. Kado, 26, Mountain Man.

Over the nearly two decades that I have been guiding guests of various nationalities on the trails crisscrossing the lap of Mount Jomolhari (24,038ft), I have fallen in love as much with the mountain as with her people. Having done it these many years, a trip back to the mountain feels more like a pilgrimage to me than a simple trekking expedition. This, even though, in my opinion, the route has become significantly degraded over the years by tourist traffic and a near-tragic clear-cutting of trees along the first section of the route in a mismanaged effort to bring electricity to the region. Many of the people I have guided over the years leave the mountain changed in some deep and profound ways by the power of the landscape, and the kindness, grace and strength of the people. I have personally been inspired by the incredible strength and tenacity of Mount Jomolhari’s children. The mountain has a way of stripping away the inessentials, exposing weaknesses, and demanding strength and endurance. I remember a time, in the early years, when we followed a young boy from Jangothang, a settlement near the mountain’s base who, at times half disappearing in the snow, trudged quietly and uncomplainingly with us, for hours going out of his way to guide us through an unexpected storm even though he got drenched in the subzero temperatures in the process. That boy, whose name I have sadly forgotten, is who I think of when I walk among people like 26-year old Kado who, similarly, was born and raised in the benevolent shadow of the mountain they call their protector. I met him at basecamp, where he spoke to me of his modest dreams: a new roof for his mother’s house, taking care of his elders and providing them a modicum of ease when they retire to the traditional Buddhist life of prayer and meditation. Talking to this quiet young man, listening to his rock-like resolve, I was reminded of one of the most important things we can do in life: be an anchor of strength for those we love.





2. Unveiling the Goddess

When you get close to the mountain, the massive exposed rock face of Jomolhari’s base—streaked by waterfalls and fingers of perennial snow—gives no indication of the sheer magnitude of the peak. Black cliffs disappear under a sea of towering mist that reaches up to the sky, and it is only when the goddess “smiles” through a break in the weather that we see the immensity of her snowy crown. The semi-nomadic people who have lived here for centuries under her gaze believe that Ama Jomo, their Mother Goddess, watches over them and protects their world. Appraising the mountain from the Tibetan side (Bhutan was closed to outsiders then), the early 20th century English explorer F. Spencer Chapman wrote in 1939: “Chomolhari [aka Jomolhari] gives a greater impression of sheer height and inaccessibility than any other mountain I know. 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.”


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