Taste the wilderness of sky dominating mountains and unspoiled off beaten trail in the eastern part of Nepal with Kanchenjunga Trek. Mt. Kanchenjunga that stands tall at an elevation of 8586 meters, is the third highest peak of the world. The trek offers an opportunity to walk through some exotic paths to rejoice the grandeur of Mt. Kanchenjunga. The word – Kanchenjunga was derived from the Tibetan word.“Kanchendzonga,” which translates to “five treasures of snow.” The section of Kanchenjunga lies both in Nepal and Sikkim, India. Amongst the five main peaks in Kanchenjunga, the highest one lies in the Taplegunj of Nepal.
The trek to Kanchenjunga passes through three distinct ecological regions i.e., the eastern Himalayan coniferous forests, East Himalayan alpine meadows, and Terai grasslands. One can notice this environmental variation during the trek. The trail of Kanchenjunga Trek passes through the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area, which is home to various species of birds, animals, floras, and faunas found in different geographical regions and climatic conditions.
The trekking to Kanchenjunga was open to foreigners only after 1988. Still, the route is very challenging. The trail gets comparatively fewer visitors yearly. The region has even been able to maintain its natural glory and cultural richness intact. People of mixed groups mostly inhabit the area. They have their traditions, culture, and way of living. The trek offers an opportunity to get some insights on local people, culture and tradition with beautiful views of Mt. Kanchenjunga, Mt. Makalu, Mt. Jahnu Himal and many other mountains on sight.
Kanchenjunga Trek begins with a flight to Taplejung from where you ascend slowly along with a lush and pristine environment. You walk different pass villages to traverse into Kanchenjunga Conservation Area. You further climb up through forests, hills, and diverse terrain to Kanchenjunga Base Camp. The route offers some stunning views of mountains. From the base camp, you will be reward with some close-up pictures of Kanchenjunga along with other neighboring peaks. From the base camp, you drop down to Sele La pass and then to Suketar via different charming villages on the way. The trek concluded with a flight back to Kathmandu.
Kanchenjunga is one of the challenging trekking journeys in Nepal. It's beaten off nature and long day walk for more than three weeks make Kanchenjunga Trek a strenuous one. You need to be fit and must have a higher level of stamina and endurance capacity to opt for this trek. Apart from this, World Alpine Treks has many other off beaten natured treks to serve you!
The first day marks your arrival day in Kathmandu. Clear all the visa requirements and customs clearance if any at the arrival section of the airport. As you come out, you will find a representative from World Alpine Treks waiting for you holding a board with your name. You will then be transferred to your hotel at Kathmandu. The representative will shortly inform you about the plans ahead.
The second day is a day tour just to warm up prior to your trekking journey. Kathmandu is a city enriched with artistic palaces, beautiful monuments, ancient temples and other constructions of historical and cultural importance. No wonder, the city has seven out of ten UNESCO listed world heritage sites. Today, you will be guided to the UNESCO listed heritage sites in Kathmandu. These heritages are perfect examples of rich history, fine culture and architectural treasures of Nepal. At first, you will be taken to Kathmandu Durbar Square. The art, crafts, and carvings in the palaces, temples and other monuments of the durbar square are excellent. After that, you will be escorted to Swayambhunath stupa (Monkey temple), Pashupatinath temple and Boudhanath stupa respectively. (Inclusive of breakfast)
Early in the morning, you will be escorted to the domestic terminal of the Tribhuwan International airport for a flight to Taplejung. It’s around half an hour flight and we will arrive at Suketar Airport in Taplejung district. Upon arrival, we begin our trekking journey. The trek starts with s steep descend down to the Tamor river and follows a trail that will lead us to the village of Mitlung. Tonight, we stay at a guesthouse in Mitlung. (Inclusive of breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
After breakfast, we follow the trail that ascends up along the lush vegetation and villages for a few hours. Then, the trail starts descending down to the village of Sinwa and then to Tawa. The trail descends down till Tawa and slowly ascends up to a certain height. We cross a suspension bridge over the Thiwa river and pass lush and wild landscape along the way to Chirwa. Chirwa is a beautiful Limbu village with large fields and few lodges, teahouses, and campsites. Tonight, we stay at Chirwa. (Inclusive of breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
We leave Chirwa and follow a narrow trail towards the north of the village. We walk pass the east bank of Tamur River and enter into a Chhetri village of Tapethok. The entry checkpoint to Kanchenjunga National Park lies in this village. We show our permits and walk pass the village to Simbuwa Khola. We cross the river and drop down to Tamur river. We further cross a confluence of Ghunsa Khola and Tamur river and walk ahead until we reach Sukathum. It’s a beautiful Tibetan village in the region. Tonight, we stay at Sukathum. (Inclusive of breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
Leaving Sukathum, we head towards the challenging section of our walking journey. We cross a bridge over a river and walk out of the Sukathum village. We then enter into a densely forested area and walk up steep to some point. From here, we descend down to a riverbank. We cross the river and climb up a gorge to the village of Solima. Further, we descend down and continue our walk towards Amjilosa. Tonight, we stay at Amjilosa. (Inclusive of breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
Leaving Amjilosa, we follow an easy trail that climbs up to Ghunsa valley. The trail is very remote and isolated. You will not be able to see any human settlements area or villages even in the far distance. We climb up along dense forests of bamboo, rhododendron, and oaks. We continue our climb up until we open up to a flat ridge. From the ridge, we will be blessed with some stunning views of mountains. Leaving the ridge, we pass a trail full of pastures and waterfalls to Kyapart. We further walk pass the charming village of Ghunsa and walk ahead until we arrive at the small village of Gyabla. Tonight, we stay at Gyabla. (Inclusive of breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
Our day starts with a steep descent down into a gorge. Early in the morning, after breakfast, we start descending down along the forests of rhododendron and fir. We follow a riverbank and traverse through some beautiful yak pastures in Pholey. Pholey is a charming Tibetan village in that area with a large potato cultivation area. We visit a monastery in the village and walk up the valley. as the valley widens, our trail traverse through the lush fields and forests. Following the trail, we descend down to the banks of Ghunsa Khola. We cross a bridge over the river and enter into the Ghunsa village. Tonight, we stay at Ghunsa. (Inclusive of breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
Today, we spend quality time in the village of Ghunsa. It's very important to take this break for acclimatization purposes. In the afternoon, we hike up the surrounding ridges around the village. We hike up through forests to Lpasan La monastery enjoying the majestic views of mountains, hills, forests, villages, and farmlands. After enjoying some time in the monastery, we return back to the village of Ghunsa for overnight stay. Ghunsa is the last permanent settlement area in the trail to Kanchenjunga Base Camp. Now, you will traverse into no settlement areas starting tomorrow. (Inclusive of breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
The trail extends to some landslide-prone areas today. Hence, it is suggested to remain careful. We head towards north and make a gradual ascent up along the forests of juniper and larch enjoying some views of spectacular terrain all around. We come across a river and walk pass the eastern bank of the river to some vast meadows. Following a sandy trail along the bank of the river, we cross a bridge over the river and ascend up to Rambuk Kharka. From the Kharka, we pass through a landslide section accompanied by wonderful views of the waterfall. After a hard day walk, we will catch a glimpse of Mt. Jannu and Jannu glacier. Enjoying the views of mountains and glaciers, we walk until we reach Kambachen. Tonight, we stay at Kambachen. (Inclusive of breakfast, lunch and dinner)
We spend an extra day in Kambachen. It is probably our second day set aside for acclimatization purposes. Today, we hike up around the nearby places and explore the temporary settlement areas in Kambachan. We also have an option to explore Nupchu Khola valley. Whatever we do, we will be blessed with some striking views of mountain vistas and glaciers. Tonight, we stay at Kambachen. (Inclusive of breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
We will be walking through a challenging path today. We ascend up along a trail carved with icy blades of glaciers with no trace of human settlement around. We climb up gradually through the moraines. We have to be careful while walking because we will be walking through a slippery path. As we move ahead, we open up to the pastures of Ramthang. Here, we can visit an interesting monastery that lies just next to a bridge at the side of a waterfall. After visiting the monastery, we walk along the northern bank of the river to Lhonak glacier. Further, we come across a junction of Lhonak and Kanchenjunga glacier. We continue our walk admiring the majestic Himalayas vistas to a small temporary settlement area of Lhonak. It is a flat grassland with only two or three teahouses. We set our camps at the campsite in Lhonak. (Inclusive of breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
We are very close to our destination today. Early the morning, after breakfast, we head towards Pangpema. Pangpema is a local name given to Kanchenjunga North Base Camp. We climb up gradually along the moraines on the trail. We cross a rocky section and enter into flat plains i.e. grassland in the Kanchenjunga North Base Camp. From the base camp, you will be rewarded with some striking views of Mt. Kanchenjunga along with other neighboring peaks in the region. Enjoying the jaw-dropping views of Mt. Kanchenjunga, Mt. Janny and Chang Himal, we spend our night at the tented camps in Pangpema. (Inclusive of breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
Early in the morning, we wake up in the laps of beautiful Himalayas. After exploring the surrounding areas for a while and enjoying a delicious breakfast, we embark our descent down to the grassland of Lhonak. We further descend down the same path to Ramthang. Even our return journey will be full of wonderful mountain sights, temporary settlement area and isolated sections of wild nature. We continue our walk down until we reach Kambachen. Tonight, we stay at Kambachen. (Inclusive of breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
Leaving Kambachen, we continue descending down via the lush and dense forests enjoying some impressive views of mountains. We stay at a guesthouse in Ghunsa for the night. (Inclusive of breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
After breakfast, we leave Ghunsa and walk uphill following a steep trail to Sele Le. The trail for the day passes through the dense forests of juniper, rhododendron, and mosses for most of the time. We can enjoy lushness in the environment as we walk through our trail to Sele Le. Tonight, we stay at Sele Le (Inclusive of breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
After a wonderful morning in Sele Le, we continue with our trekking journey along a path that ascends up with some mesmerizing views of Jannu Himal and Mt. Makalu on sight. Our walking journey today is quite strenuous as we walk up to the high passes like Sinon La and Mirgin la. We cross the passes and traverse through Sinelapche Bhanjyang. We will be blessed with some astonishing views of mountains and glaciers from the pass. From the pass, we descend down steep to Cheram. Tonight, we stay at Cheram (Inclusive of breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
From Cheram, we climb up the trail and pass the face of Yalung glacier. We then walk along the bank of Simbuwa river and pass a charming village of Lapsang to Ramche. Leaving Ramche, we climb up to the ridge of the valley. Here, we can get some glimpse of blue sheep. From here, we follow a stream and climb up a moraine that lies just opposite to the southern face of Kanchenjunga Himal. As we move ahead, we can even get an awesome view of Jannu Himal. There is a monastery called Oktang monastery in the section. We can visit it if time allows. In the evening, we drop down to Cheram for an overnight stay. (Inclusive of breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
Leaving Cheram, we drop down to Tortong. On the way, we come across two paths. One route will take us down to Sele Le and the other will take us down to Simbhuwa Khola. We ignore the route to Sele le and take a trail that drops down to the Simbhuwa river via the lush landscape and rhododendron forests. We continue our walk down until we reach Tortong. Tonight, we stay at Tortong (Inclusive of breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
After an energetic breakfast at the guesthouse in Tortong, we start descending down to Yamphudin. We come across Lasiya Bhanjyang and walk pass forests and landslide areas to Yamphudin. The trail may be sloppy and slippery in monsoon but the trail remains stable in the spring and autumn season. We continue our walk until we reach Yamphudin village. It is a beautiful village in the region inhabited by the people of Rai, Limbu and Sherpa community. Tonight, we stay at a guesthouse in Yamphudin. (Inclusive of breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
We leave Yamphudin and descent down to Mamanke. It's an easy path through scenic route to the village of Mamanke. Tonight, we stay at a guesthouse in Mamanke. (Inclusive of breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
We further drop down through the trail to Lali Kharka. Tonight, we stay at a guesthouse in Lali Kharka. (Inclusive of breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
Leaving Lali Kharka, we retrace our steps back via the same lush and energetic path to Suketar. It is the same place where we had started our trekking journey earlier. We conclude our walking journey with a final descent down to Suketar. Tonight at a guesthouse in Suketar (Inclusive of breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
Today, we leave Suketar and back to Kathmandu. After flying for around thirty minutes on air, we will find ourselves at Kathmandu airport. After a long time in isolated areas, you will find yourselves in the crowd of the capital city. Upon arrival, you will be driven to your hotel in Kathmandu. (Inclusive of Breakfast)
After twenty-four days of the long journey, today is a free day in Kathmandu. You have two options for the day – you can either explore some unexplored UNESCO listed heritage sites around Kathmandu or go to the shopping malls for shopping. You can also collect some souvenirs for your family and friends back home. (Inclusive of Breakfast)
Before a few hours of your scheduled flight, you will be transferred to the international terminal of Tribhuwan International airport. (Inclusive of Breakfast)