The Rara Lake is called the “queen of lakes” because she lies majestically high in the throne of hills with the Himalayas as her bejeweled crown. Travellers say that you can experience heaven on earth at this place.
At 9,876 feet, the Rara Lake is a formidable place to be. It is the largest and deepest freshwater lake in Nepal formed by Himalayan glacier. The lake is surrounded by forests and mountain peaks which make it look like a place straight out of myths. You will have to trek amid beautiful landscape for five days to reach there and you get to spend a two nights at the lakeside. Trekking along several rivers, passing through villages and climbing hills make the trip even more interesting.
A Mountain Kick representative will receive you as you land into Kathmandu and take you to your hotel.
We will take you on a guided tour to three iconic monuments in Kathmandu which are included in the Unesco’s World Heritage List. Our first stop will be the Pashupatinath Temple, one of the biggest and holiest shrines in the world of Hindu god Shiva.
We visit another World Heritage Site of BoudhanathStupa, one of the largest Buddhist stupas in the country. It is believed that the Stupa is a tomb of an incarnation of Lord Buddha.
We then drive to Bhaktapur to visit the Bhaktapur Durbar Square. The square is a former royal courtyard where there are several ancient temples and monuments to visit. The place is rich in culture and preserves the traditional way of living.
We take a one hour flight to Nepalgunj in the southern plains of Nepal. Nepalgunj is the biggest city in the region and shares its southern border with India. It is hot and humid in Neplagunj but you can visit around town in the evening.
We fly northwards from Nepalgunj to Jumla which lies high above the hills. You will reach Jumla in 20 minutes where a cold and chilly weather will be waiting for you. The trekking trail to the Rara Lake in Mugu district begins here.
We follow the JugadKhola River uphill as we head towards ChereChaur. The river bank trail passes through several beautiful villages where we can stop for rest. Khalanga Bazaar is the busiest town in the way where we can stop for lunch, snacks or tea.
We begin early as we have to do a lot of climbing this day. We begin by ascending to the Jaljala Pass (3580m/11745ft). Beyond the pass is the JaljalaChaur from where the ascent gets steeper. As we reach Chalachaur, we will have entered the Rara Lake Circuit.
The JaljalaKhloa River will lead us uphill towards the Sinja Valley. There are several villages along the way which keep the tiring journey interesting.Sinja Valley was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Khasa between the 12th and 14th century. The ruins of structures from those times are still seen here.
There is another river to follow this day – the Hima River. The first part of the trek goes along a steep slope which gets gentler as we reach the village of Laha. From Laha, the trail again gets steeper as we follow the Ghattekhola River till Ghorosingha.
This is the day we reach the queen of lakes. We begin by climbing up cliff of the ChuchhemaraDanda. From the top, you can see the Rara Lake resting majestically in the distance along with the Himalayas in the backdrop. That will be motivation enough for you to continue further as we pass villages and lush green vegetation till we finally arrive at the Rara.
The biggest and deepest freshwater lake in Nepal the Rara Lake is spread over 6.11 square miles. The lake is surrounded by alpine forests while the snow-capped Himalayas adorn its background. Spend hours watching the blue lake soaking in the tranquility of the place.
The Rara Lake will have healed all your fatigue as we make our way back. It is an easy downhill trek to Pina. We will pass through the district headquarters of Mugu district, Gamgadhi, on our way there.
Another day of heavy descent but first we have to climb up the GhurchiLagna Pass (3480m/11717ft). We pass several villages on our way down finally arriving at Bumra where we spend the night.
This is the last day of trek. We cross the Hima River and climb down till we reach a natural hot spring. You might want to take a dip as the water can provide a relief from all your pain and fatigue. Moving on, we will have to cross the DanpheLagnaPass and get to ChereChaur on its other side. The downhill trek from ChereChaur to Jumla will be the last of it.
A 20-minute flight takes us to Nepalgunj. We will fly back to Kathmandu on the same day. In the evening, Mountain Kick will host a farewell dinner to end you vacation in Nepal.
We will drop you to the airport.
In Kathmandu, you will stay in a three-star hotel while you will be staying at standard guesthouses during your travel. There will be electricity, internet, laundry and hot showers in all of the places you stay. You will have to share your room with a fellow traveller in our typical package. Single supplement will be served on request and will cost an additional USD 50.Also note that single rooms is easily available in Kathmandu and the trekking regions at lower elevation but it might be difficult to find them at higher elevations.
General
We never force our customers to follow our set itinerary.You can customize your itinerary exactly the way you want. Please share with us your ideas.
As one of the core guiding principles for Mountain Kick, we always give back to the mountain community in any way we can as a means of gratitude. The people who live in the Himalayas and share their homes with us deserve to have all their little problems fixed which seem very basic for outsiders but are commonplace in rural Nepal. The people lack proper access to healthcare, sanitation and education but a little effort from travellers goes on a long way to solve these issues. Mountain Kick has made it its corporate social responsibility to help improve the living standards of the local community. We make donations to their cause, organize social campaigns and programs and also have a few trips designed to mix a little volunteer work in your holiday.
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