A Mountain Kick representative will receive you as you land into Kathmandu and take you to your hotel.
We will drive you from one monument to another in Kathmandu so you get a sense why this ancient city is so popular among tourists. Kathmandu has been included in Unesco’s list of World Heritage Sites for its cultural, aesthetic, religious and historical importance so you won’t be disappointed. We have a pre-trip meeting scheduled for the day where we run you through the itinerary.
We take a one hour flight to Nepalgunj in 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 will reach Juphal in 35 minutes. This small airport is the main entrance to the Dolpo region from the rest of Nepal. From here, we begin our trek downhill through grasslands till Kala Gaura. Then we follow a river upstream to Dunai. It takes three hours in total.
We have to hike for about six hours this day. We begin by following the Thulo Bheri River and make several stops along its banks. We cross the river back and forth to see all the points of interests till we arrive at Ankhe.
We continue upstream and walk through forests. The trail is rocky and has its ups and downs (both literally and figuratively). The journey is tough and it takes at least seven hours to reach Renje.
We continue along the river trail and walk past forests to the Phoksundo Lake.We have to walk for six and a half hours to get here. The lake spread over 1.91 square miles is beautiful to say the least. As you might have seen in pictures, the landscape is surreal and that is why the Tibetan and Buddhist people consider this place sacred. At the maximum depth of 476 feet, it is the deepest lake in Nepal.
We trek down from the lake and follow the Phoksundo Khola River. After six hours of walking through pine forests, we will reach our camping site.
We walk past he river valley and make our way towards the forests. The landscape is beautiful and you will feel like walking in a pine forest country club, only a tad bit denser and wilder. We will reach our camp site after seven hours of trekking.
We have to walk for around seven hours this day therefore we start early and head towards the Kang La pass. From this high you get the perfect view of the Himalayas above and the valleys below. We walk down from here to our camp site at Shey Gompa.
This is a day for acclimatization and exploration. You can visit the Shey monastery and mingle with the locals. Your body will be very exhausted after all these days of walking so rest well because our journey is not over yet.
We tread a rocky trail among forests till we reach the top of the Saldang La pass. It is downhill from here till we reach the village of Namduna Gaun. We will reach the village seven hours after leaving from Shey Gompa.
It is a relatively easy day of trekking. We climb up for a while after which it is all downhill. We will walk along mountain ridges and reach Saldang in four hours.
We will follow the Nam Khong Khola River for six hours till we reach the village of Sibu. We will pass through villages and monasteries along the way to keep the journey interesting.
We continue to follow the Nam Khong Khola along a trail used by Tibetan yak traders for ages. In about six hours, we will reach the Jeng La Phedi which will be our home for the night.
We climb up the Jeng La to cross the Jeng La pass. Mount Dhaulagiri and adjacent Himalayan peaks are clearly visible from the top so it provides photo opportunities for the shutterbugs. From the top, we descend about 2,000 feet to the village of Tokyu Gaun. It takes us about five hours in total.
We descend along the trail on the bank of the Chu River. In about four and a half hours of walking through a green valley, we reach our destination of Dho Tarap.
We trek along the Tarap Khola River towards the hills and then walk along hillsides till we reach a suspension bridge. Serkam lies on the other side. The entire journey takes a little less than seven hours of trekking.
We follow the Tarap Khola River downhill today. The trail is very steep and we will loose more than 3,500 feet in altitude in about seven hours of walking. We will reach Khani Gaun in the evening.
We again follow the river downstream and pass through forests and gorges. In about four hours, we will reach our camp site at Tarakot village.
We walk back to Dunai, the place where we were at 17 days ago. We pass several forests and follow the Thulo Bheri River downstream for about five hours till we reach Dunai.
It is the same road we took when we had arrived. The first part of the three-hour trek is downhill and then come an uphill trek. We will reach Juphal in three hours.
A 35-minute flight takes us to Nepalgunj. We will fly back to Kathmandu on the same day.
You might want to visit some landmarks of the city before we have a farewell dinner to officially end your vacation. We suspect you will have mixed feelings throughout the night: excited to get back home but sad to leave Nepal behind.
We will drop you to Tribhuvan International Airport and you will be gone with recollections of your Himalayan journey to keep you busy throughout the flight.
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.
READ MORE ABOUT CSR