Kanchenjunga Circuit Trek

Welcome to the Himalayas! You will arrive in Kathmandu. We will meet and greet and take you to your hotel.

Today is free and rest day in Kathmandu, or you can wander around the city to get familiar with the surrounding. There are varieties of shops and fun places where you can hang out and enjoy the time.

Today, it’s free for sightseeing in Kathmandu. You may want to visit Durbar Square in the heart of the old town, where the old Royal Palace with its intricate woodcarving is located. The whole area is a labyrinth of temples and images.

The narrow alleys that lead away from the square in all directions, full of the most amazing variety of shops and stalls. Some of these landmarks are considered World Heritage Sites, including the historic Bhaktapur Durbar Square, the famous Monkey Temple Swayambhunath and the Buddhist Shrine Buddhanath, one of the largest stupas in the world.

Today, there will also be a trip briefing with gear check. If you need to rent or buy equipment locally, there will be time to do this today.

After breakfast, our guide will pick you up from your hotel and accompany you to the Airport. The flight to Bhadrapur takes us through the Kathmandu Valley and the surrounding hill and through some of the famous mountains. Upon arrival in Bhadrapur, we will drive to Ilam, the heart of the country’s tea plantation zone.

After breakfast, we drive through the terraced fields and hills for 4 to 5 hours to Taplejung where we spend the night. There will be time to discover the area after lunch. It’s a very interesting place with a lot of Buddhist monasteries.

In one of these monasteries, we can see butter lamps that have been burning continuously for 400 years. mA stream outside the monastery turns the peace wheels that send the mantra “om mane padme hung” to the heavens.

Our trek begins today! It’s a long day mostly downhill, but we’ve got a chance to catch our breath in the village of Sinwa on the banks of the Tamor River before continuing on.

It’s another long day of 6 hours of trekking. But as we pass through Tepethok, we’re entering the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area. Here we have our permits checked before we cross the suspension bridge and go up to Lelep.

Suspension bridges and waterfalls are part of today’s trek. Plus, we reach to the first Sherpa village on our trek where we spend a night. The village of Amjilosa is used mainly during the time when yaks and sheep are in the pastures, so very few families live here permanently.

After breakfast, we go through different pine, bamboo, rhododendron and oak forests. We notice that the villages and people are becoming more like Tibetan.

We can also see yaks, sheep, and goats on the trail, not to mention a wide variety of bird life. After lunch, the trail takes us through a dense forest cover and over a wooden bridge to Gyabla, where we stay overnight.

Today, the journey continues through the forests and passes Phale Village, a Tibetan refugee camp that started more than a decade ago, when Tibetans started fleeing the Communist regime in China.

It’s a winter settlement village today. We have time to discover the village where some handicrafts are on sale. We’re heading to Ghunsa, the largest village in the area, and one with a police station, a health post and a Kanchenjunga Conservation office. Telephone and internet services are also available here.

We’re at a higher altitude now and aiming to get higher! So, we’re taking the opportunity to rest and acclimatize in Ghunsa. There’s a monastery to discover, and a ridge to ascend.

There are views of Jannu Peak from the ridge, which is worth 5 hours (optional) plus a round trip. If you wish to climb up the ridge – and we recommend this as it helps to acclimatize the bodies – we’ll take a pack-lunch with us.

Today, the view of the JannuHimal dominates the skyline. We follow a gentle upward path to the green valley of the glacier. We may be lucky enough to spot the blue sheep and snow leopards. The trail goes past a waterfall to a landslide-prone area where we take special care of it.

Today, the trail takes us mainly through the moraine of the Kanchenjunga Glacier. There are wonderful views on both sides of us walking uphill over large boulders.

And as we are deep in the Snow Leopard territory, we also keep our eyes open for this wild animal! It is also a region of summer yak pastures, but there are no settlements on the trail.

From Lhonak, we’ll be trekking to Ghunsa, today. Which will take us around 6 hours. We’ll continue, along the same route we used as we went up. Upon reaching at Ghunsa, we will spend the night.

Today the trek leads us through the forest and along the grassy ridge from where we can see the Ghunsa villages and Phale, as well as Mount Makalu in the distance.

We begin early today towards its Kanchenjunga South Base Camp. Summiting the Passing Sinion La Pass (4,450m) the trek leads us along the ridge to Sinelapche La Pass (4,830m).

From here, the view of Mount Kanchjunga and its valley is incredible. We descend across a tiny trail to Cheram, the only village we find on this route. We stay overnight.

Today, we’re on a trek to Ramche, where we’ll stop for lunch before walking for about 40 minutes to reach Kanchenjunga South Base Camp. The Base Camp is situated right on the edge of the glacier and is surrounded by Buddhist peace flags.

Today, the trek is mainly downhill through a gorge. But the final part is a steep climb over an area that is risky to landslides and through forests. There are no villages until we reach Tolongding, where there are a few guest houses.

After breakfast, we’ll head downhill, and then turn to a steep and long uphill journey. We cross over a landslide area that leads to LasiyaBhanjyang, there is a teashop where we can stop for lunch as well. Then the trek goes as steep downhill through more forest areas until we reach the big village of Yamphuding.

It’s easier to walk now that we are back at a lower altitude. On our route we find interesting villages and terraced fields. We’re continuing to Khebang where we spend the night.

This is the last day of our hike, and tomorrow we’ll take a jeep/bus to the Airport.

We have a long drive ahead of us today. Time to think about the wonderful sights we’ve seen and rest our tired legs! In the evening, when we arrive in Bhadrapur, we can enjoy a hearty dinner with some cold beer perhaps and relax in a comfortable hotel!

We enjoy the short mountain flight back to Kathmandu. Our guide will take you to your hotel on your arrival in Kathmandu and you are free to enjoy the rest of the day shopping, sightseeing or relax the rest of the day until it is time for us tobid you goodbye at our farewell dinner.

You can either stay back in Kathmandu today and enjoy a free day or leave for your respective countries.

As per your flight schedule, our representatives will drop you off at the Airport.