Day 01: Kathmandu - Hile We take a 45 min. flight to Biratnagar, an industrial city in the lowlands of Eastern Nepal and you will be welcomed by our guide and other crew at the airport. We drive to Hille, a Tibetan settlement at 6,070 ft. where we pitch our first camp. Day 02: Hile Dhuda We already start to trek. We take the trail to Buranse Danda, towards the Tamur River along a ridge. At the top of this ridge we arrive at Shidua (7,450ft.) where we camp for the night. Day 03: Dhuda Door Pani We are trekking through a forest today to Chitre. We have opportunities to see wildlife along the way. The views of Mt. Makalu (27,825ft.) and Chamlang (24,000 ft.) are today's highlights. We continue through rhododendron forests to the hamlet of Door Pani (9,120 ft.) for overnight camp. Day 04: Door Pani Gupa Pokhari After a gentle climb through more rhododendron forests to a mountain ridge, we drop down to the village of Tongise Phedi and continue to Chanki, an area used for summer pasture. We continue through grassy fields with Mt. Makalu in constant view. Soon the Kanchenjunga range appears and we come to Mongol Bharai pass, lined with mani stones. We descend to a lake, Gupa Pokhari, for our camp. Day 05: Gupa Pokhari Nesum Today we cross a pass at 9,922 ft. and descend through a dense forest towards Gurja Gaon and continue to descend to Nesum (5,297 ft.) with Mt. Jannu and Mt. Kanchenjunga behind us. We camp in Nesum. Day 06: Nesum Taplejung Today we visit the central hub of this region, Taplejung. We descend to Doban through paddy fields and start the trek up the Tamur River, to Taplejung. Day 07: Taplejung Chirwa Continuing up the Timur River in a valley populated by the Limbu peoples, the descendants of the Kirati warriors who ruled Nepal at the dawn of Nepalese history, we camp near Chirwa, a pleasant bazaar with a few tea houses and shops. Day 08: Chirwa Sakathum We continue up the Tamur past Tapethok and cross the Simbuwa Khola, a river formed by the Yalung Glacier. We climb over another ridge to join the Ghunsa Khola valley and camp by the banks of the river at Sakathum. Day 09: Sakathum Amjilassa We follow a steep and narrow trail up-river. From the high spots there are wonderful views of the Ghunsa Khola below. The path descends steeply and we arrive at the mountain-side village of Amjilassa for our overnight stay. Day 10: Amjilassa Kyapar We shall be doing some real climbing during the next 5 days! We climb to Kyapar perched in the middle of terraced hills about 1000 ft up, steep climbs from the Ghunsa Khola. Day 11: Kyapar Ghunsa We descend from Kyapar and make an easy climb up the right bank of the Ghunsa Khola. After the village of Phere, we enter rhododendron forests and climb a gentle hill before descending back down to the Ghunsa Khola and crossing a wooden bridge to the village of Ghunsa. Day 12 : Khambachan Today we glimpse the Jannu Glacier. Later on we get a view of Mt. Jannu (25,289 ft). We descend the mountain-side to our camp at Khambachan. Day 13: Khambachan We have to climb over 8,000 ft. in the last 4 days. We deserve a rest today to collect our thoughts on how wild and wonderful everything has been so far. Day 14: Khambachan Lhonak Well rested, we shall now start a stint of real climbing. We trek to the edge of Kanchenjunga Glacier and cross over to the Lhonak Glacier. We arrive at our campsite at Lhonak, from where we can see Mera Peak (20,208 ft.) Day 15: Day Trip To Pangpema We shall have excellent views of the towering peak of Kanchenjunga today. Day 16: Khambachan Cross Lapsanga La and Mirign La We select to cross either of the 2 passes today depending on the weather conditions: Lapsang La, the higher pass at 17,000 ft., and Mirgin La the lower pass at 15,000ft. Day 17: High Camp We shall again rest today to recover from the efforts of the previous days. Day 18: High Camp - Ramche We descend to the Simbuwa Khola valley and camp at Ramche. Day 19: Ramche Tserma We take a day trip to the Yalung glacier for a magnificent view of the Kanchenjunga south face from a chorten at about 15,000 ft. We descend later to Tseram for the night. Day 20: Tserma Torantan We are starting to descend from today. We steadily descend through forests of rhododendron to Torontan at 9,800 ft. Day 21: Torantan Yamphudin We descend today to Yamphudin (5,360 ft. ) Yamphudin is a mixed community of Sherpas, Limbus, Rais and Gurungs and is the first real village since Ghunsa. Day 22: Yamphudin Ponphe We descend from Yamphudin to the Kabel Khola and climb to Ponphe (5,500 ft. ) for our camp. Day 23: Ponphe Pha Khola From Ponphe we climb to a ridge at 5,700 ft. We descend through as series of side valleys past Phun village to Kesawa (6,120 ft.). The trail continues to ascend to a Gurung settlement at Bhanjyang (6,640ft.) From here the trail traverses a ridge and descends to the Limbu village of Khunjari (5,250 ft. ). We camp below on the banks of Pha Khola. Day 24: Pha Khola Taplejung We descend today to the airport of Taplejung for our overnight stay. Day 25: Taplejung Kathmandu We fly this morning back to Kathmandu via Biratnagar after a well-remembered trek |