Arrival in Kathmandu Airport and transfer to hotel

Transfer to Kathmandu Airport for a flight to Nepalgunj.
Nepalgunj, a hot western city in Nepal, shares international border with India. Stay in Nepalgunj.

A 45-minute flight to Dolpa airport in Juphal. We see green hill and vegetation. We begin the trek with a slight descent, meet with the team, brief about the tour. Gentle descend through the villages and reach to the river of Thuli Bheri and further trek to Suli Ghat. Trek to the right for half an hour to Dunai and overnight camp in Dunai. We need to stay in Dunai because it the store of the entire trek and a place for preparation.

Ascent 50 m - descent 400 m

As we begin trek we come out of the village, cross the bridge and continue to Suli Ghat along with the river. We follow another river of Phoksundo as we trek, through the thin forest along with the river to Chhepka. Ovenight camping in Chhepka near a stream.

Ascent 850 m - descent 150 m

We trek up gently along with the river through the thick forest with bigger juniper trees. Reach Rike.

Ascent 420 m - descent 150 m

Easy trek to begin and then gentle and zigzag ascent for a couple of hours to reach the viewpoint to see Phoksundo Waterfall. Continue ascent through the thin forest to Rigmo. After lunch, visit the village of Rigmo.

Ascent 800 m - descent 200 m

Rest day or day of exploration. Explore a monastery and walk around the Lake Phoksundo.

We walk over the cliff on the left of the lake. This is the place where many photos and documentaries are taken for the world renowned film ‘Caravan’ directed by French director Eric Valli. It is an easy trek  thin forest of pine. We need to climb for more than one hour to see the lake very open. Then gentle descend then we reach the forest and open ground near the lake for lunch. We walk on the bank of the lake for a couple of hours to arrive at the Campsite of the forest.

Ascent 600 m - descent 500 m

Walk for more an hour and you see the change in vegetation. Ascent steeply for more than an hour and turn left to reach a small valley. You see a small stream which originated from Kang La Pass. 

Ascent 1,150 m - descent 200 m

Begin early morning trek with packed lunch. Ascent for a few hours. Turn back and view several mountain peaks. We reach Kang La Pass.

We see prayer flags at the top of the pass. Trek gradually down for a couple of hours to reach Shey Gompa.

Ascent 750 m - descent 1,050 m

Rest day and exploration day. Visit three monasteries. Two of them are on the cliff and famous Shey Monastery which plans to organize a festival in 2022 to commemorate a festival celebrated every 12 year coinciding with the year of dragon.

Begin trek to Saldang with a packed lunch. Gentle ascent for a couple of hours up to Sela Shey Pass then descent for two hours up to Namgung Gompa. It is a small village and we will have packed lunch there. Gentle ascent after the lunch and easy trek further.

We reach the village of Saldang. Saldang is a Buddhist cultural village.

Ascent 1,000 m - descent 1,390 m

Visit the village and the monastery in the morning. After lunch, we continue to Cha Gaon. On the easy way, we see several chhorten and prayer wheels (mani walls).

Small Buddhist village of Cha Gaon is destination for the day.

Ascent 160 m - descent 30 m

Gentle ascend along with the Dachun Khola stream. We cross the wooden bridge and reach Rakyo Village and pass through the narrow valley and follow again to cross the stream from time to time.

We often will need to ready our sandals to cross the stream.  We reach Darsuna Dobhan and cross the river, turn left and have our lunch. We follow the river again, cross the river, turn right and ascend to reach Jyanta La Phedi Base Camp.

Ascent 900 m - descent 100 m

An easy ascent to reach the wide pass of Jyanta La. Gentle and trek along the stream Tarak. The magnificent view of Dhaulagiri can be seen. We descent to Tokyu village and reach Tarap valley and the villages on the way. We see Crystal Mountain School supported by French assistance on the way. We camp at Dho Village.

It is a wide village. We can see alpine valleys and wonderful Himalayan landscape around. It is a big village with Tibetan influence.

Ascent 350 m - descent 1,090 m

A morning of rest, have a shower and wash clothes. A day of exploration day. We visit local families, monasteries and may visit school with French association.

Ascent 000 m - descent 000 m

Gentle trek to begin and cross a stream Dho Khola. We walk along the stream for an hour. We cross the stream once again and enter Schipshok village. We visit a Ningma Pa monastery and then a Bon monastery and then continue to trek and cross the same stream once again. A few hours of walking will take us to a narrow valley. We have lunch on the way.

After lunch, we ascend gently to Jhyarkoi La Phedi and find a suitable camping site.

Ascent 800 m - descent 100 m

We begin the day a little early due to our destination to a mountain pass. Steep ascend for a hour, then gentle trek to cross a stream and then a steep ascend once again for a couple of hours to reach to a ridge and then turn right to view Dhaulagiri, Churen Himal and other mountains above 7,000 m. It is a great reward to see the fantastic mountain view after a hard work. We arrive at Jharkoi La Pass.

Gentle descend from Jharkoi La Pass and enter into another valley. We have a packed-lunch on the way. We descend further and turn right over the slope to reach Lajar Kharka. We see nomadic lifestyle of Nepali of Tibetan origin.  We can see the yaks, horses, sheep and goats during the day.

Ascent 700 m - descent 720 m

Gentle ascent to begin the day from Lajar Kharka for around 90 minutes, we reach Mola La. It is a good viewing point to see range of Dhaulagiri and many more mountains. We descend gently and turn left to continue for a couple of hours to reach Chharkha village. This is the last village in the region. The next village to it is either villages in the Mustang region or beyond the mountain - Tibet.

Ascent 400 m - descent 850 m

Gentle walk to begin, cross the stream of Barbung and ascending walk along the stream for an hour and cross the Mulung Khola bridge. We ascend further and turn right where we need to walk through the narrow passage and cross the river multiple of times. We have lunch on the way. We have a camp at the bank of Mulung Khola.

 Ascent 750 m - descent 200 m

Gentle ascend till Nirwa La pass. Continue to ascend over the alpine slope to Jungben La. This is the highest pass of the entire trek. We can see the valley of Kali Gandaki and surrounding mountains from the top. Turning left, we descend to a stream and cross the river to continue a few ups and downs and reach Kok La pass, another mountain pass on the way. We descent steep from the point for a few hours to the bed of the stream. We need to be very careful and strictly follow the instruction of the trekking guide. We cross the suspension bridge over the Ghaldang Ghuldung Khola and ascend for a few minute to reach to our camping site at an open ground.

Ascent 780 m - descent 1,340 m

We begin the day with a gentle ascent and continue walking with several ups and downs. We see Ghok village during the day. We reach Sangta Village and have our lunch there. We visit the village. We ascend further for an hour and continue walking over the graveled road for an hour. We reach to an open ground where we camp for the day. We see the colorful landscape of Mustang Valley and surrounding mountains.

Ascent 250 m - descent 700 m

We need to trek over the trail or over the road. We reach to a ridge from where we have beautiful views of Mt. Tilicho, Nilgiri, Dhaulagiri and many more mountains. We descend to the bed of Kali Gandaki River and reach Kagbeni. Lunch in the Kagbeni and visit a monastery.

Drive to Jomsom on a jeep. Stay in Jomsom. Jomsom is the administrative headquarter of the area.

A dinner is planned to celebrate the trekking success with your team and to thank all members of the trekking team. You may offer to leave the trekking gears you don’t need to your trekking team. It may be a generous gesture to those who cannot afford such gears.

Ascent 160 m - descent 1,530 m

After breakfast in Jomsom fly back to Pokhara and take another flight back to capital city Kathmandu.  

Transfer to hotel.

Options for sightseeing to World Heritage Sites/ayurvedic massage or rest in Kathmandu.

Kathmandu Valley has, perhaps, the densest concentration of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Seven UNESCO WHS of Bhaktapur Durbar Square, Boudhha, Pashupati, Patan Durbar Square, Swoyambhu, Kathmandu Durbar Square and Changu Narayan Temple are framed within 400 sq km. For a full day tour exploring three UNESCO WHS are comfortably possible. For example, you may choose Bhaktapur Durbar Square (a medieval city square), Pashupati (the holiest Hindu temple) and Bouddha (a Buddhist stupa) for a smart mix of culture and architecture with two major religious (Buddhism and Hinduism) sites of Nepal.

Transfer to the airport in time to secure a flight back home