Kanchenjunga Base Camp Trek Itinerary
Day 01: Arrival in Kathmandu. Meet and greet by our representative/ guide and transfer to your allocated hotel.
Day 02: Sightseeing of Kathmandu. Introductory trip to Kathmandu including sightseeing of one of the old palace complex, popular by the name Patan Durbar square, a Buddhist temple popular by the name monkey temple among the foreigners but is called Swoyambhunath and a Hindu temple Pashupatinath, a popular cremation ground for many Hindus of Kathmandu. All these places are listed by UNESCO as world heritages. Afternoon time free for doing trek preparation and last minute purchase.
Day 03: Take a flight to Biratnagar (80m.), 35-40 minutes flight. After taking a flight to Biratnagar afternoon free in Biratnagar.
Day 04: Early morning flight to Suketar and trek to Mitlung (850 m.), 15 minutes flight and 6-7 hours of walking. Board a flight from Biratnagar and reach Suketar. Meet a crew there and continue walking to reach Mitlung. The trail passes through beautiful terraces to reach Chhetri village of Mitlung for overnight stay.
Day 05: Trek from Mitlung to Chiruwa (1190m.). The trail passes through cardamom plantation and subtropical forest mainly of Uttis, crosses a river quiet a few times to reach a Village called Chiruwa. Overnight at Chiruwa.
Day 06: Trek from Chiruwa to Sekathum (1640m.), 5-6 hours of walking. The trail ascends at the beginning to reach Sisuwa. Cross the Sisuwakhola and continue to Thapethok, where the check post is located. If weather permits the first view of Kumbhakarna Mountain is visible from the way. Overnight at Sekathum.
Day 07: Trek from Sekathum to Amlijosa (2490m.), 6-7 hours of walking. The trail passes through steep v shaped valley usually high up on its side, on a surprisingly narrow and exposed trail. Passes through numerous waterfalls to reach Ghaiyabari continue trek for another three hours to reach Amlijosa. Amlijosa marks the entry to Bhotia region leaving the hill tribes behind.
Day 08: Trek from Amlijosa to Gyapla (2705m./ 8875 ft.), 3-4 hours of walking. Pretty short day today to reach Gyapla. The trail continue traversing the valley with oak, bamboo and rhododendron forest with wonderful waterfalls.
Day 09: Trek from Gyapla to Ghunsa (3440m.), 6-7 hours of walking. After leaving Gyapla, the trail crosses a tributary and head east again enter an impressive forest and take a right fork beyond the village. Climb up to the sprawling village of Phole where a settlement of Tibetan refugees and many people of Ghunsa move down here during the winter. The trail continues through larch forests along with juniper and rhododendron. The larches are golden in autumn, a delightful sight that is rare in most of Nepal.
Day 10: Rest and acclimatization day at Ghunsa. Ghunsa is a traditional Tibetan settlement of sturdy wooden houses, surrounded by potato fields and magnificent forest. Lots of yak herds which they do pastured up to Pangpema in the summer and down to Phole during the winter. Visit to the monastery located at the edge of the village.
Day 11: Trek from Ghunsa to Khambachen (4150m.), 6-7 hours of walking. The trail leads northeast, up the valley from Ghunsa and passes through beautiful larch and juniper forest. The trail passes through many of the Kharka or pastures and some part of the trail crosses a slide area. Sometimes the slopes are active and boulders rolled down, usually in the early morning as the sun melts the ice “glue”. View of JannuMountain is observed from here.
Day 12: Trek from Khambachen to Lhonak (4780m.), 6-7 hours of walking. The trail climb up the hill behind Khambachen and continue along the northeast side of the main valley, reaching the potato fields of LungbaChemu and another pasture before traversing scree and boulder near the river. After climbing up from the river a fairly flat trail leads to RamthangKharka with full view of Kanchanjunga. Continue two hours from Ramthang to reach Lhonak.
Day 13: Trek from Lhonak to Pangpema (5160m.), 3-4 hours of walking. The trail is already above the tree line so some tundra plants are visible. The foot of the north side of Kanchanjunga, which remains hidden till now, is finally seen at Pangpema, a summer yak pasture and base camp for ascents from the north.
Day 14: Rest and Exploration day at Pangpema base camp. Kanchanjunga’s north face is immense, just like the rest of the mountains, so an exploration day here with breathtaking view of the mountains is worthy. The view from Pangpema is non-comparable for any views from any place in the world. The side trip is climbing to the hillside to the north until to a plateau with even more impressive views of Kanchanjumga’s face.
Day 15: Pangpema to Khambachen (4150m.), 7-8 hours of walking. Retrace the journey to Khambachen. The trail up to Lhonak might be little slow, after that mostly the trail descends facilitating walking faster. Reach Khamnbachen for overnight stay.
Day 16: Khambachen to Lumbasamba (4210m.), 6-7 hours of walking. Depend with the weather condition, one can cross either Lapsang La (5180m.) or Mirgin La (4500.) to reach Lumbasamba. The trail is loose and rocky. Mirgin La has better view of Jannuhimal. Ona descend there are panoramic view of south face of Kanchanjunga and surrounding peaks.
Day 17: Trek from Lumbasamba to Ramche (4580m.), 6-7 hours of walking. Fantastic view as it passes the snout of Yalung glacier. There might be sighting of blue sheep as this is the only place besides Dhorpatan where they may exist south of the main Himalayan chain.
Day 18: Exploration day at Ramche. Explore around south base camp. From Ramche the trail gently ascends along the ridge above the moraine of the Yalung glacier. About an hour walk from Ramche the trail rounds a corner to the left, from where one can see the main mass of Kanchanjunga.
Day 19: Trek from Ramche to Cheram (tseram), (3870m.), 6-7 hours of walking. The trail follows the bank of Simbuwakhola downstream to reach Cheram and overnight at Cheram.
Day 20: Trek from Cheram to Tortong (3000m.). A beautiful descends through a forest and some landslides. Normally birch, rhododendron and bamboo are seen. This area has farm fields without terraces, which you also notice across the valley to the southeast.
Day 21: Trek from Tortong to Yamphudin (2080m.), 8-9 hours of walking. Another busy day coming down to Yamphudin, the people here are mostly Bhotiya and there are several small hotels.
Day 22: Trek from Yamphudin to Khunjhari (1928m.), 7-8 hours of walking. The trail goes to a small village of Mamanke then follows a mixed broad leaved forest with some rhododendron. The trail passes through the scattered Limbu village of Yamphu and continues to PumPung (1844m.). The trail again ascends to SinchewaBhanjyang and descends to Khunjhari for overnight stay.
Day 23: Trek from Khunjhari to Suketar (1780m.), 6-7 hours of walking. The last day of trekking pass through a forest, terraces and small villages. At the beginning a nice descends down to Phawakhola the climb again. Reach Suketar for overnight stay.
Day 24: Take a flight from Suketar to Biratnagar and from Biratnagar to Kathmandu.
Day 25: Free day in Kathmandu for rest, relax and shopping.
Day 26: Final departure from Kathmnadu. Transfer to airport for the final departure from Kathmandu towards your home.
