For my 6th trip to Nepal, where should I hike?
Dolpo? Mustang? Kanchenjunga?
So far I’m leaning towards Makalu. You can fly to the start, avoiding horrendous overland travel. 🙂
Known for its rural farming villages and a diversity of flora and fauna, the area receives few trekkers due to its relative inaccessibility.
OVERVIEW
Starting at 400m in Tumlingtar along the banks of the Arun River, you’ll need strong legs to carry you for an elevation gain of 5120m to reach Makalu Base Camp. A rustic teahouse trek (don’t expect deep-fried snickers bars), you’ll find yourself at the foot of Mt. Makalau (8485m), the world’s 5th highest mountain, with Lhotse (8,516m), Everest (8,850m), Baruntse (7,220m) and Chamlang (7,319m) not far off.
It is a culturally rich perspective on Nepal best suited for people who have been trekking in Nepal before.
related – 2012 trip report by sathya
Great Himalayan Trail
The Great Himalaya Trail is a proposed trail of more than 4500 km stretching the length of the Greater Himalaya range from Nanga Parbat in Jammu & Kashmir to Namche Barwa in Tibet thus passing through Kashmir, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet. When completed, it will be the longest and highest alpine walking track in the world …
It will never be “completed”. There are many GHT routes, higher and lower. They can be hiked continuously or by section.
Check out two main websites, both pretty good:
The second mostly covers GHT Nepal.
The guidebook I’m researching is from Trailblazer – Nepal Trekking & the Great Himalaya Trail 2011 by Robin Boustead.
He’s got a coffee table book, as well, that I’ve never seen – The Great Himalaya Trail.
Stuart Bilby solo’d the Nepal GHT Nepal in 127 days in 2014, an incredible accomplishment. No cars, buses, planes, donkeys or yaks for transport. Stuart lost 19kg body weight. Actually, the first half he did with Lisa Lee-Johnson.
Linda Bezemer published a (much more reasonable) GHT Low Route electronic guidebook which you could use with an iPad on the trail. 1550km broken into 11 sections.
Seth, Kathleen and John did a 2014 east-west GHT Nepal traverse.
But my favourite is Gerda Pouler’s account of her 2012 very personal adventure – Great Himalaya Trail: 1,700 Kilometres Across the Roof of the World [Kindle Edition].
Great Himalaya Trail – Gerda Pouler
… This path is perhaps the ultimate walk.In 2012, Himalaya veteran Gerda Pauler set out to walk the length of the trail to raise awareness of autism in Nepal.
Travelling across the country with open eyes and ears, ascending high passes, visiting isolated villages and drinking tea with the locals allowed her to see and hear things many of us might never hear, never experience — and never know.Beautifully written like many great travel books and with a foreword by Sir Chris Bonington, this is so much more than a travel diary — it is a collection of stories from the very heart of Nepal and its people. From Tibetan tea and local beer to corrupt politicians and child marriage; cold nights and monsoon rain to incredible views and searing heat; and from angry yaks and giant spiders to Mr Bean and Jack Nicholson…
home page – gerdapauler.info
Gosainkund & Helabu trek information
We’ve added a information page for those who might want to do Gosainkund and Helambu in the future.
World → Asia → Nepal → Gosainkund & Helambu
One of the best hikes in the world
Gosainkund & Helambu
Ridge walk with sacred lakes, high Laurabina pass and Shivapuri National Park.
AT A GLANCE
- 6-8 days
- 3rd most popular trekking area of Nepal after Everest & Annapurna, but comparatively uncrowded
- majority of hikers hire a guide, porter guide and/or porters but it’s easy to hike independently
- sleep and eat in basic lodges (tea houses)
- mid-October to mid-December best months
- beginning of March to mid-May next best. (Laurabina pass MIGHT stay closed until early May. Many Langtang trekkers do Gosainkund after Langtang.)
- days are short in the Autumn. There’s much more light in the Spring.
- tea houses are not expensive, but many spend more than they anticipate on luxuries. We spent about $30/day in 2014. Cheapskates about $20/day.
- be clear — you might have to QUIT if by bad luck or rushed ascent you suffer altitude sickness (Acute Mountain Sickness or AMS).
- some suffer respiratory problems, headache and fatigue.
Click PLAY or watch David Vanneste’s solo, independent highlights Feb 2014 on YouTube. Off season. Lots of snow. A lovely edit.
Gosainkund and Helambu information page
best treks in Nepal
Updated after our November 2014 visit.
- Everest Base Camp / 3 Passes TOP 10 <trip>
- Everest Base Camp <wiki>
- Manaslu Circuit <site> <trip> and Nar Phu sidetrip
- Langtang
- Gosainkund & Helambu
- Makalu Base Camp <GHT> <blog>
- Annapurna Circuit <wiki>
- Annapurna Base Camp <trip>
- Tamang Heritage Trail <GHT>
- Upper Dolpo Circuit <GHT>
- Mustang Circuit <GHT> <trip>
- Kangchenjunga Base Camp <GHT>
- Upper Humla Valley <trip>
- Royal Trek
- Great Himalaya Trail <wiki> <site> <site> <blog>
There are many more great hikes in Nepal! … This list just scratches the surface.
I’m looking at Makalu Base Camp for my next trip. Perhaps November 2015.
Gosainkund & Helambu – day 6
Trip report by site editor Rick McCharles
Chisopani 2165 – Sundarijal 1460m
Last day. I’d bus to Kathmandu from Sundarijal, the end of the Helambu.
Up before dawn again.
Pot of milk coffee on the hotel roof.
The Helambu finishes with a walk through Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park, established 2002.
The trails have been recently improved. That means stairs, stairs, stairs.
And some trenches.
There are brief glimpses of the high peaks all the way to the capital.
I was feeling pretty mellow, my long trek ending. It had been a success.
What would the world do without Peruvian potatoes?
It’s a bit surreal walking back into civilization.
sidewalks?
Here’s one of the main water supplies of Kathmandu.
You can’t get lost finishing if you follow the water pipe.
I got lost.
Finally, a local musician pointed me the right direction to the bus park.
One of the finest Tibetan artists in the world sat down beside me. How about that? He and his wife were on the way to Sikkim, India for a big commission. He’d have between 40-60 artist assistants on the project.
It took about an hour to get back to Kathmandu by bus, far better than the 7 ½ hours it had taken to get started.
The Army was using scissors to cut the grass on the main square. Very Gandhi.
The crappy streets of Thamel were being paved. 🙂
What’s going on?
Nothing is ever fixed in Kathmandu.
Ah ha. A few days after I quit Nepal, there’s a major international forum in Nepal. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. I’m happy to get away before that happens.
In the afternoon I relished in the best travel bargain in Asia, a Nepali barber shave. Smooth as a baby.
I finished the Helambu with a Korean couple who I’d been with on and off for the past 13 days. They are Himalayan fanatics, this being their 3rd major trekking holiday. They took me to their favourite Korean restaurant, Festival.
Cost of this meal was about $5.
Crazy good value. Better than anywhere in Korea. The chef had lived their 14yrs and was fluent in language and cooking. 🙂
see all my high resolution photos from this day
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Gosainkund & Helambu – day 5
Trip report by site editor Rick McCharles
Mangengoth 3420m – Chisapani 2165
Though I struggled to wake in time, I did walk back up to the Green View viewpoint for dawn.
This morning the teahouse owner led the trip up to point out all the mountains from Annapurna to Everest. In fact, this might be the very best of many famed Himalayan viewpoint hills.
This same owner told the story of a big stupa near Phedi. One like this.
He’d been commissioned to build it in 1992 by the family of a young Japanese man who’d been killed when a Thai Airlines plane crashed into the mountain.
I talked most to 3 young Germans just starting their adventure, hiking the opposite direction. (The wrong way.)
One keener was planning to cycle from Munich to the Rio Olympics.
This day I got on the trail as quickly as possible. I had a long, long way to go to get to the famed viewpoint of Chisapani, a hill station popular with residents of Kathmandu.
It looked pretty easy on the map. Long but mostly downhill. Unfortunately Nepali down = equal ups and downs.
Quite quickly I was back in summer. Rice was still being harvested!
The ridge walk went on and on.
I stopped only twice this day, once here for lunch.
My dogs were barking.
Down. Down.
The sun was failing. I was worried. Late in the afternoon there’s nobody left on the trail.
Exhausted, I finally stumbled up hill in the dark to the relatively luxurious lodges of Chisapani 2165m. You should never hike the Himalayas in the dark. I’d done it 3 times so far this trip!
see all my high resolution photos from this day
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Gosainkund & Helambu – day 4
Trip report by site editor Rick McCharles
Gopte 3439m – Mangengoth 3420m
Good morning Gopte.
Nepali toilets are as unsanitary as any in the world. I walked past down the mountain past this one to do my business.
There’s a strange and popular instrument here, called the sarangi, with a carved dragon? head. Something like a fiddle. But with only 4 strings. Nepali Bluegrass. 🙂
Starting out today late, I’m happy to be still above the clouds. 🙂
Have you ever seen frost like this? Like hair?
Nobody talks about distance in the Himalaya, only elevation change. Today I dropped only 19m, my easiest day yet. I wanted a rest after the exhausting day over the Pass.
I stopped for lunch at Thatepati, the only hiker to do so that day. It’s a little off the beaten track.
Egg Veg Noodle soup, my usual.
High on a ridge, the owner had to make several trips down a day carrying up barrels of water. The Helambu trail is mostly on a ridge. And there’s not much water available on ridges.
Hotel Green View, Mangengoth came highly recommended. And it was worth the stopover.
One of the best viewpoints in Nepal is a 25min climb from the guest house. My first thought was to tent up there, to see both sunset and sunrise. The Green View owner (who looked ex-military) and another guide both felt that was a bad idea. I deferred to their judgement. Even hiking independently you get a lot of smothering advise in Nepal.
I walked down in the dark.
see all my high resolution photos from this day
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Gosainkund & Helambu – day 3
Trip report by site editor Rick McCharles
Gosankund 4380m – Gopte 3439m
My toughest day in the Himalaya 2014. Up and over the Lauribina Pass 4,610m.
I’d not slept well, getting out of bed 4 times during the night to check the auspicious full moon over sacred Gossankund lake.
In fact, myself and an Israeli guy had hoped to (early morning) follow a guided group up the popular trekking peak called Surya (Sun) 5145m.
He was worried that no guided groups were scheduled. And he was right. Later we learned that there is too much snow and ice at the top. Guides were not going up right now.
First light a chopper landed.
They were evacuating a lady, altitude sick. She looked in rough shape. Could barely walk.
Cost would be something under $10,000. Hopefully paid by insurance.
The chopper crew all rushed to Gosainkund to collect holy water and take selfies. It was this water that Shiva once drank to quench his thirst after having been poisoned.
So … instead of an extra day scrambling Surya, I headed towards the Pass with everyone else.
There are 108 lakes in this area, actually. You pass a series of them on the trail. They should be frozen by now, but are not.
For some reason I found this day very, very tough. The Pass was fine. But the long descent to Gopte was taxing.
On the bright side, I saw a rarely spotted Red Panda en route. Surprising him on the trail itself, he jumped uphill instantly. Then, happily for me, dashed back across the trail downhill. It’s a tiny beast with a huge, unmistakable tail. Two distinct colours.
But I was a bit of a wreck arriving Gopte 3439m, early in the afternoon.
I went straight to bed in order to prevent chills.
Happily, I awoke just in time for one of the best and strangest sunsets. People compared this sunset with the best they’d ever seen.
My preference is to eat as late as possible. This evening, however, chatting with an adventurous couple from Rocky Mountain House, I waited too long. The kitchen shut down about 8pm.
I begged a chance to join in the Dal Baht feed with the porters and guides, only the second time I’ve ever got the chance to eat with them. It’s not done in the Himalaya. 🙂
see all my high resolution photos from this day
day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 | day 5 | day 6 | info | … Langtang
Gosainkund & Helambu – day 2
Trip report by site editor Rick McCharles
Foprang Danda 3190m – Gosankund 4380m
Enjoying my morning coffee in paradise.
The Lodge owner walked me out to a shortcut trail through the haunted forest, skipping Sing Gompa, saving perhaps an hour. Since I was already acclimatized for altitude from the Langtang trek of the previous week, the faster I got high, the better.
Mountain vistas got better and better. The Ganesh Himal is impressive. These peaks are rarely climbed.
Cholangpati village 3600m is impressive. Laurabina 3910m, even better.
For lunch I had local fried potatoes for the first time. With local mushrooms. Delicious.
On one side of me was a group of loud Israelis. The other side a group of Germans. None had been born when Hitler committed genocide. I wondered how big a rift remains.
Up. Up. Up.
I love hiking above the clouds. 🙂
Ganesh greeted me.
I knew I must be getting close to Gosainkund, the lakes sacred to Buddhist and Hindu. Pilgrims flock here during monsoon, braving leeches, floods and landslides. About 30,000 come each summer. There are places to sleep for about 300. 😦
Sunset from Gosainkund village was spectacular. No surprise there!
Spent most of that evening chatting with a couple of young ladies who holiday together. One from France, one from Turkey, now living in London. You meet some interesting people in the Himalaya. Especially when hiking independently and solo.
see all my high resolution photos from this day
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