Rolwaling Trek

Sightseeing of world heritage sites in Kathmandu valley including, Kathmandu Durbar square, Swayambhunath Temple, Boudhanath Stupa & Pashupatinath Temple. Overnight at Hotel. (Breakfast Included)

In the morning after breakfast, we take the bus ride from Kathmandu heading towards the Bhote Koshi Valley where we reach Barabise, a large village and a bustling bazaar, situated merely 10 km from the Tibetan border, on the only motor-able highway that connects to Lhasa, Tibet from Kathmandu. After a short preparation, we start our climb up from the bazaar heading to Simle. On our first day of the walk it’s always a bit sluggish for us to get started, as the porters and staffs have to sort out their loads and the first days of this adventure always begins with a short walk to our overnight camp. Our trek climbs above from the busy bazaar of Barabise for an hour then coming on the gradual path till we reach our night camp between the rural village of Simle and Budipa which is approx. at 1,130m after nearly 3 hours of good hiking. Included: B, L, D.

We start our today’s walk following the path through number of small farm villages and terraced fields, and a small patch of cool forest & then we gradually begin climbing and crossing many small streams, until we reach Dolangsa, small villages on the bottom of the Tinsang-la pass with a primary school yard for camping. People in these villages are of Sherpa tribes and there is a small monastery just above the village. Our camp will be in the open clearings in the village itself. This would be a good opportunity to interact with the local village folks & get an idea into how they survive on these remote outposts in some of the most isolated regions in Nepal. Included: B, L, D.

Our route goes above Dolangsa village, starting with a steep climb passing by the Monastery and beyond through prickly-leaved oak woods and rhododendron forest coming to a clearing with a small settlement of cattle herders after two hours of steady walk, from here our walk continues further for another 2 hours to Tinsang La. We begin to notice there is a remarkable change in the vegetation, as the walk gain Altitude every hour or so, till we reach the top ridge of Tingsang-la. We get excellent views from the Pass looking over towards Gaurishankar and onward to Tashi Lapcha. After a good hard climb to the pass, a short descent on the grassy meadow lead us to our overnight camp overlooking grand views of the surrounding landscapes and snow capped peaks. We set up camp where there are a number of old temporary shelters of the Sherpa as this place happens to be a summer pasture. An early morning gala view from this campsite is well worth the effort of waking up earlier for an early morning sunrise. There’s nothing like it on these mountains! Included: B, L, D.

After an early morning view of the superb vistas, our journey continues with an hour and half descent to the settlement of Ruphtang situated on a small hill top among-st the terraced fields. After a brief stop here, the walk follows on a downhill slope path to a small stream. From hereon, nearly two hours of gradual climb will bring us to our overnight camp on the large grassy field just a few minutes away from the Bigu Gomba premises. From the camp we can observe large stupa and a nunnery, each monastic stupa houses about 30 nuns and the nuns are mostly Sherpa women. Here we have ample time for a visit to Bigu Gompa, a fine and interesting monastery set among junipers on a terraced hillside. The building which houses a nunnery was built around somewhere in 1933. Included: B, L, D.

From here, our trek leads to a long descent through the terraced fields towards Sangwa Khola (stream), which later joins the Tamba Khola, coming to the warmer area after a good walk of two hours. The path then gradually climbs after crossing the bridge, the path winds up leading through Lading and continues to Chilangka after 2-3 hours of walks for the overnight camp high above the river. This is a quiet and lovely spot with splendid views across the terraced hillside, right down to the Bhote Koshi. Included: B, L, D.

After Chilangka, our route heads east above the Sangwa Khola, crossing several tributaries of a stream till the path leads to gradual walk with a few ups and downs in between and then we hike into a Chautara {a shelter with a banyan tree that serves as a rest point for travelers}, with well decorated religious paintings. Chautaras are interesting structures that are found along trails through out Nepal which is a kind of cemented or wooden platform often stepped on for weary travelers and porters where they can easily rest their heavy loads without having to painfully lower it to the ground. Sometimes found in good spots almost in homage to the landscape, and perpetually they are built around two holy trees Pipal (Ficus Religious) and Bahar (Ficus Bengalise) whose spreading roots cling to the platform. After a short rest while we admire the surrounding views of the ecological landscapes, our trek from here leads to a meandering trail towards the corner of the Gyalsung Danda (ridge) above the river, and then goes downhill towards Bulung for our overnight stop in this widely spread village; we set up Camp near by the school yard of this village called Bulung. Included: B, L, D.

Our trek from Bulung village goes north east along the trail above the Tama Koshi through the village of Yarsa and Warang, walking along a less used path at first, but after an hour of good trekking, the trail becomes something of a highway, on this broad winding road with excellent views of Mt. Gaurishanker. Traversing through intensively terraced farm fields, we then skirt past the village of Orang and wading through a few small ridges, our route finally leads to a steep downhill path to the junction of the Gongor Khola and Tama Koshi, and the small settlement of Gongor on the wide valley floor where we make our overnight camp by the river after a good walk of six hours. Included: B, L, D.

Leaving Gongar, the trail continues along the west bank of the Tama Koshi, which narrows into a gorge & then culminates at Chitchat and its gorgeous waterfall. Having descended to almost the same height as our starting point after an hour or more of hiking, the climate here is once again hot and slightly humid. Shortly afterwards we cross the Tama Koshi river and make a steep climb for an hour to the village of Simigaon, after the steep portion the walk leads to a gentle hillock up to the village of Simigaon, where we camp beside a Gompa 20 minutes above the main village with more extraordinary views of Gaurishanker. Included: B, L, D.

From Simigaon, our route leads towards north east. Beginning the walk on a gradual uphill slope passing through thick rhododendron and magnolia forests and pastures with numerous clearings that are used for summer grazing. In this area the change from lush Tama Koshi to the mountain side of Rolwaling Valley is very distinct, almost unique. Depending on the season, if the monsoon flood has washed much of the trail which usually happens sometimes in this case, we either take the high path that climbs steeply towards the ridge of the Sambur Danda, we cross the Daldung la instead at 3,976m as a safer alternative. Our walk continues contouring above the hill side and then descending to the river, we pass more huts in an area called Gyalche. After reaching the valley floor we cross a small wooden bridge to our camp at Dovan, a small unlikely clearing in the dense forest of the steep valley side. This is where we bunk out for the night. Included: B, L, D.

Today, crossing the Rolwaling khola we take a path leading through the jungles on the northern side, the walk heading to a gradual climb & then coming to a clearing passing along little settlements of Nyimare, Ramding and through the farm fields and reaching at Beding for the overnight stop after a good walk of five hours or more with time to visit Beding village where we can do some chatting with the local folks. It is the principal Sherpa village in the Rolwaling area. Situated in a narrow gorge, it is enlivened somewhat by its well-positioned Gompa, comprising of about thirty-six houses. There is a Hillary school in Beding built for the benefit of the poor deprived kids in these remote outposts. Included: B, L, D.

This is a well earned day for rest; we can just stroll through the village and its monastery overlooking grand views of Mt. Gauri-Shankar and the peak of Melungatse. Or we could just give some time to the children in the village. Included: B, L, D.

From Bheding onwards, we can feel the increasing altitude and the cold chill from the surrounding high mountains getting into our bones. Our trek today will be a short walk of three hours or more along the Rolwaling River, as we take it easy on this high altitude terrain with its impressive vistas of the surrounding high landscapes and the snow capped peaks. Our walk continues slowly in order to acclimatize, just before Na the valley opens out into a classic, glaciated U-shape. On reaching our overnight camp at Na, which is a scattered village and a temporary settlement of the villagers of Beding and beyond, it is a summer yersa (grazing pasture) and potatoes are grown hereabouts. There is a roughly built monastery around here. Our camp is made on this grassy field with time to relax and marvel the beauty that surrounds us. Ahead, up the valley beyond Na, the majestic summit of Chobutse 6,689m rises above the Tsho Rolpa at the confluence of the Ripimo Shar and Trakarding glaciers. We just relax & relish these stunning surroundings. Included: B, L, D.

A day for us to rest at Na Gaon, we can acclimatize and do some local exploration. Included: B, L, D.

We retrace the journey back on the downhill slope most of the way to the Riverside for our overnight camp. Included: B, L, D.

We retrace the journey back on the downhill slope most of the way with a few uphill climbs to Simigaon for our overnight camp. Included: B, L, D.

From Simigaon, the trek goes downhill for an hour or more to the bridge, & from the bridge it is on the same trail for a few hours on a gradual winding path, where our route from near Gongor Khola diverts on the straight forward trail towards south following the River Tama Koshi all the way to camp at a farm village at Jagat. At Jagat we will have time for a walk and to refresh in the cool river near our campsite. Included: B, L, D.

The walk today is on a gradual path, passing through numerous rural villages and farm fields; the trek follows a gentle trail most of the way with few ups and downs. We take it pretty easy from here on. Included: B, L, D.