Our team would receive you inside the Arrival Halls at the airport as you provide your Flight Arrival Details. You can use the Wi-fi available at the Airport so that it is easier to communicate and coordinate. An Airport Transfer has been arranged and thus, it would drop us to your hotel in Thamel. This would also be the day where we would request you to share the documents required for the Trekking Permits; Copy of Passport and Visa Stamp Copy, a clear photograph from Phone shall suffice.

We can use this day to further explore the city of Kathmandu. The usual favourites are the beautiful World Heritage Sites. Bouddhanath Stupa, Patan Palace Square, Swayambhunath Stupa (Monkey Temple), Pashupatinath Temple, etc are some of the notable places or you can choose to have a quiet and quaint day with a relaxing atmosphere inside the Garden of Dreams at Thamel.

On the evening, we would meet up to go over our Gears/Equipment and also make time for Rent/Purchase of any missing items should we require. After a short brief about our plans for tomorrow, we will end this day. It should only take 1-2 hrs for the Preparation and thus, you can fully enjoy your day.

We will fly from Kathmandu to Bhadrapur on a short 45 minutes flight. Bhadrapur lies on the south-eastern plains of the country with sub-tropical weather that lies on an elevation of ~70m from sea level.

After landing in Bhadrapur, we will embark on for the long jeep drive that lies ahead of us today. Passing on the Mechi Highway, our road trip can be quite enjoyable given the views of the rolling hills and the landscape are mesmerizing. We will have plenty of breaks along the way to stretch our feet, take rests and have lunch. We will also have our glimpse of Kanchenjunga range enroute that would excite us for the journey for coming days.

We will have lunch at Gopitar roughly at around 12-1 pm. The lunch place serves delicious Daal-Bhaat which I believe, would be our staple diet for the coming weeks. We would aim to reach Fungling (Taplejung) by 5-6 pm and then, take the rest of the evening off to freshen up, shower and do any last-minute snacks shopping as this is the last major town before we dive deeper into the wilderness. The town also has pharmacies and ATMs so it is the place where we can withdraw cash (if needed) or get any medications that we might need.

Time: 9-10 hours

Our first true off-road experience begins as soon as we leave the main town of Fungling (Taplejung). The off-road sections will see us traverse our way down to mighty Tamor river and passing through under construction Hydro projects. The road passes through beautiful villages of Mitlung, Chirwa with Cardamom orchards, terraced farmlands, etc. as we bump and move about in the jeep as the road traverses along the bank of Tamor river and soon we arrive in Sekathum.

We will have a brief lunch in Sekathum and bid farewell to modern amenities as we begin our short 2-2.5 hours hike to Itahari. We will have the brief idea of the trails that lies ahead of us as we calm ourselves after the eventful jeep ride and look forward to the trek tomorrow.

Since the previous trail with suspension bridge got destroyed by the landslide, we will cross the mighty Ghunsa river in a make-shift Rope-gourney system and get to experience the rugged trails of Kanchenjunga on our first day of hiking.

This is the first actual day of our hike as we begin our journey along the bank of Ghunsa river. After hiking for 3-4 hours from Itahari we will reach Amjilosa Phedi from where the trail becomes a rather steep uphill all the way to Amjilosa that takes about 1-1.5 hours, where we take our lunch break.

Since Amjilosa lies on the top of the hill, the views are beautiful and we will get some sparse connectivity for the last-minute conversation back home. After our hike, we will ascend further up following the trails that takes us back down to Ghunsa river, until we reach our teahouse at Thangyam, a beautiful wooden cottage. We will freshen up and rest for the evening to rejuvenate ourselves for the next day.

Passing through lush forests of Himalayan Birch and Bamboo, we make our way to Gyabla in a rather short hike of 2-3 hours. The forested trail before the uphill section to Gyabla is mesmerizing to say the least.

We will use rest of the day to take rest, do some laundry or take shower. After lunch, we will go for a short hike to explore the village where you can experience the remoteness and grandeur of Kanchenjunga region.

Hiking along the beautiful Ghunsa river, we make our way further inside the valley until the landscape opens up after a rather comfortable ascent to Phale (3200 meters) where we would have our lunch after the hike of nearly 4 hours from Gyabla. Phale used to be the farm lands for the village of Ghunsa until the arrival of Tibetan refugees in 1960s when it became the refuge areas when the villages of the region graciously accepted their arrival and helped them settle on the land. There is a branch of Tashi-Choeling monastery in the village where small number of monks reside and helps take care of the monastery.

After the lunch, the trail to Ghunsa is moderately flat and takes about 2 hours to reach the beautiful and the largest village of the region. The valley opens up to breathtaking views of the landscape. Ghunsa has its own micro hydropower and hence, we would be amazed to see the amenities available in the village that is still rooted in its background of Agriculture. There are plenty of teahouses and one or two coffee shops/bakery (Yes, quite surprising).

The village is calm and quaint, where we end the day.

We will hike up to Ghunsa View Point (3800m), spend about 30-40 minutes soaking in the scenery and come back down that takes about 3-4 hours in total. We can spend rest of the day exploring the villages, nearby waterfalls, forested areas or take small walk to the Selele River dam.

As we traverse the gradual trail through Rhododendron, Pine and Birch forests, we leave Ghunsa behind. Passing through Hajare Cave, a spiritual site for Limbu people, this used to be the shelter for the pilgrimage to Faktanglung, also known as Mt. Jannu. You would see prayer flags and tridents, offered by the pilgrims to their spiritual deity. Although one might fail to articulate the experience, you would definitely feel the spiritual course of the region.

After clearing through the forested area, our trail turns steep uphill where we would slowly make our way to Khambachhen. We will also have the first views of Mt. Jannu and its surrounding range, making us forget the difficulties of the trail. As we complete the uphill section, our trail would be gradual until we reach the village of Khambachhen.

The village has got some basic teahouses and we will also see small huts used by Yak herders on the monsoon period as an Alpine meadow. There is also a seasonal health post at Khambachhen so that we can get medical aid if required. Upon reaching the teahouse, we would do a short hike to the Snow Leopard Research Centre and hopefully, if we are incredibly lucky also catch the glimpse of the queen of Himalayas, Snow Leopard. Never the less, we could be blessed with the unsuspecting herds of Blue Sheep grazing atop the unsurmountable rock face along with the majestic mountain range that surrounds Khambachhen.

After our breakfast, we will begin our rather long hike to the beautiful Jannu View Point. Deviating from the main trail, Jannu is a sacred mountain to the indigenous Limbu & Sherpa community. Every year thousands make this trip on the belief that Mt Jannu is the spiritual passage for their ancestors and with true conviction grants you, your wishes.

Traversing the uphill trail from Khambachhen to Jannu View Point, we would truly feel the spiritual sanctity of this place that is protected by the majestic Himalayas. It might feel surreal as we experience the landscape and strengthens our reasonings on why Kanchenjunga is depicted as spiritual focal point of the Himalayas. The hike is difficult but definitely worth the experience and emotions.

After we spend about considerable amount of time, we return to Khambachhen, as our breathing becomes a bit easier due to the principles of Climb High and Sleep Low and our bodies more ready to accept high alpine environment.

Making our way across the deserted high alpine landscape, our trail blesses us with the awe-inspiring views of Kanchenjunga massif. Passing through a particular landslide area, we make our way through a steep path to the plateau of Ramche, where there are two lonely teashops where we would have our lunch.

This would also be the place where we would listen to the most recent story of possible Yeti encounter that happened in the monsoon of 2023. The teashop is basic and it will be an all-hands approach to prepare our lunch before our journey to Lhonak.

After our lunch, we will embark on our journey towards Lhonak, the last teahouse village before we make our journey to the beautiful Kanchenjunga North Base Camp (Pangpema), on the next day. Greeted by the vast landscape of Lhonak Peak, Tent Peak and Yachung Khang, we will traverse the gradual trail that takes about 2 hours from Ramche.

This would possibly be the hardest day of the trek as we make our journey to Pangpema. The trail begins with a seemingly gradual ascend from Lhonak to Pangpema. However due to landslides and changing topography, the trail passes through steep ups and downs which will make this hike difficult and takes about 4-5 hours to reach the Kanchenjunga Base Camp. Along the way, we will have lunch at a lonely teashop that only opens for specific period during trekking season. It will provide us the much-needed fuel for this journey.

Finally, as we reach our destination at Pangpema which is the name for Kanchenjunga Base Camp or Kanchenjunga North Base Camp at an elevation of 5143 meters. Soaking in the immense grandeur of Mt. Kanchenjunga and its surrounding ranges, this is a time for solemn celebration as we completed this incredible journey. However, this is not the end of our journey yet as we traverse back down to Lhonak that takes about another 3 hours, where we would rest to complete our eventful achievement.

It is completely normal to feel a bit tired and out of energy today as we have been consistently pushing ourselves for the past few days. However, this day is not going to be different as we make our way down back to Ghunsa. This is the longest distance that we cover in this trek for a single day that takes about 8 hours of pure hiking excluding the rest periods and covers about 18kms in distance.

After an early morning breakfast of 7:30 am, we aim to be on the trail by 8 am and hopefully be on Khambachhen between 12-1 pm for our lunch period. We will take plenty of rest and tea breaks as needed and again continue towards Ghunsa.

Every step that we take would be easier for our body as the air once again becomes thicker and we don’t feel breathless. After a long day of trek, we hopefully arrive to Ghunsa by 5 pm and have time to rest and recover. I also recommend a long overdue shower at Ghunsa, as we have the provision of hot shower at Ghunsa and possibly can take the next day to completely rest and recover whilst also taking care of our laundry situation if needed.

Contrary to other itineraries, from my experience, we will use this day to rest and recover instead of hiking. This would be also be the good place to recharge our electronics, power banks, etc. and get physically rejuvenated before undertaking a rather steep uphill trail to Selele High Camp before traversing the beautiful Selele Pass.

Starting our hike from the village of Ghunsa, we will deviate towards the Selele Pass trail, that takes us through one of my favorite sections of the trek. Feeling fresh and rejuvenated after the rest day at Ghunsa, we make our way through a uphill forested trail that would bestow us with the amazing views of the beautiful Nango La (pass) which is a part of ‘The Great Himalayan Trail’ (more on that later).

After about 4-6 hours of hiking, we would reach Selele High Camp, where there are two teahouses that would host us for the night. The views of Ghunsa valley are mesmerizing to say the least, as we settle in for the night for the big day tomorrow.

Unlike other high pass trek, traversing the Kanchenjunga Circuit doesn’t require early morning hike to traverse the pass. We start at around 7:30 am as we make our way through the mountain landscape for about 2 hours before we reach the first pass known as Selele La standing at 4170 metres. After the mandatory photo session as we also have the glimpse of Mt. Makalu and Mt. Everest, we will hike for the next 1.5 hours to reach Mirgin La, the second pass of the trek standing at 4620 meters. There is a small seasonal teashop at this pass, where we will also have some hot tea and devour our well-deserved pack lunch. Hiking for next hour or so, we will reach the third and final pass of this journey also the highest at 4700m known as Sinelapche La. After the celebrations of traversing the 3 passes, we will make a long downward journey to Tseram ending the day at around 4 -5  pm.

We will settle in for the night contemplating about the long day that we had and prepare ourselves for the journey to the beautiful Kanchenjunga Base Camp South, Oktang.

While some hikers prefer to break this into 2 days directly coming to Kanchenjunga South Base Camp from southern side of the trek, this trek can be completed in one day given our body is well acclimatized to high altitude.

Traversing the trail from the lovely forest trails of Oktang, we make our way to Ramche where we would be greeted by the grandeur of Rhatong, Kabru peaks, etc to name a few. Making our way up along the Southern Moraine of Mt. Kanchenjunga, we pass through Ramche with two teashops where we would take a break to have some fuel in our body.

Making our way through the gradual ascend, we will reach Oktang – Kanchenjunga South Base Camp which lies at an elevation of 4760m. Mesmerized with the majestic landscape and seeing Mt. Kanchenjunga one more time from the Southern side, we complete our journey to the Base Camp, marking the prominent milestone of our journey.

This is also the expedition side for summiting Mt. Kanchenjunga. The actual expedition base camp is 5-6 hours ahead of Oktang. Until 2004/05 A.D., the North Base Camp, Pangpema used to be the original expedition base camp which changed to Oktang given the less risk and complications on the summit route from the Southern side.

Spending some time around Oktang, we make our way back to Tseram marking the end of our final highlight of our trek. With beautiful memories and lifelong experience, we spend the night at Tseram looking forward to next day.

Today’s hike would be a relatively shorter compared to the last few days. The beautiful trails that traverse through forest of Rhododendrons, Birch and Pine trees will feel warmer coming down after spending considerable number of days in the high alpine environment. Walking along the banks of Hellok River, we bid goodbye to the magnificent Kanchenjunga region behind us. Enroute we will also see the majestic mountains that hide Kang La, a high pass that connects Nepal and Sikkim, India. Though the pass is rarely used by the trekkers, it is still used by the locals to reach Sikkim where majority of the children of the region are receiving formal education.

It was also used by then famous Buddhist Scholar and British Spy Sharad Chandra Das to secretly visit Tibet in 1900s to document the hidden world of Tibet which was largely closed to the outside world. Locals say, it was such high passes and passages that enabled thousands of Tibetans to escape Chinese occupation and flee to Nepal and India, which is one of the many geo-political reasons, Kanchenjunga is listed as Restricted Areas.

We reach Toronden/Tortong after 4-5 hours and settle in for the night in one of the two lonely teahouses of the trail. Today might be the first day where you might want to taste the famous local liquor called ‘Tongba’ (Fermented Millet liquor) with some stir fried ‘Sukuti’ (Smoke and Sun-dried strips of Yak or Buffalo Meat).

This is the final day of our epic journey that took us through one of the most amazing landscapes of the Himalayas. As soon as we leave Torongden, we cross a suspension bridge and deviate right on the trail that runs along Hellok river. Usually, you would find many trekkers take the old route towards Yamphudin through Lase Bhanjyang, but we will take a different route that is more scenic and accessible that will take us directly to Ranipul.

Following the narrow gorges of the river, we follow the beautiful forest trail to the village of Hellok. This is the section of the trail where I was fortunate enough to see the elusive Red Panda in its wild habitat. While fortune may not favor us all the time, we will keep our eyes open and our ears sharp in hopes of this beautiful encounter. This is a rather long day that sees us hike for about 4 hours before lunch and another 4 hours after.

Soon, we find ourselves moving closer to the civilization as we make our way down to Ranipul and finally meet the Jeep Road that we left 15 days ago closing the loop of our majestic Kanchenjunga Circuit Trek. Reminiscing on our achievement, a hot shower and internet connectivity awaits us. We have completed the trek and can settle in with all the tiredness and happy hearts. This is an evening of celebrations waiting for a long jeep ride tomorrow down to Fikkal.

We will plan for an early start for this day as we need to cover quite a distance in the jeep drive. It will take us about 3.5 hours to reach Taplejung from Ranipul and then, we will change jeeps to reach Fikkal that takes about 7 hours more. We hope to reach our destination by 5-6 pm.

Needless to say, we will be taking adequate rest stops and breaks amidst our journey before we reach Fikkal and settle in for the night

After a slow morning, we will pack and then again be in the jeep ride to the airport of Bhadrapur just in time to catch our flight to Kathmandu. There is always the chance for the flights to get delayed so we will set the departure time accordingly.

Another 45 minutes flight to Kathmandu and the transfer to the hotel, we will reunite once again in the evening for a final night of celebrations. We will reminisce on a beautiful time that we spent together before your departure.

Promising that we will meet again, we might ask you for your valuable insights and feedback regarding your experience of this journey with us and call it a good night.

You may choose to extend your stay at Nepal, embark on the leisurely city of Pokhara to rest after the long trek.

However, if you have got the flight to catch, our Airport Transfer jeep would meet you in the hotel lobby at the designated time and drop you off at the airport wishing you a safe journey back home.