Kangchenjunga is located in the easternmost part of Nepal, which gets triple the amount of annual rainfall compared to western Nepal—these mountains on the foothills of the world’s third highest mountain get upwards of 3,500 mm of rain a year. The effect is most visible in the vegetation: thick, verdant forests with heavy undergrowth. Even at the height of the dry season, the jungle trails are moist and fresh.
The rhododendron in eastern Nepal is some of the most spectacular, especially the Milke Danda range north of Taplejung which has been declared a sanctuary for Nepal’s national flower. The whole trek through the moist forests is also an orchid enthusiast’s delight. If orchids are actually parasites, then you could call the Tamur River basin a Parasite Paradise.
A recommended 15-17 day trek would entail flying to Taplejung and taking the ridge route to Kangchenjunga south base camp, backtracking to Tseram and crossing over to the northern side. Taplejung is not so difficult anymore to fly to since private airlines began service.
Day 1. Arrival
Arrival Kathmandu and transfer to hotel. Overnight.
Day 2 Kathmandu Sightseeing
Kathmandu Sightseeing and prepare for trekking permit. Overnight.
Day 3: Kathmandu – Hille
We take a 45 min. flight to Biratnagar, an industrial city in the lowlands of Eastern Nepal and you will be welcomed by our guide and other crew at the airport. We drive to Hille. A Tibetan settlement at 6,070 ft. where we pitch our first camp.
Day 4: Hille – Shidua
We already start to trek, We take the trail to Buranse Danda towards the Tamur River along a ridge. At the top of this ride we arrive at Shidua (7,450 ft.) where we camp set up for night.
Day 5: Shidua – Door Pani
We are trekking through a forest today to Chitre. We have opportunities to sight wildlife along the way. The views of Mt. Makalu (27,825 ft). and Chamlang (24, 000 ft) are today’s highlighs. We continue through rhododendron forests to the hamlet of Door Pani (9,120 ft). for camping
Day 6: Door Pani – Gupa Pokhari
After a gelntle climb through more rhododendron forests to a mountainridge. We drop down to the village of Tongise Phedi and continue to Chanki, An area used for summer pasture. We continue through grassy fields with Mt. Makalu in constant view. Soon the Kanchenjunga range appears and we come to Mongol Bhharia pass, linked with mani stones. We descend to a lake Gupa Pokhari for our camp.
Day 7: Gupa Pokhari – Nesum
Today we corss a pass at 9,922 ft. and descend through a dense forest towards Gurja Gaon and continue to descend to Nesum (5,297 ft.) with Mt Jannu and Mt Kanchenjunga behind. We camp in Nesum.
Day 8: Nesum – Taplejung
Today we visit the central hub of this region, Taplejung. We descend to Doban through paddy fields and start the trek up the Tamur River to Taplejung.
Day 9: Taplejung – Chirwa
Continuing up the Tamur River in a valley populated by the Lombu people. the descenddants of the Kirat warriors who ruled Nepal at the dawn of pleasant bazzar with a few tea houses and shops.
Day 10: Chirwa – Sakathum
We continue up the Tamur past Tapethok and cross the Simbuwa Khola, a river formed by the Yalung Glacier. We climb over another ridge to join the Dunsa Khola valley and camp by the bank of the river at Sakathum.
Day 11: Sekathum – Amjilassa
We follow a steep and narrow trail up river. From the high spots there are wonderful views of the Ghunsa Khola below. The path descends steepty and we arrive at the mountain side village of amjilassa for our overnight.
Day 12: Amjilassa – Kyapar
We shall be doing some real climbing in the next 5 days. We climb to Kyapar perched in the middle of terraced hills about 1000 ft up a steep climb from the Ghusa Khola.
Day 13: Kyapar – Ghunsa
We descend from Kyapar and make an easy climb up the right bank of the Ghunsa Khola. After the village of Phere, we enter rhododendron forests and climb a gentle hill before descending back down to the Ghunsa Khola and crossing a wooden bridge to the village of Ghunsa.
Day 14: Ghunsa – Khambachen
Today we glimpse the Jannu Glacier. Later on we get a view of Mt Jannu (25,289 ft.) We descend the mountain – side to our camp at Kambachen.
Day 15: Khambachen
We have climbed over 8,000 ft. in the last 4 days. We deserve a rest today to collect our throughts together on how wild and wonderful everything has been so far.
Day 16: Khambachen – Lhonak
Well rested, we shall now start a stint of real climbing. We trek to the edge of Kanchenjunga Glacier and cross over to the Lhonak Glacier. We arrive at our campsite at Lhonak. From where we can see Mera Peak (20,308 ft).
Day 17: Day Trip to Pangpema
We shall have excellent views of the towering peak of Kanchenjunga today.
Day 18: Khambachen – Tha Pass
We select to cross either of the 2 passes today depending on the weather conditions. Lapsang La, the higher pass at 17,000 ft. and Mirgin La the lower pass at 15,000 ft.
Day 19: High Camp
We shall again rest today to recover from the efforts of the previous days.
Day 20: High Camp – Ramche
We descend to the Simbhuwa Khola valley and camp at Ramche.
Day 21: Ramche – Tseram
We take a day trip to the Yalung Glacier for a magnificent view of the Kanchenjunga south face from chorten at about 15,000 ft. We descend later to Tseram for the night.
Day 22: Tseram Torontam
We are starting to descend from today. We steadlly descend through fores of rhododendron to Torontam at 9,800 ft.
Day 23: Torontam – Yamphudin
We descend today to Yamphudin (5,360 ft.) Yamphudin is a mixed community of Sherpas, Limbus, Rais and Gurungs and is the first real village since Ghunsa.
Day 24: Yamphudin – Ponphe
We descend from Yamphudin to the Kabele Khola and climb to Ponphe (5,500 ft.) for our camp.
Day 25: Ponphe – Pha Khola
From Ponhpe we climb to a ridge at 5,700 ft. We descend through a series of side valley past Phun village to Kesawa (6,120 ft). The trail continues to ascend to a Gurung settlement at Bhanjyang (6,640 ft). From here the trail traverses a ridge and descends to the Limbu village of Khanjari (5,250 ft) We camp below on the banks of Pha Khola.
Day 26: Pha Khola – Taplejung
We descend today the airport of Taplejung for our overnight camp.
Day 27: Taplejung – Kathmandu via Biratnagar
We fly this morning back to Kathmandu via Biratnagar after a well remembered trek.
Day 28: Departure
Departure transfer to airport for the flight to your next destination