Is it possible to visit Nepal during the monsoon months from July to September?

Is it possible to visit Nepal during the monsoon months from July to September? This is a question we often get asked at The Mountain Company from people interested in visiting Nepal over European summer holidays. The short answer is yes it is certainly possible to travel in Nepal over the summer months however it is not the optimal time for a visit.

If you have the flexibility with your dates then I would recommend rescheduling to Spring (i.e March to May) or Autumn (i.e October to December). Of course some people do not have any other options with their holidays so my next suggestion would be to visit Ladakh as this Himalayan region's peak trekking season is over the summer months. Ladakh is located in far north of Indian in the Himalaya within the so called rain shadow as monsoonal rains do not tend to push this far into the mountains. If this is an option then I suggest you take a look at our Ladakh Sky Trail led by Almas Khan in late August, this trek is now guaranteed to run and there is currently availability.

If you are still keen to visit Nepal in summer months then it is worth explaining the challenges involved with travelling during the monsoon as well as several of the advantages of this time of year. The main drawback is the weather, it is likely to be rainy as these months are of course during the monsoon. This can cause issues for vehicle transport especially in the hills as there is often landslides blocking roads or if unpaved then the tracks will be muddy so there is always a high risk of your bus getting stuck in the mud!

If you plan to fly to start of the trek such as Lukla airport for Everest Base Camp then it is likely there will be delays if cloudy conditions as planes can only land with clear visibility on the runway. Trekking in the Himalaya during monsoon will be hot and humid at lower altitudes and also it is quite likely there will be leeches, snakes and other creepy crawlies around!

Photo: bus journey during the monsoon!

Having said this the main advantage of travelling in Nepal during monsoon is the lack of other tourists so the trails will be quiet compared to Spring and Autumn seasons. Also the higher valleys above 3,000m such as Lantang will be lush and green with many flowers so no doubt will be very beautiful. It is worth pointing it does not rain for the whole day during the monsoon however it is likely to be cloudy for most of the time with heavy rains for at least an hour or more per day.

There are also a number of interesting festivals in July and August such as Janai Purnima held at Gosainkund lakes below Laurebina La on the Langtang trek. The Gosainkunda Yatra festival is held each year when many Hindu devotees make a pilgrimage to Gosainkund lakes regarded as sacred to Lord Shiva. A dip in these lakes is believed to add considerably to pilgrim’s merit. Traditional faith healers called jhankris perform ritual dances to drumbeats throughout the night and day so it will certainly be a noisy and colourful event.

Photo: Gosainkund lakes

The word "Janai" means sacred thread and the word "Purnima" means full moon day. This year Janai Purnima will be held on full moon of Nepali month Shrawan or in western calendar on August 10, 2014. Janai Purnima, known as the Sacred Thread Festival, requires Hindu men to perform their annual change of Janai worn across the chest.

The mid-west regions of Mustang and Dolpo are often recommended for summer trekking in Nepal as these places tend to receive less precipitation in monsoon due to the rain shadow effect. However I do not think it is worthwhile as there can also be heavy rain, landslides and delays with flying in and out of Jomsom and Juphal airstrips. Also there is a far higher safety risk of flying in Nepal during monsoon months so I think best to avoid STOL flights.

Please get in touch with us at The Mountain Company if you would like any further information or advice about tours, treks or expeditions to Nepal.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk 

Trip Report for Upper Dolpo to Jomsom GHT trek in May 2014

Photo: approaching Chharka La

Our Upper Dolpo to Jomsom GHT group arrived back to Kathmandu a week ago having successfully completed the traverse from Juphal through Upper Dolpo to Jomsom in the Kali Gandaki valley. This trek visits a very remote region of Nepal and as a result requires detailed logistical planning and organisation. It is not possible to purchase much food in this area due to the poor harvests so most of our supplies have to be brought in from Kathmandu. The road head is five days walk south of Juphal so the crew and porters walked in with all of the group kit and food before our group arrived by flight to Juphal airport.

The other challenge for trekking in Upper Dolpo is selecting the right time of year in order to get good weather and conditions for crossing the high passes. We organised our first trek to Upper Dolpo as a recce in late April 2010, this trip went well and our group arrived to Jomsom however our second group in May 2012 was unable to cross Kang La to Shey due to too much snow. As a result of our abortive trek in 2012 we decided to make a number of changes to our organisation to increase our chances of making the traverse in future years. We decided to bring only porters to carry group gear and no (or only very few) ponies as these pack animals will not be able to walk through deep snow or icey trails.

Photo: pass to Shey

We also decided to charter a Twin Otter plane from Pokhara to Juphal rather than relying on schedule flights from Nepalganj further to the west. There are various issues with transiting via Nepalganj airport including an overall lack of aircraft in west of the country making this connection rather unreliable. If there is poor weather and delays then Pokhara is a far nicer place to stay with good hotels compared to the sticky, humid climate at Nepalganj.

As there is always some risk of delays with flights to STOL airstrips like Juphal due to bad weather etc we decided to add one more buffer day into the itinerary so there are now two buffer days to cover possible delays waiting for the flight to Juphal. There are also three rest days and one buffer day included within the trek itinerary. The other change we made from 2012 is to delay the start date by two weeks to May 8th in order to increase the chances of snow melt on the passes.

Photo: crossing Saldang La

For our Upper Dolpo trek in 2014 we had on board a strong team of leaders and crew with good knowledge of this region having trekked here on several previous occasions. Ade Summers was the western leader, Chandra Rai was our Nepali Sirdar and Saila Tamang was cook and all of them had joined our recce with me back in 2010. We also decided to recruit a guide from Dolpo region as having this local knowledge would be invaluable as well as helping to co-ordinate with local villagers and explaining more about the Dolpo-pa culture to the group.

Photo: inside Shey gompa

In fact as it turned out there was deep snow on Kang La again in 2014 however the guides found an alternative pass and successfully arrived to Shey on schedule on May 19th. I have included feedback below from one of the group, Martin, with his comments about this crux section of the trek: “When we couldn't cross the Kang La because of snow, having a dynamic and committed leader, as well as a guide with local knowledge, made all the difference in finding alternative routes through and making the trip a success.”

Our Upper Dolpo to Jomsom trek visits a remote region of Nepal and I gather our 2014 group only saw one other trekking group between Phoksumdo Lake and Jomsom. Instead of following Upper Dolpo Circuit we headed further north to an area very close to the Tibet border. This itinerary came out of our recce trek in 2010 where the plan was to traverse to Kali Gandaki valley however we had not finalise the route until we were on the ground and in the field. While on trek our cook Saila told us about the trail he followed several years back with Stan Armington (author of Lonely Planet guidebook to Nepal) so we decided to follow his advice and recommendations.

This remote trail heads north of Saldang village to Tora Sumna then south-east through Nisalgaon and Shimengaon villages and ending up to Tinjegaon. This trail follows the Panjyan river and is one of the most stunning beautiful valleys I have seen in Nepal with many blue sheep grazing on the slopes high above the valley floor (and no doubt snow leopards too). From our 2014 group Martin and Maria with extensive experience trekking in Himalaya and all around the world summed up their experience with Martin saying “The trip was culturally fascinating, very scenic, and remote” and Maria commenting that “the best part was the remoteness and variety of scenery.”

Photo: Panjyan valley

Photo: Tora Sumna

This group enjoyed excellent weather throughout most of the trek with only some precipitation in the afternoon at Chepka on first day trekking and later on after crossing of Sangda La pass when it started snowing on their arrival to camp. As mentioned earlier we carefully planned the start date of this trek in order to maximise our chances of success. On balance I think the dates we chose are optimal as by delaying later on into May there is a risk of more cloud delaying flights to Juphal and also more precipitation on the trek. We plan to keep the same dates for our Upper Dolpo trek in May 2015.

Photo: view from Muri La

I gather the flights from Jomsom via Pokhara to Kathmandu went with no delays and on evening of June 6th the group were eating steaks together at KToo steakhouse and having a celebratory beer (or two) in Sams bar. I would like to congratulate and say well done to the group for completing this trek along a section of The Great Himalaya Trail from Juphal to Jomsom.

Of course I would like to say a huge thanks to Ade Summers, Chandra Rai and Saila Tamang as well as our Sherpa guides, Bishu and Gopal, who all worked hard to make this trip a success. I have copied some comments received below from the group about the leaders and crew:

“Ade worked hard to make everything run well.” and “Excellent crew, Chandra and his team were endlessly helpful and I don't know where Saila got all the fresh vegetables from in such a remote area. The man is a magician....”.

And Harry's summary of the trip was as follows: "Trip met and exceeded my expectations. Before the trip I knew Upper Dolpo was special but its more than that. The cook and his assistants were exceptional. Ade is a top guy, faultless. Worse part of the trip was leaving Dolpo, the best part was viewing Shey Gompa for the first time (gave me goosebumps), The Dolpo pa. Every day was great!"

The Mountain Company is organising Upper Dolpo trek next year with same leadership including Ade Summers so please get in touch soon if you would like to join this group.

Roland Hunter
www.themountaincompany.co.uk

A recce trek around Kathmandu Valley in December 2012

This is a rather belated trip report for a recce trek I did back in December 2012 around the Kathmandu Valley Rim in Nepal. Over the years I had visited the viewpoints of Dhulikhel, Nagarkot and Namo Buddha located on the hills around Kathmandu however this time the plan was link these places together on a six day walk.

I was interested in doing Kathmandu Valley trek as several of our Sherpas guides had recommended this trail due to the variety of landscape, friendly villages and of course the Himalayan views. Also these areas are quiet with few trekkers as most people tend to leave quickly for the mountains and never get the opportunity to enjoy what is closer at hand in the Kathmandu valley.

Photo: terraced fields, ochre farmhouses and Himalayan views

The idea was to walk around Kathmandu Valley while staying at high quality hotels in order to set up a new trek for The Mountain Company. I also wanted to incorporate into the itinerary visits to religious and cultural places including World Heritage site of Changu Narayan; the Newari towns of Bhaktapur and Panauti; Namo Buddha monastery and Kali temple above Dhulikhel. In this blog I will discuss some of the highlights of this trek however if you are interested in the detailed day by day itinerary I suggest you read our TripDossier for Luxury Kathmandu Valley trek.

I walked this trek in December as this is one of the best months to do Kathmandu Valley trek with a high chance of clear mountain views. The weather is colder at night in December however as we stay in hotels this is less of a consideration especially as some of the hotels like Vajra Farmhouse in Nagarkot even have a cosy fire in the bedroom. Kathmandu Valley is a good choice for the winter months when it will be getting very cold higher up in the other trekking regions like Everest and Annapurna. Of course you can do this trek in Spring and Autumn although it would be best to avoid this trek from late May when the temperatures will be very hot and then over the summer months of July and August when it will be rainy during the monsoon.

Photo: near Nagarkot

An advantage of Kathmandu Valley Rim trek is the highest sleeping altitude is at Lakuri Bhanjang with an altitude of only 2,000m. To put this into context Lakuri Bhanjang is 800m lower than the airstrip at Lukla which is the starting point for the Everest Base Camp trek. Being lower in altitude means there is unlikely to be any issues with high altitude sickness and as mentioned above it will be less cold than other treks such as Everest Base Camp. The other advantage is there are no internal flights within this itinerary, an increasingly important consideration for many people these days given the poor safety record of the aviation sector in Nepal.

On the first day of the trek we left Kathmandu by car driving beyond Bhatkapur and was dropped off at Changu Narayan temple. This is a beautiful pagoda style temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and is known as one of the oldest in Nepal. After a visit to the temple and museum we started the trek up to the popular hill resort of Nagarkot. The trail follows a ridge south of the Tilkot Reserved Forest with views down to Sankhu in north and Bhaktapur to the south. After several hours we joined the road winding up to Nagarkot and at this point you have the choice to walk off the road through fields or take transport up to Nagarkot.

Photo: walking to Nagarkot

It is worth pointing out for our Luxury Kathmandu Valley Rim trek we send a private car or minibus with driver to transport your luggage to the next hotel on the itinerary. It is possible on most days of this trek to get picked up by the vehicle at several places along the trail if you prefer not to walk the whole way to the hotel. Your guide will brief you each evening on the distances and timings for the next day’s walk and also the options for vehicle pick-up along the way. This was one of the reasons that Kathmandu Valley Rim trek is a good objective for families with children or people with a lower fitness level.

In Nagarkot we stay at Vajra’s Nagarkot Farmhouse, the main building with restaurant is a renovated old Newari house and the mountain views from here are superb from Mount Manaslu to distant Mount Everest in the east.

Photo: view from near Nagarkot

On the second day we followed the trail through forest up to the main Nagarkot bazaar and beyond to the view tower. We were lucky to have a cloudless day and as we walked along the path to Rohini Bhanjang we could see the mountains of Gauri Shankar, Menlungtse, Everest, Numbur and Karyolung far to the east. It is worth mentioning that Mount Everest is very distant from Nagarkot however through binoculars the familiar black summit is certainly visible. At Vajra Farmhouse I purchased a poster “Profile of the Himalayas from Nagarkot, Kakani and Pokhara”, I would recommend getting a copy too as this helps identify the names of the mountains visible from the main viewpoints of the Kathmandu valley.

Photo: farmhouse seen from Kathmandu Valley Rim trek

The walk from Nagarkot to Dhulikel is one of the longer days on our Luxury Kathmandu Valley Rim trek itinerary and we arrived to Dhulikhel town late afternoon. Most groups will be picked up by the support vehicle in the town for the short drive to Dwarikas’ Resort in Dhulikhel. This place is simply superb and has so many wonderful touches as one would expect from Dwarikas. In fact several of our private groups have requested to extend their trek to include two nights at Dwarikas Resort rather than just one as included in our standard itinerary. Dwarikas is expensive however if you have the budget then it would be well worth considering staying one of two extra nights at this property.

Photo: view from Dhulikhel

The third day is from Dhulikhel to Namo Buddha where our groups stay at the wonderful Namo Buddha Resort. I have stayed at this property a number of times and it is one of my favourite places in the Kathmandu valley. The accommodation is in private cottages in their beautiful grounds filled with lush vegetation and flowers. The resort is close to Thrangu Tashi Yangtse Monastery located at the sacred pilgrimage site of Namo Buddha, if you like you can walk up in the afternoon to have a look around this monastery.

Photo: view from Namo Buddha Resort

Photo: private cottage at Namo Buddha Resort

Photo: monastery at Namo Buddha

On the fourth day is the walk to the lovely village of Baltali and I remember when we arrived we met a group of woman in high spirits on their way to a festival while singing and dancing. Baltali is a traditional village and is very scenic with large terraced fields and ochre painted houses, this area is known for growing oranges and in December you will see the fruits ready for harvest. I was not surprised when Baltali was recently included as one of Lonely Planet’s Top Five“World’s best multi-day treks…without high altitude”. We stayed at the Baltali Village Resort located on top of a hill overlooking the village.

Photo: festival in Baltali village

Photo: view from Baltali Village Resort

On the fifth day we walked from Baltali to the main road head at Khopasi village where we picked up our vehicle for the short drive to Panauti. This is a Newari town with many temples including Indreswor one of the oldest in Nepal. This is a fascinating town to walk around although the temples are in a poorer condition than the better known Newari town of Bhaktapur. 

Photo: Indreswor temple in Panauti

After lunch we continued our drive along a road climbing up towards Lakuri Bhanjang. We stay at the wonderfully situated Summit Village Lodge (operated by same company that runs lodges as used in our Everest Luxury Lodge trek). The whole of Kathmandu is spread out far below and the Himalayan views can be seen rising to the north above the city. We were lucky to see a deep orange sunset in the sky that evening.

Photo: Summit Village Lodge at Lakuri Bhanjang

Photo: sunset from Summit Village Lodge at Lakuri Bhanjang

On the sixth day we walked downhill to Bhaktapur where we stayed at Hotel Heritage located only a short walk from Durbar Square. This is one of three Durbar Squares in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal, all of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. If you are visiting Kathmandu it is well worth staying in Bhaktapur for a night or two as after mid afternoon the places is much quieter when the tour groups go back to their hotels in Kathmandu.

Photo: Nyatapola temple in Bhaktapur

Since I walked this trail in December 2012 we have now had five groups successfully complete this trek and we have received very positive feedback as copied below:

“I only have good feedback for you regarding the tour. Everything worked out very well for us. The length of the tour was just nice, not too short and not too long. The sights and scenery we got to see were awesome. I was also impressed with the hotels/resorts we stayed in. I must mention Lakpa Sherpa who was an amazing guide. He really took good care of us. Overall I'm very pleased I joined the tour and I have to say I had a really wonderful time. I have and will be recommending The Mountain Company to my friends who are interested in making a trip to Nepal. Thank you!” June Koh (Malaysia)

“Yes we got back safely having had a really good trip, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was what we wanted - a 'walking holiday'. We loved walking through the villages etc. and staying at contrasting places. The weather was wonderful and of course the views were amazing. We never met any other 'walkers' which was a real bonus. We think that this a suitable holiday/trek for reasonably fit people of our age group (Late 60's). I hope that this feedback is of use to you, and we would recommend this trip to others.” Keir and Ruth Woodward (UK)

If you are interested in joining our Luxury Kathmandu Valley trek on one of our fixed dates departures or on a private trip then please get in touch with us. It is worth pointing out we can tailor this itinerary if you would like to stay in different hotels or prefer to spend a few extra nights along the way.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Trip report for Mera Peak (Nepal) led by Steve Stout in April 2014

Photo: team photo in front of Mount Kyshar (Steve Stout)

Our Mera Peak Expedition in April 2014 was led by Steve Stout and we had seven climbers in the group coming from UK, Australia and India.  The Sirdar for the group was Domi Sherpa and the cook was Saila Tamang. 

The group arrived as planned to Kathmandu on April 12th and after checking into Hotel Tibet met up with Steve. It is worth pointing we made a change to our Mera Peak itinerary for 2014 by extending the trip by an additional night at Hotel Tibet at the start so there is now a full day in Kathmandu on the second day. On past expeditions we only had one night in Kathmandu so it was always a rush for the leader to brief the group, check everyone’s equipment, purchase any additional gear and weigh bags etc before starting the trek. I gather the extra day was appreciated by the group and everyone felt well prepared and organised for the flight to Lukla on 14th and the trek on to Puiyan for their first night camping.

Photo: mountaineering training at Khare (Steve Stout)

There are two seasons to climb Mera Peak: Spring and Autumn. In previous years we have always filled our Autumn expedition however we tend to get less demand for the Spring trip, in fact we have only organised one Spring expedition to Mera Peak before. We are frequently asked by people making enquiries about climbing Mera Peak whether Spring or Autumn season has better weather with higher summit success rate. On balance after taking into account various factors I think on average you have similar chance to summit in both seasons....

November is normally slightly colder with shorter days [take a look at our November 2013 Trip Report] whereas in April there is possibly a higher chance of a low pressure bringing a period of precipitation. Having said that one can get poor weather and conditions also in Autumn season too [take a look at our Trip Report for Mera Peak November 2011]. Overall these days I believe the weather in the Himalaya is becoming less predictable and it is certainly possible to get a cyclonic storm at any time of the year.

Traditionally after the first week of October one should get fine weather as the monsoonal influence diminishes and high pressure moves in over the Himalaya… although this did not happen on our Kanchenjunga to Makalu trek in October 2013! [take a lookat our Trip Report for Kanchenjunga to Makalu trek in October 2013]. Therefore the bottom line is if you are going on expedition to the Himalaya there is always an element of luck however statistically you have a pretty good chance to summit Mera Peak in both April and November!

Photo: jumping on Mera La with Everest behind! (Steve Stout)

For our expedition this April the weather was fine and settled for the trek into Mera Peak Base Camp. However after reviewing the forecast there was precipitation predicted for their summit day on April 27th so Steve made the decision to move directly from Khare to High Camp in order to beat the storm! This strategy paid off and four members of the group successfully climbed to the summit of Mera Peak.

The group set off from High Camp at 2am in two groups of three and summitted at 07.15am and then it took about an hour to get back down to High Camp. After a second breakfast the group headed down to Base Camp arriving in the early afternoon. I gather throughout the day the weather and visibility were perfect with crystal clear views of Everest and the other 8,000m peaks. Aidan sums up his experience by saying "it was tougher than anticipated but the summit was well worth it!".

Photo: group on summit day (Aidan Tyers)

Photo: summit shot! with Makalu behind (Aidan Tyers)

On the walk out to Lukla the weather changed and this caused flights to be cancelled at Lukla with many groups backing up while waiting for their flight back to Kathmandu. Our group also had to wait a few days however as they arrived to Lukla two days early than original itinerary in the end everybody got out on time or earlier than expected.

I would like to thank Steve and Domi for their leadership of this group and the rest of the Nepalese crew who as ever worked exceptionally hard to ensure the success of this expedition. Congratulations and well done to the whole group who all made personal altitude records. I have copied below some feedback received so far from the climbers:

“Really well organised from start to finish. Roland provides an exceptionally professional service whilst still being very personable. The team on the ground were great too, Tulsi was always prompt and ready to collect us from airports/hotels etc. as well as being a really nice guy! Steve, Domi, Sona and Dorgy were all really professional and I felt like I was in good hands that I could trust if anything were to go wrong.” Aidan Tyers (UK)

“I could not believe the quality and the taste of the food high up on the mountains. The cooking crew did a brilliant job - we always looked forward to our food with delight. It was mind-blowing!  Steve is a gem of a person - always looking out for us, foreseeing problems before they arise and preventing them. I cannot imagine this trip without his guidance and cheerfulness.” Gargi Shah (India)

Our next expedition to Mera Peak will be in November 2014 and the leader is Almas Khan, please get in touch soon if you would like to join this group.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Tsechu (religious festivals) in Bhutan with dates for 2014

If you are planning a visit to Bhutan it is well worth considering coming during one of the tsechu (religious festivals) held annually at most dzongs and monasteries throughout the country.  The largest teschus are in Paro and Thimphu and during these dates hotels will usually get booked up so it is best to plan your trip well in advance.

Photo: mask dance at Paro Tsechu

The colourful religious dances of the tsechu festivals commemorate Guru Rinpoche responsible for bringing Buddhism to Bhutan. Many of the dances were started by Shabdrung, a Tibetan Buddhist lama, who unified Bhutan in 1634. The dances are performed by monks as well as lay people and will bring blessings to the onlookers as well as instructing them about the Buddhist Dharma.

The Bhutanese people attend tsechus to gain merit and to reduce the chance of misfortune in their lives. At the same time tsechus are large social gatherings and in more remote areas it is a chance for people to get together as a community with everyone dressed in their finest clothing and jewellery. During most tsechus a fair is set up outside the dzong with gambling, fortune telling and shops.

Photo: Cham dance at Paro Tsechu

A tsechu typically lasts for three or four days. The dates of the tsechues will vary at different dzongs throughout Bhutan and also year to year however always take place around 10th day of the month in the Bhutanese calendar. The highlight of the festival is the sacred Cham Dances where the dancers are masked taking on the wrathful and compassionate deities, heroes and demons. During the festival there are also clowns (known as atsaras) who mimic the dancers and harass the onlookers for donations to the dzong.

On the last day of the festival a large religious painting (known as a thondrol) depicting Guru Rinpoche will be unfurled in front of onlookers. The thondrol will be only seen before dawn and by sunrise it is rolled up until next year’s tsechu. It is believed that everyone who views the thondrol will have all of their sins cleansed and washed away.

Photo: thongdrol at Thimphu tsechu

For your information I have listed the main Bhutan festival dates for 2014 below:

March 6th to 10th:  Punakha Tsechu

April 11th to 15th: Paro Tsechu

September 28th to October 2nd: Thimphu Drubchen

October 1st to 3rd: Wangdue Tsechu

October 3rd to 5th: Thimphu Tsechu

October 3rd to 5th: Gasa Tsechu

November 28th to December 1st: Mongar Tsechu

November 29th to December 2nd: Trashigang Tsechu

December 30th to January 1st: Trongsa Tsechu

The Mountain Company organises several different tours of Bhutan where you will have opportunity to visit one of these tsechu festivals, please get in touch if you are interested in joining one of our groups.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Trip report for Kanchenjunga Circuit (Nepal) in October/ November 2013

Photo: north face of Kanchenjunga

This year we had eleven trekkers signed up for our Kanchenjunga Circuit trek starting in Kathmandu on October 30th 2013. Almas Khan was the leader of this group having stayed on in Nepal after leading our Dhaulagiri Circuit trek earlier in October. Supporting Almas for this trek was Jire Rai, he is one of our most experienced Sirdars and knows this region very well having completed Kanchenjunga Circuit trek on six previous occasions.  

On October 31st the group flew to Bhadrapur airport in the east of Nepal and then drove for five hours to Ilam where they stayed in a hotel for the night. After an early start the next day the bus arrived to Taplejung/ Suketar for lunch and then the group started the trek by walking to the first camp at Mitlung village in about three hours.

Earlier in October this year I walked along the same section of trail from Suketar to Lhonak with my Kanchenjunga to Makalu GHT group. After returning to Ghunsa from Lhonak my group crossed passes heading west into the Makalu region whereas Almas’s Kanchenjunga Circuit trek crossed Mirgin la to the east. As you can read from my Trip Report from Kanchenjunga to Makalu GHT we experienced very heavy rain and snowfall as a result of Cyclone Phailin. Luckily for Almas’s group the weather was much more stable in November; it was cloudy for the first few days with rain overnight at Chirwa camp however it cleared up after Sekathum and stayed settled throughout the rest of their trek.

Overall this trek went well and for the first five days followed the itinerary as planned arriving to Ghunsa on November 6th. Everyone enjoyed this day walking to Ghunsa especially passing through Phole village where the group visited the monastery, shops and school. In Ghunsa they camped at Kanchenjunga Guest House where they had the benefit of the comfortable dining room with a fire and power points to charge batteries.

In Ghunsa they woke to a clear morning and most of the group decided to go for an acclimatisation walk along the route to Lobsang La. This turned out to be a good option as the trail gains height quickly. The group got to 4,000m in about 3 hours after leaving the camp and took 2 hours to return to Ghunsa for lunch. This was a good walk for acclimatising purposes by following the rule “climbing high and sleeping low”. This would have helped the group adjust to the gain in altitude over the next three days as they travel up to the northside Kanchenjunga Base Camp.

From Ghunsa it is a two day walk to Lhonak the highest camp on this trek at 4,785m. On the way the group stayed at Kambachen which is a cold camp as, at this time of year, the sun disappears behind the mountains at 2.30pm. On the next day's walk up to Lhonak there was some snow and ice remaining on the trail from the heavy snowfalls my group experienced earlier in October so took a little longer than usual with the group arriving to Lhonak camp around 2pm. It was a beautiful clear day although there were cold winds coming up the valley.

On November 10th the group walked to the northside Kanchenjunga Base Camp. Due to a several landslide areas they took a higher route than usual reaching Base Camp in about four hours. After enjoying the views of the dramatic north face of Kanchenjunga for a while they walked back to Lhonak in about three hours on another cold and windy afternoon.

That evening a group decision was made to walk back down to Ghunsa on 11th and then have a well-deserved rest day on 12th. This walk to Ghunsa would be a long day however by going lower in altitude would help everyone recover after the tougher days higher up due to more oxygen in the air. In fact this group had not had a proper rest day since leaving Kathmandu so everyone enjoyed relaxing in the sun and by the evening felt re-energised for the next few days crossing the Mirgin La over to the south side of Kanchenjunga.

On November 13th they left camp at the usual 8.00am start and arrived to the Mirgin La high camp at about 2.30pm. Everyone had a good day as it was a sunny and warm with wonderful views along the way. On 14th they left camp earlier at 7am anticipating a longer day, luckily it was another sunny day with little wind so everyone made good progress arriving to Tseram camp at 3pm.

The next morning they walked up to Ramche camp arriving by midday and then after lunch everybody joined the side trip up to Oktang. It took about about two hours to walk up to the chorten at the viewpoint and then about hour and a half back down to Ramche. Today the weather was sunny and clear so everyone enjoyed themselves looking at the superb views of the south west face of Kanchenjunga. It was simply a classic trekking day in the high Himalaya!

From Ramche it took Almas's group five days to walk out to Suketar camping along the way at Tortong, Yamphudin, Pumphe Danda and Khunjari. On November 21st they drove back to Bhadrapur arriving at 7pm in the evening. On November 22nd they flew to Kathmandu and were checked into Hotel Tibet by 3pm. That evening I gather the group had an enjoyable dinner together at the Fire and Ice restaurant eating their legendary pizzas and ice cream.

I would like to thank Almas and Jire very much for their help in leading this trek as well as the rest of the trek crew. We have received good feedback from the group, please take a look below:

“The trek was great and on reflection, perhaps enjoyed it more than any other trek I've been on.  This is largely down to it being a stunningly diverse trek, a very good leader, excellent porters/kitchen staff and a good group.” Helen, November 2013

“The trip really was superbly organized and we were looked after extremely well by the efficient team, for whom nothing was too much trouble. Almas is a good leader and his ability to converse with the Nepali staff in Hindi is a big advantage. Your Sirdar, Jire Rai, is superb too and a wonderful human being. He is a major asset to the Mountain Company.” Nick, November 2013

The Mountain Company is organising our next Kanchenjunga Circuit trek in late October 2014, this group will be led by Jill Lawson. We already have quite a lot of interest in this departure so please get in touch with us soon if you are interested in joining this trek.

We are also organising a longer trek from Kanchenjunga to Makalu along the first section of The Great Himalaya Trail ("GHT") in late September 2014.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Trip report for Dhaulagiri Circuit (Nepal) led by Almas Khan in October 2013

Photo: Hidden Valley (Almas Khan)

This is the eighth time The Mountain Company has organised the Dhaulagiri Circuit trek in Nepal. This year we had nine trekkers signed up and like previous years this group was an international mix with people coming from UK, USA, Australia, Netherlands, Hungary and France. Our 2013 group was led by Almas Khan who led our Lunana Snowman trek in September/ October2012. We had our regular trek crew on board for this trek with Chandra Rai as Sirdar; the Sherpa guides were Bishu, Danak and Sonam; Saila Tamang was the cook.

The first day of the trip was on October 6th when Almas met and briefed the group. I was also in Kathmandu at the time so I enjoyed meetings several members too. The next day the group flew to Pokhara then drove by private bus to the starting point of the trek at a town called Beni. Here the kitchen crew had lunch ready and afterwards the group started the trek then arrived to Tatopani camp at 5.30pm.

Photo: farmhouse near Muri village (Almas Khan)

The trek went well for the next five days following the itinerary as planned. They arrived to Italian Base Camp on October 13th and, after lunch, the group went out for an acclimatisation walk. Today was Graeme’s birthday so Saila made a cake. What a great place to celebrate a birthday! On October 14th the group awoke to rain which unfortunately carried on for the whole day. The group did not want to get wet so they decided to spend the rest day relaxing in their tents rather than going for a walk. However the guides did a recce of the route to Glacier Camp along with some of the porters who carried up gear.

Photo: snowy Glacier camp (Almas Khan)

As discussed in our trip reports for Lunana Snowman and Kanchenjunga to Makalu GHT treks the reason for this bad weather was due to Cyclone Phailin coming off the Bay of Bengal and unfortunately the Himalaya experienced poor conditions for a number of days. It is rare to get a cyclonic system affecting the Himalaya in October as usually there is a blocking high pressure resulting in fine weather: for further information read this article for the impact of Cyclone Phailin in the Himalaya.

On October 19th the group was scheduled to cross the French Col (5,360m) over to Hidden valley however they woke up to another cloudy morning. After much discussion between the leaders and the trek crew, the decision was made to move up to French Col after seeing a break in the weather. Almas and Chandra wisely kept the option open to retreat back to Italian Base Camp if the weather deteriorated later in the day. The group left camp at 9am with everybody including the porters walking together. During the day it snowed lightly so they did not get any views along the way, although there was sufficient visibility for the guides to find the route.

As expected, there was deep snow on the other side of the French Pass but very little snow on the ground when they descended down into Hidden Valley. Everybody had safely reached camp by 6pm after a long and tough day. That night was cold but the group was very happy to wake up the next morning to clear blue skies and fantastic views of Hidden Valley. They spent the day exploring around the valley and I gather everyone had an enjoyable time.

On October 21st they woke up to another clear and windless day. Today the plan was to cross over Dhampus Pass. This is the longest day on the Dhaulagiri Circuit trek and fortunately the weather stayed fine until the group arrived to camp in the afternoon. Due to the recent heavy snowfall there was deep snow for most of the day however the Sherpas did a great job in breaking trail and finding the best route over the pass.

Photo: ascending Dhampus pass (Almas Khan)

It took almost five hours to get to the end of the snowy traverse and from there they descended to Alu Bari camp. Luckily everyone arrived to camp during daylight hours with the last porters and trekkers getting in at 6pm. The next day the group walked out to Jomsom and in the evening, after celebrations, the trek crew was duly thanked and tipped for their hard work. The following morning on October 23rd the group flew back to Pokhara and Kathmandu.

Our 2013 Dhaulagiri Circuit group did very well to cross French Col and Dhampus Pass especially given the poor weather and conditions. I gather other groups at Dhaulagiri Base Camp decided not to cross the passes so had to retrace their steps back to the start point at Beni. One of the reasons it was possible for our group to safely complete this trek was due to our well thought out itinerary based on our experience of operating this trek over the years. We include more time at high altitude compared to most other itineraries i.e. two nights at Italian Base Camp (3,660m), two at Glacier Camp (4,200m), two at Dhaulagiri Base Camp(4,740m) and two nights at Hidden Valley (5,050m). As a result our trekkers, crew and porters should be well acclimatised and stronger at altitude; an advantage when faced with difficult conditions such as deep snow. Furthermore having days to spare within the itinerary allows for flexibility and changes if required.

I would like to thank Almas and Chandra very much for their help in leading this trek. Both of these leaders made a good call in continuing over the passes rather than turning back to Beni. Thanks also to Saila plus the Sherpas and rest of the crew who worked incredibly hard throughout the trek. In particular I would also like to thank the porters who did a superb job as carrying loads in snowy conditions is of course much harder work than usual.

We have received great feedback from the group. Please take a look below:

"Everything went smoothly (except the weather at times) and I think all of us had a blast. I have no doubt that this trek involves loads of organising and arrangements but all went very, very well. I have no concern recommending your company to my friends and in fact I have already done so. I came back to UK absolutely glowing and could not stop smiling for days:). I only have one advice, just look after your customers as you do now, even if you company will grow even bigger. Thank you again, hopefully I will have time to do another trip next year with your company" Suzy (Hungary & UK)

"I really enjoyed watching the slowly changing landscape and geology while hiking up and over the Dhaulagiri range. The Hidden Valley was amazing, particularly being a geologist, and I could easily have spent several days up there. So I was very happy that our guide team decided to move on even though the weather conditions weren't optimal when crossing the French Pass, and I feel sorry for the groups after us that decided to turn back and missed the spectacular views. We were very lucky to have brilliant weather on the long traverse, this section could be a problem in poor weather conditions. The itinerary of this trip was one of the reasons why I chose TMC and I think it worked well. I wouldn't have liked to miss the rest day in the Hidden Valley." Corine (Netherlands)

The Mountain Company is organising two Dhaulagiri Circuit treks in 2014, our first departure is in April with second departure in October, please get in touch with us soon if you are interested in joining one of these treks.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk