Larkya La Pass via Tsum Valley

Today we discover the highlights of Katmandu and the valley. We adapt the programm to your interests and desires or what you have seen on a previous visit to Nepal. Usually, we go to Pasupatinath on the bank of the Bagmati River, where the most important Hindu temples and burning ghats of Nepal are situated. In Bouddhanath we circumambulate together with Tibetan and Nepali Buddhist pilgrims the whitewashed stupa. Our sightseeing usually ends in Patan, the city of Beauty, an astonishing center of fine art and Buddhist and Hindu culture. And we make ready our special trekking permit for Manaslu Conservation Area.

You board a local charter jeep 8 hours on the road between Kathmandu and the historic town of Gorkha to Macchhe Khola. The road follows the beautiful Trisuli River & As we continue the environment changes, the valley becomes narrow and we now drive through beautiful sal forests. The valley opens again and then we drive above huge rapids on the Buri Gandaki on a trail blasted out of vertical rock walls. We drive down again to the river and traverse to the village of Machha Khola (900 m) where we prepare our first camp after 8 hours drive.

Today we will do typical Himalayan hiking with many ups and downs over ridges, across streams, along meandering gravel bars and up steep valleys. We reach the hot springs in the center of the small, terraced village of Tatopani and enjoy the hot water. A mild climb through the woods past some spectacular waterfalls brings us to Doban (1 000 m), where we lunch. From this point the trail climbs high above Buri Gandaki to descend again into the wide valley. After 6 hours walking we reach the beautiful flagstone village square of Jagat (1 410 m). We camp in the center of the village, on a beautiful grass field where you can buy a cold beer in the nearby shops.

Before heading to Lokpa, we register our permits for Manaslu and Tsum valley at the entry checkpoint in Jagat. Then we will climb over a rocky ridge to Salleri, where we stop for a while to enjoy the views of Mount Sringi and descend to Sirdibas. At Sirdibas, we cross the longest suspension bridge in Nepal to enter Philim and continue our trek forward, reaching Ekle Bhatti and then Lokpa, the entry point of Tsum Valley. This village is the first village in the Tsum valley that allows us to view the beautiful Manaslu range. This village is isolated and said to have been blessed by Padmashamva centuries ago.

The day starts with a trek from Lokpa village, the route to Tsum Valley, although the actual entrance to Tsum Valley begins from a deep slender, and narrow gorge leading to Lokpa. From the path, you will get amazing views of the Boudha Himal (6,672m) and Ganesh Himal.

The route then descends to the Lungwa river valley and progresses through a dense forest full of rhododendron, juniper, and pine. Then you will reach Gumling, and shortly afterward, you will arrive at Syar Khola, which means you have reached the village of Chumling. The short trek will leave you enough time to visit the three main monasteries of Chumling – The Panago Gompa, Mani Dhungyur, and Gurwa Gompa.

The destination for this day is Chhokangparo, and we begin early in the morning. The upper Tsum valley opens from Chhokang Paro, situated on flat land. Actually, there are two settlements in Chhokangparo, one is Chhokang, and the other is Paro. You will follow Shair Khola and reach Domje – the largest town in Tsum Valley. From Domje, you will climb uphill to reach Chhokagnparo and get stunning views of Ganesh Himal and Himalchuli. We are sure you will enjoy the local hospitality and taste their unique Tibetan tea.

The trek today starts from the village settlement of Nile Chule as we trek to Mu Gompa. The uphill hike takes you to the largest gompa of the region, located at the highest point of the Tsum Valley.

The beautiful 18th-century monastery boasts a collection of religious texts. This includes Kangyur, a life-size statue of Tara, Avalokiteshwara, and Guru Padmasambhava. The trek takes some time to complete before arriving at the gompa, where you will spend the night at a teahouse.

The trail today takes you to Rachen Gompa from My Gomoa. The trail passes through beautiful trails to arrive at the nunnery located in the Shiar Khola Valley. It remains discovered in the foothills of the Himalayas located on the border between Nepal and Tibet.

This large village settlement in Tsum valley is home to nuns of the Ngak-Pa sect. Trekkers can find 1000 Avalokiteshvara statues on the premises, which makes the trip more enchanting. After arriving at our destination of Rachen Gompa, we will rest for the day and prepare for the next day’s trek.

The trek from Rachen Gompa to Chumling is another vital segment of this trek. This trek section is incredibly challenging as you will have to trek for a long duration of around 7-8 hours. This trek takes you through high altitudes and downhill. You will arrive at the large settlement area of Chumling after a tour of some time. You will rest overnight at a Local Lodge.

We start our trekking journey on this day from Deng to Namrung. We will continue our trek climbing uphill on a cliff before taking a short descent to arrive at the river of Budhi Gandaki, which we will cross on a suspension bridge. We will climb ahead for some time in the west to Budhi Gandaki valley.

The forested trail will provide you with a tremendous natural exploration opportunity. Many Mani stones and other Buddhist landmarks on this trail make this trek ideal for cultural exploration. There are different sections of this trek that you need to cross to arrive at Ghap. Then, we will pass through the Prok village, where you can observe the best views of the Siring Himal.

We cross the river several times before passing through forested trails and other Gompas. The path gets flatter after crossing the river, and you will take a final climb to arrive at the village of Namrung. We will spend and rest for the night in the village Namrung. The viewpoint from Namrung provides you with incredible views of Ganesh Himal, Siring, and Mt. Himal Chuli, etc.

We ascend through dense forest of fir, rhododendron, bamboo and oaks, alive with birds. We cross the Buri Gandaki over a wooden bridge and continue our way over staircases. We can be watched by langur monkeys or the danphe, the colorful impeyan pheasant, the national bird of Nepal. We start to enter alpine territory and are treated on close-up views of Manaslu (8 156 m) and Ganesh (7 221 m). We eventually reach Namrung, the first village in Nubri, a region of purely Tibetan inhabitants by lunchtime after 5 h hiking.

We continue our climb onto a plateau and enjoy white vistas of Himalchuli (7 893 m), Ngadi Chuli (7 879 m). After 4 h walking we reach our lunch and camp place Samagaon situated at 3 530 m. The gompa is visible in the distance, situated against a wooded moraine at the end of the village. The extensive village of Samagaon is nestled in the valley, at this elevation the only crops grown are potatoes and barley. The villagers keep herds of yaks and also a few horses. The big occupation here is weaving and we’ll see women on looms working at their craft.

We walk up trough beautiful birch woods to Samdo (3 860 m), only 4 hours away. On the way we enjoy beautiful mountain views. We cross the river on a small bridge and river rocks, continue along the left side of the long mani walls at Kermo Kharka, and soon afterwards spot the entrance chorten of Samdo high on a cliff. Samdo is a nice village where you can learn about Tibetan lifestyle and culture.

We trek along a Tibetan trade route through Larkya and make a steep ascent to Dharamsala. Climbing through tundra and juniper opposite the Larkya Glacier which tumbles down from Manaslu North, we may hear and see avalanches roar down this peak. After four hours of climbing past more glaciers, through open plateaus with more mountain views we come to the campsite at Dharamsala, our last camp for the Larkya La pass. We lunch here, keep us warm and enjoy a quite afternoon, so we will be fit to cross the pass tomorrow.

Today we cross the Larkya La Pass (5 100 m), the highest point of our trek. During our trek we enjoy views on Cho Danda, Ganesh Himal and Larkya Peak (6 250 m). We continue across the moraines of the glacier and past frozen lakes. Often through snow – look for footprints from snow leopard or bluesheeps – we make a gradual ascent which becomes steeper only in the last section to the pass. The climb takes about 4 h and we’ll start early in the morning to make our trip safe. From the pass we get our first glimpse of peaks in the Annapurna Massif – Himlung Himal (7 126 m), Cheo Himal (6 820 m), Gyaji Kung (7 030 m), Kang Guru (6 981 m), and Annapurna II (7 937 m). The descent from the top starts out steep gradually getting easier the more it goes down. After 7 h we arrive at camp in Bimtang – plain of sand – situated at 3 590 m.

We descend 6 hours along glacial streams through beautiful pine and rhododendron forest. We cross fields, climb and descend a ridge to camp at Gho (2 560 m). In Gho you find the first teashop and lodges since Jagat. Part of Lamjung’s peak is visible.

We descend to the Dudh Khola separating the Manaslu and Annapurna ranges. At Dharapani the route joins the Annapurna Circle Trek route and Coca Cola, beer, trekkers hotels appear frequently each day as well as a dozen of other westerners. You may experience a culture shock at this point. As we leave Dharapani we drive to Besi Sahar on jeep.

We end our trek with a 5 hour long private jeep drive to Kathmandu.

Transfer to Tribhuvan Airport – we hope you enjoyed your stay!

Extra days:
If you like to stay longer in Nepal: Traveltimes Treks can offer you plenty of suggestions, we can arrange rafting and safari trips, helicopter flights, mountain biking, multi day tours to old historical city of Bhaktapur, the mountain stations Nagarkot & Dhulikhel or retreats in the serene monasteries of Namobuddha and Kopan.