Nar Phu & Kangla High Pass

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.

Early morning jeep drive to Koto (2610 meter) Chame, the headquarters of Lamjung district and the starting point for Nar Phu valley. We stay here for the night and finished special permit checking.

After early breakfast we start our trek to Meta 3560 m through beautiful lush green valley and follow the sotikhola river bank. In Dharmasala we will have lunch and climb steep steps to beautiful Meta where we can observe the Annapurnna II and Lamjung Himal. Overnight at teahouse.

We start our day traversing up and down and crossing suspension bridges over different steam which take you at Kyang village where we will have lunch break. In the meantime, we observe the ruined forts of Khampa settlement (here all the Khampa refugees from Tibet once captured and lived!). After lunch we will start the trek for 3 hours more to Phu village through Phu khola on a rocky trail.

We highly recommend to explore the historic Tashi Lakhang monastery with surroundings area (the oldest and the most last monastery built by Karmapa which is the listed 108 world’s great Buddhist monasteries in the world!). The Phu village was lost or hidden valley after the 1959 Tibetan uprising and this place is rich in Buddhist culture, natural diversity.

After breakfast we start to descend to Mahendra Bridge in 4 hours for lunch and climb to Nar village for the camp. The trekking trail is amazing today through beautiful Gorge of Lapche River and beautiful Buddhist monasteries during the lunch and climbing with tremendous vista of Pisang peak, yak kharka, Himlung Himal and beautiful Buddhist chortens on the way to Nar village. Overnight there.

We will have the second acclimatization day in Nar village. Exploring Nar village (Buddhist monasteries and public school etc!). We will have proper rest day and prepare for the first high pass with a long trekking trail.

Our staffs will packing our lunch by 4 am and knock the door by 4:30 to everyone for hot and quick breakfast. By 5 am we already start to walk toward Khangla Pass 5322 m and climb down to Ngwal village. The view today will be best one. The whole mountain ranges of eastern part and massif Annapurna and Manang valley. Overnight at Ngwal village.

After late breakfast we start to walk to Manang through Mungli village to main trail. The max walking hours will be 4 hours with some tea break at Braga village. We stay in Manang. The smooth and beautiful Annapurna valley.

Today we hike in 4 hours to Yak Kharka (4 020 m). It’s not a long day today, but we gain some altitude, so you should take it slowly. On the way we will meet local traders riding horses, going from Manang to Muktinath in one single day. We climb to the chorten and look back towards Manang and continue our way past Tengi and Gunsang to Yak Kharka (4 230 m). Traveltimes Treks prefers to stay here as the lodges are much better than in Letdar, one hour further away.

An easy two or three hour walk up to at Thorung Phedi (4 540 m), a desolate rock-strewn meadow surrounded by vertical cliffs. We have lunch and spend the afternoon drinking tea in Thorung Phedi Basecamp Hotel. Tonight we sleep at the “Phedi”, which literally means “foot of the hill”.

We start early for the three to four hour walk to the top of Thorung La at 5 400m, from where you can see the Kali Gandaki Valley, Mustang and the surrounding peaks. The descent from the pass is gradual at first but then becomes steeper: you’ll drop 1 550 m the same day to reach Muktinath at 3 760 m for the evening’s camp. In total we walk 7 hours today. We enter lower Mustang, which we have actually reached just after the pass, and the serene temple complex of Muktinath. Muktinath is one of the holiest and most famous pilgrimage destinations for both Hindus and Buddhists. In the temple complex there is a pagoda-style temple containing an image of Vishnu and nearby a sacred stream feeds 108 water sprouts carved in the shape of cows. In the temple of Jwala Mai both a small spring burning jet of natural gas flowing from an opening in a rock. This is a demonstration of divine omnipotence where the fire burns on water, earth and stone. The panoramic views of both the Annapurnas and Dhaulagiri are unexcelled from here.

From Muktinath we descend through more Mustangi medieval villages to Kagbeni, the last town before entering the Mustang area to the north. On the way you still have superlative views of the mountains. After a steep descent, we reach the windy Kali Gandaki river. We climb to the rooftop gompa of Kagbeni from where we have a marvelous view over the river junctions. After crossing the awesome Kali Gandaki canyon you reach Jomson at 2 710 m. We celebrate here our last moment with our trekking crew.

The trip concludes with a flight back from to Jomson to Pokhara, where you can enjoy a relaxing day at Phewa Tal (shopping, cycling & paragliding).

Fly Back to Kathmandu (30 min). On this last free day you have plenty of opportunity to enjoy more sights in Kathmandu: you can make a daytrip to the splendid five storied Nyatapola Temple and exquisite woodcarvings like the Peacock window in medieval Bhaktapur, climb the long stairs to the stupa of Swayambhunath (Monkeytemple) or visit the sleeping Vishnu at Budhanilkantha. You can also shop, relax and drink coffee in the bakeries of Thamel or the Garden of Dreams. Traveltimes Treks recommends you plan one extra day at the end of your trekking in case in case of delayed schedules during your travel. We will invite you for Farewell Dinner at Third Eye Restaruant in Thamel.

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, mountainbiking, multi day tours to old historical city of Bhaktapur, the mountain stations Nagarkot & Dhulikhel or retreats in the serene monasteries of Namobuddha and Kopan.