Tsum Valley Trek

Upon your arrival at the Tribhuwan International airport a representative from Naata Trek and Tours will be waiting for you at the airport displaying a playcard imprinted with your name. He/she will then transfer you to the designated hotel. In the evening we can enjoy a welcome dinner hosted by Naata Trek and Tours. During the dinner we can enjoy Nepalese cuisine which will introduce us to the country’s food culture.

We will have a pre-trip meeting after breakfast, where you will be introduced to your Guide. During the meeting you can assure yourself with any queries regarding the trip.

We visit Boudhanath Stupa, one of the biggest Buddhist shrines in the world, where we observe Buddhist monks praying in the monasteries surrounding the stupa. After Boudhanath Stupa, we visit Pashupatinath Temple, the most famous Hindu temple in the country. It is located on the banks of the holy Bagmati River.

Here, we see Hindu holy men (sadhus) meditating, pilgrims bathing, and occasionally funeral pyres burning on the ghats. We will also visit Bhaktapur Durbar Square, a collection of pagoda and shikhara–style temples grouped around a fifty-five-window palace of brick and wood. The attractions of the Bhaktapur Durbar Square is the Lion Gate, the Golden Gate, the Palace of Fifty-Five Windows, art galleries, and the Statue of King Bhupatindra Malla.

After breakfast, we leave early for Sotikhola, which is the starting point of our trek. After we drive past the Malekhu Bridge, we drive on a long stretch of narrow and windy roads, which is an entertaining one indeed. The road is paved till Dhading Besi, after which we drive offroad. We stay overnight in SotiKhola.

Today is the first day of the trek and we start by walking to Machha Khola. The trail generally goes through narrow and rocky terrain and is also blessed by a number of beautiful waterfalls. We pass through Labubesi which is a Gurung village before reaching Machha Khola. We stay the night here.

After crossing Machha River we come across a hot spring called Tatopani. We can take a dip in it and relieve all the strains from our muscles. It indeed gets us ready for the trail ahead. The trail goes side by side a forest and we can see the fast flowing Budhi Gandaki River as we reach Dovan. We stay the night in Jagat.

We start off today by climbing a rocky ridge upto Salleri after which we descend to Sirdibas. The valley gradually widens and takes us upstream to the Gurung village of Philim. After walking for a while we reach Chisopani after which we cross a gorge and come by a waterfall. We walk into rhododendron and pine forests and then descend to Lokpa where we will stay the night.

The trail is composed of mostly ascents today and right off we are getting greeted by the everpresent Himalayan range. We walk through the villages of Suyar Khola and reach Chumling where Chumling Gompa is also located. We stay the night in Chumling

Today we start the trek with the crossing of a suspension bridge. We continue our walk while enjoying the views of Ganesh Himal as we head towards Serpu Khola. We cross a bridge more and head for the village named Gho. We advance for 2 hours more and finally reach the upper Tsum valley and reach Chokhangparo. We stay the night in Chokhangparo.

We start our walk uphill and walk past Lamagaon and we cross a suspension bridge and make our way towards Rachen Gompa, also khown as Nunnery Gompa. We make a short visit to the Gompa and continue on the trail. We pass through Shiar Khola, Lar, Phurbe and Pangdun village, a number of Buddhist monasteries, and cross the final bridge of the day before reaching Nile. Just a short walk from Nile there is a monastery at Chule which we can visit after taking a rest in Nile.

We gain a bit of altitude today and the trail we take makes way towards the Tibtan border. We walk along the west bank of the valley and through the serene Tibetan landscapes. We finally reach Mu Gompa after walking close to 4 hours. We stay the night in Mu Gompa.

We spend the day resting and exploring the Mu Gompa which is the largest monastery in the region and the Tibetan landscapes that continues to bewilder us. We have plenty of time later in the day to walk up to the base of the Pika Himal at 4,865m.

Today we continue on the trail back to Chhule and Phurbe. We walk along the east bank of Shiar Khola and arrive at Burgi village, a small yet beautiful village. We then climb up to Milarepa cave famous for the mesmerizing views of the Kipu Himal, Churke Himal and Pashyop glacier. We stay the night in Burga village.

We trace back our steps and go through dense pine and rhododendron forests. We descend further down to Chokhangparo and walk towards the lower Tsum Valley Chumling. We stay the night in Chumling.

We have ample breakfast and descend for 6-7 hours. As we descend dwon to Lokpa we can enjoy the awe-inspiring Samba Falls and finally reach our destination in Philim. We stay the night in Philim.

We descend towards Sirdibas then to Jagat and further descend to Yaruphant. We leave behind the Tibetan arid climate and eventually head for the subtropical green vegetation. We continue our descent towards Dovan and reach Tatopani. There is a natural hot spring at Tatopani and we can even take a dip in and the warm waters will indeed relieve all the strains from our muscles.

We descend for most part of the trail and cross suspension bridges and walk back to Machha Khola. We walk further along the Budhi Gandaki River and pass by Gurung village of Lapubesi, waterfalls and a village named Khursane as well. We enter through pine forests and cross a bridge before we arrive at Sotikhola.

We have breakfast and start the jeep drive back to Kathmandu and since we take the same road back the drive is an enjoyable one.
In the evening we have a THANK YOU farewell dinner program organized by Naata Trek and Tours where we can recall all the fond memories and have a good time.

Our trip concludes today and a representative from Naata Trek and Tours will drop you at the international airport for your final departure.