Home

10%

Kanchenjunga Base Camp Trek 2024

Trekking into the Remote & Rugged Himalayas

By Through the Lens - Visual Story Telling

January 8^th, 2025

Kanchenjunga

After Trekking around Manaslu in 2022 we immediately knew we had to return to Nepal for another adventure into the mountains. We never expected or planned to repeat the visit before that first trip, we have a long bucket list of destinations, but Nepal has a special aura, a unique charm that draws you back.

Even before we'd returned to Kathmandu from Manaslu we were both dreaming of another trip to the Himalayas, somewhere even more remote, quieter and offering a bigger challenge, Kanchenjunga seemed to fulfil those requirements and KE Adventure Travel's Kanchenjunga Trek; 3 weeks, camping, isolated, North and South base camps, seemed to fit the bill perfectly.

For full transparency, I partnered with KE Adventure Travel for this trip. In exchange for the use of my media (photos & video), KE Adventure provided us with a discount on the overall cost of our trip. Our agreement did not include any requirement to provide a review or any other commentary of the holiday. The views expressed within this photo-story are my own, and based upon my personal and independent evaluation and reflection.

Depart

Having flown into Kathmandu on Saturday morning, we spent the afternoon relaxing, wandering the streets of Thamel and re-packing our kit at the hotel. It’s a shock on Sunday morning to be up at 6am for breakfast but we’re going to be getting used to early mornings.

We’re soon returning to the airport for our 45 minute flight to Bhadrapur, hoping the domestic terminal at Kathmandu is less chaotic than our arrival in the international terminal yesterday.

Thankfully it’s quiet and Prem, our tour leader, shepherds us through check-in and we’re soon sat in the departure area waiting for our flight.

Prem’s even ensured we’re all sat on the left-hand side of the aircraft so once we’ve climbed to altitude we all have spectacular views of the Himalayas stretching out along our route. I’m frustrated though as the flight attendant deemed my rucksack too big for the cabin and so I don’t even have my camera to record these views, the dusty aircraft window rendering my iPhone almost useless.

We pick out Everest and it’s surrounding peaks before Kanchenjunga appears and Jannu, with it’s distinctive profile, a rounded crown upon a huge square slab. It all looks far away and it’s difficult to believe we’ll be amongst these spectacular mountains in a couple of days’ time.

We soon touch down at Bhadrapur and it's a humid 29 degrees as we retrieve our bags and head to 3 waiting jeeps, their air conditioning a welcome addition, at least until we start climbing into the foothills and the engines need all the power they can get!

Our drive is initially flat and once we’ve departed the airport we enter a rural landscape, the roads busy with locals travelling to work or school by foot, bicycle, motorbike or tuc-tuc.

The route is bordered by wide rice fields, bright green in the hazy sunshine but as we start to climb the rice is replaced by tea, small round bushes planted in endless rows stretching out of sight.

Roads are initially smooth and we make good progress, but soon begin to ascend, the hills getting steeper and the jeeps working harder, especially as the route becomes a continuous series of hairpin bends with a deteriorating road surface. We pass spectacular hilltop tea plantations, a popular local tourist destination, and shortly after, pull into a roadside hotel at Kanyam for lunch.

After our first Dal Bat of the trip we’re back in the jeeps and climbing constantly, passing numerous villages with countless roadside stalls selling the same products; bags of crisps, canned drinks, vegetables, peppers and chillies are especially popular. As we crest a long hillside we glimpse the snow-capped Kanchenjunga, sitting high amongst the clouds far ahead.

Our destination tonight is Phidim and the map I have shows it sitting at the base of a very steep descent. Sure enough the road begins to wind down an impossibly steep hillside and our destination is visible over the crumbling edge of the road, far below. To make matters worse there’s been a recent, large landslide on this hillside and the road has been affected in numerous locations as it zigzags across the line of the slide.

We’re all quite relieved to arrive at our overnight accommodation before it gets dark and surprised to find it right in the town centre, on the busy main road. We take the opportunity before dinner to take a walk but there’s just a long line of shops, Phidim’s not a tourist destination, so we return to the hotel for a drink and dinner.

It's a noisy night as our room faces the street, and a steady stream of lorries continue to sound their horns as they pass. A dog barks throughout the night, it sounds like it’s right outside and I expect it’ll tire of it’s disturbance, but it continues for hours. It feels only moments after the dog stops barking when the shops along the road begin to open, each with a loose, rattling metal shutter raised with a deafening crash, it’s just 5:00am!

We’re woken at 6am by our guides planning for an early departure, but once we’re all packed and heading for breakfast, we find the hotel staff aren’t up/haven’t arrived, and the kitchen and dining room are still locked. Prem is not happy but quickly has things under control, even stepping into the kitchen to take charge of the cooking. Eventually we enjoy good omelettes before we’re into the Jeeps for the second leg of our road journey.

Phidim sits on a plateau in a wide valley, and we have another big descent to the Hewa Khola (river) where, despite being a major local route, the bridge has recently been washed away, we divert over the riverbed, across a temporary bridge and climb steeply again. We continue to climb for most of the morning as the landscape changes, passing broadleaf woodland then groves of tall, slender bamboo before reaching pine covered slopes that resemble an alpine landscape.

As we head towards Taplejung, the view north opens up providing another spectacular view of the Kanchenjunga range sitting above wooded hills. Through Taplejung an incredibly steep road takes us up to the airport at Suketer where, rather than catching another flight, we’ll be leaving the jeeps behind and starting our trek proper.

First, we have a lunch at a small lodge, bags are unloaded from the jeeps and we meet our team of porters for the first time.

Our trek begins alongside a dusty and busy dirt road which takes visitors up to a popular temple, but we soon turn off towards Lali Kharka and walk along a good broad path as it meanders through woodland. It’s good to finally be walking and it feels like our adventure has begun.

After a couple of hours of gentle walking we spot a row of bright yellow tents ahead, a sight we’ll become accustomed to and will welcome each day, arriving in camp to a cup of hot tea. We’ll never become accustomed to the spectacular views from our tents though, and we start the trip with a view high across a valley with distant glimpses of mountains through gaps in the cloud.

Spirits are high as we share dinner, and all look forward to our first full day of trekking tomorrow.

Trekking through valleys

We’re woken at 6am again with a cup of tea and a spectacular sunrise over a tall peak in the distance, cloud hanging in the valley below. As we have breakfast, sitting in the open, the cloud rises and we’re temporarily shrouded in mist which soon burns off and the temperature rises.

We set off by 8am and immediately have a long, steep descent that’s quite muddy and damp in places, there’s a few slips and stumbles and it’s not just me that soon has a muddy backside from a slide. We trek through a landscape of terraced rice and millet fields, past small farms and always descending to the river at the base of this steep sided valley.

We hope to swim in the river but when we reach it, it’s running too fast and too dangerous to enter. Instead we pause briefly before an hour’s steep climb through thick woodland on slippery paths to our lunch stop overlooking the valley we’ve just crossed, marvelling at the scenery, the extent of our plunge into it’s depths and ignoring the climb on the opposite side.

With full stomachs thanks to an excellent lunch, we climb slower in the afternoon, the path still slick with moisture, passing small farms and thick woodland as cloud starts to build above. We reach a tiny village and are presented with the bizarre sight of a makeshift timber Ferris Wheel built on a small clearing alongside the scattering of buildings. Two sturdy tree trunks, supported by two ‘salvaged’ metal pylons hold a precarious looking wooden wheel from which hangs four seats, each complete with a wooden handrail. The concept of building such an unexpected structure in the remotest of locations seems comical, no-one can come close to explaining it’s existence.

Notwithstanding the Ferris Wheel, we have spectacular views across the surrounding hills all afternoon and, turning a corner, we spot our destination above us. Kande Banjyang is another tiny village nestled on the crest of a ridge with a view back in the direction of last night’s camp, seemingly far in the distance.

Overall, it's been a very, very tough day and we take little time unpacking our sleeping bags and warm clothes, grabbing some rest in our tent before dinner. After we’ve eaten, Prem introduces the team of guides, porters and kitchen staff. Most are shy or self-conscious but as their colleagues before them are introduced, some become more confident and play up to their audience. It’s good to learn some of their names and backgrounds, after all we’re now dependent upon their knowledge, experience and strength for the next two weeks.

It rains throughout the night, hard at times and I’m woken at 2am as water drips into my face. By morning everything feels damp including our kit bags and even our sleeping bags, at least most things are packed into dry bags so it’s not all bad. We sort what we can before breakfast but know we're going to struggle to get things dry quickly.

It's another clear morning though and we get great views over to Kanchenjunga through gaps in the cloud. Once we hit the trail we're soon descending again, the rain overnight having made things even slicker. The landscape is displayed in front of us like a painting, the opposite side of the valley rises high above, a patchwork of uneven terraces and woodland sketched out in shades of vibrant green.

This morning we pass through the village of Khesewa, my friend Dave trekked through here in 1999 and two weeks ago he gave me a photo of a family he met in the village. I’ve asked Prem to help see if anybody recognises the family as we pass through and he quickly finds two men who, after looking at the photo for some time, recognise the family. Unfortunately they think the father passed away some years ago and the family moved on. (Read more about the family photo here)

As we carry on down the valley, we pass numerous waterfalls, cross a series of small streams and encounter our first landslide. We have another long, hot climb up to our lunch break where we’re rewarded with great pasta and brilliant vegetable samosas. How our cook has managed to produce great pastry on a paraffin stove is a mystery we’ll not solve during the whole trip.

There's been discussion about the presence of leeches in the forest for the last couple of days, and sure enough I find two in my socks over our lunch stop. I'm a little freaked out, not least by the amount of blood in my sock but am assured there’s no lasting concern. From this spot we can see, further along the hillside and below us, a rough road which will take us to our camp tonight. First, we must descend through farmland and cross a stream before following the road for several hours and it’s more difficult walking than it first appeared.

We can see the village of Mamangkhe, where we’ll camp tonight, far across the valley, and it’s demoralising to see how far around we must go to get there. Eventually we reach a long narrow suspension bridge to cross the river before climbing back above, almost doubling back on ourselves and crossing another couple of landslides. It's been another long day with 9 hours of walking and it's getting dark as we arrive in camp, but dinner of Dal Bat and tomato soup warms and revives us.

Forest

There's a little rain in the night again, but only enough to keep things damp and keep the trail slippery as we begin our trek. We traverse a hillside offering great views back along the valley before a long descent through woodland, across numerous small rivers and streams to cross the Kabeli Khola river on a long suspension bridge.

The wide, wooded valley is scarred by the building of a huge hydroelectric power station, the new construction in the riverbed as well as wide stone roadways contrast harshly with their surroundings. We walk along one of the new roads for a short distance before we re-cross the river to Yamphudin and our lunch stop at a riverside lodge. We all take our time over lunch and sit in shade from the hot sun, putting off the inevitable as we sit below the climb we have ahead.

Straight out the back of the lodge we begin a very steep, brutal climb up initially concrete, then stone steps that feel like they go on forever. We pass a small village where many of the residents are drying and packing cardamon, known as ‘black gold’, one of the most valuable crops grown locally. The dark pods are laid out on straw mats drying in the sun, or even placed over smouldering fires to dry, and here it’s being sorted and bagged.

After almost an hour and a half of constant, steep climbing we reach an open plateau and find our camp beside another lodge, the group split up on the climb so we wait for everyone to arrive, drinking a bottle of Coke in the sun.

Despite the long morning, we have a couple of hours to spare before dinner and rest in our tent, but we can hear others talking outside and eventually join some of our group sampling local Tongba, a fermented millet-based alcohol served in large wooden vessels (the vessels are actually the Tongba and have lent their name to the beverage within). We sit in the lodge owner's kitchen, making the most of the warmth from the open fire until dinner is served in the adjacent dining room.

There’s more rain in the night and we set off on another big morning’s walk through cool, damp and thick forest, crossing perilous looking bridges, one almost ready to tip over into the river below.

Crossing another waterfall, Karen discovers leeches on her hand and by the time she's on the other side, she has blood streaming down her fingers. We climb up to a clearing in the forest, a lovely spot for lunch and as we eat we’re joined by a herd of Yaks and a couple of other trekkers, heading in the opposite direction. I discover a tick on my back which is quickly removed, I must be walking too slowly and therefore an easy target for the local insects.

This afternoon is another big climb, nearly 1200 metres over a very short distance, out of the forest and through spectacular bamboo groves of differing varieties. Whilst there has been no sun today thick cloud only develops later in the afternoon as we continue to climb higher and higher. It’s a relentless climb and one we didn’t expect, our original route having been closed by an enormous landslide on the other side of the hill. We drop back behind the rest of the group as mist descends and by the time we reach a newly built lodge at Joreni it’s getting dark and cold but we’re delighted to find a blazing stove in the dining room as well brand-new wooden lodges to sleep in tonight.

We take the chance to spread our sleeping bags in front of the stove to dry them for the first time in nearly a week and after dinner we head to real beds for an early finish. Thankfully our lodge is far enough away from the dining room to not be disturbed by the locals singing and dancing until late.

It’s still misty in the morning and when the sun burns through we have stunning views of the surrounding hills and of course, one of these has to be climbed first thing.

The first hour is through thick Rhododendron forest and we start to feel the effect of altitude for the first time. There’s a tantalising glimpse of snow-capped peaks ahead until we plunge back down a relentlessly slippery path, the beautiful Rhododendron, tall Maple trees and bamboo, all densely covered in Moss, a welcome distraction.

Once again we conclude today’s trek immediately after a river crossing, this time the Simbuwa Khola river, and arrive in Tortong. Another fantastic lunch is followed by a free afternoon and we take a leisurely walk through the forest, other worldly with ancient twisted tree trunks, thick moss covering all surfaces and just the hint of autumn colours washing over maple trees.

Perfectly baked vegetable pizza is a big treat for dinner and again we can't believe this has been cooked on just an open paraffin stove, it's delicious.

It’s bright as we wake but the cooler morning temperatures are becoming more noticeable and we sense, as we head up the Simbuwa Khola valley to Tseram that we’re heading into the mountains at last.

This morning’s walk is awesome as we climb steadily but smoothly alongside the rushing river and as the forest thins, we get better views of Kabru and Rathong, the six and seven thousand metre plus peaks which form the southern reaches of the Kanchenjunga range. As the pine and cedar trees thin we cross open pasture, where Yak graze, and cross a couple of small landslides that offer little challenge or peril, for a change. We pause at a small, isolated tea house run by a young sister and brother and sit in the sun with steaming cups of tea and biscuits. I take our photo with the pair and despite the remote setting they strike very ‘western’ poses.

Shortly after we leave the teahouse, we feel an enormous sense of guilt as two porters head down the valley to bring us a flask of hot tea and biscuits. We wonder whether they’re sympathising with our slow progress today, not knowing refreshments were also delivered to the rest of our group who, whilst well ahead of us are still some distance from camp. This is the most pleasant trekking of the trip so far and so we’re in no rush as we reach the final steep climb above the confluence of the Simbuwa and Yamgachha Khola rivers, arriving in Tseram in the early afternoon for lunch.

This camp is at 3,870 metres altitude and for acclimatisation we’re led up the path towards Ghunsa after lunch where we climb to 4,000m. This path will take us over three high passes in two days time, for today it provides us with views of the rugged landscape surrounding Tseram, hills reaching well beyond 5,000m and the head of the Yalung Glacier in the distance. We hope to see more of the glacier tomorrow when we’ll follow it towards Ramche and Kanchenjunga’s south basecamp.

We emerge after dinner to a spectacular star filled sky and stand to admire it for several minutes, the cold soon has us all heading for the shelter and the warmth of our sleeping bags.

If you're enjoying this story please click on"enjoy” at the bottom, it means a lot to know I'm doing the right thing & encourages me to do more! You can also read more of my photo stories and subscribe with your email below, and be the first to know about new content.

Thank you so much, Adam

We’re excited this morning to be heading up the valley towards Kanchenjunga’s south basecamp, anticipating views up to some of the highest peaks in the world. We’re woken at 5:30am for an early start and by 6:30am we’re climbing up through woodland towards Ramze.

After last night’s clear skies, we’re all optimistic for good weather and good views but it’s cloudy, the hills shrouded in mist again. We stay positive and hope this cloud will lift as we go higher but after an hour it thickens and gets noticeably colder. As we reach 4200 metres altitude it begins to snow, coating the path with a thin icy layer and after another half hour of slow walking we decide to stop and turn back. It's unlikely the distant views from Ramze will be visible in this thick cloud and we’ve only got three guides between us today, we don’t feel comfortable having two with us at the back if conditions get worse. We’re still very disappointed to return to camp in the thickening snow, turning to rain only as we reach our tents.

Some of the more hardened trekkers in the group continue to Ramze, returning later in the afternoon, confirming they hadn't seen any views of Kanchenjunga, and we feel a little better about our decision to return early.

Amongst the peaks

Today is to be one of the highlights of the trip as we climb up to cross the three passes of Sinelapcha, Mirgin and Sinion La, finally getting those elusive views of Kanchenjunga and, hopefully, Everest in the opposite direction.

We’re again woken at 5:30am and we’re ready to start walking straight after breakfast. The incredibly steep climb begins right out of camp and continues for nearly two hours as we ascend more than 800m to Chhuchung Pokhari and pass two lakes that would be a beautiful sight in better weather. Instead the early cloud and mist has failed to clear again, Karen begins to suffer with dizziness and I begin to worry that, with a very long, hard walk ahead we might struggle today. After a short stop and a packet of biscuits she feels revived and we continue on until we round a peak and it begins to snow. We’d not planned for this, we’d anticipated better weather, instead the trail is already covered and the slippery conditions, on a narrow trail with steep adjacent drops is my nemesis.

Since the numerous slips and falls of the first week I’ve lost my confidence in slippery conditions. Initially we’re told by a trekker heading in the opposite direction there’s snow for another hour but then another advises the snow continues to camp, it’s not news I want to hear. Our progress is very slow and we can barely see more than 10m, rather than the epic distant views we’d hoped for as we climb to the first pass, Sinelapcha at 4,730m. It’s a bit of an anticlimax, without the snow covered stone cairn marking it’s location we’d be unaware that we’d just reached, and passed the highest point of our trip so far.

We continue for another hour or so and it’s really tough as the trail crosses a rocky ridge, the intermittent red painted snow markers our only indication of the route and our sole focus as we continue. I’ve borrowed a set of snow grips for my boots and they give me a little confidence but as we approach the second pass my spirits are low and I don’t think about the hours we have ahead of us.

Unbelievably we approach Mirgin La, the second pass, and find a teahouse in a Yurt, surely a new contender for the most remote teahouse (read “The Teahouse at the End of the World"). I gratefully slump on a bench and accept a hot cup of tea in the relative warmth, and eat my ‘packed lunch’. I sit quietly and try to stop worrying, I have a tendency to overthink these situations and imagine the worse, now Karen is feeling better I tell myself this is now simply a walk downhill and we’re well equipped for cold and wet.

As we leave the teahouse, Tibetan prayer flags hang frozen over the trail, usually brightly coloured these look dull in the mist as they mark the pass. The conditions only deteriorate as the snow gets heavier and whist we’re largely descending, there are some steep and narrow climbs to navigate. After another hour we pass under another frozen and snow covered collection of prayer flags spanning the trail and know that we’ve passed over the Selele La pass. We begin to descend but with two to three hours more walking it’s still going to be a long afternoon.

Once again we find the camp have sent up to two porters with hot flasks for us and we stop briefly to have a drink before continuing. The final descent into camp is across a boulder field that whilst only lightly covered in snow, makes walking difficult and we have to concentrate on every step. We reach camp as it gets dark and it's extremely cold, Selele sits in a natural bowl, well sheltered but also well shaded and it’s already icy. Hot tea and biscuits warm us up and we head straight to our sleeping bags to shed our damp clothes.

There’s a general sense of disappointment at missing the great views today but we were just very unlucky, it’s unusual to see snow this late.

When we step out of the tent in the morning it’s icy and the camp is transformed by the deep blue sky, light covering of snow and spectacular distant views. Deep in this natural ‘bowl’ the sun won’t reach us before we leave but the peaks in the distance are already glowing and contrast with the blue of the shadows in this valley.

Leaving is a slippery affair with a brief climb and long descent, initially in deep shade. As the rocky steps reach the sun and warm, we make better progress and can begin to enjoy the views around us as we emerge onto a high ridge facing steep wooded slopes, snow filled ravines shining in the sun.

We reach a teahouse on the ridge and can’t resist another break with Bill and Kathy, at least this teahouse is in a sunny spot, in stark contrast to yesterday’s lunch stop. As we reach the top of a long, steep descent via a relatively good stone ‘staircase’ we look down upon Ghunsa, our destination today far below us, perfectly framed by tall mountains. Behind us, to the south, the route we'll take out of the mountains in a few days’ time, we head north and down to Ghunsa.

The walk through the forest is a delight, through vibrant green foliage and along a broad, flat stone path. We soon see rows of white painted lodges, their bright blue roofs shining brightly in the sun and step out of the trees onto the wide, flat base of the valley and reach Ghunsa. Despite our tea stop we've made good progress and have the afternoon free to explore the village. We find the fabled coffee shop, tucked away behind another lodge and discover it really does serve fresh ground coffee, chocolate brownies and cheesecake.

We’re using another dining room tonight with a roaring stove, far removed from last night’s icy dining tent, and when we enter it’s stiflingly hot. There’s a party of Belgian trekkers sharing the room and we have a bit of stand-off about leaving the door open to allow some cool air in. It all seems ridiculous considering how cold we were twenty four hours ago and 600m higher.

The big news this morning, we have a change to our regular breakfast menu when we’re served rice pudding rather than porridge!

Walking north is pleasant in the warm morning sun and along a wide, stone path again. Before we can become accustomed to this easy walking, we’re diverted up into the forest by a big landslide ahead, this is clearly a new diversion as the path is rough and narrow. The forest is beautiful with thick undergrowth, curtains of lichen several metres long hanging from ancient trees and glimpses of towering cliffs above us. Shortly after we return to the regular path the snow covered peaks ahead finally form into clear mountain views and the rest of this morning’s trek is an absolute delight with lunch at a teahouse sitting beside the river.

We have a clear view of the steady climb we have after lunch, the path generally good and it’s only when we need to take deeper breaths that we’re aware of the height gain. Halfway up a long path of stone steps a valley to our right reveals a view along the north face of the line of 6,000m peaks climaxing with a spectacular view of Kumbhakarna (Jannu), cloud blowing from it’s distinctive domed summit. For once it’s the view and not the increasing altitude that takes our breath away and the whole group stops at the viewpoint to soak it in.

The next hour is slow-going as everyone makes regular stops to remind themselves of the view above, as if might suddenly disappear and never return. And to compete with the scene over-head, the valley suddenly opens into a wide, flat plain after we cross a large landslide of still loose, falling stone and our path for the reminder of the afternoon stretches out ahead of us. We look back far down the valley, but we’ll have more time to enjoy this view when we return here in a few days’ time.

The remainder of the afternoon is a gentle walk along a good path, across a long suspension bridge below the spectacular peaks and up to Kambachen sitting in a wide junction with the Nupchu Khola valley. There’s a flurry activity in the village as we approach, a Yak is being chased and roped, we’re all initially fascinated, as if watching a scene from a cowboy film. We soon realise however that the Yak is to be slaughtered and we quickly move on, the sun illuminating the surrounding peaks in golden light to distract us as we enter camp.

I’m sure it’s no coincidence we’re served Yak curry at dinner and, heading to our tents, we marvel at the night sky filled with stars as it silhouettes Jannu and the high ridge opposite.

another spectacular campsite, Jannu is the peak far left, with cloud streaming from it's distinctive round summit - Kambachen

The sky is a deep blue as we start the steep climb out of camp, why do we always seem to camp at the foot of a climb? but it’s actually not as tough as it looked from the bottom and we’re soon following a path running halfway up the valley side.

There’s a sign to a “Snow Leopard Research Centre” just outside the village and I dream of seeing one of the elusive animals, after all a research centre must mean there’s a large population in this area right! The path serves to offer up an ever changing feast of incredible views, the slopes to our right dusted with snow at lower altitude whilst their peaks look overloaded with snow, seemingly ready to fall into the valley at any moment. The few trees that grow at this altitude soon give way to scrubby Juniper bushes whilst the landslides we encounter this morning are easy to traverse in the wide, shallow valley.

By mid-morning we're walking opposite Mera Peak, soaring above and obscuring views back to Jannu as, for a little while the valley sides close in. We’re soon in sight of Ramtang and the lodge where we’ll stop for lunch, having climbed nearly 400m this morning. Whilst it’s felt an easy morning I’m exhausted as we step into the lodge, but another excellent lunch, Aloo Paratha that surely can’t have been baked on the kerosene stoves, soon has me feeling better. The valley is wider here, flattened by the now receded glaciers that we can see in the distance and we’re soon climbing alongside the glacial lake and then the Kanchenjunga Glacier itself.

The glaciers we’ve trekked along so far are described as ‘quarries’ by one fellow trekker, rivers of shifting rubble, the ice well buried below, but the sound of their constant grinding is as distinctive as the snow and ice-covered views further upstream. We pass the Ramdang Glacier valley on our right with views opening to Mojka, Gimmigela and eventually Wedge Peak beyond. The jagged ridge line these mountains form appears slowly as we round their northern faces

We cross a dried lake formed by the moraine piled up by the Kanchenjunga and Lhonak glaciers and walk along this narrow ridge before looking down over a sharp cliff to the wide glacier below. We see Lhonak ahead of us, nestled between tall slopes with our bright yellow tents and the bright blue lodge buildings a welcome sight, but it’s the backdrop that takes all the attention, the ridge to Wedge Peak dominating the view, with glimpses of Nepal Peak and Kirat Chuli beyond.

For once we’re in no hurry to enter our tents and for the warmth of our sleeping bags, instead it’s another chance to sit and absorb the surroundings, appreciating what must be one of the finest views on earth, the ridge opposite climbing over 2km above us in the bright afternoon sun.

Before we head to dinner the sunset once again ignites the surroundings and we all gather outside to watch the last rays of light dance across the snowy peaks above.

The towering peaks of Mojka, Gimmigela and left of the central ridge, Wedge Peak. Kirat Chuli is far left.

We make an early start this morning to trek alongside the glacier to Pang Pema and Kanchenjunga’s North Base Camp.

Whilst the first couple of hours are a relatively gentle climb up the wide valley there are numerous streams descending from the slopes to our left that have frozen solid and make for a slippery path. We watch groups of Blue Sheep graze on the slopes above as we head beyond 5,000m and Karen is soon defeated by the altitude, dizzy and breathless she returns to camp and I carry on, ignoring similar feelings for now but beginning to doubt my ability to go much further. It hardly seems to matter however as the views are extraordinary, rounding Wedge Peak, Nepal Peak leads up to Gimmigela, Khambachen and the Kanchenjunga ridge.

We cross a couple of landslides on loose stones and rocks, the walking becomes more difficult amongst fallen boulders and about halfway to Pang Pema the footpath diverts steeply up over a newly formed landslide that I just don’t have the energy or breath to climb beyond. I sit for a while to recover my breath but I don’t need to push myself further, I take in the view surrounding me and the achievement of returning to 5,000m before making my way, much slower than I expect, back down to camp.

Back at Lhonak Karen and I have our packed lunches together and sit in the sun for a while before taking a walk back to the dried lakebed to take some photos. The wind begins to strengthen and it gets chilly in the afternoon sun and we shelter in the dining room. It’s after 5pm when the rest of the group return to camp and confirm that it was a long and hard day of trekking, but their photographs of Kanchenjunga are stunning and I’m glad they made it to base camp.

Before we head to our sleeping bags after dinner I set up my camera to record the night sky and am rewarded with clear conditions and incredible footage of the stars’ passage across the peaks.

Return

Feeling much better after yesterday afternoon’s rest we leave camp, departing the highest mountains and beginning the journey home.

As we retrace our steps back into the valley the sun rises and melts the ice from the path, we make good progress, soon passing the lodges at Ramtang before Jannu appears again to remind us we’re still amongst the tallest of peaks. As we enter the thin woodland above Kambachen a Yack scrambles up the slope beside us and ambles along the path ahead, as if leading us back to the village. Perhaps, aware of Kambachen’s reputation it doesn’t want to run the risk of being our dinner tonight and eventually leaves the path as we descend into camp.

We’re in time for lunch and spend the afternoon sorting through our kit before seeking warmth in the lodge’s kitchen. The lodge owner is busy tending to numerous pots and pressure cookers constantly swapping them on the small open stove in the centre of the room. The battery powered bulbs hanging from the soot stained ceiling are dim and the fire illuminates the constant stream of trekkers and guides visiting the kitchen for hot drinks and a moment of warmth beside the fire.

I sit for a while fascinated by the constant activity and photograph the cook as she tends to numerous dishes, serving Dal, vegetable stew and an uninviting local alcoholic drink made with Yak butter. Unsurprisingly we’re served Yak curry again tonight and I hope this morning’s visitor on the path didn’t return to the village behind us.

We delay our trip back to our cold tents in favour of the warmth of the kitchen for as long as we can.

Again, with the sun taking its time to rise above the tall peaks it’s a cold start as we set off, when we reach the long suspension bridge the metal cables we hold to cross freeze our hands.

A few of our fellow trekkers take a short diversion towards a viewpoint for Jannu but with the sun now rising directly above I know we won’t improve on the views we’ve already enjoyed of the peak, so we carry on down the valley. We descend the same long stone staircase we climbed only four days ago and wonder whether descending is in-fact harder than climbing, my knees would argue so.

It’s a fantastic walk though as we get another chance to enjoy these views before we climb the diversion up through the forest avoiding the landslide. It seems a longer walk to Ghunsa than I remember but we soon reach the wide valley and our lunch stop is the lodge we camped by on our way up, there are no Belgian trekkers to share the dining room today.

The villages along this valley are home to Tibetan refugees who fled their country via the pass to the north of Kanchenjunga and we purchase souvenirs from a small Tibetan owned shop, Ghunsa is also the centre of Tongba brewing but it’s too early in the day and we have some distance to go. We’re all happy to take the trail south from Ghunsa rather than climb the steep hillside we descended on our first visit, and cross a bridge over the river. Yesterday a gentle stream emerging from the head of the glacier, now a torrent, crashing over huge boulders and carving a deep channel in the narrowing valley.

We pause at a large stone memorial to the victims of a helicopter crash in the forest above, on the 23rdSeptember 2006 a helicopter departing Ghunsa, carrying 24 passengers and crew including seven staff from the World Wildlife Fund crashed here with no survivors.

We arrive in Phale mid-afternoon, it’s a charming village of dark wooden buildings and despite there being a rudimentary health centre, it feels as though much of the village has been abandoned. High above the village we can make out the strings of prayer flags marking the viewpoint we looked down from five days ago. Our camp is alongside the trail and a young girl passes us several times as she shepherds a small herd of goats into a shelter for the night. Two large dogs are tethered close to our tents and I wonder whether they’re to protect the goats or us over-night.

Thick cloud descends the steep valley sides and it begins to get dark early. We have a dining room in the lodge to use again tonight and when we enter, find a room that looks like a family sitting room with bold, colourful wall paper and piles of bedding. We have Yak steak for dinner, I suspect they’ve been brought down from Kambachen and they’re surprisingly good, especially with chips and fried rice.

There's a brief frost in the morning as we set off, crossing a few small, icy streams before descending another long, steep set of stone steps with a steep drop to the river below. Somebody has erected a metal handrail alongside the path and it seems an inconceivable addition given the trails we’ve passed along in the last few days. It's a lovely walk through thick, vibrant forest and we pass signs suggesting it’s home to Red Panda and later, black bears. I don’t worry about ensuring my camera’s ready for an encounter with either! The closest we get is passing a small herd of goats grazing on the bushes alongside the path.

As our last full day of trekking it feels like a fitting end, a beautiful walk, even though we have some fairly steep climbs and at the top of the steepest, in Gyabla, we stop at a teahouse for a break. There’s a lady sat on the terrace of the teahouse dressed in beautiful Tibetan clothing, including an eye catching silver belt buckle, rocking her grandchild to sleep in a wicker basket, I take her photograph with my film camera.

We descend again to an idyllic spot for lunch, beside the river and a waterfall tumbling from a valley above. The surroundings lull us into a false sense of security however as straight after lunch we climb a set of stone steps which didn't look too long from where we sat eating. As we climb however, and turn a corner in the trees, they become an endless climb which takes us high, high above the river again. As we pass a farm alongside the path we ‘collect’ a fellow traveller as a large dog follows us and eventually stays with us all the way to camp.

The path narrows and runs along the top of a steep slope, and whilst providing wonderful views of the near vertical sided valley it also offers distant views of our campsite at Amjilosa. Our yellow tents are clearly visible on the steep slope ahead but we have nearly two hours more trekking to reach them. The group split up as we climb at different speeds and when I drop back on a more gentle section, I walk alone for 30 minutes enjoying the silence and peace of this stunning location. As I sit beside a waterfall waiting for Karen I'm visited by a squirrel who’s scratching and digging is the only sound. Eventually Karen catches up and together we walk into camp where our tents are perched on the edge of a steep drop making us nervous about toilet visits in the middle of the night!

There's quite a busy lodge here hosting another couple of trekking groups and we sit in the busy dining room with beers celebrating our final full day of walking.

We have a good night's sleep despite the peril of stepping out the tents in the dark and this morning is noticeably warmer, no frost! The dog has left us overnight, maybe it’s returned home to accompany the next group that head down the trail whilst we enjoy another treat for breakfast, fried eggs.

There's a sense that this morning, our last trek to lunch, is going to be easy going and we descend quickly to the river far below on a steep stone ‘staircase’ through the forest and cross the river to a small village. Kanchenjunga has one more surprise for us however, there’s a large landslide ahead and, leaving the village we must climb a steep, slippery bank back into the forest. The trail is narrow and rough, the climb surprisingly long and, when we eventually reach ‘the top’, the traverse across a cardamon plantation is steep and precarious with several streams crossing before tumbling down to the river.

We spot evidence of someone recently slipping from the edge of the trail into the undergrowth below and Prem springs into action, discarding his pack and heading down to investigate. He discovers a ledge just before a shear drop to the river, along with signs the faller returned to the path, he believes a porter will have fallen and quickly recovered, but we never discover who it was.

Shortly after that surprise we begin to descend and are delighted it’s via a long set of stone steps rather than the slippery, scary path we climbed up. One more suspension bridge takes us to the other side of this beautiful, wooded valley and our final trail, narrow but easy going, until we see a stone roadway in the distance and Sukethum, the end of our trek.

A new road is being constructed here up the valley and I always feel uneasy about these projects. Whilst they’ll bring easy access for the community, their goods and supplies, the construction destroys the beauty and serenity of these incredible locations. It was with some irony therefore that the head of this new road had recently been buried under an enormous landslide, is this mother nature fighting back against the relentless development?

The yard of a brick factory wasn’t the finish line I expected and seems an unlikely spot to conclude the trek, but we meet up with the team here, eat lunch in a dining room and distribute spare kit to the porters and kitchen staff. Prem also distributes tips to all the team and so it’s late by the time we finally climb in the jeeps and head down a rough stone road alongside the river. A further delay means we all know we’re going to be driving into the night and so it proves as we drive for five hours on rough, loose roads and seem to climb high up into the hills.

As the sun sets the headlights of our jeep are the only light, barely penetrating the edges of thick woodland as we drive by. The sense of being high up in the hills is confirmed as pinpricks of light appear on opposite slopes but offer no clue as to how much further we have to drive. Finally the scattered lights form together into a town and we’re all relieved to arrive in Taplejung, bumping up onto a tarmac road only as we enter the town.

The airfield we departed from on foot 2½ weeks ago is just above the town and so we close our circuit as we pull into a large hotel with restaurant, modern rooms, en-suite bathrooms but no hot water. Tents and sleeping bags are quickly forgotten and we’re soon ordering beers in the bar. We also have wi-fi for the first time in two weeks and everyone’s soon talking to relatives back home, catching up on news and celebrating Nottingham Forest being fifth in the league, well me anyway.

A full day in the jeeps feels like a shock after walking for the previous 17 days and nobody enjoys being cramped up as we retrace our drive, the long steep climbs, twisting descents, the same landslides and bridges and when we arrive for lunch at the same hotel in Phidim, we find it hasn’t improved since the last time we were here.

Again, it feels like an unnecessarily long lunch stop of over two hours and means we're once again driving in the dark for the last hour. The traffic builds in the dark so we know we’re approaching a town but it’s difficult to know where until we pull into the same hotel in Kanyam. We have a large, clean room but still no hot water, and our window looks out onto the road so, with lorries passing throughout the night, it remains noisy.

Breakfast is a bread omelette, literally an omelette swerved on a slice of bread and we decide we already miss our cook and kitchen team.

We make a stop at the tea plantation in the nearby hills and walk along a long line of roadside stalls, selling bags of tea or renting out traditional outfits for visitors to dress up in and have photos taken amongst the tea bushes. After barely seeing more than a handful of people each day in the mountains this local tourist attraction, with busloads of visitors and stall holders encouraging them to purchase their goods, this feels like Christmas on Oxford Street. I buy a bag of tea apparently picked in the fields in front of us before we return to the jeeps and head on to the airport.

The tea plantations are clearly limited to the south facing, lower slopes and we’re soon leaving them behind for fields of rice on the wide, flat stretches of the Terai. Suddenly the roads are long and straight with lots of people travelling on bikes, motorbikes, in tuc-tucs and children walking and cycling to school.

We’re four hours early for our flight and find a nice modern coffee shop to sit and order lunch. The shop is having some teething problems and fills with smoke from it’s oven, there’s also building work next door and a loud drill interrupts conversation on a regular basis. We go and sit outside where it’s a little more peaceful before heading back to the airport to discover our plane is delayed and we have three hours to kill in a building with no facilities. We eventually take off after 4pm and our 45 minute flight turns into 1:20hrs but it doesn’t matter when we get incredible views, initially of Kanchenjunga and then Everest, as the sun sets and the mountains are painted pink in the light.

We're all tired and a little bit irritable by the time we arrive back at the Aloft Hotel in Kathmandu and rather than the hot showers we'd all planned we get a quick wash and head out to the Marco Polo restaurant for dinner with Prem.

Kathmandu

Whilst the soft, king-size hotel bed and air conditioning tempt us to lay-in, we’re up at 5am and jumping into a couple of taxis with Isobel, Joe and Nigel to the Boudhanath Stupa for dawn.

Prem has told us hundreds of worshippers visit the Stupa between 5am and 7am and we spend an hour watching on and photographing as a growing crowd of worshippers walk numerous circuits around the Stupa. There's beautiful light and virtually no tourists at this time of day and we find a roof top café open early, and sit to watch the spectacle, something I’d wished we had time for when we visited two years ago.

We return to the hotel in good time to enjoy a big, leisurely breakfast and as it’s still early enough that some shops in Thamel are yet to open we find ourselves walking down to the national football stadium in search of a football shirt to take home. We stop and watch the many cricket matches taking place in Tudikhel park, the enthusiasm of the young cricketers in no way diminished by the dusty, uneven wickets and long dry grass of the outfield. When we return, Thamel is bustling, the roads filled with motorbikes and scooters, dogs wandering the streets forcing vehicles to swerve out of their way, sounding their horns loudly. We visit Pilgrim’s book shop, a haven of quiet amongst the commotion outside and stop for a coffee in Pumpernickel Bakery where we bump into Isobel and Nigel.

Prem arranges dinner at Le Sherpa Restaurant and we enjoy the fine dining in stark contrast to the meals we’ve shared with him for the last three weeks. We sit in a hotel courtyard for a couple of drinks before heading for bed.

We make sure we have plenty of time for breakfast at the hotel before our 8am taxi to the airport, preparing ourselves for the scrum to enter the building, the chaos of security checks and delayed flight. But it's surprisingly quiet this early, we say farewell to Prem, join an orderly queue at check-in, make our way through security and find seats in the departure lounge.

We sit for a couple of hours, find a coffee shop and watch more travellers arrive as it gets busier and the queues at security build, we’re only an hour late as we leave Kathmandu behind.

People of Kanchenjunga

Reflections and review

After Manaslu we sought a more challenging trip, hopefully even further 'off the beaten track' and Kanchenjunga met all our expectations. As anticipated, the route was varied, spectacular throughout and very quiet, Ghunsa was the one location where we saw a small number of groups otherwise we met only a handful of trekkers.

The Kanchenjunga Conservation area is truly a remote corner of Nepal with a very different feeling to Manaslu, more rugged, isolated and the sense of being right amongst the highest mountains in the world. It also 'seemed' less classically beautiful, rougher and bleak, the forests we trekked through were dense, vivid and stunning, the mountains breathtaking, dazzling and simply extraordinary.

As I have eluded to, we found this trek significantly more challenging than Manaslu and following a period of reflection, I feel this was a result of the challenging terrain from the off, the wet weather at the start of the trip and the unexpected snow between Tseram and Ghunsa. The Manaslu route was primarily following valleys up to the Larkya La Pass, resulting in more gradual climbs, descents and altitude gain, in contrast to crossing several steep, deep valleys and high ridges in the very first days of Kanchenjunga. Whilst we were obviously well prepared for the wet weather, it resulted in constantly slippery paths whilst ascending and descending, something I personally find challenging and following a couple of early, albeit harmless, slips and falls, suffered a loss of confidence. The risk of snow was all but excluded from our preparations and pre-trip advice and, unlike our Manaslu trek we were not advised to take, or supplied with ice/snow grips - I wish we had.

I can't stress how amazing our trip was, and what an incredible experience we had, we returned with no regrets but in hindsight I would have prepared slightly differently. Whilst difficult to see how we could duplicate the specific conditions prior to the trip I would have worked on and improved my balance and core strength, researched the availability and effectiveness of altitude sickness prevention medication and packed a set of ice/snow grips.

Would we return? Absolutely, it was an incredible, wonderful trip and we're already looking at our plans for 2025, Kanchenjunga was elusive! We have a long bucket list though, lots more countries to explore and KE's website has lots of choice...

KE Adventure Travel

We chose to travel with KE Adventure Travel in 2022 when their Manaslu Circuit offered us the challenging adventure and quiet trails we wanted for our first trek. The Kanchenjunga Trek was a natural choice for our second Nepalese trek and proved to be a superb choice.

Our Manaslu trek was delayed two years by Covid and KE were excellent at keeping us informed on about re-booking and offering flexibility with our booking. Our Kanchenjunga trek was initially booked for 2023 but eight weeks before we were due to travel I broke my foot, KE were again excellent in allowing us flexibility to delay the trip.

KE have provided all the information we have required for our trips, principally through their excellent website but we have also found them to be responsive via telephone. We have been quickly informed of flight updates and indeed, during our recent trip, fellow travellers had flight delays/changes which were swiftly dealt with by KE when we were 'out of contact' and flexible and contactable form Nepal when we were regained wifi availability.

We continue to recommend KE Adventure Travel to our friends and look forward to our next trip with them.

Check out my other stories, subscribe to be the first to hear about new content and if you spot anything wrong or want to add anything please get in touch via the "contact" button on my home page.

Footnotes

Button Label

FootNotes