Chulu Far East Peak climbing with Tilicho Lake and Mesokanta La Trek

Welcome to Kathmandu. As you land at Kathmandu Airport (Tribhuvan International Airport), finish your custom formalities (visa, etc.), and get to the airport waiting terminal, you will find our representative waiting to greet you. He/she will be holding Icicles Adventure Treks and Tour signboards. You will then be transferred to your respective hotel in our private vehicle. You can either rest in your hotel or shop around Thamel for any gear for your trek.

Accommodation: City Hotel.

After breakfast, we start a guided tour to several medieval and spiritual sites in Kathmandu, which are also listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the historic Durbar Square, the sacred Hindu temple of Pashupati Nath, the famous ‘Monkey Temple’ (Swayambhunath) and Buddhists shrine (BouddhaNath) which is one of the large Stupas in the world. Later after the sightseeing program, we will introduce you to your trekking guide and have a small pre-trip meeting. You can also take an opportunity to hire/buy any last-minute trekking equipment or bargain for your souvenirs at the many stores. Finally, you are advised to pack your things and be set up for your actual Everest base camp trekking adventure that will begin the next day.

Accommodation: City Hotel
Included Meal: B

We make an early departure from Kathmandu this morning for Besi Sahar. It is a beautiful journey to the trek road head. We set off for Pokhara after breakfast. Driving today is adventurous and pleasant as it winds down hugging the mountainside through terraced fields. Following the side of the Mahesh River, we come to the Trishuli River. We follow Trisuli Riverside all the way up to Mugling where Trisuli River confluences with the Marshyangdi River. After crossing a bridge over Marshyangdi River we head further west to Pokhara. If you are on the right pane of your vehicle the journey today provides plenty of opportunities to view cultivated terraced fields, rivers, streams, green valleys, rocky gorges, farmlands, and the typical rural life of Nepal. We take a lunch break in a restaurant along the way. Leaving Besishahar we drive up to Syange. On this drive, the scenery will impress right from the moment of leaving Besisahar. The jeep track follows the Masryangdi river upstream through gradually a narrowing and increasingly lush valley all the while with the water of the Masryangdi raging violently below. Weather permitting provides great views of Himalchuli (7893m) and Ngadichuli (7541m) who belong to the Manaslu Range of mountains.

Driving Time: 7-8 hrs
Accommodation: Local lodge
Included Meal: B, L, D

We start early after breakfast. A rising and falling trail leads to Chamje, after which we cross a suspension bridge and climb through an oak forest. We will notice a dramatic change in the landscape today as the valley narrows to a very deep gorge, and cascading waterfalls as the one here across the valley are a common sight in the feature for the next few days. The trail then emerges into a level valley where ‘Tal,’ the next village, is situated at the foot of a grand waterfall (1700m). Further, we walk ahead past some mani stones Just after Tal Village. The local custom is to walk on the left-hand side of the Mani walls. Finally, we cross Marshangdi river over suspension bridges a couple of times before reaching Dharapani.

Walking Time: 6-7 hrs.
Accommodation: Local lodge.
Included Meal: B, L, D

It is a very gentle climb from Dharapani to Bagarchap, here we will be rewarded by the sight of Annapurna II (7937m) looking up the valley. As we continue through Danakyue and climb up to Tamang, one cannot help but stop and look back to enjoy the view of the Manaslu Range. You will notice a general change in today's vegetation to pine and fir. The trail is relatively level from here for about an hour until after emerging into a clearing with a couple of tea houses and fields. We then descend to cross a bridge and climb out; we pass through Thanchok Village with its apple orchards. We reach Koto in about thirty minutes from Thanchok village and another thirty minutes to Chame, the headquarter of Manang District.

Walking Time: 5-6 hrs
Accommodation: Local lodge
Included Meal: B, L, D

We spent the rest of the morning trekking through a rich forest of blue pine and fir keeping alongside the river to Brathang. The old Brathang village used to be a Tibetan resistant camp fighting the Chinese occupation of Tibet by making raids over the border. Today you see only an apple orchard with a couple of tea houses. We carry on walking through the forest, the trail clings on a cliffside for a while and as we cross the bridge, looking back the view of the huge rock face of Mui Tycho (Paunde Danda) is breathtaking rising about 1500m from the valley floor. After climbing steeply through the forest, there is a sudden change in the landscape as we enter the Upper Manang District. The valley becomes very broad and vegetation mainly pine, Juniper, and berberis shrubs are very sparse. A beautiful and easy hour of walking in the shadows of Annapurna II brings us to Lower Pisang. By this point, you would have trekked around to the north side of the Annapurnas and the views from here on are of Annapurna II and IV to the south and Pisang Peak and the Chulu East to the north.

Walking Time: 5-6 hrs.
Accommodation: Local lodge.
Included Meal: B, L, D

We leave the Annapurna Circuit trail behind today and climb up above the river on the slopes of Pisang Peak. We begin with a gentle climb across the hillside through scrub pine and Juniper before a steeper section on a zig-zagging trail to the village of Ghyaru (3673m) with its collection of dry-stone-walled medieval houses built one on top of another. Our route continues on a superb contour trail offering tremendous views of the Annapurna range until reaching the extensive fields and houses of Ngawal which is similar though bigger than Ghyaru. At Ngagwal we climb steadily to the small village of Chulu with its flour mill. We now climb up beside the stream for around 45 minutes to cross the Khola on a wooden bridge. The steady ascent continues through fir and juniper to a small meadow and herder’s hut in view of two splendid waterfalls, which we should reach in around 1 hour from the bridge.

Walking Time: 6-7 hrs.
Accommodation: Local lodge.
Included Meal: B, L, D

This is a necessary that you spend an acclimatization day at Julu Khola Meadow Camp prior to heading up to high camp. The order of the day is rest or perhaps a gentle walk. In the afternoon the guides will take us through the simple techniques of roped glacier travel and using fixed lines for safety. This is also a good opportunity to catch up on laundry, diary writing or other trek chores.

Walking Time: 2-3 hrs
Accommodation: Camping
Included Meal: B, L, D

We follow the scree snow slopes until high camp. We make steep and relentless climb of about three hours to the top of the escarpment which generates the waterfalls which are in view from the camp. As we reach the top of this ridge, Chulu Far East comes into view. Our base camp for the mountain is set in a wide bowl an easy 15 – 20 minutes walk beyond the ridge top. It is important that we take an easy afternoon resting and drinking lots of fluid as part of the acclimatization process.

Walking Time: 4-5 hrs
Accommodation: Camping
Included Meal: B, L, D

From our base camp, a clear trail climbs up the moraine. Cresting the ridge, we encounter a moonscape of glacial debris, the remnants of a receding glacier, and we make a high camp beside a small glacial lake. The altitude at High Camp is 5255 meters. Approximately 1½ hours walking. Depending on the group, we may take this day as a second acclimatization day at base camp and make the ascent to high camp on the following day. Your trip leader will decide. Resting at the high camp, we take plenty of time to relax and prepare equipment and strategies for the next day.

Walking Time: 3-4 hrs
Accommodation: Camping
Included Meal: B, L, D

Today is a very long and strenuous day for us. At 1 is our climbing Sherpa will wake you up with a cup of hot tea. Have a very early breakfast before getting ready and stepping out into the cold night air. Dawn will be well on its way by the time we set off up the initial slopes to a prominent col which we should reach in about an hour from camp. Fabulous views of all the Annapurnas, Manaslu, the Ganesh Himal to the and to north we can look over the dry barren landscape of Mustang and Tibet. Having had our fill of the scenery we can enjoy some more sensational climbing situations as we reverse our route first to the col and then to high camp. After some rest and refreshment here we continue the descent to Bases camp.

Walking/climbing Time: 8-9 hrs
Accommodation: Camping
Included Meal: B, L, D

In case on the planned summit day i.e. day 09, the weather turned bad, we will wait a day and try summit today.

A day of downhill starting with the return to Chulu village. We continue the descent to reach the main trail coming from Nagwal which turns and runs parallel to the Marsyangdi before dropping to Mungdi at which point we have rejoined the Annapurna Circuit trail. From Mungdi it is a further about one hour up valley to the bustling town of Manang where we rest the day and perhaps enjoy a celebratory food and drinks.

Walking Time: 6-7 hrs
Accommodation: Local lodge
Included Meal: B, L, D

The journey today is filled with sheer beauty. After a short walk from Manang, we cross the bridge to get to the other side of the Marshyangdi River. As we walk westwards, Tilicho Peak peep out from behind the clouds, as if eyeing us new arrivals with a sentinel curiosity A short walk from here will bring us to The Gangapurna Glacial Lake.  We cross another bridge a little further from the lake and get back on the main trail to Siri Kharka. We climb a little from here then follow the river keeping it on the right hand side until the bridge over the Jarsang Khola. We then gradually ascent to Khangsar Village, the furthermost village up the Marshyangdi valley. After the village the trail climbs steadily up to Thare Monastery and after visiting there we have a final steep climb to cross a stream then to lodge at Siri Kharka. If you are on the lookout there is a chance of spotting blue sheep, now an endangered species in the Himalaya. The slopes up here are good pasture so you may also see lots of grazing yaks.

Walking time: 4-5 hrs
Accommodation: Local lodge
Included Meal: B, L, D

Today is another short day keeping within the guidelines of altitude gain to help the body acclimatize. We climb from the lodge then traverse the grassy slopes for about an hour. At the intersection of the trails we ignore the old upper trail and take the lower towards the scree slopes. It is very interesting from here as we traverse the scree slopes we pass fantastic sandstone pillars and rock formations. There are some small steep descents as we negotiate the rocky sections. There are quite a few of these slopes even after we turn the corner, all the way to Base Camp Lodge. However, care should be taken as the path is quite narrow and a little exposed. This is supposedly where Maurice Hertzog fell into the Marshyangdi trying to get to Khangsar.

Walking time: 5-6 hrs
Accommodation: Local lodge
Included Meal: B, L, D

The trail starts climbing from behind the lodge after breakfast. Initially the ascent is a gentle traverse up grassy slopes and you may see herds of blue sheep grazing, then as we get higher it becomes steeper and so we climb on a zigzagging trail followed by a short traverse. The gradient gets a lot gentler as the trail undulates over small mounts passing a few small lakes. When we arrive at the cairn with prayer flags, the view is breathtaking, the turquoise blue lake spreads out in front of you with Tilicho Peak rising to the left of it. Looking back you will be seeing the fluted peak of Khangsar (Rock Noir), Glacier Dome and The Great Barrier, then Gangapurna and the Annapurnas trail away in the far distance. We set up camp at the beautiful setting of Tilicho lake to enjoy the beauty of the world highest lake at 4920m and the surrounding Himalayas.

Walking time: 5-6 hrs
Accommodation: Camping
Included Meal: B, L, D

One of the tough day! We leave Tilicho Lake and climb and climb of the trek – Eastern Pass at 5340 meters – 17,520 feet. We then drop to near lake level and began another long traverse and climb to Mesokanto La (Pass) at 5121. Along the way we havw beautiful views of Lake Tilicho. Now the tormenting section comes, especially if its icy. In the ice conditions, the crux is that the west slope of Meso Kanto La is very steep. When it is snow covered, its not not negotiable at all without crampons, ice axe and ropes. Snow and ice can be expected there from early September to May. We have to pass three passes today, one pass is the Tourist La (pass), next the Tilicho La and the final is Mesokanta La with the Eastern Pass being its part.  Multiple icy river crossing, innumerable scree slopes, and the indomitable passes take their toll on us. We will forget this toll soon but the spectacular Himalayan vistas on journey today of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna, Nilgiri, Tilicho Himal, and Tukuche Peak, Tilicho Lake will stay in our memory forever. We camp on a pasture for overnight.

Walking time: 7-8 hrs
Accommodation: Camping
Included Meal: B, L, D

We feel a relief today as its going to be end of torturous walk that continued for several days but we feel sad too that we will soon be out of the sight of pristine Himalayan vistas.  After breakfast, we trek down the canyon all morning. Notice the change in climatic zone and gradually notice the change in vegetation from barren landscape to scrub junipers to large trees as we descend. We get into civilization after many days of trek as we reach Thinigaon around noon where we lunch in one of the teahouse. We get to Jomsom in about an hours walk from Thinigaon. We check in to a local lodge and get a soothing hot shower after several days.

Walking time: 7-8 hrs
Accommodation: Local lodge
Included Meal: B, L, D

A 30-minute morning flight takes us to Pokhara from Jomsom. Once we arrive at Pokhara airport, we then drive to the hotel. In the afternoon either we relax in our hotel or may have a sightseeing tour around Pokhara valley, which covers Fewa Lake, Devi’s water fall, Museum, Tibetan refugee settlement and Gupteshower cave, etc.

Flight Time: 30 minutes
Accommodation: Local lodge
Included Meal: B

We drive back to Kathmandu today. Try to get left pane of your vehicle to enjoy the river gorges, greeneries, mountains, villages and terraces during the drive. In the evening, we will have a farewell dinner in a traditional Nepalese restaurant with cultural performance.

Driving Time: 6-7 hrs
Accommodation: City Hotel
Included Meal: B, D

Note: You have the option to extend your trip with an extra day at Pokhara (Pokhara is a beautiful city to relax after a trek), Chitwan jungle safari, paragliding, rafting adventure, Bunjee Jumping, Kayaking, Canoeing, Kathmandu valley shopping tour, Bhaktapur and Patan sightseeing, scenic Everest flight, mountain biking and other activities

Your Chulu Far East Peak Climbing with Tilicho Lake and Mesokanta Pass trek – 22 days trip concludes today. Our airport representative will drop you at the international airport in Kathmandu for your departure flight from Nepal. We hope beautiful Nepal, the magnificent Himalayan sceneries, and unique cultural experience you got along your Nepal trip will stay in your memory lifelong and you will go back home with a sense of achievement.

Included Meal: B