Gauri Shankar Foothills Trek - 8 days

Early in the morning, we drive to Lamo sangu via “Friendship highway” following the Jiri road to reach Charikot. Crossing the Bhote Koshi valley, we reach Singati where we camp for the first night close to this small market town.

Today we take an initial trail through coniferous forest, before emerging into open pastures of the ridge between the Sangawa Khola and Bhote Koshi. The trail is steady climb. After reaching Bulung, perched high on the ridge and with a spectacular view of Gauri Shankar, we camp for the overnight.

Today we have to ascend 320 meters and descend 550 meters before reaching Chilingkha where we will camp for our overnight stay. The trail contour around the ridge a thousand meters above the Sangawa Khola.

We start our trek early in the morning. We have an ascend trail for 560 meters and descending trail for 370 meters. For about 3 hours, we descend to reach the Sam ling Khola (1720m), a tributary of the main river. After crossing the river, we begin a steady climb for around 2 hours to reach Bigu Gompa (2110m). Our camp will be set up near the nunnery.

This day, we will take a rest and explore Bigu Gompa. Bigu Gompa was built in the 1930’s and is a convent for female monks of the Kargyupa sect. The Gompa contains some interesting statues and the gardens are a delight.

Today, we start the day with a descent of over 800 meters to reach the river passing through several climatic and ecological zones as we progress to the Tin sang La (3300m). After taking in the stunning views of the Himalaya, we descend to Dolangsa (2490m) where we set up camp.

Today is the last day of trekking with our crew. Trekking through mixed woodland interspersed with grazing pastures; we cross a tributary river and pass some waterfalls before reaching the village of Gorkhali (1710m) where we make our final camp of the trek. This evening we will say farewell to our trek crew who will be leaving us tomorrow.

Our last day of trek passes on a contouring trail through forests of rhododendron and prickly oak and cross a tributary stream before reaching the ridgeline above the valley of the Bhote Koshi. Finally, we have a descent 810 on steps through terraced hillside to Barabise and the ‘Friendship Highway’ to Tibet. We meet our vehicles and make the return journey (2 hours) to Kathmandu.