Gosainkunda Helambu Trek

Your arrival in Kathmandu is the first day of the trip. We will welcome you at the arrival gate of Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu and transfer you to the trip hotel. You will have free time mostly on your own today. We will surely offer you necessary guidance on wandering around on your arrival time. We will also brief you about the entire adventure trip and answer your questions if you have any. Feel at comfort; relax and try to acclimate in the Nepalese atmosphere. Things may look and feel completely strange to you but that’s the beauty of a new place so find yourself at easy and slowly soak into the local ambience.

Kathmandu has a history of more than 2,000 years. We will take you for a tour of the historical, cultural and spiritual places in Kathmandu that are enlisted in the cultural heritage list. A guided visit to Swoyambhunath, Patan Durbar Square, Pashupatinath and Boudhanath will give you an understanding of the history, culture, spiritual practice and lifestyle of Kathmandu valley. It will be a good starter of the trip. An insightful day of exploring the cultural and historical wonders of Kathmandu will come to end after returning back to the hotel around late afternoon.

We drive to Syabrubesi, 122 kilometers northwest of Kathmandu. This is where we are going to start the trekking adventure from. It will take us around 8 hours to reach the destination. We will get to enjoy the beauty of the rural Nepal as we drive along the highway through several villages and towns.

We get ready for the first day of the trekking adventure of our trip to the Langtang Valley. Our destination for the day is Lama Hotel. We traverse the trail through beautiful villages and peaceful surroundings of nature. Walking into the mountainous and natural surroundings of Langtang region offers us a peaceful adventure for the day. Once we reach Lama Hotel at the elevation of 2560 meters above sea level, we check into a guest house to stay overnight.

After the first morning in the Langtang region, we trek to Langtang Village. The village that was badly devastated by the earthquake in 2015 has come back to the business now. The trail to Langtang village takes us through beautiful landscapes amidst wonderful natural surroundings. We enjoy the walk as we near the overnight destination for the day.

We set off for another beautiful day of walk to the Kyanjing village as our destination for the day. The walk takes us past beautiful mountain surrounding that offers a rich cultural and natural wonders to enjoy. We can clearly see the influence of spirituality in the local lifestyle in the region. The mani walls and prayer flags along the trail give us the idea of the Buddhism being a dominant spiritual religious faith. After traversing the winding trail through the mountains, we eventually reach the beautiful Kyanjing village to stay overnight.

We wake up early in the morning to go for a hike to Kyanjing Ri. When we reach Kyanjing Ri, we will be at the elevation of the trip standing at 4,350 meters above sea level. We can enjoy the breathtaking and magnificent panoramic view of the Himalayan peaks. Later, we hike back down to Kyanjing village and further down to Lama Hotel to stay overnight today.

From today onwards, we start the adventure walk towards Gosaikunda on the trip. After exploring the Langtang valley, our adventure heads towards the sacred spiritual lake of Gosaikunda. We are trekking to Thulo Syabru village today. The trail that meanders through local villages and natural surroundings is a nice walking experience. About 5 hours of walk will take us to Thulo Syabru to stay overnight.

The walk today to Shin Gompa is a short one of about only 4 hours. However the elevation gain at this short walking period is impressive. We will gain about 1100 meters of total elevation on the walk today. Once we reach Shin Gompa, we take easy time lazing around and acclimatizing for the higher elevation to come on the trip.

We are eventually walking to the Gosaikunda as our destination for the day. Although the walk challenges us with a tough terrain and elevation along the trail, the mesmerizing view of the surroundings will contribute to ease it a bit. When we eventually reach Gosaikunda, it will feel like being in the wonderland. This beautiful and sacred spiritual pilgrimage site receives thousands of pilgrims every year. Apart from its spiritual and religious significance, it is surrounded by beautiful mountains to give it a look of gem.

We are going to walk over an adventurous mountain pass of Lauri Binayak. The pass stands impressively at the elvation of 4,610 meters above sea level taking us to the highest elevation on the trip. Walking up towards the pass is certainly a tiring and challenging adventure however it is worth taking the challenge for the view and experience it offers us. After crossing the pass, we trek all the way down to Gopte to stay overnight.

We trek to Melamchi Gaun today covering a descent of about 900 meters. The trail runs up and down the hill several times before reaching the destination. The walk passes through dense forest, village and crosses mountain streams along the way. The day brings some beautiful views of the middle hills and valleys in the area. Melamchi Gaun is a beautiful settlement that has rich cultural and spiritual vibrations. It has a fascinating Buddhist monastery that we can explore.

The stretch from Melamchi Gaun to Tarkeghyang on our walk today is a beautiful section with wonderful view. When we walk through Ama Yangri at the elevation of 3,800 meters above sea level, we can enjoy a close up and spectacular view of Langtang range along with the view of Mt. Shishapangma. We might encounter several yaks grazing along the trek to Tarkeghyang. When we reach Tarkeghyang, a beautiful Sherpa settlement, we can explore a bit of amazing culture and life style here.

We will see abundance of evidence of this region being clearly a Buddhist area on our trek today. As the trail passes through forests, villages and other significant landmarks, we see lots of chhortens, monasteries, and prayer flags etc. that tell us that we are trekking in the Buddhist culture influenced area. Sermanthang is another beautiful Sherpa village in the region that provides an astounding view of the Langtang range along with Ganesh Himal and Jugal Himal. The Sherpa culture here is unique with enticing charm.

It’s our final day of trekking journey and we trek to Melamchi Bazar. We descend the trail through several villages and reach Melamchi Bazar on the confluence of Melamchi Khola and Indrawati River. We take a bus to Kathmandu driving through several beautiful towns along the river bank and then on winding road up the hill to Dhulikhel and eventually to Kathmandu. Once in Kathmandu, we spend leisurely time back in the chaos of the city after so many days of serene mountain air and incredible adventure.

As the last day on this beautiful adventure trip, we will drive you to the airport for your departure flight as per your flight schedule. If this is not your departure day, the service for this trip ends here. If you have extra days to spend in Nepal and need any other assistance, please do let us know. We will certainly help you in whatever way we can.

The walking adventure to the Gosaikunda Helambu goes through the trail that meanders up and down the mountains frequently. Although this is not an extremely difficult trip, you will certainly feel some challenges of walking in the high altitude during the trip. We would rate it as a moderate trip in difficulty level. After the 2015 devastation of the area from the earthquake, new trails have been built in some of the areas.

Walking hours vary from day to day on this trip. You walk from 4-8 hours every day depending on the distance you cover. You can expect the walking hours to be around 6 hours on average.

Since it is walking adventure trip, you do not need any climbing skills, experience or equipment. However, you will need a high level of determination to traverse the mountain trail in the wilderness for several days. This is just a trekking trip, not a climbing adventure. The highest point you will be on the trip is to Lauri Binayak Pass at the elevation of 4,610 meters above sea level.

The walking route to the Langtang region is a well-trodden and popular trail. Although the route and teahouses were destroyed in 2015, you will now find enough teahouses along the trail to spend the overnights. Teahouses along the route are basic lodges with accommodation and dining facilities where the trekkers spend overnight. These teahouses are comfortable but not super luxurious. The overnight places for each day are specified in the itinerary. However, your trip guide can change the overnight places on his/her sole discretion if s/he thinks it necessary for your comfort and better experience.

Dal Bhat is the staple food in the mountains. This combo of rice, lentil soup, vegetables, curry etc. is available everywhere you go. In addition to this Nepali food, you can enjoy momos, noodle soup (Thukpa), chowmein, pizza, sandwitch, Tibetan bread, soup etc. along the trail. Options of vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods are also available. We highly recommend you to go for vegetarian food during the trek.

When you go for the walking adventure trip, you will pack two different bags – one big backpack that your porter will carry for you and the other, a small daypack for yourself to carry with necessary things that you need for the day. You can refer to our Things to Carry page for a complete guide on what you need to have when you are in the mountains.