Kanchenjunga
Way out in the east of Nepal a wall of rock and ice rises up over eight and half kilometres into the sky. This is Kanchenjunga and at 8,586m it’s the third highest mountain on Earth. The hike to the base camp of this daunting peak is one of the most exciting treks in Nepal.
Over a couple of weeks you pass through pretty farming villages with terraced hillsides, through sub-tropical river valleys and misty, old-growth coniferous forests, and then across Alpine tundra until you come face-to-face with the glaciers and fluted peaks of the Kanchenjunga massif.
This is a scenically wild trek, but it’s also culturally diverse. You will find yourself settling down in pretty villages to drink tea with a heady mix of Limbu, Rais, Sherpa and Gurung peoples.
The distance from Kathmandu and the unrelenting up and down terrain means that very few people trek out here, although it is becoming more popular. Between October and November and March to April, very basic herders’ teahouses and village homestays are available along most of the route. At other times, most tend to be closed and you will need to be fully self-sufficient with camping gear and food.
Trekking in Nepal
Everything you need to know about Nepal trekking
The Nepal trekking industry is plagued with an oversupply problem – there seem to be more trekking operators than actual trekkers, which puts immense downward pressure on prices. This might seem like a good thing for you, but when you see a 12 day EBC trek for $800 it means corners are being cut somewhere, usually in the pay and quality (and therefore safety and wellbeing) of ground staff. Personally I always recommend booking with a Nepal based and owned operator, but do plenty of homework first...read more