Kanchenjunga Futuk Festival Trek – 21 Days

After you arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, you will have to go through custom formalities. You will be greeted by our representative who will be anxiously waiting for you with a placard displaying your name in his hand. You will be transferred to the 3-Star category hotel in a private vehicle. Once you get refreshed, you will get briefing regarding the Kanchenjunga Futuk Festival Trek itinerary. Enjoy welcome dinner in the evening where you can taste authentic Nepali dinner. Stay overnight in a hotel.

You will be transferred to our office for documentation work. You will also be introduced with your crew members and other trekkers who are going to join you on the trip. In the afternoon, half day sightseeing tour will be organized during which you will be taken on memorable UNESCO Heritage Tour. Tour begins with visit to Nepal’s holiest Pashupatinath Temple Complex and takes us through Nepal’s largest Bouddhanath Stupa and 2500 years old Swoyambhunath Stupa. We will return to hotel for overnight stay.

We will fly from KTM to Bhadrapur, this will be about 45min flight with scenic close-up views of Mt. Makalu, Mt. Kanchenjunga, Mt. Everest and other peaks and mountains. Once we land in Bhadrapur airport, we will straight  take Jeep drive to Taplejung, this drive will be about 8hrs, we will reach Taplejung little late in the evening and
we will stay overnight in a guesthouse.

Early in the morning, we take jeep drive from Taplejung to Ranipul for about 5hours, the road condition on this section is muddy road so dont expect smooth drive. During this drive we will cross through several Limbu villages
Mitlung village, Sinwa village, Tawa village, Thiwa village, Chirwa village etc. KCAP Entrance gate is located at Thiwa Village. Chirwa is the culturally rich village of Limbu ethnic and cultures.

Leaving Chirwa early in the morning, we will walk along Tamor River, and continues drive through Tapethok village (1340m). Few teahouses are available at Tapethok and finally comes to Ranipul, from where the path escalates uphill to Lelep (1687m). Headquarters of KCAP is in Lelep. Stay overnight in Lelep.

Early in the morning, we take jeep drive from Taplejung to Ranipul for about 5hours, the road condition on this section is muddy road so dont expect smooth drive. During this drive we will cross through several Limbu villages
Mitlung village, Sinwa village, Tawa village, Thiwa village, Chirwa village etc. KCAP Entrance gate is located at Thiwa Village. Chirwa is the culturally rich village of Limbu ethnic and cultures.

Leaving Chirwa early in the morning, we will walk along Tamor River, and continues drive through Tapethok village (1340m). Few teahouses are available at Tapethok and finally comes to Ranipul, from where the path escalates uphill to Lelep (1687m). Headquarters of KCAP is in Lelep. Stay overnight in Lelep.

After early morning tea, we will walk past forest rich in wildlife to arrive at a suspension bridge. Crossing the suspension bridge, we will follow the escalating path through pine forest to reach a monastery. Lowering down from the monastery, we will proceed towards small Gowatarvillage (1800m). The stone that exists near to the village is believed to be shifted only by religious people. We will enjoy the views of cascading waterfall from Gowatar and head towards Phedi. Crossing Tamor River, wewill follow the ascending path to Ela Danda. Enjoy the views of Kasturi Peak and Tamor River from Ela Danda. Stay overnight in Ela Danda.

From Ela Danda, we will take an hour long trek to the flat land of Jongim (2641). The trail leads us through colourful rhododendron forest to a suspension bridge. Crossing the bridge, we will choose the escalating path to Ramite (2685m). From Ramite, the path stretches through forest that provides shelter to rare red panda. We will enjoy the first view of Olangchung Gola after almost an hour long walk from waterfall. Another hour of climb will take us to the Sherpa village of Olangchung Gola (3208m). Stay overnight in Olangchung Gola.

Futuk Festival is celebrated in Walungcommunity that comprises of Olangchunggola, Yangma, Ghunsa, Lungthung, Lelepand few other settlements. We will trek to DikiChholing Monastery at Olangchunggola to observe Futuk festival which relives the scenes of war in between Gyabo of Maksum and Gyabo of Thudam. We will observe the Buddhist monk who performs dance during this festival.

We will continue to watch Futuk festival on this day. Visit the 465 years old monastery monastery and watch the ceremony. People from nearby villages also arrive at monastery to participate in Futuk festival.

Olangchunggola is considered as one of the remotest Tibetan villages in Kanchenjunga. We will head southeast along river to Ramite. From Ramite, we will head towards the intersection of Tamor River at Sumdo. The trail escalates uphill from to YangmaRiver. Crossing the intersection point, we will reach ThasaKhola Valley. Stay overnight in Thasa.

Crossing the Yangma River, we will follow the Thasa River Valley and head east to Dharmasala. There is one small rest house at Dharmasala. We will take the difficult climb of Nangola Pass. The summit rewards us with scenic views of Manaslu and other peaks and mountains. We will descend to Ghunsa village where we will stay overnight.

Since Ghunsa is located at an altitude of more than 3500m, it is wise to take a day of rest for proper acclimatization. There are many comfortable teahouses for accommodation in Ghunsa. Ghunsa is considered as the headquarters of Kanchenjunga North. We can explore Ghunsa or climb to the nearby ridge for better views of surrounding mountains and peaks. Another alternative is to visit the Lpasan La Monastery for which we need to walk through the forest area. We will return back to Ghunsa from the Monastery for overnight stay.

The path from Ghunsa to Khambachen continues through the landslide area that takes us through off the beaten section of Kanchenjunga North. Leaving Ghunsa, we will follow the scenic path with views of surrounding mountains and peaks. We will walk along the edge of river towards northern territory. We will be greetd with the pleasant aura of pasture land full of lush green vegetation and rhododendron and pine forest. The trail leads us to RampukKharka from where we will walk along the cascading waterfall and arrive at yet another landslide prone area. We can get close-up view of northern face of Mount Jannu once we walk past the landslide prone area. Kambachen, Lhonak and Pangpema are temporary settlements where we can find small stone teahouses for shepherd’s settlement during summer. Stay overnight in Khambachen.

This is going to be a long and tiring day as we need to trek for around seven hours to reach Lhonak from Khambachen. We will begin our trek early in the morning. We will walk past the field of rocks and boulders and enter Ramtang Valley as we pass through the Ramtang Monastery. This Monastery exists near to the bridge which we will arrive after passing through the cascading waterfall. We will visit the Monastery and take brief rest before continuing our journey through the landslide prone area. Keep your eyes open for loose rocks that make the path tricky. We will lower down to the river and follow the path that greets us with the first view of Lhonak settlement. There are very few small stone teahouses in Lhonak. These teahouses are a summer settlement of shepherds. Accommodation in these teahouses will not be comfortable. We might prefer accommodation in tent in Lhonak and Pangpema. Lhonak is a pasture land that is surrounded with hills and mountains. Stay overnight in Lhonak.

Pang Pema is the North Base Camp of Kanchenjunga. We will walk through the landslide prone area and fields of rocks and boulders to reach the grassy plain land of North Base Camp. We will climb to the nearby ridge for the close-up views of Mount Jannu, Chang Mountain and an incredible view of North Face of Kanchenjunga. We can meet with climbers who are on their way or have returned from climbing Peak 5950 which takes extra four days from Pangpema. Climbing Peak 5950 does not require climbing permit. After enjoying the stupefying views of Mountains and Peaks, we will retrace our route back to Lhonak where we will stay overnight.

Continuing our return trip, we will leave Lhonak and lower down to Ramtang Monastery. After taking brief rest in Ramtang Valley, we will walk past the landslide area to arrive at the bridge which we will cross and walk past waterfall to arrive at Khambachen. Descending trail is easier. So we can easily make it to Lhonak from Ghunsa in a single day without having to take a day of rest in Khambachen. The trail is scenic with views of Kanchenjunga, Gimmigela Peak, Mera Peak and other peaks and mountains at the backdrop. Following the descending trail from Kambachen, we will reach Ghunsa from where we can find the permanent settlements. We can meet with trekkers from Selele who are on Kanchenjunga South Base Camp Trek. Stay overnight in Ghunsa.

The trek begins along the small Kanchenjunga Conservation Area Office. We will walk past pretty Tibetan houses that are decorated with colourful flags. In couple of hours, we will reach Phole Village. We will visit the local monastery and walk along the winter village to rhododendron forest. We will reach Gyabla from where we will lower down to waterfall. We will follow the trail to stone shelters and continue walking to Thyanyani where we will stay overnight.

Leaving Thyanyani early in the morning, we will cross Ghunsa River over bridge and walk past rhododendron and bamboo forest to Gyabla. Lowering down to Amji Lhasa, we will traverse the oak forest to reach small Solima village. We will follow the tapered path that leads us to suspension bridge over Ghunsa River. Crossing the river, we will reach the Tibetan village of Sekathum. Stay overnight in Sekathum.

From Sekathum, we take local jeep to Taplejung about 5-6 hours, drive on dirt road, we reach Taplejung by about lunch time, stay in a Guesthouse in Taplejung and tours around the local market etc.

We will try to catch an early morning flight from Suketar to  Kathmandu directly. If this flight is not available, then we take drive to Bhadrapur (8 hrs) and take later afternoon flight to KTM the same day. You will be transferred to hotel for overnight stay.

This is rest day. Spend the day as you like. You can go for shopping in Thamel where you can buy souvenir items. We can also arrange for guided sightseeing tour. Farewell dinner will be served in the evening.

​You will be transferred to the Airport three hours before your scheduled flight. Safe journey. We hope to see you soon.