Ganesh GHT

Avoiding peak season crowds, we traverse the "magical and mysterious" Ganesh Himal. In the shadow of this graceful but little-known mountain range, we explore the green middle hills, a mix of villages and wilderness and explore a high country end that avoids the usual road.

12-30 Nov, 19 days — expedition style — Jamie McGuinness — US$2250
Team: Gaye K**, Phil Whitwell**, and the private couple
Crew: Bal Bahadur Lopchan, Sonam, Bire Tamang, Ang Kami (Phura Kami), Sona and Kipa plus 12 porters (and young Pasang and Ngatemba for part)

Almost uniquely, there is no one established main trekking route through this region, perhaps why there is still confusion about what is the main or best route through. Indeed, we only spent half a day of the whole trek on trails mentioned in Bob and Sian's Ganesh Himal guidebook; they trekked a more roundabout route. Our trek really hammered home the fact that you are going against the grain of the land, the north-south rivers and ridges - so lots of climbs and descents.

Almost surprisingly, our trek ended up being exploratory for a couple of sections. Asking locals for the best way, for a GHT variation to avoid roads, we pioneered an alternative high and spectacular route from Keraunja to Khading (further details to come). We also explored a novel end not on any maps however still hit a new dirt road - there is no escaping them anymore ...

While we trekked under the Ganesh Himal, the stars were the Manaslu massif and the Langtang massif either side as the terrain is so steep, the full Ganesh Himal range was barely visible.

For myself, this was a particularly significant trek as I finally truly finished the whole Nepal GHT with this last section. Thank you for accompanying me.

Also, a special thank you to the porters Prem and Nima who accompanied the couple on the Tamang Heritage Trail last section.

Kanchenjunga Double Magic

Unspoilt and cultural, the Kanchenjunga region offers some of the best trekking in Nepal. We begin in the warm middle hills, whole hillsides of terraces and picturesque villages, and work our way up thru thick forests into the high alpine regions with valleys that just keep going and going. The sight of Kanchenjunga (#3 peak in the world), seen from Oktang and from Pangpema (the north base camp) is unforgettable, as is the north face of Jannu, a worthy destination itself.

28 Oct-21 Nov, 25 days — teahouse trek — Tawa Sherpa — US$2780
Team: Bruce Utsey**, Trevor and Emma, Christine S, Barty L and Richard H

While everyone enjoyed the trek, my choice of guide was bad and so Tawa is off the guide roster.

What a wonderful trip!

It was a pleasure to join our small group and walk near the edge of the map. Not quite "off the map", but closer than the usual by a wide margin. Some may feel that the communication from the guides was a bit less that expected, or sometimes contradictory, but I enjoyed not being spoon fed and led by an invisible leash.

(The Kathmandu staff (Uva and Pasang) stepped up and handled my lost bag situation competently and reassuringly. (2 days late-China Southern)).

I tried not to have many expectations, but to stay in the present and and enjoy that fully, so my few expectations were certainly fulfilled! I truly liked walking ahead, at times, and finding a nice spot to wait for the others. I enjoyed some spectacular and moving moments at these times. We all have an optimal pace, where we are most efficient, sometimes faster and sometimes slower, depending on the day and terrain. I greatly appreciated, as I'm sure that the others did as well, the freedom to do a bit of exploring to see what's around the next bend, or over the next rock staircase.

Don't know if you heard, but our timing at Lhonak was superb. We were awakened at 0430 by the most profound, thundering rockfall that I have ever imagined. It was dark and probably -15C. The ice fog had settled in limiting visibility even further, and it was snowing lightly. It was as if boxcars full of refrigerators were being tossed from skyscrapers... for 2 or 3 hours, nearly nonstop! I got up and walked up to the moraine above, and stood there in awe, with mostly guides and porters, thankful for the mile wide glacier separating us from the invisible but very audible forces of nature taking place. Double magic indeed!

I look forward to joining one of your groups again sometime

- Bruce Utsey

Just wanted to say thanks for giving me a place on the Kanchenjunga trip - had a brilliant time with a nice group of people, good guides and porters and amazing scenery.

- Barty

Kiwi Kanchenjunga Triple Magic *private

Trekking magic, from the rice paddies and terraced hillsides, trek up through big, old forest up to the alpine regions with jaw-dropping mountains. After south and north base camp, wilderness calls. The finale is over the Nango La and across the remote Lumba Samba to the Arun and back to the warmth, down to Tumlingtar, all with your favourite crew.

20 Oct-23 Nov, 35 days — expedition style — Sangge Sherpa
Crew: Sangge (sirdar-guide), Da'gelje 2 (cook) and more
Team: Jim Morrow*** and six others

I want to say thank you for the trek, everyone enjoyed it very much. Sange and Dawa were their usual jolly and hard working selves, how Dawa and his kitchen team are able to produce the food they do is a mystery. The 2 young sherpas did a superb job of leading.

...

We found the country quite different to Dolpo, more forests, deep and narrow valleys, and close to the mountains. Jannu is truly awsome, and the north face of Kanchenjunga is scary!

The second half of the trip was interesting for its remoteness from the tourist areas, after leaving Ghunsa we saw only the locals until the end at Num. ...

- Jim Morrow

+Upper Mustang-Dolpo Wild

Powerful beauty, we combine Lo Manthang with an adventurous route to the sublime Panzang Valley traverse, completing our no compromise, deeply appreciative, trek with sacred Shey Gompa and the enchanting, oh-so-turquoise Phoksundo.

We explore the secrets of Nepal's Shangri-la, trekking where few dare through the culturally Tibetan, flat-roofed villages and sacred monasteries, along meandering alpine valleys and over breathless mountain passes, and all a visual feast of gorgeous, never-ending trans-Himalayan panoramas.

30 Sept-3 Nov, 35 days — expedition style — +Jamie McGuinness — US$5580 — full
Mugu GHT option: 30 Sept-6 Nov, 38 days — full
Team: +Nigel, Clive*** & +Catherine***, +Clive P, Jen**, Wilma & Lisa, Kees Terhell***** and Virginia Hill**
Team Mugu: +Roger Nix****** (4 people changed to above)
Sherpa crew: +Bal Bahadur Lopchan, +Mingmar, Lakpa Tenjee, Aiteram
Kitchen: Pemba Gombu, Bire Tamang, Dendi, Sona, Kipa, Pasang (Meme), young Pasang, Kaji and Ang Kami
Horsemen: Bhim Rokaya, Dawa, Bhim 2 and angry

Success! Our route was ambitious and challenging however everything went without a hitch.

On the Arniko Chuli massif, Jamie eyeballed a peak and it turned out to be a very satisfying, straightforward summit, first climbed by Jamie and Nigel then the next day by Roger, Catherine and Clive P, with Bali and Mingmar.

And what delicious meals... The kitchen crew turned out the best meals, all the more admirable in the tough conditions.

Upper Dolpo is in a state of change though, and the pristine trekking has well and truly finished with motorbike roads from the border to Tinje and onwards to Shimen and Dho, and even motorbikes in use in Chharka.

Three of my Flickr photo albums cover the trek:

2018 Upper Mustang 1

2018 Mustang to Dolpo 2

2018 Dolpo 3

Trekking in the Everest Region guidebook

Jamie wrote the book - literally!

This is the most detailed and useful guidebook to the region and covers the main trails, minor trails and popular trekking peaks as well. Whether you trek independently or with a guide, this book will significantly enhance your experience.

May 2018 6th edition available direct (free shipping) and through Amazon

You might ask why we no longer run Everest treks - and there is no good reason, other than Jamie focused on making the GHT (Great Himalaya Trail) and exploring forgotten parts of Nepal. Jamie has trekked the Everest region 25+ times and climbed Everest 6 times.

Zanskar Canyons

Our unique end of season Zanskar affair, for mesmerizing views, adventurous canyons, stunning wild camping and pretty villages. Rugged, colourful rock contrasts with the azure rivers and green village oases. Ancient monasteries cling to rock faces and Buddhist chortens dot the immense landscape on a trek where each and every day is scenically surprisingly different.

25 Aug-21 Sept, 28 days — Leh to Leh (or Manali) — expedition style — Lobsang Chomphel — US$2480
Team: Lee Heard and Nick Neagle
Crew: Lobsang, Raj, Stanzin Kungha, Ram Lam, Mandi and 10 horses

A quick email to let you know we had a fabulous trek and Lobsang has now driven us to Manali. ...

The trek really was amazing and the crew were excellent. Please thank all of them again for us (we did already) for giving such good service. Lobsang ran it well and kept a good eye on us. We were both pleased to last the distance as well as we did though I had a minor stomach bug on the last couple of days. Zanskar has an astounding landscape and the route you chose seemed to highlight this while avoiding most of the roads. Thanks very much for running the trip for [just the two of] us. ...

Thanks again and all the best.

Nick & Lee

Changthang Passes Exploratory

New temptations and real exploration in a surprisingly remote part of the Ladakh Range. In this Jamie special, we build on our 2012 foray, aiming to be the first foreigners to cross the very high Gongma La, and of course scramble a few high hills and more passes in a satisfying large loop.

1-22 Aug, 22 days — Leh to Leh — caravan style — *Lobsang — US$2880
Team: Mike Farris*, Jon Cupka and Peter W**
Crew: Lobsang, Raj, Stanzin Galden, Stanzin Kungha, Ram Lam, Mandi and 10 horses

*I wish I could have gone along however I stayed in New Zealand to assist with aging parents. Was I worried about the team? Yep, but thankfully everything went OK. The weather was a bit messy though.

See Mike's Ladakh 2018 Flickr album

[Briefly] The trek went well, the crew were great and I got on well with Mike and Jon. Lobsang is quite a character. The food was fine, a lot better than expected, not much chance of wasting away!

- Peter W

Overall we did fine on the trek. The glaciers were completely bare and given the strength of the party we didn’t climb any peaks during the trek. This trek was much easier (physically) than the Zanskar trek. The glaciated valleys made for easy walking and of course the elevation dictated short days for acclimatization. I’m not sure if either Jon or Peter would agree that it was easy—I think I had trained more and have lots more experience at these elevations.

We originally headed up the wrong valley on the way to the Gongma La. We adjusted the schedule a bit, relocated into the correct valley, and went over without incident. Otherwise we followed your itinerary (except for the Rukheru side valley) fairly closely. I’ll send a map when I get my GPS data trimmed down to a reasonable size.

Weather—we had rain on a fair number of nights, and there was snow above 5000m on most of those occasions. We only set up camp once in the rain. Had to move tents twice due to flooding!

- Mike Farris

Markha & Dzo Jongo Ri 6218m

Our wonderfully balanced trek where we climb a 6000+m peak in only two weeks, and experience Leh and monasteries and the classic Markha Valley trek. With sound acclimatization, this is probably the best two week 6000m peak there is!

24 June-7 July, 14 days — Leh to Leh — caravan style — Jamie McGuinness — US$1980
Team: Dave Houser, Catie Boland, Bernard Tay, Hing Loong Yuen, Kristina and Zoltan (and Esther)
Crew: Lobsang, Raj, Stanzin Galden, Stanzin Kungha, Kunsang, Ram Lam, Mandi, Pema and 18 horses

At 14 days, this was our shortest trek in Ladakh ever, and also perhaps with the biggest percentage of patchy weather days. Plenty of drizzle and cloud and even some snow; the Scrabble board was fiercely contested and a few books finished, but also some wonderful fine periods too. For all the inclement weather, it was still scenic and Dave and I made it to 6000m, and the Shang Sumdo finish through the colourful canyon is simply spectacular, one of the most scenic days ever.

It was also a trek with altitude niggles. We took an extra day acclimatizing and I have checked the schedule against other treks, and it just seems to come down to luck. Several people had no problems at all, however others that did had slightly unusual or rare issues, that while preventing us powering high, didn't stop the enjoyment factor.

I have to emphasise again, that I give the reality of the trek, not a glossy hard sell version, and overall everyone really did love the trek, even if there is more respect for altitude from the inexperienced. Among many highlights, Bernard and Yuen's race to the top of the Konmaru La was hilarious, Yuen out seemingly way off route but finally won the day.

North Col 7010m - Tibet

In the shadow of Everest we climb high!

24 days — expedition-style — local guide
Team: Chris Debney

We expected to be running our own expedition that would have provided services to Chris, however that didn't work out and so he had a partly private trek, and was mixed in with a joint Expedition Himalaya-other local company operation in the complicated way the Kathmandu agents are doing now, so while there were some interesting moments, Chris had this to say:

As i say it was an unforgettable experience and had some wonderful moments and took some good photographs.

- Chris Debney

Kanchenjunga Double Magic *private

Unspoilt and cultural, the Kanchenjunga region offers some of the best trekking in Nepal. We begin in the warm middle hills, whole hillsides of terraces and picturesque villages, and work our way up thru thick forests into the high alpine regions with valleys that just keep going and going. The sight of Kanchenjunga (#3 peak in the world), seen from Oktang and from Pangpema (the north base camp) is unforgettable, as is the north face of Jannu, a worthy destination itself.

Apr, 26 days — teahouse trek — Tawa
Team: Mark Horrell** & Edita**
Crew: Gombu

We managed to complete our Kangchenjunga trek a couple of days early, so are flying back to Kathmandu today.

Thanks for everything. It all worked out well for us. We got great views from both sides, and also from the peak (setting off at 6am, as you suggested). It's not quite 6000m though. Our 3 GPS readings provided an average of 5958m.

You probably heard that they substituted our guide for Gombu at the last minute. Although we were a bit annoyed at the time, I can't fault him this time. He's a bit slow and old to put with mountaineers, but he was responsive to our changes to the itinerary, and provided some interesting insights from his previous climbs of Kangchenjunga.

... I think the weather was pretty good. Yes, it did cloud over in the afternoons, but this is what I expect in Nepal, and we always started early to take advantage of fine mornings. I think we only had 3 days when it was cloudy for most of the day. One of these was coming over the passes, but luckily we had great weather at Pangpema and Oktang which were the really important ones.

- Mark Horrell

See Mark Horrell's three posts on his well-known blog:

Kangchenjunga base camp trek: Pangpema and the north side

Drohmo Ri, the world’s easiest 6,000m peak? Not quite

And note that they didn't climb the 6000m bump on the ridge that I suggested; they climbed another, slightly closer to Pangpema, partly due to the guide change.

Kangchenjunga base camp trek: Oktang and the south side

Mark Horrell's Flickr album

Edita's Flickr album

Kiwi Kanchenjunga Double Magic *private

Unspoilt and cultural, the Kanchenjunga region offers some of the best trekking in Nepal. We begin in the warm middle hills, whole hillsides of terraces and picturesque villages, and work our way up thru thick forests into the high alpine regions with valleys that just keep going and going. The sight of Kanchenjunga (#3 peak in the world), seen from Oktang and from Pangpema (the north base camp) is unforgettable, as is the north face of Jannu, a worthy destination itself.

Mar-Apr, 28 days — teahouse trek — Bire (Bir Bahadur Tamang)
Team: Mark & Kate, Dave & Liz
Crew: Bire (guide), Sonam (assistant guide), Pur Lhakpa, Kipa and Lhakpa Tenzi ...

Our trek was truly fantastic.

- Mark Saunders

See Mark's Google Photos.

Many thanks to you and your team for a great trek and Himalayan experience. The pre-trip organization and planning was very good and the help and advice provided by Jamie in New Zealand, both from his web site and personal contact, was excellent.

The prompt help provided by you and your Kathmandu Staff when Liz got sick and needed hospital treatment before the start of the trek was really appreciated by us. The situation would have been far more difficult for us to deal with without your assistance.

On the trek, the two guides Bire and Sonam were always looking after our interests, keeping us safe and providing information about the locations as we passed through them. Bire was particularly careful to select good quality Tea Houses with clean kitchens and often took over the cooking himself if the standards were not high enough. Sonam proved to be a man of great tolerance. I was usually the slowest walker and Sonam would follow behind me singing quietly with his amazing voice. He never pushed me to go faster and my slow pace must have been frustrating for him.

Liz and I developed a great respect for the three porters Kepa, Lukpa and Pur Lakpa. Their strength and ability to carry heavy loads over rough ground was amazing. They were friendly and attentive to us, often taking over guide responsibilities if Bire and Sonam were not available. Kepa was a very good cook and often assisted Bire or took over alone. With their pleasant personalities these three, along with the guides, soon became friends.

The Kanchenjunga Trek itself was hard work but definitely worth the effort. The variety of scenery, ecological zones and ethnic diversity was quite different to previous treks we have done. Unfortunately, the unseasonal weather, which rained or snowed on us most afternoons, limited the opportunity to spend longer hours between tea houses. The only way to overcome this would be to schedule in more rest days to stay at selected villages.

Thanks to all involved for a most memorable trek.

Regards Dave and Liz Murray