21-Day Great Himalayan Chain Trek Nepal

21 Days Across the Central Himalaya

Days 1 to 4  |  Kathmandu and the Red Hills

Arrive in Kathmandu for an expedition briefing on the full route, the pass crossings, and the terrain ahead, which is quite different from any standard trekking itinerary in Nepal. Drive north to Trishuli the next morning and start trekking through the red laterite hills of Hattigounda, dry ridges with wide views over the middle hills. The ancient Nuwakot fortress is visible from the high ground, and its position above the Trishuli River gorge shows at once why it was built there. Follow the ridge east to Deurali as the first views of the Ganesh Himal range appear on the northern horizon.

Days 5 to 9  |  The Tamang Villages

Leave the main trails behind for the quiet pine and rhododendron forests of the upper ridges. Shertung introduces a way of building that is rare in Nepal: flat stone-slab roofs laid like tiles, compact fortress-like houses, and narrow, shaded lanes. The women of Shertung are known for their traditional gilt earrings, worn as they have been for generations. Continue through the Tamang village of Burang, neat and orderly with well-kept fields, and climb to the gray stone town of Lowa Khading, where the views north to the high ridges of the Ganesh range really open up.

Days 10 to 15  |  The High Pastures

The middle section of the trek crosses the highest ground of the route. Trek through mixed forest and past high ponds to Yak Kharka, where mist sits in the valley in the mornings and the forest feels like old growth. Pass through the remote Gurung settlements of Kera Ghari and Halchowk on the way to Laprak, a village well known in the region: large, prosperous by the standards of the high hills, and home to many retired Gurkha soldiers whose pensions and experience give it a character of its own. Continue to the open grasslands of Bhedi Kharka for early morning views of the Annapurna range stretching unbroken from east to west.

Days 16 to 21  |  Gorkha and the Return

Descend through the subtropical forests on the southern slopes of the Gorkha ridge, dense, humid, and full of orchids and birdlife, on a long and gradual descent. Gorkha town sits below at roughly 1,000 meters. Climb the stone steps to the palace complex above the town, the ancestral home of the Shah dynasty and the place where Prithvi Narayan Shah began the military campaign that unified Nepal. The view from the hilltop takes in the full arc of the central Himalaya. Return to Kathmandu by private vehicle through the middle hills, with the whole central range behind you.

Days 1 to 4  Kathmandu to Deurali  The Red Hills

Arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport, where our team gives you the usual Sherpa welcome and takes you to the hotel. The expedition briefing that evening is detailed, because this route has no tea houses at regular intervals and no well-worn path where the next camp is always obvious. It covers the full 21-day traverse, the two high pass crossings, the communities along the route, the camping logistics for 18 nights in the field, and terrain that changes from subtropical ridgeline to high alpine pasture over three weeks. By breakfast the next morning you will have a clear picture of what is ahead.

The drive north to Trishuli takes three hours, along the Prithvi Highway and then north up the Trishuli River valley. Trishuli (about 600 meters) is a busy market town at the bottom of a deep valley, with the river fast and brown below the road and terraced hills rising steeply on both sides. The trek starts above the town and climbs quickly into the red laterite country typical of this part of the middle hills. The soil is the color of dried brick, and the ridgelines are long, open, and exposed, very different from the forested gorges of most approach routes in Nepal. The ancient Nuwakot fortress is visible from the high ground to the west, its walls and towers on a spur above the river gorge that was once the main overland route between the Kathmandu Valley and the Tibetan plateau. Follow the dry ridge east, with wide views over the surrounding hills, to the first camp at Deurali.

Stay: Kathmandu Hotel then Professional Tented Camp

Days 5 to 9  Karani Odar to Lowa Khading  The Stone Villages

Above Deurali the trail changes character. The red hills give way to pine and rhododendron forest that closes around the path and stays close for the next two days. This is old-growth forest, with large, irregular trees, dense undergrowth, and filtered light. It is very quiet, with only the wind in the upper branches and now and then the far-off sound of a waterfall on a ridge you cannot yet see.

Shertung (about 1,950 meters) is the first sizable village above the forest, and it is very different from the villages on the standard trekking circuits. The roofs are flat stone slabs laid like overlapping tiles, each one cut and placed by hand, a method specific to this part of the central range that the communities have kept up for generations. The houses are compact and low, built for the hard winters at this altitude, with courtyards enclosed by walls of the same gray stone. The women of Shertung wear traditional gilt earrings as a marker of local identity. They wear them every day, in a village that sees very few visitors.

The Tamang village of Burang is more open, its fields spreading down the hillside in well-kept terraces and the paths between the houses wide enough to walk comfortably. The Tamang are among the most numerous of Nepal's hill peoples, and along this part of the central range you see their presence in the roadside shrines, the prayer wheels at the village entrances, and the style of the Buddhist gompas above the settlements. Lowa Khading, where this section ends, is a substantial gray stone town on the ridge, with the first long views north to the high ridges of the Ganesh Himal.

Stay: Professional Tented Camp

Days 10 to 15  Yak Kharka to Bhedi Kharka  The High Pastures

The middle section of the trek is the highest and hardest. The trail climbs through mixed forest to Yak Kharka, through alder, birch, and rhododendron lower down and, higher up, through smaller, older trees hung with thick moss and lichen. Yak Kharka is a high settlement named for the yaks that have grazed these pastures since before anyone kept records. In the mornings the ponds in the high hollows above it are still and dark, and on clear days the Manaslu group shows above the northern ridge.

The passes of Shing La at 4,200 meters and Pangsang La at 3,842 meters are the landmarks of this section. Each crossing takes the route above the treeline into the open high country, where the plants thin to low scrub and then bare rock and the wind is cold. From up here the Ganesh Himal is close and detailed, four separate peaks in a skyline you do not get from the standard circuits to the west. Coming down from each pass, the forest closes in again and it gets warmer with every hundred meters you lose.

Laprak is a village trekkers know by reputation, though relatively few have walked there. It sits on the Gorkha ridge at about 2,100 meters, large and prosperous by the standards of the high hills, with terraced potato fields running a long way up the slopes around it. Many Laprak men have served in Gurkha regiments: the British Army, the Indian Army, and the Singapore Police Force. The money and experience they brought home over generations have made Laprak outward-looking and well informed, while it stays rooted in the Gurung traditions of its founding. The walk from Laprak to the open grasslands of Bhedi Kharka takes most of a day and ends at a camping ground where, at dawn, the Annapurna range fills the horizon from end to end.

Stay: Professional Tented Camp

Days 16 to 21  Gorkha to Kathmandu  The Warriors’ Town

The descent from Bhedi Kharka drops through the subtropical forest on the southern face of the Gorkha massif. It is a very different forest from the pine and rhododendron above: dense, humid, and full of orchids growing on every large tree. The descent is long, and the change from the high grasslands is dramatic as the temperature rises, the air gets thicker, and the forest closes in on both sides. The birdlife is excellent, because the slope is rich, undisturbed, and diverse, running unbroken from subtropical lowland to alpine.

Gorkha town sits at roughly 1,000 meters on a spur above the surrounding valleys, and its market streets and government buildings give little sign of its history. The palace complex is on the ridge top above the town, a twenty-minute climb up stone steps that local people have climbed for centuries. Gorkha Durbar is the ancestral home of Prithvi Narayan Shah, the Gorkha king who spent twenty-seven years campaigning to unify the divided hill kingdoms of Nepal into a single state. He succeeded in 1768. The soldiers who served under him and under his successors came from these hills. The British recognized their quality in the nineteenth century, and the Gurkha regiments have recruited from this region ever since. From the palace terrace you see the whole central Himalayan chain, Ganesh Himal to the northeast, Manaslu to the north, and the Annapurna range to the northwest: three weeks of walking in a single view.

The drive back to Kathmandu on the final morning takes four hours through the same middle-hill country as the approach, arriving in the city in the early afternoon. On clear days you can see the Himalaya from the northern edge of the Kathmandu Valley, a white line above the green hills where you have just spent three weeks walking.

Stay: Gorkha Hotel then Kathmandu Hotel

The Sherpa Standard

Every SherpaHolidays trip is fully supported, from arrival to departure. Here is what that means on this one.

Accommodation and Meals

• Kathmandu: Hotel at the start and end of the trip, twin-sharing.
• Full Expedition Camping: 18 nights of professional tented camping in the Ganesh Himal range, with high-quality sleeping tents, a dining tent, and toilet tents.
• Full Board on Trek: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner throughout the expedition, freshly cooked each day by the expedition kitchen team.
• Kitchen Team: A full kitchen crew with all the equipment it needs, responsible for cooking and clean water at every campsite.

Leadership and Support

• Expedition Lead Guide: A dedicated English-speaking Sherpa guide who knows the central Himalayan range, its communities, and its least-used trails.
• Sherpa Support Team: A full team of local porters and camp assistants to carry all heavy loads and handle the tents and camp logistics.
• Safety Protocol: Expert navigation on the high passes and remote trails, with careful pacing and altitude management built into the schedule from the first day.

Transport and Permits

• Private Transfers: All airport pickups, drops, and local transfers in Kathmandu by private vehicle.
• Mountain Transport: Private vehicle between Kathmandu and Trishuli at the start of the trek, and from Gorkha back to Kathmandu at the end.
• Permits: All trekking permits, national park and conservation area fees, and local government taxes, arranged and paid.

What Is Not Included

• International airfare to and from Kathmandu
• Nepal entry visa fees
• Lunch and dinner while in Kathmandu
• Personal trekking equipment, sleeping bags, and medications
• Comprehensive travel insurance, which is a condition of every booking. Your policy must cover emergency medical treatment, emergency evacuation, trip cancellation and interruption, and repatriation. We can recommend providers.
• Tips for guides and porters
• Single supplement (for those taking a private room)

Five Highlights

The Ganesh Himal from the Ridge

The Ganesh massif is four peaks, Ganesh I through IV, along the central Himalayan chain north of the route, and together they make one of the most distinctive skylines in Nepal. From the high passes of Shing La and Pangsang La, and from the grasslands of Bhedi Kharka, they are close enough that you can pick out the individual faces and ridgelines. Most trekkers in Nepal see Ganesh Himal far off, behind other things; on this route it is right in front of you.

Trails Few People Walk

The villages of Shertung, Burang, Lowa Khading, Kera Ghari, and Laprak are not on the standard Nepal trekking map. There are no tea houses on the approach, no guesthouses at the passes, and on most days no other trekking groups. The trail crosses the central range at altitudes and through terrain that the main circuits (Annapurna, Langtang, Everest) do not reach. Walking a path you have to yourself, through villages that are not set up for visitors, is increasingly rare in the Himalaya today, and on this route you get it for three weeks.

The Stone Villages of the Central Range

The Tamang communities of Shertung and Burang build their houses and roofs from the same gray stone as the ridges they live on, using a flat-slab roofing method specific to this part of Nepal and handed down unchanged for generations. The villages are compact and fortress-like, built for winters that arrive fast and stay long at these altitudes. The women wear traditional gilt earrings every day. The gompas are old and well kept. These villages show a way of life shaped by altitude, isolation, and a distinct cultural tradition that you do not find in the lower valleys or on the main trails.

Laprak and the Gurkha Ridge

Laprak is the best-known village on the route, famous in Nepal and beyond for its long tradition of Gurkha military service. Its men have served in armies around the world for generations, and it shows: the village is outward-looking, well informed, and prosperous compared with its neighbors, yet rooted in the Gurung traditions of its founding. The potato fields on the high slopes around it are worked the way they have been for centuries. At dawn, from the camping ground above the village, the Annapurna range stretches from Dhaulagiri in the west to Annapurna IV in the east, one of the finest open Himalayan panoramas from any trail in Nepal.

Gorkha and the Shah Palace

The trek ends at one of the most important places in Nepal's history. The Gorkha palace complex above the town is the ancestral home of the dynasty that unified Nepal, where Prithvi Narayan Shah began the campaign that brought the divided hill kingdoms under one rule. The soldiers he trained and led became the Gurkha regiments that have served in conflicts around the world for over two centuries. From the palace terrace you can see the whole central Himalayan chain you have just crossed on foot.