Day by Day
Days 1 to 2 Kathmandu to Makaibari The Drive West
Arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport and transfer to the hotel with a traditional Sherpa welcome. Full expedition briefing covering the route, altitude protocol for the high-pass crossing, gear requirements, and what the 22 days ahead will demand. The Rolwaling Trek is one of the more serious undertakings in Nepal's standard trekking calendar and the briefing is correspondingly thorough.
Depart Kathmandu early the following morning by private coach, driving west along the Araniko Highway toward the Tama Valley. Charikot sits on the flank of the valley at roughly 1,800 meters, a busy market town that serves as the last significant settlement before the mountains begin in earnest. The first views of the Rolwaling Himal appear above the ridge from the road, white and distant above the terraced farmland of the middle hills. Trek from Charikot through local farms to Makaibari for the first night of tented camping. The camp staff will have everything ready when the walking group arrives.
Stay: Kathmandu Hotel then Professional Tented Camp
Days 3 to 7 Sunakhari to Simigaon The Tama Koshi Gorge
The trail along the Tama Koshi River is one of the finest approach routes in eastern Nepal: a deep gorge cut through mixed subtropical forest, the river running large and loud below, the valley walls rising steeply on both sides. The forest here is genuinely tropical in character, with large trees draped in orchids, sections of trail shaded so completely that sunlight does not reach the ground, and the constant sound of water from the river and the side streams that drain the gorge walls above.
Jagat is a relaxed town several days into the approach, known among guides for the orchid trees that line the main street and for the quality of the tea houses along the trail. The landmark of this section comes as the trail rounds a bend above the Tama to reveal the confluence where the Rolwaling River joins it. The Rolwaling drops roughly 250 meters in a series of falls before reaching the main river, and the suspension bridge that crosses above the confluence is one of the most dramatic river viewpoints in the valley. The steep climb from the bridge to Simigaon gains significant elevation in a short distance. Simigaon at 2,750 meters is a Sherpa village on a cliff above the valley junction, with vast rock walls rising across the gorge to the east and the first proper views of the peaks that guard the upper Rolwaling.
Stay: Professional Tented Camp
Days 8 to 12 Bhedi Goth to Na The Mysterious Valley
The forest above Simigaon is different in character from the gorge below: denser, wetter, older. The fir trees are enormous and their branches are draped in Spanish moss, the pendulous grey-green lichen that thrives in the persistent mist of the upper valley. The light here is filtered and grey even on clear days, and the forest floor is deep with moss. This is the terrain that gave rise to the Yeti tradition in the Rolwaling, and Sherpa communities have described encounters with large unidentified animals in these forests for generations.
The valley opens above the treeline. Na at 4,000 meters is one of the highest permanently inhabited settlements in the Rolwaling, a community of stone houses with timber roofs built around the river in a bowl of high alpine pasture. The yak herders who summer here have been using these pastures since before the valley was known to the outside world. The barberry bushes that carpet the valley floor turn red in autumn. The view from Na up the valley toward the glacier is one of the defining images of the Rolwaling: a flat green pasture giving way abruptly to a wall of ice and rock.
The walk from Na to the head of the valley is a short day that exists to acclimatize and to see the glacial lake. Tso Rolpa at 4,540 meters sits behind a moraine dam at the foot of the Trakarding Glacier, the meltwater of the Rolwaling Himal contained in a body of turquoise water ringed by multi-colored rock formations. The lake has been growing steadily as the glacier retreats and is now one of the most closely monitored glacial lakes in Nepal due to the flood risk it poses to communities downstream. Stand at the shore long enough and the scale of the ice above becomes clear.
Stay: Professional Tented Camp
Days 13 to 22 The Yarlung La to Kathmandu The High Crossing and Return
The Yarlung La at 5,250 meters is the technical and physical crux of the expedition. The approach from the Rolwaling side climbs through Kharja and high yak pastures at Rabuk before the final push to the pass through black rock and snow. The altitude at the pass is serious: well above the threshold where acute mountain sickness becomes a genuine risk, at an elevation where the air contains roughly half the oxygen available at sea level. The guide team manages the ascent with strict acclimatization protocol. Guests who have followed the pacing of the previous days arrive in good condition.
From the pass on a clear day, the view extends east toward the Khumbu: Cho Oyu at 8,188 meters, Everest at 8,849 meters, and Gaurishankar at 7,134 meters are all visible, the latter a twin-peaked massif of particular religious significance to both Hindu and Buddhist communities across the region. The descent on the eastern side of the pass drops through remote wilderness terrain before the trail re-enters forested country.
The return route passes through Bigu Gompa, the most significant Buddhist institution in the Rolwaling region and home to more than 300 Buddhist nuns. The gompa sits in open parkland well off the standard trekking circuits and the community here maintains a daily schedule of prayer, study, and ritual practice that has continued with minimal interruption for generations. The visit is a genuine cultural encounter. Continue the descent through rhododendron forests to Mabu and the religious center of Chilanga before reaching Barabise on the Araniko Highway. From Barabise the drive returns to Kathmandu along the Bhote Koshi River gorge, one of the most scenic highway stretches in Nepal, arriving in the city for the final night.
Stay: Professional Tented Camp then Kathmandu Hotel
