Nepal trekking holiday - Renjo-La pass
| country: | Nepal |
| location: | Everest region |
| trip type: | High altitude, strenuous trekking holidays |
| departures: | This trip can be tailormade late August - early December and mid February - May |
| price: | From £550 (14 days) excluding flights, based on full board during trek. |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
A trek in the Everest region is now considered to be one of the best journeys in the world, combining a strenuous trek with extremely rewarding cultural and ecological experiences.
To make your journey exclusive, we take you to the little visited Renjo-La pass, which lies at 5390m. We go off the beaten track for about 3 days on this 9 days trek, and it is worth every minute, where you experience authentic Sherpa Culture, relatively untouched by the hustle of tourism in the main circuit. We stay in Sherpa homes in Thamo and Phortse, both stunning villages.
The route lies in the highest wildlife reserve in the world, the Sagarmatha National Park. It covers an area of 1,148 sq. km. of Himalayan ecological zone. The park altitudes range from 2,845m at Monju to the top of the world, UNESCO listed the park as a World Heritage Site in 1979 for its unique natural, cultural and landscape characteristics.
A trek in this region takes one to the foothills of the mightiest of the mountains in the world. Enroute, one traverses through rhododendron and pine forests, rivers, Sherpa villages and Buddhist Monasteries from temperate to snow line regions. The Himalayas are best seen on this trek as one traces the main route through the Khumbu region from the Sherpa town of Namche Bazaar. Trekkers get a close view of the world's greatest mountains, Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, Thamserku, Tawache and others.
To make your journey exclusive, we take you to the little visited Renjo-La pass, which lies at 5390m. We go off the beaten track for about 3 days on this 9 days trek, and it is worth every minute, where you experience authentic Sherpa Culture, relatively untouched by the hustle of tourism in the main circuit. We stay in Sherpa homes in Thamo and Phortse, both stunning villages.
The route lies in the highest wildlife reserve in the world, the Sagarmatha National Park. It covers an area of 1,148 sq. km. of Himalayan ecological zone. The park altitudes range from 2,845m at Monju to the top of the world, UNESCO listed the park as a World Heritage Site in 1979 for its unique natural, cultural and landscape characteristics.
A trek in this region takes one to the foothills of the mightiest of the mountains in the world. Enroute, one traverses through rhododendron and pine forests, rivers, Sherpa villages and Buddhist Monasteries from temperate to snow line regions. The Himalayas are best seen on this trek as one traces the main route through the Khumbu region from the Sherpa town of Namche Bazaar. Trekkers get a close view of the world's greatest mountains, Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, Thamserku, Tawache and others.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrival in Kathmandu. Transfer to hotel. Overnight hotel |
| Day 2: | Kathmandu. After breakfast, heritage sightseeing tour of Kathmandu valley (including world heritage sites like Swoyambhu, Pashupatinath and Boudhanath) Overnight at Hotel in Kathmandu. |
| Day 3: | Kathmandu – Lukla – Monjo. Early morning flight to Lukla from where we start our trek. After breakfast, we trek 2-3 hours to reach the village of Monjo. Overnight in Monjo. |
| Day 4: | Monjo –Thamo. After breakfast we trek to Thamo via Namche Bazaar. The trek will be around 5 hours with stopover in Namche Bazaar. Thamo is also for acclimatization. |
| Day 5: | Thamo – Thame. This day is meant for acclimatization and hence we do not embark on any serious trekking. Instead we go to a slightly lower altitude of Thame, the birthplace of Tenzing Norgay, the first man on Everest. We conduct some sightseeing of the monastery there and generally rest. |
| Day 6: | Thame – Lungden (4300m). Today we start our serious high altitude trekking. We walk for about 4 hours through a stunning landscape on an old trade route to Tibet to the village of Lungden. This village has only one lodge and very aptly called the Renjo La Support Lodge. |
| Day 7: | The High Pass: Lungden – Renjo-La (5390m) – Gokyo (4400m). The big day starts real early and it is a long day, as we have to walk about 5 hours to reach the pass, going slow because of the high altitude. After a brief stopover to enjoy the stunning beauty of the Everest Range and take photographs, we start on a remarkably difficult downhill journey for about 3 hours to reach the village of Gokyo walk along the stunning and beautiful Dudh Kunda (milk lake). |
| Day 8: | Gokyo Ri (5483m) and Return. Unlike the Kalapatthar hill from Lobuche, the foot of Gokyo Ri lies five minutes away from the stream the feeds the Gokyo Lake. After two to three hours "huff and puff" you reach the summit not to be disappointed for your effort at all, as the views from here are well worth the effort you put in. Everest (8848m), showing more of it's northern flank than from Kalapatthar, with Makalu (8475m) further to the east and Cho Oyu (8153m) towards the north make a mesmerizing view to watch. Return back to Gokyo Ri after spending a wonderful break at the summit. |
| Day 9: | Gokyo – Phortse. It takes four to five hours of walking to reach the very beautiful village of Phortse, for our second home stay component in Sherpa houses. This village has over 23 Everest summiteers, and you meet a lot of them right there in the village. The village is famous for its tolerance and conservation of wildlife, so sights of deer and pheasants is common here. |
| Day 10: | Phortse – NamcheBazaar. We now start our return from the Everest Region to trek about 3 hours to reach Namche Bazaar through Khumjung, a lovely village with excellent bakeries and restaurants, |
| Day 11: | Namche - Phakding. |
| Day 12: | Phakding – Lukla. |
| Day 13: | Lukla – Kathmandu. Early morning, fly from Lukla to Katmandu on a twin Otter. Upon arrival, meet and transfer to the hotel. Rest of the day free for leisure. Overnight hotel in Kathmandu. |
| Day 14: | Kathmandu. Free till departure to airport. |
travelling with a local operator
This holiday is operated by a company based in the holiday destination and they will be able to provide expert local knowledge. They will be able to tailor make your holiday to suit your requirements not only concerning the dates of travel but also typically the standard of accommodation, and thus price. It is rare for local operators to be able to help with the booking of your flights.how this holiday makes a difference
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This trip supports the work of Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation Programme, a tourism development programme supported by UNDP, DFID and SNV. The programme helped develop a cultural group in Monjo who give Sherpa performances and the home stays in Thamo and Phortse. These are also owned by community based organisations in these villages.
The company does not vertically integrate and sub-contracts all support activities like transportation, lodging etc. so that the money gets spread in the economy. It conserves on paper minimising paperwork in the office and by giving out electronic brochures. When required, brochures are printed on both sides of the paper and are in a folder format so that only relevant inserts need be given. The tour company also has in place a development support system whereby 10% of its profits go to charities like the Joy Foundation Nepal who conduct free cataract eye camps in rural areas of Nepal and Antardristi Nepal, which is developing a fund to start a incest and rape care centre for minors. 10% of the company's profits also goes directly into employee benefits. In the field, guides, porters and clients are all oriented in responsible travel. A zero litter policy is in place so that it minimises wastage in the region. The company also only takes out very small groups with a maximum of twelve participants per group. All trips also focus on culture. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |