Chulu Far East Tilicho Lake Trek

Once you arrive at the country of Mt. Everest, you will be greeted by the representative of Hiamalayn Trekkers in a traditional way and transfer you to the hotel.

The rest of the day is at your own. You can roam aorund the streets of the tourist hub namely Thamel in the evening. 

You can spend this day exploring some of the World heritage sites such as Syambhunath Stupa, Bouddhanath and Durbar Square in Kathmandu valley for some time and prepare for the trek in the afternoon.

Overnight at Hotel.

We began our journey with a drive westwards to initiate our trekking experience with the help of the trekking crew. After a 3 hour drive, we reach the town of Mugling. Passing through the town, we turn north to Marshyangdi Valley. The distance to the destination depends on the condition of the weather and seasons. At present, we made out stop at Dharapani (1943m), which will be the site for the first camp.

Dharapani is located at the union of the river Dudh Khola, where the Manaslu and Annapurna Circuit trail routes meet up. At this point, the Marshyangdi Valley turns westward, as we move towards a Buddhist village Bagar Chap. From our current position, Manaslu can be seen at the back and Annapurna is located in the south, while we pass through the pine forest and stone terrains. The road construction is taking place at the location; hence we will have a hard time with rough roads. The way is full of lodges and hamlets that serve as the resting place for an overnight stay at Chame. The town is an administrative center with the facilities of shops, banks and school as well. Annapurna range can be clearly seen from the town.

On our journey, we crossed the Marshyangdi valley several times as it gorges along the path of the river. The path is also seen to be built from wooden piers on the cliff side. Moving forward with the climb to the forested ridge beyond Buradhan, we reach to the open valley that helps us cross the northern bank of the river. The scene at the location is mesmerizing as we laid eyes on the huge sheet of rocks covered with vegetation at 1500 meters above the river. We walk ahead to reach the shady forest on the north side of the Annapurna range, passing through the lake to reach the valley floor. Moving forward, we make a 30-minute climb to Upper Pisang village. The view from the village was serene, where one can witness the peaks of Manaslu to Tilicho. Our current altitude was 3300 meters.

Leaving the Annapurna circuit trail, we move ahead by ascending to the river on the slopes of Pisang peak. Our day begins with the gentle trek on the hillside from the pine forest and scouring across the juniper to reach the zigzag trail to the village of Ghyaru. The village is very historic in view with a collection of medieval style houses built on top of each other. Moving ahead with the journey, the trail to the trek gives us the majestic view of the Annapurna range until we reach the village of Nagawal. The village is a bit bigger than Ghyaru, but provides the same spectacular view. From Ngawal, we move forward to the village of Chulu. After passing through the village, we climb for around 45 minutes to cross the Khola River through the wooden bridge. The ascent continues steadily with occasional huts on the trail to finally witness the two marvelous waterfalls, which is at the distance of 1 hour from the bridge. Finally, we camp for the night.

It is important to allow enough time for acclimatization. This is known as allowing the body to catch up with the legs. On this day either you can rest the whole day by doing some laundry or cleaning your body or you can have a gentle walk of the surrounding areas.

The journey to the cliff of the waterfalls is a 2-hour climb that can be witnessed from the camp. We decide to walk the climb to reach the top of the ridge. As we reach the ridge, we witness Chulu Far East for the first time in our journey. The base camp for the end of the day is set up after an easy 20 minutes’ walk from the ridge. Our base camp is located at an altitude of 4835 meters. The base camp is used for the afternoon rest and for refreshments to replenish our fatigue.

This is an important day for acclimatization before heading to base camp. On this day either we will rest or have a gentle walk around the surroundings. In afternoon, our guide will take you to show the simple techniques of roped glacier travel and use fixed ropes and lines for safety.

From the base camp, is an easy trail to the glacial deposits. Walking along the ridge, we encounter glacial debris, which was the remains of the old glacier. We decide to make the camp near the glacial lake. The camp altitude is 5255 meters, so the air was definitely very thin. Then there was a walk of one and a half hour. On this day, we decide to acclimatize to the conditions of the weather and hence we decide to settle for another day at the base camp in order to adapt ourselves to the conditions of the cold climate.

Today is another day for acclimatization before heading to the top of Chulu Far East. This is the time for final preparations and checks for required equipment. Today, the guide may go up to the mountain to fixed lines and ropes on the first of the ascent.

At dawn, our sleep is disturbed by the Sherpas, who is our guide and offer us the cup of hot tea. There is nothing better than a cup of hot tea on such a chilly morning. Following the tea, we have our breakfast and dressed ourselves to gorge into the cold morning conditions. While the sun is setting on the horizon, we begin our journey by trekking through the slopes of the pass. The distance to the pass is around half an hour walk from the camp. From the pass, the path is an easy walk to the snow slopes of 100 meters and finally reaching to the steep bulge of the slope with an angle of 45 degrees. There is a second bulge, which we avoided by traversing through the rock of the ridge to work our way to the crest of the slope. Then begins the adventurous journey of climbing the narrow fin with a distance of 200 meters to reach the mountain summit. From the summit, one can see the majestic views of the Annapurnas, Manaslu, and the Ganesh Himal. On the north side, we can see the barren lands of Mustang and Tibet. After witnessing the view for some time, we head back to the route from the pass to reach the high camp. After freshening up, we again begin to descend to the base camp to receive a warm welcome from the crew.

The day begins with a trek to the downhill to return to the Chulu village. On reaching the village, we take our lunch. After the lunch, we will continue to descend to the main trail of Ngawal, which runs parallel to the Marshyangdi valley. The trail drops at Mungdi, from there the Annapurna circuit will again join up. From Mungdi, it is a 1-hour walk in the valley to reach the town of Manang to make our camp for the night and enjoy the evening with some cold beer.

On this day, we again join the Annapurna circuit trail to head northwards to the Thorung La pass. Our journey once again isolated us from the population so that we can continue along the path of the Marshyangdi Valley. The path to the valley is full of Pine forest. The average distance to the next destination of Khangsar village is about 4 hours. The village is its own site with a collection of houses made from stone, gathered in the large square.

Now, we have two options to reach the destination. The one route is the shorter one but usually is full of a steep slope and it is rather unstable at the time due to bad weather. The route is also difficult to cross on the walk. The second is the longer route, which involves the climb of 4950 meters. We decide to take a longer route as it was the safe one to traverse. Our journey resumes with a climb to the chorten proceeding for the isolated Thare Gompa (3930m). Moving ahead the Gompa, we pass along some huts, which the herders use as their shelter. There lie two trails beyond this point. The route decision is usually made by the trip leader after some consultation with the locals. Picking one route, we arrive at the Tilicho Base Camp (4150m).

One this day, we head up to the valley from an old glacial deposit. Gaining height, we were again able to witness the views of Khansar Kang, Tarke Kang and Gangapurna. We also set the sight over Manang and Pisang. The trail takes us through the crests and toppled cliffs. Once we reach the cliff, we walk to the ridge to come across many prayer flags and chorten to finally set eyes on the famous Tilicho Lake. It is a majestic view. The clear pristine water of the lake perfectly reflects the snow-covered ridges of the mountain peaks of Tilicho and Khansar Kang. Hence comes the name of the Great Barrier after seeing the site. The peak glaciers can be seen touching the shores of the lake in a vertical slanting position. Witnessing the view, we again begin to traverse the hillside to descend for the campsite beside the lake.

Our base camp is situated at the distance of 4kms from the southern end of the lake. The path of the lake is not an easy one. From the west, the path is blocked by the glaciers and the eastern side is completely covered with a vertical cliff, dashing right into the lake. The best path is through the northern end; hence we again begin to ascend to the ridge from the far side of the eastern lake. There is a total of 3 ascends and 2 descends, followed up by the climb to the ridge of the cliff at 5340 m. At last, we reach the northern end of the lake by following the small river stream.

On this day, we begin to move back by taking a new Tilicho Pass in order to cross the Muktinath Himal. We take a detour from the usual Mesokanto La pass. The new pass has been opened recently and it requires a bit of the climb to an elevation of 5260 meters. However, this pass is much easier and less steep and accounts for the less snow than Mesokanto pass. To reach the pass, we will have to follow the small stream and then direct to the northwest to climb a ridge. From the ridge, one can see the marvelous view of the lake. Climbing the summit, we can see the broader view of the mountains. After that, we move ahead towards Mustang to the broad plains of the Tibetan plateau along with the giants of Tilicho and the peaks of Nilgiri. From the summit, we resumed on an easy trail to the valley of Langpoghyung Khola. The river will guide us to the vast area of the valley to accommodate our base camp.

Most of the hard work of climbing is over. On this day, we enjoy our breakfast to finally set out for the trekking of the final day of the journey to step down to the Thini Khola. From the river, we reach the village of Thini, which is comprised of narrow alleyways and decorated gompa surrounded by the network of barley fields. We are now in the open Kali Gandaki Valley, which is known to be the deepest valley in the world at the decline of 8000 meters from the peaks of Dhaulagiri and Annapurna. From the Thini, we took a walk of 45 minutes to join the Annapurna Trail for the last time. The trail will lead us to the airport town of Jomsom. Our journey to the town will be full of a cultural visitation of the other trekkers, who happen to follow the path to settle in the tea houses, shops and bars. This will definitely be our stop for the night to enjoy some of the facilities. At night, we checked in at the hotel for some hot water bath and nice comforting sleep. We bid farewell to our crew and enjoy the day partying with them.

Since Jomsom lies at the mountainous region so there is always an early flight to Pokhara as in the morning the days are clear and also the flight duration is about 20 minutes. Similarly, Pokhara is also known as “city of Lake” and is one of the most popular places for the foreigners after Kathmandu. There are lots of interesting things to see in Pokhara. So when you are in Pokhara don’t miss to visit the popular landmarks of Pokhara.

Today either you can fly to Kathmandu which will be 30 minutes worthy flight where you can see the changing natural vegetation with Himalayan Range or you can drive from Pokhara. The drive will be scenic and you will get the opportunity to experience the highway of Nepal.

You can depart from Kathmandu to your home country or extend the trip and head for another trip within or outside Nepal.