Humla Simikot Railing Gompa Cultural Trek - 10 Days

Arrival at Kathmandu International airport. Be received, welcomed & assisted by our representative from Himalayan trekkers & escort you to hotel.

We board a plane to reach Nepalgunj situated in South Western Nepal, in the lowlands of Terai. This is a flat land area with the majority of Hindus and Muslim community. Nepalgunj is hot and humid most of the year. You can spend the evening strolling around the market which is crowded but interesting.

After breakfast, we board the aircraft to fly to Simikot airport. As you step out of the aircraft you witness a different world. Simikot lies in the midst of Himalaya and is headquarter of the Humla district. Simikot airport also serves as the starting point of the trek/drive to the Famous Kailash/Manasarovar. Leaving the airport behind we start the climb of around 1 ½ hour to reach the village of Limbuk (3227 m). Pungrikar is the next villages we pass by and from there to the Buraunse Gompa are another one and a half hours of walk. After spending some time in the gompa we head towards the village of Buraunse a small Tibetan Buddhist village, surrounded by fields with barley and millet. There are 5 houses offering homestay in this village and they are getting popular for the hospitality and the great food they serve.

The walk today will last about 4 hours as we leave Buraunse to reach the village of Limatang. We gradually go up and reach Langdu (3172 m). Beyond Langdu the view from the trail is very exciting as we see the snowcapped mountains of Changla Himal (6563 m) and Crystal Mountain. After walking past the Mani walls and small stupas we reach the Thorpa village in 2 hours (3180 m) through a Kangni (gate stupa). The Kangni protects the village from bad spirits entering. Thorpa makes for a good lunch break. Shortly after Thorpa you pass a small site, called Bhibuck Cave (a meditation cave), with next to it a huge prayer wheel. Inside the wheel, the mantra “Om Mani Padme Hum” is written thousands of times, so turning the wheel will make the mantra go into the universe for thousands of times as well. We walk past the village of Hutick (3242 m) and Nimatang (3325 m) is just 2 hours walk from here. A Kangni (gate stupa) welcomes you to the beautiful village of Nimatang where we will enjoy the hospitality of the homestay for today evening.

We leave the village behind and start walking through the thin forest with Pine trees and Juniper. In the next 30 minutes, we cross the Ghatte Khola and ascend towards Raling Gompa. The trail is scenic and offers the view of the entire Nyinba Valley, with to the southwest Ribuche Moutain, the Changla Range to the southeast and Pungrikar (Panchauli) Mountain to the north. We walk past the village of Tokra (3547 m) where the Saga Dawa festival is celebrated in Raling Gompa in May. The Saga Dawa festival marks the enlightenment of Lord Buddha and his teachings. During these festival lots of rituals, ceremonies, and mask dances take place. All the people from the valley gather in their most beautiful dress to attend the ceremonies. The Saga Dawa Festival is one of the most important Buddhist festivals. The most important place for the festival is Mount Kailash, but the festival is also celebrated in Raling Gompa. It is 20 minutes walk to the campsite from Raling Gompa. We walk for around 4 hours today.

We have a walk of around 4 hour’s today. After a warm breakfast, we cross the Ghatte Khola (about 2 hrs) then go along the river that flows down. After about 15 min you pass a junction, the right trail up goes back to Nimatang. To Bargaun you take the left fork, going down. After 30 minutes we pass the Nimatang Gompa (3185 m). This area consists of few houses. Inside one of these houses is a small gompa (Buddhist monastery). From the monastery, we walk for one and a half more hours and reach Bargaun where we camp for the day.

After we start our walk in the morning in an hour we reach Tehe (2624 m), the biggest village of Humla, with about 600 households. The majority of people in this settlement are Hindus and the people here are some of the poorest in Nepal. The trail going straight down to Gyackru River. Reaching the river, you follow it downstream to Karpunath). This village is located in the confluence of Gyackru River and the Mighty Karnali. For Hindus, the meeting point of two rivers is a sacred place. We set up our camp nearby the river for today.

Today we have five hours long walk to Simikot. Today is the comparatively difficult walk as we climb a couple of hours gradually up to Syamne (2347 m) and from Syamne we have a difficult steep climb to Simikot. As we are going higher we see the beautiful Nyinba Valley and view of Buraunse. After walking for about 2 hours we have the first view of the Simikot market area.

Today we have one and a half hour scenic flight from Simikot - Nepalgunj, and Nepalgunj - Kathmandu. Since we have different flight schedule so we need to stay some time at Nepalgunj airport for the connecting flight to Kathmandu. We will reach Kathmandu in the afternoon.

Free time of your own. In your free time, you can visit a good spa and massage center to realize your pain.

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

Have a safe journey and please do visit Nepal on your next vacation too.