The Three Passes Trek
- Trekking peaks
- Trekking & Hiking
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our UK team
All trekkers need to organise their own flights to Kathmandu International Airport (KTM). From the airport we will arrange a private transfer to your hotel. That night you will meet your local Kandoo representative and have a full pre-trek briefing
The flight from Kathmandu to Lukla takes 45 minutes and is an adventure in itself with great views of the Everest region and ending with a hair-raising landing on a steep mountain runway. After meeting our crew, we will start our trek by heading up the Dudh Koshi Valley on a well- marked trail to Phakding.
From Phakding, we cross and re-cross the river on high suspension bridges. Beyond Monjo is the entrance to the Sagarmatha National Park. We then ascend steeply to Namche and along the way, if the weather permits, catch the first glimpse of Mt Everest. Namche Bazaar is the main trading village in Khumbu and has a busy Saturday market. You can enjoy an Illy coffee and amazing brownies here!
Namche is tucked away between two ridges and has lots of lodges, tea shops and souvenir shops. Today we will trek up to the Everest View Hotel at 3880m for our first view of Ama Dablam and Mount Everest. Following the ‘walk high, sleep low’ principle, this hike will really help with your acclimatisation.
The trail now splits from the popular base camp route and heads north-west to the village of Thame where you will be staying the night. Take some time here to learn a bit about the local traditions and their intrinsic connection with the mountain on which you are standing.
Today we will start to climb back up to higher altitude heading up the valley to Lungden. Make sure you have your camera at the ready as the higher you go the views across the snow-capped peaks in the region just get better and better.
Today wewill encounter the first of the Three Passes – Renjo La. The route starts off gently but will soon turn into a hard day of hiking as we near the end of the ascent to Renjo La. Try to think of the magnificent views you will get at the top to motivate you! After the pass, we will descend to the third of the beautiful turquoise Gokyo Lakes and then trek onto the village of Gokyo for the night.
Today you climb your first peak, Gokyo Ri, for fabulous views of Cho Oyu. We start the climb early and then have the rest of the day to rest to help our acclimatisation. If we still have energy, then later in the day we can hike up some of the surrounding moraine ridges and enjoy the views. As a treat for all our hard work we can then tuck into some delicious cake from the wonderful Gokyo bakery.
We leave Gokyo to cross the Ngozumpa Glacier. We descend to the second lake and drop down onto the glacier. The route across the glacier is marked by cairns and is generally quite well defined. We climb off the glacier and follow a shallow valley to Tragnag.
An early start is required today to cross the Cho La Pass and make the long descent to Dzongla. Continuing up the valley, we cross a ridge and an old lateral moraine, before beginning the rocky scramble to the pass. From the top there are excellent views, across to the Rolwaling Valley in the west and Ama Dablam to the south east. The descent from here involves crossing a small glacier which is fairly straightforward. There are more excellent views of Ama Dablam and Cholatse as we descend.
The way to Lobuche contours the grassy slopes above a lake, the Tshola Tsho, to join up with the main Everest trail from Pheriche and Tengboche. The trail flattens out and follows the valley on the west side of the Khumbu Glacier to Lobuche.
To reach Everest Base Camp, we follow the Khumbu Glacier. The trail offers superb views of the surrounding mountains, especially where the path is forced to rise to cross a tributary glacier. We stop at Gorak Shep before making our way to Base Camp itself. This takes several hours as the trail weaves its way through ice pinnacles and crevasses of the Khumbu Glacier.
An early morning start is needed to summit the trekking peak of Kala Pattar – the iconic viewpoint of Everest. After snapping some pics, we head back to Gorak Shep for a quick meal before descending further to Lobuche for the night.
We leave the classic base camp route today as we head east through the Khumbu Glacier to reach the third and final pass of the trip – Kongma La. At 5,535m the pass is the highest of the three. After a tiring ascent to the top, we descend into the Chukhung Valley and eventually to the village of Chukhung where we will stay in the lodge overnight.
Today we will climb Chukhung Ri - the hardest of the three peaks on this trek which involves some easy scrambling near the summit. The views from the top down the Khumbu Valley are superb. We descend to Dingboche.
We now descend back to the main Everest trail through Pangboche before climbing to the monastery at Tengboche. From Tengboche we make a steep descent before climbing back up to Kyangjuma where we will stay overnight in a lodge.
We continue through Namche Bazaar, descend Namche Hill and cross the Dudh Koshi. We will trek back along familiar paths to Phakding where we will stay the night.
Our final day's trekking follows the Dudh Koshi back down to Lukla. This last evening in the mountains is the ideal opportunity for a farewell party with the Sherpa guides and porters, where you can look back on a memorable trekking experience.
After an early breakfast, we will head to the airstrip for our return journey to Kathmandu.
A free day in Kathmandu to explore the city at your leisure
We will collect you from your hotel and transfer you to Kathmandu Airport for your departing flight.
Treks in the Himalaya present a substantial physical challenge, and the more fit you are before you start, the more you will enjoy your trek. However, the number one most important thing to cultivate is mental toughness. Most of the people who trek in the Himalaya aren’t professional athletes or mountain climbers. They are average people with an unusual degree of determination. You will be walking for five to seven hours each day, every day of your trek. The best way to prepare is to hike, trek or climb any mountains or hills near where you live, and get used to really putting the hours in. With the right attitude, nearly anyone can undertake a trek in the Himalaya.
You choose what you want to eat at the lodges, and settle your own bill in the morning. While you can eat heartily for very little money at any lodge, we do recommend that you budget £20 to £25 ($30 to $35) per day for meals and drinks. This will ensure that you not only have plenty of food, but that you enjoy it a lot more. Where once there was a choice of perhaps 5 different rice or lentil based meals at any one lodge, most now offer a wide menu of 40 or more choices from the basic (such as dhal bhat) to the sophisticated (yak steak with blue cheese sauce).Please note that we prefer some of the more expensive lodges, so the prices are higher than they might be at more spartan facilities.
One word of advice, place your meal order as soon as you can upon arriving at the lodge as it is strictly ‘first ordered, first served’, and the best lodges are quite busy at meal times.
Trekking in Nepal is more popular than ever. As a result, the standard of accommodation available on most of the trek routes has improved dramatically. Where there were once simple peasant huts, large hostels have been built featuring running water, indoor toilets (some en-suite) and electricity. However, while internet access, charging facilities and hot water are available, you will need to pay to use them - if you plan on using the internet and showering every day, then you should budget around $10 per day.
However, development is still ongoing, and as you get higher into the mountains the lodges become more basic. Furnishing is generally fairly spartan, and most rooms feature little more than a bench bed and a thin mattress, so your sleeping kit will probably see some early use. Showers are not always available and it tends to be just the communal areas that are heated.
The exception to that rule is Namche. Namche features some really great lodges, including the Hil-Ten (this is not a region that makes much of copyright infringement) and if you are in need of refreshment there both Illy and Lavazza coffee are available
Kandoo has a list of lodges that we prefer to work with, all of which are regularly inspected to ensure the best quality rooms available. Even at the worst, they are clean and well-kept. When the route is busy, we send a porter ahead to hire rooms for the night, as they cannot be reserved in advance.
The general standard of driving
throughout Nepal is poor and badly regulated. Roads in Kathmandu are very
congested, many drivers are not properly licensed and vehicles are poorly
maintained. During the monsoon season (June to September) many roads outside
the Kathmandu valley are prone to landslides and may become impassable.
We insist on using a high standard of
vehicle and driver for all of our transfers. In Nepal it is not a legal
requirement to have seatbelts fitted in the back of vehicles, and while we try
to use vehicles that do have rear seatbelts fitted, this cannot always be
guaranteed. If you are unhappy about any aspect of the vehicle or the standard
of driving, please speak to the driver or our local office.
The internal flights operate an
absolutely strict maximum limit of 10kg for your main equipment bag and a
maximum of 5kg for your day sack.
Your
bag will be weighed before you leave the hotel to start the trek and if it is
overweight you will have to take items out and leave them at the hotel. Your baggage will also be weighed by the
airport staff so it is important that
you
do not exceed these limits. Please note you will be given 2 litres of water on
arrival in Lukla
to fill your platypus or water bottles for your first day’s trekking, so you do
not need to carry water from Kathmandu. The porters can carry up to 15kg in the
main equipment bag, so you can add
items from your day sack once you reach Lukla.
All items must be packed in your main
equipment bag. They should not be attached to the outside, as we are not
responsible if items fall off when the bags are being carried on the trek.
The Nepali Rupee is a closed currency so
you will not be able to buy this before you arrive. It is advisable to travel
with US Dollars, as these are widely accepted. It is very important that US
bills be new (post 2006), crisp and untorn. If you want some local currency
then we can take you to an ATM or bank. Alternatively all the hotels in
Kathmandu will change money for you. We recommend that you take local currency
on the actual trek with you, as the teahouses prefer local currency to dollars.
You will also get a more favourable exchange rate in Kathmandu.
If you are relying on a credit or debit
card for emergency funds, make sure you tell your card issuer that you will be
using it abroad, or you may find that it won't work when you really need it.
We
realize that tipping may not be a common practice in all countries but for
Nepal it is a standard practice that all operators support. The decision on how
much to tip should be determined by how well the team served you while you were
on the trek. Tips are always discretionary and if you are not happy with the
service you have received you do not have to pay tips. Tips can be made in US
dollars or Nepali Rupees. It is very important that US bills be new (post
2006), crisp and untorn.
We
are members of the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal and the Nepal
Mountaineering Association, and follow their guidelines when recommending tip
levels for guides and porters. We would suggest you budget $100-$150 per
trekker for your tip contribution.
We
say goodbye to our porters in Lukla before we return to Kathmandu. Any tips
that you wish to give to the porters will need to be carried on the trek with
you.
We
do not have our own gear available for rental but there are many places
offering gear for rental in Kathmandu and we can recommend a number of places
for you. The quality of rental gear is very variable and it is your
responsibility to check carefully the condition of any item you rent. We
accept no responsibility for the quality of equipment hired. An indication of
the likely rental costs is below.
Most
of the rental shops close around 8pm, so if you are arriving on a late flight
the day before the trek starts there will not be an opportunity for you to
visit a rental store. If you are planning on renting equipment, you need to
make sure you have allowed sufficient time at the beginning of your trip.
All
rental equipment is included in your overall trekking bag weight, so make
sure you have allowed for this when packing your bag at home. A sleeping bag
will weigh around 2kg.
UPPER
BODY
LEGS
FEET
OTHER
ACCESSORIES
From | To | Price | Availability | Book | Enquire |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
17/09/2023 | 07/10/2023 | $2,085 £1,599 |
Available
|
Book now | Enquire now |
15/10/2023 | 04/11/2023 | $2,085 £1,599 |
Guaranteed
|
Book now | Enquire now |
05/11/2023 | 25/11/2023 | $2,085 £1,599 |
Available
|
Book now | Enquire now |
24/03/2024 | 13/04/2024 | $2,145 £1,649 |
Available
|
Book now | Enquire now |
07/04/2024 | 27/04/2024 | $2,145 £1,649 |
Available
|
Book now | Enquire now |
28/04/2024 | 18/05/2024 | $2,145 £1,649 |
Available
|
Book now | Enquire now |
15/09/2024 | 05/10/2024 | $2,085 £1,599 |
Available
|
Book now | Enquire now |
13/10/2024 | 02/11/2024 | $2,145 £1,649 |
Available
|
Book now | Enquire now |
03/11/2024 | 23/11/2024 | $2,145 £1,649 |
Available
|
Book now | Enquire now |
Want to ask us a question or book a private trip? Don't hesitate to contact us!
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