Ganesh Himal Trek

Your arrival in Kathmandu is the first day of the trip. We will welcome you at the arrival gate of Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu and transfer you to the trip hotel. You will have free time mostly on your own today. We will surely offer you necessary guidance on wandering around on your arrival time. We will also brief you about the entire adventure trip and answer your questions if you have any. Feel at comfort; relax and try to acclimate in the Nepalese atmosphere. Things may look and feel completely strange to you but that’s the beauty of a new place so find yourself at easy and slowly soak into the local ambience.

Kathmandu has a history of more than 2,000 years. We will take you for a tour of the historical, cultural and spiritual places in Kathmandu that are enlisted in the cultural heritage list. A guided visit to Swoyambhunath, Patan Durbar Square, Pashupatinath and Boudhanath will give you an understanding of the history, culture, spiritual practice and lifestyle of Kathmandu valley. It will be a good starter of the trip. An insightful day of exploring the cultural and historical wonders of Kathmandu will come to end after returning back to the hotel around late afternoon.

We set off for the drive to Satdobato in Nuwakot district that is the starting point of our Ganesh Himal trek. The drive starts after breakfast at the hotel in Kathmandu and heads west on the highway that takes us outside Kathmandu valley. The drive brings us the chance to enjoy the rural atmosphere along the highway that takes us to the destination today. We drive past Trishuli bazar, the district headquarters of Nuwakot district, and head towards Satdobato. The road gets bumpier as we are on a dirt road from Trishuli bazar onwards. We reach Satdobato after a good long drive and stay overnight there.

We are going to start the trekking journey in the Ganesh Himal region from today. As the first day of trekking, we prepare ourselves with an exciting energy and head towards Bhalche, the destination for the day. In the beginning, we traverse the uphill section of the trail today towards Kisping. A beautiful and peaceful walking journey takes us to Kisping where we take the lunch break before heading towards Bhalche. When we eventually reach Bhalche after about five hours of trekking along the beautiful trail, we can enjoy the charm of this rural area.

The walk from Bhalche to Gonga today is going to be of around six hours. We prepare for the day and set off on the adventure walk towards the destination. The first section of the day starts ascent and heads through magically peaceful area. We trek to Thulo Chaur and stop for the lunch. The second part of the trek that starts after the lunch brings us fascinating views of the Himalayas. We trek along and through beautiful landscaped and wooded section with rhododendron trees. We finally reach Gonga for our overnight stay.

On the third day of trek, we walk to Rupchet and will be as high as 3,650 meters from the sea level. It’s a short day walk, only of about four hours. We reach our destination early in the afternoon that will allow us to explore the place and acclimatize. Although the walk is shorter, we can experience a beautiful day in the mountain landscape and atmosphere. The exploration of Rupchet will give us time to be familiar with the mountain climate.

We are going to experience a walk over a high Himalayan pass today. We cross Shing La pass at the elevation of 4,200 meters above the sea level on our walk to Sertung Kharka today. Elevation of Shing La pass is the highest point on our trek. The pass has some breathtaking views of the Himalayas that we enjoy for a few moments before heading down towards the destination. We eventually reach Sertung Kharka for overnight stay with a wonderful experience of trekking through a high altitude pass.

We are descending on our trek now. The trek today takes us to beautiful Sertung village for overnight stay. The day walk is shorter today, of just three hours. The early arrival at Sertung village will allow us to explore and immerse into the culture of ethnic Tamang people. We take a tour around the village and get some idea about the local life style and culture. The exploration will bring us an incredible cultural experience of the region.

We set off on our walk for the day to Jharlang Phedi after breakfast. The walk of about six hours takes us through lots of cultural experiences. Ethnic Tamang cultures in the region can be experienced all throughout the day when we walk past Borang village and other beautiful places along the trail. Apart from the cultural riches, we have the stunning view of the mountains to enjoy from the trail. After a day full of cultural walking experience along with the view of mountains, we reach Jharlang Phedi for overnight stay.

Our walk today descends to Kintang Phedi. The walk takes us past a natural hot spring where we might like to stop and take refreshing bath. We enjoy the walk through different villages and beautiful areas along the trail to Kintang Phedi. Kintang Phedi, our destination today, is situated on the confluence of Netrawati and Kintang Rivers.

We trek to Jyamrung village today. We follow the trail along Netrawati River and head towards the destination. The walk today is a beautiful cultural walk that brings us closer to the rural life and culture of Nepal. The trail passes through some rice terraces to show us how hard working people living in the rural Nepal are. About six hours of stretch finally takes us to Jyamarung.

We drive back to Kathmandu today after breakfast. We take a short walk to the place where we get on to a vehicle to drive back to Kathmandu. A long day drive takes us to Kathmandu via Dhading Bensi, the district headquarters of Dhading district that we had been trekking through for several days now. Once in Kathmandu, we spend leisurely time back in the chaos of the city after so many days of serene mountain air and incredible adventure.

As the last day on this beautiful adventure trip, we will drive you to the airport for your departure flight as per your flight schedule. If this is not your departure day, the service for this trip ends here. If you have extra days to spend in Nepal and need any other assistance, please do let us know. We will certainly help you in whatever way we can.

The walking adventure to the Ganesh Himal goes through the trail that meanders up and down the mountains frequently. Although this is not an extremely difficult trip, you will certainly feel some challenges of walking in the high altitude during the trip. We would rate it as a moderately difficult trip in difficulty level as you will be walking over a high mountain pass of Shing La at the elevation of 4,200 meters above sea level.

Walking hours vary from day to day on this trip. You walk from 3-7 hours every day depending on the distance you cover. You can expect the walking hours to be around 5 hours on average.

Since it is walking adventure trip, you do not need any climbing skills, experience or equipment. However, you will need a high level of determination to traverse the mountain trail in the wilderness for several days. This is a beautiful cultural trekking trip, not a climbing adventure.

The walking route to the Ganesh Himal is a beautiful trail. You will find teahouses and homestays along the trail where you normally spend the overnights. Teahouses along the route are basic lodges with accommodation and dining facilities where the trekkers spend overnight. These teahouses are comfortable but not super luxurious. The overnight places for each day are specified in the itinerary. However, your trip guide can change the overnight places on his/her sole discretion if s/he thinks it necessary for your comfort and better experience.

Dal Bhat is the staple food in the mountains. This combo of rice, lentil soup, vegetables, curry etc. is available everywhere you go. In addition to this Nepali food, you can enjoy momos, noodle soup (Thukpa), chowmein, soup etc. along the trail. Options of vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods are also available. We highly recommend you to go for vegetarian food during the trek.

When you go for the walking adventure trip, you will pack two different bags – one big backpack that your porter will carry for you and the other, a small daypack for yourself to carry with necessary things that you need for the day. You can refer to our Things to Carry page for a complete guide on what you need to have when you are in the mountains.