Kharta Valley & EBC Trek (Lhasa-Kharta-EBC-Kathmandu)

Fly past the world’s tallest mountains series towards the Goggar airport. Upon arrival you will be met by our representatives and drive to Lhasa and check-in hotel. The drive is about an hour to Lhasa from the airport. The first day in Lhasa is to rest at the hotel to get better acclimatize to Lhasa’s high altitude and to be prepare for the upcoming tour and trek. You are suggested to drink lots of fluids and rest today. Overnight at Hotel.

On the first day in Lhasa, you will be taken for the whole day. We start right after breakfast, where first begin by the Potala Palace, which is atop a hill and was first built King Songtsen Gompo and added to its magnificent by successive kings and Dalai to its refineries’. Then, we pay a visit to Norbulinka and Ramoche Monastery. Norbulinka means Treasure Park and is thought to be the largest man made garden in Tibet. Whereas the Ramche Monastery was first built in the 7th century by Hand architecture of China. We are then transferred by to our hotel.

Completing breakfast, we continue seeing other places in Lhasa. We begin by going to Sera Monastery, we means wild roses in Tibetan. It is a Monastery 5 Km to the north of Lhasa with a vast complex of a main assemble hall and three universities which has a capacity to house 4 to 5 thousand monks. Next we go to Jokhang Temple that is in the heart of Lhasa and has the most precious item, a golden Shakyamuni gifted by the Chinese Princess Wen Cheng on her wedding to King Songtsen Gompo. Eventually we go to Barkhor Market to check out what bargains of religious and culture items we might get of the culture of Tibet here. We then return to our hotel for the night.

After breakfast, drive to Shigatse from Lhasa; Shigatse is located at the altitude of 3900 meters above the sea-level and it’s the second largest city of Tibet. Shigatse is about 90 kms from Lhasa. Upon arrival at Shigatse, visit the largest operating monastery in Tibet ‘ the Tashilhunpo Monastery’ and also explore around the local market. Overnight at Hotel.

In the morning after breakfast, drive to Shegar en-route stopping at Sakya. Visit the Sakya Monastyery in Sakya; this monastery is one of the oldest and most treasured monasteries in Tibet. Then continue driving crossing the highest pass in Tibet ‘the Gyamtso La’ located at an altitude of 5220 meters. The trail passes through a barren but amazingly beautiful Tibetan landscape and comes across the camps of the nomadic herders on the way to Shegar. Overnight at Hotel.

Drive to Kharta from Shegar which is located at an altitude of 12,300 feets above sea-level. It will take about 5 hours and en-route you will have to cross through Pand la pass which provides majestic views of the high mountains in a clear day like Makalu, Lhotse, Everest, Shishapangma. Then the trail further winds along the Chu Valley up till Kharta. The camp is set at the boarding school on the banks of Kharta Tsangpo River; this river is the source of the Arun River in Nepal. Overnight Camp.

Today the trek begins with hiking up the Kharta Tsangpo Valley crossing several Tibetan villages. Follow the trail of Shao La then climb steadily up the side valley to the south. The camp is either set at the beginning of this climb on a ledge overlooking the valley and villages (at 13000 feet approx.) or continue hike up the side valley that follows a small stream which will take another 2 hours to camp on meadows by the stream (14000 feet) after 4 hours of hiking. Overnight Camp.

The trail ascends over the rocky ground and reaches the Shao La (16300 feet) which takes about 2 hours. En-route get some great views of Himalayas like Makalu, Lhotse and Everest if the weather allows. Aferwards, you will have to descend for an hour and plunge steeply to the valley below. During this descend, the scenarios changes from barren rock hills to green meadows which are filled with rhododendron, birch and willow trees. The hike now is about an hour through thick fur and juniper forest then we will call it a day to camp at Joksum. Overnight Camp.

After breakfast, begin the trek where at first hike steeply through juniper and rhododendron forests that reaches the high pastures above the Kama River. In a clear day, you can spot great views of Everest and Lhotse from here. To the south of Kama River on the high ridges, there’s a hinging glaciers which turns into bellowing avalanches during summer season. Continue the trek through alpine meadows and yak herder’s camps and a calm green lake for about 5 hours to reach the camp-site located at an altitude of 14500 feets. The camp is on a huge grazing land with great views of the Khangsung Valley. Overnight Camp.

The trail goes hiking up a ridge which provides clear view of the Khangsung Valley with breathtaking views of mountains like Everest, Lhotse, Lhotse Shar, Tshertse, Petangtse, Chomolonzo, Makalu and great number of other peaks. After spending some time and photographing this great mountain panorama you will have to descend steeply down to the Kama River. After crossing the Kama River, you will enter the Khangsung Valley which is widely drained by Khangsun stream. In the past this valley used to be covered with huge piles of snow but now it’s covered with thick growth of willow, rhododendron, juniper and other shrubs. The walk now is about an hour towards the meadow known as Pethang at 14200 feets where the camp is set. Overnight Camp.

Today you will hike steeply up onto a large rockslide at which point you will witness the power of the Himalayan glacier where you can spot incredible upheaval caused by Chomolomzo glacier. The trail then follows around the beautiful mountain side to reach a beautiful open space which locally is called ‘Okpa’. Then continue hiking up the meadows of lateral moraine which provide some great views of Everest, Lhotse, Tsere. The camp is set on the grassy hillock of Pethang Ringmo at 16000 feet. The trek today is about 4-5 hours. Overnight Camp.

This day is an optional hike up the Khangsung Valley alongside the glacier to the base camp (17000 feet) which is mostly used by the expeditions attempting the east face of Everest. Overnight Camp.

After breakfast begin the trek following our steps back along the Khangsung glacier, across the rockslide opposite the Chomolonzo glacier, and past Pethang to a stream crossing at the Raabka Chu. It’s about 4 hours hike which ends at the grassy meadows across the river, a very great and pleasant location to spend the afternoon. Overnight Camp.
Or
Follow the alternative path to reach this place where you will take a side trip from Pethang Ringmo to Guru Rinphoche’s cave where the trek stops for a quick lunch. It’s about 6-7 hike climbing high above the Okpa meadows crossing Lamtsho (16200 feet) and descending steeply to the lake. Overnight Camp

After a quick breakfast in the morning, proceed with hiking steadily uphill for about an hour to a shelf above the river. Hike for another hour across relatively flat land to a small meadow locally known as ‘Pangboche’ where quick stop is taken for lunch. After lunch, you will hike steeply over the alpine slopes for another couple of hours to a small yet very beautiful lake at the base of Langma La (17000 feet). From here spot some majestic views of Everest and Makalu. After hikig for about 4 hours in total you will reach the camp-site at Tsho Tshurigma. Overnight Camp.

The trail climbs steeply over rocky hills to arrive at Langma La which take about 2 hours or bit more. Past Langma La pass, you will leave behind Khangsung Valley and then descend steeply through the Rocky Mountains and glaier valleys for about 4 hours. Then you will reach a grassy meadow locally called ‘Troshay’ at 14000 feet where the camp is set. Overnight Camp.

This day the trial follows a stream from the camp-site that goes down to Kharta Tsangpo Valley alongside a well defined path. You will have to hike across a grassy hillsides and passing along Tibetan villages where you can spot potato and barley plantations. After hikig for about 2 hours, you will reach the fork of the trail from where you have climbed to Shao La at the very beginning of the trek. The camp-site is reached which is at a riverside after crossing the river below the Yulba village. Overnight Camp.

This day you will drive to Rongbuk from the camp-site in Kharta. Rongbuk will be the last stop before the northern Everest Base Camp. The Rongbuk monastery is the highest monastery in the world and also the monastery where Everest climbers come to pray before the attempt on the world’s highest mountain. Spend the night at Rongbuk and also prepare for the next day’s Everest Base Camp tour. Overnight Hotel/Guest House.

Today you will visit the base camp of Mt. Everest which is merely 4 kms away from the town of Rongbuk. You can hike up till the base camp along the Dza Rongphu glacier or rent a horse cart if you prefer. Expolre aournd the base camp and later on return back to Rongbuk to end your day and take a rest. Overnight Hotel/Guest House.

Drive back from the town of Rongbuk towards Nyalam. The scenic drive is past the Tingri plains which take about 6 hours to reach Nayalam from Rongbuk. Overnight Hotel.

After breakfast drive from Nyalam to the border town between Tibet & Nepal ‘Zhangmu’. The road winds downhill providing great views of beautiful waterfalls which takes about an hour. From Zhangmu a few kilometers of drive will reach the friendship bridge connecting Tibet and Nepal.
After completing immigration formalities at the border, drive to Kathmandu en-route passing along lush green landscape and it takes about 5 hours to reach the city of Kathmandu.