Lukla to Tumlingtar Trek | October - November 2023

 

The mighty Arun river at Karticke Ghat from the bridge - Tumlingtar is one hour from here by jeep

 "For dreadfulness naught can excel

The prospect of Bung from Gudel;

And words die away on the tongue

When we look back at Gudel from Bung."

H W Tilman - Nepal Himalaya 1950

After completion of our Ama Dablam Base Camp trek with our South Col Expeditions group I decided with one of my guides to head down to Tumlingtar from Lukla to assess the trek route as well as the new roads which had come in from different directions. I wanted to establish whether this route still remained a viable trekking entry or exit to the Solukhumbu region. The detailed day wise itinerary of my trek is given below.

October  30 2023

 After seeing my group off on the Lukla to Kathmandu flight, we left Lukla 8 45 am  following the trail next to the airport and headed down to Surkhe. In about thirty minutes we reached  a bridge over a khola (river). The trail then remained flattish for 15 min passing some village houses and then there was a steep downhill section on steps to reach the  junction for Chaurikharkha. Soon after we stopped at a sunny lodge for tea  around 2300 m and before us we could see the long climb to Paiyan. We reached Surkhe about 10-15 am (1 hr 30 min walk from Lukla). On the way we passed signs advertising jeeps to Phaplu and Salleri and onwards to Kathmandu.

Kathmandu TIA Airport | Partial Closure 10 pm - 8 am

As per the information received from the TIA authorities Kathmandu airport will be closed for repairs from 10 pm to 8 am daily from 1 April 2019 to 30th June 2019.

The logic of closing the airport during the busy spring tourist season baffles me - this could have been done in the winter off season but who is to argue with the Nepal authorities?

The result of this closure will have several ramifications this spring:

• International flights which were landing at night will all have to be rescheduled during the day thereby adding to further airport congestion and delays. Baggage handing will also have significant delays. 
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• Domestic flights will possibly also get affected with more international flights coming in during the day, they will not get priority.
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• The early morning flights to Lukla from Kathmandu starting at 6 am will be affected as they will only be allowed to fly after 8 am and that too if they get a departure slot. At this point we are not sure if Lukla flights will operate out of TIA airport.

These two circulars below from Tara Air and Summit Air indicate that Lukla flights  will be flown from an airport called Ramechhap  150 km from Kathmandu and a four hour drive. So in order to get a Ramechhap Lukla flight at 6 am it will be necessary to leave Kathmandu around 1 am in the morning - not a very enjoyable journey on bad Nepal roads! I understand that the  accommodation in Ramechhap is extremely basic so staying a night there is not a very palatable option!

I expect the Everest passenger traffic will be down this spring and those who can afford it will charter helicopters from Kathmandu.  After the current helicopter scams, charter costs Kathmandu- Lukla have been hovering around $2800 for a helicopter - five persons.

I will post further updates as and when I receive further information.

South Col Expeditions treks every season in Nepal and Everest. For more details do visit www.southcol.com

Lukla to Phaplu: The Long Road back to Kathmandu

In May 2013, I was returning from a South Col trek to the Everest region when for two consecutive days our Tara Air flights from Lukla  were cancelled due to bad weather and strong winds over the Lamjura Pass. My clients who had connecting flights to their home countries left Lukla by chartering a helicopter and finally my sirdar Shyam Tamang and myself were left in Lukla. Helicopter fares were very expensive and more than what Shyam and I could afford. So after seeing off  the last group by "chopper" from Lukla, we decided to take the long walk to Phaplu, 50 km away. From Phaplu there is a jeepable road of sorts which takes around fifteen hours to Kathmandu! We were dead beat after walking for 17 days in the Everest region and another 50 km did not look inviting but there was not much choice.

This is the route map of our walk:

We took Prakash one of our porters on the Everest trek and the three of us descended from the Lukla airstrip into the forest above Surkhe. These are some of the photographs from this rain drenched journey.

The trail from Lukla (2800m) plunges down to Surke, a drop of about 500 metres in about an hour and a half! We were soon enveloped in the wet forest and cocooned in the damp mist amidst a cacophony of bird calls!

The trail from Surke then crosses a bridge and starts a long uphill climb to the village of Puiyan (2780m)  On the way we passed these porters making their way to Lukla. 

Before reaching the small village of Puiyan there is an old tree surrounded by these prayer flags and ceremonial scarves ( khadas).  

Our sirdar Shyam and Prakash look down into the Dudh Kosi river valley  as the trail plunges down to Bupsa (2350m) from the Khari La pass. 

The Sonam Lodge was welcome for a  tea break at the Kari La pass (2885 metres)  about an hours  walk after crossing Puiyan.  

Numerous hills and dales  had passed by  and we were wet and tired. It was early evening. Our destination for the first night out from Lukla was Kharikhola (2050m)  which was still some distance away. We found the Everest lodge at Bupsa and stopped to have tea and noodles with the owner in this attractive kitchen. 

The next day we descended from Kharikola to Jubing (1700 metres) and then started on the 1300 metre ascent to the pass of Traksindo. On the way after crossing Nuntala (2350m) we found this man weaving baskets outside his home on the edge of the trail.

The weather was packing up again and clouds rushed through the valley where this donkey is carrying rice and atta for his owner on the way to Lukla. 

After crossing the Traksindo Pass (3071m) the trail drops through the valley and enters this beautiful village of Ringmo (2700m) , known as the "apple capital" of the Everest region. The valley is studded with apple trees and beautiful forest all around the village. Ringmo was possibly the most attractive village on this route.

Leaving the village of Ringmo and before entering Phaplu,   the trail passes through several neatly terraced villages like this one!  

After more than 18 hours of walking and 50 km later we reached Phaplu in the late evening on the second day. It had been a long, wet and tiring walk and the exhaustion is evident on Prakash's face! On reaching Phaplu we found that no flights were operating out of this airport as well due to bad weather! As luck would have it we managed to get a ride on a Tata Sumo heading for Kathmandu the same evening. Fifteen hours later at around 9 am the next morning we reached Kathmandu after jolting through the night on dirt track roads! The entire journey had taken us 45 hours since leaving Lukla! The flight from Lukla to Kathmandu takes 30 minutes!