Panch Pokhari Trek is one of the wonderfully beautiful off-the-beaten-path trekking adventures in Nepal. It goes to the east of Kathmandu for the incredible views of eastern Himalayas. This region has five beautiful and sacred lakes that is the literal meaning of Panch Pokhari. This is also a sacred pilgrimage site for the Hindu faith believers.
Overview
This trek is comparatively less explored region of trekking despite the spectacular scenic wonders and view of the Himalayan range. As the trek goes into remote rural area, you will have chance to see and experience the rural life style, culture and tradition. Exploring the charm of rural villages in the region has such beautiful experience that can change your perspective of looking at life and world.
One of the emerging and beautiful off-the-beaten-path trekking adventures in Nepal, Panch Pokhari Trek makes trekking experience marvelous with unbelievably peaceful sceneries, breathtaking views of mountain ranges, and wonderful cultural traditions. As a sacred pilgrimage site, this trekking trip also spreads good spiritual vibrations in abundance.
Itinerary
Today is the day of your arrival in Kathmandu, Nepal. As soon as you come out of the Kathmandu airport, you will find our representative waiting for you in the waiting area right outside the arrival lounge. You will be warmly greeted and welcomed by the representative and led to the vehicle. Our vehicle will take you to the trip hotel, most of the time in Thamel, that is 20-30 minutes drive, depending upon traffic, from the airport.
After you check into the hotel, you can take relaxing time on your own as there are no activities scheduled for today, except our trip briefing meeting. We will let you know about the briefing timing upon your arrival.
Enjoy your breakfast at the hotel. We come to take your for a wonderful cultural heritage tour of Kathmandu valley. As part of the tour, we are going to visit four of the UNESCO Heritage monuments in Kathmandu valley. The places we visit today are incredible mixture of culture, history, spirituality, art and stories. Overnight in Hote.
Swoyambhunath
Believed to have been created on its own, this Budhhist stupa is the oldest of all the monuments in Kathmandu valley. Standing atop a small hillock, Swoyambunath, known as monkey temple amongst tourists, provides a fascinating view of the valley, surrounding hills and snow-capped mountain at the distance on a clear day.
Patan Durbar Square
One of the three medieval palace squares, Patan Durbar Square holds its medieval art and architectural grandeur. Amazing skill of the artisans is evident in each and every building that stands in the square. The square comprises of medieval palace, temples and museum.
Pashupatinath
This site is the most sacred Hindu temple area in the country. But, as the temple is strictly a Hindu only area, non-Hindu tourists go there to watch the unique Hindu cremation rituals on the bank of River Bagmati. The death rites of Hindu family there are so engrossing and heart-touching which make you feel the moment. It’s not any kind of intrusion in being there and watching somebody being cremated in an open ground. It’s a great cultural experience.
Boudhanath
This giant Buddhist stupa is considered as the biggest one in the world. This small square with giant shrine has a powerful presence of the spiritual vibrations. It’s an important pilgrimage site for the people following Tibetan Buddhism.
After breakfast early in the morning, we get ready for a drive to Chautara, the point where our trekking journey starts from. The drive will take us about three hours to reach the headquarters of Sindhupalchok district in the eastern side of Kathmandu. As we reach there early in the afternoon, we can take some leisurely stroll around Chautara bazar to explore the charm of the town.
It’s our first day of trekking today where we are trekking to Sano Okhareni that starts after breakfast. We can experience the rural life and culture of the region throughout the trek today. It’s a beautiful day of experiencing serene nature and wonderfully scenic landscape. When we reach the destination for the day, we can laze around as our camp site is gets ready for our overnight stay.
Our destination for the day is Kami Kharka. The trail section ascends towards the destination and passes through woods. It is a marvelous day of nature walking with spectacular views. It is such a serene place along the trail line that we find tranquility in abundance. Our camp site will be at Kami Kharka. We will have time to explore around Kami Kharka when we reach there.
We wake up for a lovely morning and prepare ourselves for the day’s adventure. We are trekking to Pauwabas after breakfast today. Walking through the trail that is less trodden brings some authentic experience of trekking through rural mountains. After a beautiful traversing of the trail for the day, we reach Pauwabas to stay overnight.
The very first part of our trek today takes us on a steep uphill walk that will go for about three hours. This uphill challenge early in the morning takes us to such a place to reward us with incredible mountain vistas. After reaching the top of the trail, we descend towards our campsite for the day. We will have enough time to laze around at our campsite once we reach there.
We take it easy today as the walk is shorter and easier. After relishing our breakfast, we embark on our walk for the day. A short climb up the hill is our first part of the trek and later trail descends all the way to Narsingpati where we set up our camp to stay overnight.
When we reach Panch Pokhari on our trek today, we will be at the elevation of 4,100 meters above sea level. We start on a steep uphill trek early morning after breakfast at the camp. Panch Pokhari is the final destination of this trek. This is the place from where we start our trip back down towards lower elevation to come back to Kathmandu. Panch Pokhari is also a Hindu pilgrimage site that attracts thousands of Hindu faith believers on their pilgrimage journey.
We have an early morning hiking trip to the top of Panch Pokhari for some mesmerizing Himalayan views. We enjoy panoramic views of Langtang, Rolwaling and Jugal Himal range from the top. Later, we descend back to our campsite to have breakfast and start trekking towards Tupi Danda as our destination for the day. A nice descent takes us to Tupi Danda to stay overnight.
Today is another day of easy trekking. After enjoying our breakfast, we set off on the trek towards Dhap village. Our walk goes downhill on the first section and then stretches towards the destination. We can enjoy several fascinating cultural and natural wonders along the way. We reach Dhap early in the afternoon saving us some time to wander around.
After so many days of walking through the rugged mountain trail, we are going to take an additional day today here at Dhap village. It is a wonderful opportunity to explore the cultural riches of the village and also the natural surroundings.
An incredible immersion into the Tamang cultures and traditions along with natural wonders will keep us busy for the day. We exploit the most out of this opportunity.
It is our final day of trekking journey today. We are trekking all the way to Melamchi Pul Bazar. We set off on an easy day of walk towards the destination that takes us through several cultural and natural wonders along the trail. We descend to Melamchi pul bazar on the confluence of Melamchi Khola and Indrawati River. We can laze around this small town once we reach there.
As we have already finished the trekking part of our trip, we are driving back to Kathmandu. We take a bus ride back to Kathmandu that will take about four hours. Once we are in Kathmandu, we go to hotel and spend the whole day at leisure on our own. Finding relieving massage, good food, souvenir shopping, and wandering around can keep you busy for the day.
A farewell dinner is scheduled for this evening. We will let you know the departure time for dinner once we reach Kathmandu.
The final day of the trip, we drive you to airport for your scheduled flight homebound or other destination. We will pick you up 3 hours prior to your flight schedule.
The Trip Cost Includes
- Airport Pick and Drop for both International and Domestic flight by Private vehicle.
- Welcome, Farewell dinner with cultural program.
- 3 Nights Tourist Standard Hotel Accmmodiation in Kathmandu with B/B basis.
- Half Day Guided Cultural Tours in Kathmandu with all the Entrance fees.
- 2 Nights Tourist Standard Hotel Accmmodiation in Pokhara with B/B basis.
- Transportation from Kathmandu-Pokhara-Kathmandu by Tourist Coach.
- Transportation from Pokhara-Nayapul-Pokhara by local jeep.
- Standard Lodge Accommodation (best available) with twin sharing basis during the trek.
- Full Board Meals (3 Meals a day) while on the trek.
- Trekking Permit (ACCAP) and Trekker's Information Management System (TIMS) card fees.
- Professional & highly expertise Government Licensed holder Trekking Guide.
- 2:1 Porters to carry luggages.
- All expenses of the staffs (Guides/Porters) that includes Food, Accommodation, Salary, Insurance, Equipment during your travel period.
- All the necessary trekking gear for porters like jacket /trousers, trekking shoes, gloves, shocks, sunglasses etc.
- Friends Adventure Team's Sleeping Bag, Walking Poles and Duffel Bag, to be return after trip completed.
- Comprehensive First Aid Kit.
- Arrangement of all rescue and evacuation promptly, in Worst Condition
- Group Trekking Gears.
- Trekking Map, Friends Adventure Team's special Souvenir.
The Trip Cost Excludes
- Meals in Kathmandu and Pokhara.
- Any packed food/snacks, aerated drinks, energy drinks, mineral water, alcohol, cigarettes, chocolates, nutria-bars.
- All desserts, sweet things like chocolate, cake, pie, pudding.
- Items of personal nature, Laundry Expenses.
- Clothing, Packing Items or Bags, Personal Medical Kit, Personal Trekking Gears.
- Any additional staff other than specified.
- Medical and Travel Insurance and Emergency rescue by any means of Transportation including Helicopter evacuation if required.
- Rescue, Repatriation, Medicines, Medical Tests and Hospitalization expenses.
- Airfare of international flights.
- Nepal entry visa fee (Visa issuance is easy at the arrival).
- Gratuities to guide, porters and driver (Not mandatory but expected as customizetripomary thank you for the service).
- Any other item not included in "Cost Includes" Section.
Frequently asked Questions
Langtang Panch Pokhari Trek is Moderate trekking route. So any fit person can do this trek, even if you do not have any previous experience. You should be aware of what to expect and mentally prepare for it. Then, as long as you will to, you can.
On average, you walk about 4 to 6 hours per day. One or two days can be as less as 3hrs and one or two days can be as long as 7hrs.
The highest altitude reached is 4100m. This is the elevation of Panch Pokhari. Panch Pokhari is the highest we will climb in this trek.
Yes, you can charge batteries en route. Charger should be brought. There are hot shower facilities as well. You may have to pay certain amount for both ($1-$2). Negotiate. Also, hot water facility could be free at lower elevation.
No. There are no ATMs on this trek route. You will have to draw enough cash in Kathmandu. There are a number of ATMs in these cities. Everything is paid in Nepali rupees. So money should be exchanged before the start of the trek.
Yes. Internet can be accessed in most places. Sometimes, there might be some technical problems. Internet in Nepal is not as fast as you are used to and at times you can just lose connection.
Not really. It depends on you. If you want, Langtang Panch Pokhari Trek can be done independently. You could hire a guide and a porter by yourself instead of going through an agency or not hire a guide at all. Although, not having a guide can be a little problematic during off season.
It really depends on you. Is it your first time in Nepal? How confident are you of being able to find your way around? How pressed on time are you? If you go through an agency, it will be costlier but everything will be planned. You will only have to come, trek and return.
For Langtang region, pay for guides range from $20 to $30 per day and porters take $15 to $25 per day.
