Tilicho Lake Trek With Thorong La Pass – 19 Days

We will take a private tourist vehicle drive from Kathmandu to Syange. The drive will continue for 7 to 8 hours depending upon the road condition and the traffic. The drive until Besisahar, which used to be a starting point for treks, is on a concrete paved road. Beyond this until Syange, the drive will be on dirt uneven roads.

We will provide the best vehicle matching the requirements of the road. All our drivers are very experienced and are certified license holders for mountain roads.

Now tighten up the shoes laces. We will start walking gradually following the beautiful Marsyangdi River. This walk will be slightly ascending and we will come across the beautiful waterfalls on this walk. We will rest at Tal tonight.

This will be our exciting day. We will leave Marsyangdi River behind and continue our journey to witness Annapurna II and Pisang Peak and beautiful landscape and old villages.

Don’t miss an opportunity to take beautiful pictures as we observe mountains, waterfalls and countryside life style of Nepal. We will rest at Danaque.

We will continue our walk enjoying the view of mountains, and waterfalls on the way. Today will be an easy day. After 4 to 5 hours of walking, we will reach to Chame, the headquarter of Manang. It’s a beautiful little town with more facility than our previous days.

After breakfast, we continue our trek to Upper Pisang. On the way, we will walk through the dense forest, Marsyangdi River, and come across the beautiful panoramic views of meadows and mountains.

During this walk, we will see the first view of the gigantic Paungda Dada rock face, which is curved like a bowl shape. Eventually, after 6 to 7 hour walk, we will reach Upper Pisang from where we can see a Majestic Annapurna II standing high on our south and we will rest here today.

Today, wake up early in the morning and watch the beautiful sunrise and the first ray of sun on Annapurna II. After breakfast, we will continue our trek toward Ngawal.

The trail to Ngawal is about 400 m higher than the lower trail but you will have great opportunities to witness high-altitude flora and fauna, beautiful gorges, Annapurna II and III, and Pisang Peak. We will take a rest in Ngawal.

We continue our trek walking through the big hills, jungle and wetlands. On the way, we can see beautiful landscapes, stupas and lama school. After 5 to 6 hours of walking, we will reach Manang, one of the happening places of the trek.

After acclimatizing at Manang, we continue our adventure towards the Tilicho Lake, situated on the west end of Manang following the path down to the river. After crossing the Khangsar Khola, we reach Khangsar and head towards the village region, still very traditionally Tibetan and known as the Last Village of Nepal.

We continue from Khangsar on a large path, passing a Gompa (monastery). The route ahead goes on a recently constructed path up toward a high ridge.

At one point there is an intersection. One path maintains the altitude, traversing the slopes towards a place where the valley is narrow; the other continues to ascend towards the line of the ridge. The former is the old path and is much more difficult as it goes on really steep; the latter is the new path that goes a completely different way.

We continue along the new path, reach a high crest, and descend on carved-out through slopes to the sides of the main valley. At its bottom is a brook. On the other side of it is a building known as the Tilicho Base Camp at an elevation of 4,150 m.

Our journey starts early in the morning at around 6 am as we try to avoid the wind. From the Base camp to the Tilicho lake takes another 3-4 hours. Tilicho Lake is a cold barren place in the afternoon and is the highest located lake of the world.

After we spend some time around Tilicho Lake, we will return the same way back to Tilicho Base Camp as there are no accommodation facilities at Tilicho Lake area.

Continuing on from Manang, the trail ascends to Yak Kharka. We make the climb steadily through Tenki Manang, leaving the Marsyangdi Valley. Continuing along the Jarsang Khola Valley, we reach Yak Kharka at 4,050 m. Herds of yaks and vegetations appear to thin out.

After a two-hour ascent, the trail descends to cross the river at 4,310 m. We then climb up to Thorong Phedi at 4,450 m where decent guesthouses have been built in the recent years.

Today is a long trek starting before sunrise at 4 am to reach the pass by 9-10 am. Otherwise, weather conditions (strong winds) will greatly affect the journey, particularly at the Thorong La Pass. We climb steeply on a regular route which is quite easy to follow. However, some problems may arise due to altitude and snow. It often causes terrible problems to cross the pass if it is covered by heavy snow.

After four hours of climbing to the pass marked by the chortens and prayer flags, we will be rewarded with stunning views from the top of the pass. Another four hours of walking will take us to the holy town of Muktinath.

Muktinath means the place of nirvana and is home to the Muktinath Temple as well as several monasteries. It is said that all sorrows we feel are relieved upon the visit to the Temple. It is a sacred pilgrimage site for both Hindus and Buddhists. The prime pilgrimage month is September.

The Temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and has 108 waterspouts around it. Another attraction nearby is the Jwala Mai Temple which has a gorgeous natural spring and an eternal flame fueled by natural gas.

We head along the trail down to the Eklebhatti, and then follow the Kaligandaki River to Jomsom. Jomsom is a large town with many facilities. It is also the headquarter and official town for whole Mustang district where all the district government offices are present.

A 30-minute morning flight takes us to Pokhara from Jomsom. Once we arrive at Pokhara airport, we then drive to the hotel.

We will be driving back to Kathmandu in the morning.