The Rolwaling Himal area very beautiful and the views from Beding are especially spectacular.This is a remote area that is seldom visited by other trekk ers. There is a large variety of ethnic groups to see including Brahmin, Chhetri, Sherpa and Tamang. Beding is the last village in the Rolwaling with the higher regions pastures only and restricted to tourists.There is also a interesting nunnery at Bigu Gompa that will be visited. This is an off the beaten path trek that offers great scenery, is not too difficult and has ethnic diversity.
This trek travels through a remote and scenic part of central Nepal finishing in the Sherpa center, Namche Bazaar. It is unique in that it travels from the extremely lush lowlands at 3000ft. up and over glaciers and the high pass Tesi Labtsa at over 18,000ft.
Along the way we will see a part of Nepal and Sherpa culture that very few tourists will see in this day and age. The Rolwalling is an ideal place to see the spring blooms and green pastures of the herding villages and our route follows a powerful river which affords many astonishing vistas.
Our gradual ascent will afford us ample time to acclimatize and remain fit. The final few few days promise to be strenuous while crossing the glaciers and the Tesi Labtsa pass, yet incredibly rewarding.
From Kathmandu we will board on our charter bus after for a half - day ride on the road between Kathmandu and Lhasa in Tibet. Built many years ago with Chinese aid, this road follows the Sun Kosi river until we come to the village of Barabise (2700 feet) . Here our porters and Sherpas, who have shared our ride from Kathmandu , will help us unload the bus. Off will come duffel bags, food, kitchen equipment and tents, and our trek will begin.
This trek has been fully scouted by our guide and very few other trekkers were seen on these treks, so you can count on this being a trek to an area not yet spoiled by hoards of trekker as are the Everest and Annapurna areas.
The trek starts with a 2500 foot climb through Hindu villages until we are high on the slope of a ridge over looking one of the many river valleys in Nepal that are equal in depth to the of the Grand Canyon. Our second day’s trek will see us reach our first Buddhist villages and Gombas/ Monastery. On this day we will also see the forests change from oak to rhododendrons are Nepal’s Nationals Flower and are not bushes but trees up to 60 feet high and are covered in red, pink and occasionally white flowers in spring days. These rhododendron forests are to be found at elevations between 6500 and 1,2000 feet.
For many of you the first three days of the trek will be the hardest of the trek as we steadily climb to Tinsang La Pass (10,900 feet) which we get our first view of the Himalayas which, although still somewhat distant, are breathtaking. The tower of Chobo Bemare in Tibet is visible along with the peaks of the Rolwaling. We will descend from the pass through alpine meadows ringed with the rhododendrons in a riot of red and white blossoms until we come to Bigu Gomba at 8,200 feet elevation.
Set among juniper trees, Bigu is one of the most fascinating Buddhist nunneries in Nepal. Built in 1933 it houses about 35 nuns, most of them Sherpas. The walls inside the gomba are lined with interlacing statues of Avalokiteswara, each with eleven heads and 1000 arms, hands and eyes.
Our next two days will see us pass many small villages and hike up and then down seldom used trials through rhododendron and magnolia forests. We are sure to see groups f monkeys in the forest as we make our way over several ridges between 7000 and 9000 feet and finally come to the valley of the mighty Bhote Kosi river. We must drop all the way down to the village of Congar (4100 feet) on the Bhote Kosi, and our camp on one of its tributaries will give us our first of many opportunities for swimming on this trek. Heading up the Bhote Kosi the valley becomes V-shaped and very rugged as you pass a beautiful waterfall on the opposite bank. You are now on one of the historic trade routes to Tibet.
To reach the Rolwaling Valley we leave the Tibet trade route and cross the Bhote Kosi on an exciting suspension bridge before we begin a zigzag climb up to the village of Simagaon (6400 feet) populated by Sherpas and Tamangs . Simagaon, besides having many Buddhist chortens and mani stones, also has a small gomba. We climb to the ridge summit above the village and get our first close-up view of Gauri Shankar (23,442 feet), the Rolwaling’s most famous peak, as it looms above the valley of the Rolwaling Khola.
Gauri Shankar has deep religious significance for both Hindus and Buddhist . Jumbled rock escarpments sweep upwards into knife-edged and corniced ice ridges which finally merge at Gauri , the south summit. So prominent is Gauri Shankar from the Ganges Plain that legends long claimed it to be the highest mountain in the world. The Rolwaling Sherpas call it Jomo Tseringma and throughout Buddhist Lamaism, to as far away as Sikkim, Tseringma is considered the most holy mountain of the Sherpas.
After several days of trekking through rhododendron forest on the slopes high above the lower Rolwaling valley, we drop down to cross the Rolwaling Khola. Views of Gauri Shankar are plentiful as are spring wildflowers especially primroses. We come to the first human habitation since leaving Simagaon as we make our way up the valley to the only permanent village, Beding ( 11,900 feet) . Beding is a small villages of perhaps 200 Sherpa families living in stone houses. There is a monastery here and a small hermitage set in a cliff above the village. Here Guru Padma Sambhava is said to have meditated 2000 years ago. Beding is located in a narrow gorge and boasts a school built by Sir Edmond Hillary. Yaks are plentiful.
From Beding we will hike up the upper Rolwaling valley which is a stark moraine amid a confusing tangle of ice peaks, glaciers and little used passes. Along the ridge to the North is the Tibetan border. Views of Menlungtse (23,500 feet) appear as well as that of the beautiful fluted ice peak of Chobutse (21,900 feet) , one of the more prominent peaks in the upper Rolwaling. The valley becomes U shaped as we pass the potato fields and houses of the summer village of Na. All moving days past Beding will be short to allow for acclimatisation, and we will make camp by lunch. We finally reach our final objective, Tsho Rolpo, a large glacial lake at almost 15,000 feet dammed by the great Ripimo Shar glacier. Our highest camp at the base of the great ice-wall of Chobutse. Mountain vistas of the mountains surrounding the Ripimo Glacier and of Chobutse from this camp are unsurpassed.
On our return we retrace our route for three days until we reach the Bhote Kosi river again at the village of Congar (4100 feet). Continuing down the warm Bhote Kosi valley we reach the Hindu village of Suri Dhoban (3400 feet). A half-day rest here will allow us to escape the heat to be found at this lower elevation by taking a swim in the pleasant clean waters of the Khare Khola. From Suri Dhoban we trek for three days to the end of the trek at Jiri. First, we must climb our of the heat of the Bhote Kosi valley passing many small villages and finally crossing a ridge at about 9200 feet. Descending through meadows and villages we reach Jiri (6100 feet), the terminus of the new road from Lamasango built with Swiss aid. Our last camp at Jiri will include a party with the porters featuring lots of local singing and dancing and consumption of rakshi the local firewater. |
