Arun Valley Trek – 14 Days

An early morning departure from Tribhuvan Airport for the scenic 35-minute domestic flight to Tumlingtar Airport (390m) a small airstrip perched on a broad plateau above the confluence of the Arun and Sabha rivers in the Sankhuwasabha district of eastern Nepal. The flight itself is spectacular on a clear morning the entire eastern Himalayan chain, from Kanchenjunga to Cho Oyu, visible along the northern horizon as the plane crosses the middle hills of Nepal.

Tumlingtar sits in a warm, subtropical climate that feels dramatically different from Kathmandu broader skies, rice paddies, tropical forest edges, and the wide, slow sweep of the Arun River visible below the plateau. After meeting your porter team and completing final logistics, a short drive of approximately one hour takes you to Kumal Gaon the standard trailhead for the Arun Valley trek’s first walking day.

From the trailhead, the trail descends to the eastern bank of the Arun River and crosses on a suspension bridge your first crossing of the river that will accompany you northward for the next several days. The trail then heads through forested riverbank terrain, passing through the small villages of Bheteni and Chewabesi, where rice paddies and millet fields line the path between stands of tropical vegetation.

Kartike (820m) is a small settlement on the Arun River bank where the first teahouse cluster provides overnight accommodation. The sound of the river through the night the Arun moves fast here, fed by Tibetan snowmelt far above is the first distinctive sound of the Arun Valley world. Walking time: 4–5 hours.

The second day settles into the rhythm of Arun Valley walking a trail that moves northward along the river, alternating between forested riverbank sections, terraced hillside farmland, and the small villages that have sustained life in this valley for centuries.

The trail from Kartike continues upstream along the Arun River, crossing through areas of dense tropical vegetation sal forest giving way to stands of bamboo, banana trees, and the kind of richly layered subtropical forest that is immediately and entirely different from anything found on the Khumbu or Langtang trails. Manduwa a Rai village set in terraced farmland above the river, is a natural morning rest stop, where the community’s traditional wooden houses, hand-carved window frames, and the distinctive dress and jewelry of Rai women give you a strong first introduction to the culture of this eastern valley.

The trail continues along the riverbank and climbs gently to Gothe Bazaar (1,128m) a modest but well-established small market town on the Arun River that serves the surrounding valley communities. This area is famous throughout eastern Nepal for Rudraksha beads the sacred reddish-brown seeds used in Hindu and Buddhist prayer garlands and jewelry and local collectors are sometimes seen sorting beads in front of their homes along the trail. An atmospheric and culturally layered overnight stop. Walking time: 5–6 hours.

From Gothe Bazaar the trail continues its northward passage through the deepening valley. The route crosses the Irkhuwa Khola one of the major Arun tributaries on a suspension bridge and enters the Irkhuwa River valley, a narrowing forested gorge whose walls rise steeply on both sides and whose river runs cold, clear, and fast below the trail.

The Irkhuwa valley section is one of the finest forest walks of the entire trek. Dense mixed subtropical forest oak, alder, tree fern, bamboo, and wildflowers in the undergrowth lines both sides of the trail as it climbs gently along the river. This is excellent birdwatching habitat the Arun Valley falls within one of the most biodiverse bird corridors in Asia, and the forest sections between Gothe Bazaar and Dobane are particularly rich with hornbills, sunbirds, laughing thrushes, and dozens of other species visible to a patient observer.

The trail passes through Rai and Limbu settlements Limbu villages are immediately recognizable by their distinctive architecture, the carved wooden pillars of the traditional Limbu meetinghouse (Phedangma), and the women’s elaborate silver jewelry worn for daily life rather than special occasions. The warmth of the welcome in these communities, where a foreign trekker is still a genuinely uncommon sight is entirely genuine and entirely memorable.

Dobane (1,070m) is a small settlement at the confluence of the Irkhuwa and another Arun tributary, where a handful of teahouses provide overnight accommodation and local families sometimes cook additional dishes outside the standard teahouse menu. Walking time: 5–6 hours.

The trail begins its long, gradual climb away from the Arun River system and toward the high ridge country of the Salpa Bhanjyang the ancient pass between the Arun drainage and the Solu Khumbu world to the west. Today’s stage climbs steadily and consistently, gaining nearly 650m of altitude from Dobane through the narrowing valley system.

From Dobane the route continues along the Irkhuwa Khola through increasingly dense forest — the subtropical species of the lower valley giving way progressively to oak, chestnut, and the first scattered rhododendron as altitude is gained. The trail crosses several small streams and passes through the scattered hamlet of Phedi before arriving at its overnight stop, also variously called Salpa Phedi the “foot of the Salpa pass” in Nepali, a name that signals exactly what lies ahead tomorrow and the day after.

The forest in this section is genuinely beautiful and genuinely wild the Arun Valley corridor between the two national parks carries one of the finest intact forest ecosystems in eastern Nepal, and the transition from subtropical to temperate species that unfolds through this day’s walking is one of the most visually striking ecological sequences of the entire traverse. Small waterfalls cascade from the hillsides, tree ferns grow to impressive heights in the moist ravines, and the sound of the river below grows gradually more distant as the trail climbs away from the valley floor. Walking time: 5–6 hours.

One of the most sustained climbing days of the entire traverse and one of the most beautiful. From Phedi the trail ascends nearly 800m in altitude through a corridor of increasingly magnificent forest the oak and chestnut of the mid-elevations giving way to tall birch trees, rhododendron of growing variety and size, and eventually the misty, lichen-draped atmosphere of the upper forest zone as Gurase Bhanjyang approaches.

The gradient is consistent and demanding throughout the morning a long, honest climb that tests legs and lungs but rewards every meter gained with progressively more dramatic forest and progressively wider views of the surrounding hill country. At intervals along the trail, clearings in the forest offer the first distant glimpses of snow peaks to the north the massive profile of Makalu (8,481m) appearing above the ridge, then Chamlang (7,319m) to its east, building slowly into the panorama that will dominate the skyline from Salpa Bhanjyang tomorrow.

Gurase Bhanjyang (2,500m) is a small ridge-top settlement and tea stop at the upper limit of the oak forest the last significant habitation before the high pass country above. The air here is noticeably cooler and crisper than the lower valley, and the forest has taken on the quiet, mossy character of the cloud forest zone. A good dinner and an early night the finest day of the entire trek begins tomorrow. Walking time: 6–7 hours.

The finest day of the entire Arun Valley Trek and one of the most culturally and scenically complete walking days on any trail in eastern Nepal.

From Gurase Bhanjyang the trail climbs steadily through the upper rhododendron forest the trees now gnarled and ancient, draped in silver-green moss and old man’s beard lichen, the undergrowth thick with dwarf bamboo and high-altitude wildflowers. The forest has a quiet, reverent quality that feels consistent with the sacred landscape it protects.

After approximately two hours from Gurase, the rhododendron forest opens briefly and the sacred Salpa Pokhari lake (3,414m) appears in a natural alpine bowl a pristine, mirror-still lake set in a ring of hemlock and fir trees at the heart of the Salpa ridge. Salpa Pokhari is one of the most sacred natural sites in eastern Nepal revered by local Hindu communities as the dwelling place of deities and visited annually by thousands of pilgrims from across the Sankhuwasabha and Solu Khumbu districts during the full moon of October (Kojagrath Purnima). During the festival, the remote hillsides around the lake fill with pilgrims who have walked for days to bathe in the sacred water, conduct puja ceremonies at the lakeside shrine, and mark the occasion with music and celebration that carries across the high forest for miles.

Outside the festival season which is when most trekkers visit, the lake is completely still, its surface reflecting the surrounding trees and the sky above, and the silence broken only by occasional birdcalls and the wind in the fir tops. Sit for a while here. This is a genuinely sacred and genuinely beautiful place.

The trail then climbs briefly from Salpa Pokhari to the Salpa Bhanjyang pass (3,360m) marked by a cluster of prayer flags and stone chortens, and opening onto one of the most dramatic mountain panoramas of the entire traverse. Makalu (8,481m) and Chamlang (7,319m) dominate the northern view, massive and close. To the west, the ridgelines of the Solu Khumbu and the distant glimmer of the Khumbu glaciers mark the direction of the rest of the traverse.

The descent from Salpa Bhanjyang to Sanam (2,850m) drops steeply through beautiful mixed forest, passing carved mani walls, spinning prayer wheels, and chortens that mark the transition into the Sherpa cultural zone of the Solu Khumbu. Sanam is a lovely traditional Sherpa village of traditional stone houses, terraced barley and potato fields, and the warm hospitality of a community that sits at the junction of the Arun and Khumbu trading worlds. Walking time: 6–7 hours.

From Sanam the trail descends into the Hongu Khola valley a long, dramatic descent through rhododendron and then mixed deciduous forest, losing over 900m of altitude in a single day. The trail passes through the settlement of Guidel and crosses the Hongu Khola river at the valley bottom on a suspension bridge before climbing back up to Bung (1,960m) on the opposite hillside.

This pattern — steep descent, river crossing, steep climb is the defining physical character of the Solu Khumbu trail system, and the Bung stage is one of the finest examples. The landscape through which you descend from Sanam is extraordinarily lush the forest floor thick with ferns and mosses, waterfalls visible on the far valley walls, and the river audible far below long before the bridge crossing brings you to it.

Bung (1,960m) is a significant settlement in the Solu Khumbu district a village of mixed Sherpa, Rai, and Tamang population spread across a broad hillside terrace. The village has a beautifully positioned old Buddhist gompa above the main settlement worth visiting in the afternoon, and the surrounding fields of millet, maize, and vegetables give the village a productive, grounded agricultural character that contrasts pleasantly with the high wilderness of the Salpa pass section. The view of the surrounding ridgelines from Bung at sunset the Arun valley behind you, the Khumbu country ahead is quietly spectacular. Walking time: 6–7 hours.

A long and varied climbing day that takes the traverse from the mid-altitude valley world of Bung to the high grasslands of the Gai Kharka transition that moves through multiple forest zones and several distinct cultural landscapes in a single walking day.

From Bung the trail climbs northward through the forest, passing through several small hamlets and crossing the Sanu Khola before ascending steeply to the settlement of Gai Kharka (3,010m) whose name in Nepali simply means “cow pasture,” an entirely accurate description of the wide, open, grassy plateau that defines the upper section of today’s climb.

En route the trail passes through Share village where an ancient Buddhist gompa sits beside an enormous rock carved from floor to ceiling with Buddhist mantras, one of the most striking examples of traditional stone-carved sacred art in the eastern Khumbu region. A traditional lokta bark paper factory operates near Share one of the few remaining examples of this ancient Nepali craft, where the fibrous inner bark of the Daphne shrub is hand-processed into the distinctive, naturally textured paper used for religious manuscripts, official government documents, and traditional artwork for centuries.

The Surke La Pass (2,290m) is crossed during this stage a forested saddle that marks the division between the Hongu and Surke valley systems before the final climb to the open plateau of Gai Kharka. The grasslands here support year-round grazing by cattle and yaks, and in the autumn the herders’ stone shelters are occupied and the plateau is alive with animals. The mountain views from the Gai Kharka plateau of Karylung Peak, Kongde Ri, and on the clearest days the distant profile of Ama Dablam are the first genuinely Khumbu-scale panoramas of the entire traverse. Walking time: 6–7 hours.

The final high-pass crossing of the traverse and the day the Khumbu world comes fully into view. From Gai Kharka the trail climbs to the Panggom La Pass (3,174m) a broad, well-marked saddle in the ridgeline that has served for centuries as the divide between the Solu Khumbu and the lower Khumbu trail system.

The ascent to Panggom La from Gai Kharka is through open alpine scrubland juniper and dwarf rhododendron, scattered rock outcroppings, and the widening panorama of the eastern Himalayan chain building to the north. At the pass itself, prayer flags mark the crossing and the view opens decisively Kongde Ri (6,187m) directly ahead, the Dudh Koshi River valley visible below, and the trail system that leads to Namche Bazaar and the Khumbu Everest region descending before you.

This is the moment the traverse makes its final statement you have walked from the subtropical Arun River valley, crossed the Salpa ridge with its sacred lake, traversed the mid-altitude cultural landscape of the Solu Khumbu, and arrived at the high ridgeline that looks directly into the most famous trekking landscape in the world. The journey from east Nepal to the Khumbu, accomplished on foot through terrain that Everest region trekkers arriving by plane from Lukla never see, carries a particular and satisfying completeness.

The descent from Panggom La to Paiya (2,730m) is steep and forested the trail dropping through rhododendron and then denser mixed forest to the small settlement of Paiya, where a handful of teahouses and guesthouses serve the small number of trekkers who approach Lukla from this eastern direction. Walking time: 6–7 hours.

The final walking day of the Arun Valley traverse a climb through the forested hillside above Paiya and then a steady ascending traverse through the cultural landscape immediately east of Lukla, arriving at the famous mountain airstrip from its least-traveled approach direction.

The trail from Paiya climbs through mixed forest and then crosses open hillside terrain with excellent views of the Khumbu peaks before reaching Cheplung, one of the first Sherpa villages of the lower Khumbu and then continuing on the well-worn trail to Lukla (2,840m).

Arriving at Lukla home of the famous Tenzing-Hillary Airport and the most iconic mountain airstrip in the world from the eastern valley direction rather than via helicopter or the standard Phakding trail carries a very specific and deeply satisfying feeling. You have walked here from the Arun River. You have crossed the Salpa Bhanjyang. You have come through the forest and the passes and the villages of eastern Nepal on a route that the vast majority of the tens of thousands of people who pass through Lukla annually have never walked and may never know exists.

Spend the evening in Lukla celebrating with your guide and porter team over a warm dinner. The familiar bakeries, trekking gear shops, and teahouse restaurants of Lukla feel like a well-earned arrival. Walking time: 4–5 hours.

An early morning flight from Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla back to Kathmandu — the same famous mountain airstrip whose short, sloping runway and dramatic approach between the valley walls has made it the most photographed and most discussed small airport in the world. Mountain flights at Lukla are subject to weather and flexibility around departure times is always required.

Back in Kathmandu, transfer to your hotel and spend the day as you choose. The city feels extraordinary after 10 days in the Arun Valley and Solu Khumbu louder, warmer, more colorful, and more alive than it did when you left. A long lunch, a proper coffee, a visit to Boudhanath or the Durbar squares, or simply sitting somewhere quiet with the walk behind you and the mountains already settling into the particular kind of memory that the finest journeys always become. Flight time: 30–35 minutes.

A practical buffer day built into the itinerary for the very common occurrence of Lukla flight delays due to mountain weather. If your flight returned on schedule, you have a full free day in one of Asia’s most culturally rich cities.

Kathmandu is a UNESCO World Heritage city in its own right and the full day allows a proper exploration of its finest sites. Pashupatinath Temple on the Bagmati River is the holiest Hindu site in Nepal — a complex of golden-roofed temples, active cremation ghats, wandering sadhus, and layered devotional atmosphere that rewards hours of unhurried wandering. Patan Durbar Square across the river in Lalitpur showcases the most refined examples of Newari temple architecture and woodcarving in the valley. Bhaktapur a 45-minute drive east is a medieval city of astonishing architectural and cultural preservation where the potters’ quarter, the 55-window palace, and the Nyatapola pagoda make it perhaps the finest single day of cultural sightseeing available anywhere in Nepal.

Or use the day more simply shop in Thamel, eat at the restaurants you have been looking forward to for two weeks, book a traditional Nepali cooking class, or simply rest in the particular and pleasurable exhaustion of a journey well completed. Overnight in Kathmandu.

Your 14-day Arun Valley Trek comes to a close. Our team transfers you to Tribhuvan International Airport for your onward journey. You leave Nepal having walked one of the most underrated and most authentic routes in the country through the world’s deepest river gorge, past the sacred lake of Salpa Pokhari, across the ancient trading pass of Salpa Bhanjyang, and through the living cultural heritage of the Rai, Limbu, and Sherpa peoples of eastern Nepal finishing at Lukla with the Khumbu Himalayan range as your final view and the full breadth of Nepal’s eastern hill country behind you.