Kanchenjunga, Dharan, Koshi Nepal

Kanchenjunga North trek climbs slowly along the valleys of rushing rivers to the snow packed north face. Your destination at the end of three strenuous weeks of walking is Pang Pema 5140m, set high amongst glassier below the north face of Kanchenjunga. With the route to Kanchenjunga South, you can walk for days without seeing other trekkers.

The view above Ghunsa is breathtaking, even by Himalayan standards, but facilities for trekkers are limited. Most overnights stops are at remote Kharkas (pastures), though there are many informal tea houses which can provide plate meals and hot pots of tea and tongba. Bring warm cloths - the upper stages of the trek pass through a desolate valley, scoured by icy mountain winds.

There are two ways to begin the trek to Pang Pema. You can set off from Basantapur, on the road east from Hile, or you can fly into Suketar (Taplejung), descending for two days to meet the main trail at Chirwa. 

Nepal opened the Kanchenjunga area to trekkers in 1988, though people have trekked in the area in connection with mountaineering expeditions since the turn of the century. Kanchenjunga is a long way from Kathmandu, and the nearest roads and airports are a long way from the mountain. You can trek either to the north or south Kanchenjunga base camp, but it takes luck, determination and a lot of time to visit both sides of the peak. The northern side is particularly remote; it takes almost two weeks of walking to get to the base camp at Pang Pema.

Kanchenjunga is on the border of Nepal and the Indian state of Sikkim, so a circuit of the mountain is politically impossible. The next best alternative is to visit both the north and south sides of the mountain from the Nepal side; you need to be equipped for a high pass crossing and have a minimum of four weeks. If for any reason you cannot cross the pass, then it's a long way around.