Departure.
Arrive in Kathmandu
Arrive in Kathmandu at any time today. You will be met at the airport by a laterallife representative and transferred to the hotel.
Check-in Dwarika’s Hotel. Inspired to revive the architectural splendour of the Kathmandu Valley, Dwarika's Hotel incorporates designs and terracotta work made in the valley, using local bricks and skills.
Drive time to Dwarika’s: <15 minutes. Overnight at Dwarika’s.
Onward to The Happy House
After breakfast at the hotel, we will take a short guided walk to visit one of the very few living cultural heritage sites in the world, Pashupatinath temple. This temple dates back to 5th Century A.D and is dedicated to Pashupati, a reincarnation of Lord Shiva (the lord of destruction).
Return to hotel for tea/coffee and check out. Transfer to airport for charter Heli transfer to Phaplu.
Check in to Happy House. Lunch in the Happy House garden. After lunch, take a short walk around the village to get your lungs and body acclimatized to the altitude.
Walk to Pashupatinath: 15 minutes. Flight to Phaplu: 40 mins. Sleeping elevation: 2500 meters.
Yoga, Chiwong Monastery, Meditation & Biking
Morning yoga. Breakfast in the garden.
Today we will do our first day hike up to Chiwong Monastery (great acclimatization walk). We will pass several small settlements with farming families on our walk to Chiwong.
Traditional lunch in the monastery with monks.
After lunch, you will have the opportunity to take part in the monastery prayer session and guided meditation led by the monks. Introduction to Buddhism and short teachings on the life of Buddha and the four noble truths. Teaching will be led by our Buddhist scholar.
Option to walk or mountain bike down to Happy House. Vehicle transfer also available.
Walk to Chiwong monastery is 2.5 hours. The return walk is 2 hours. Return biking is 1 hour. Driving is 45 minutes. Overnight at the Happy House.
Pikey Peak excursion begins
We set out for our three-day excursion to Pikey Peak, travelling along ancient paths once used by the nomadic traders of Tibet and Nepal. The early Western mountaineers venturing into the high Himalayas also followed this route. Today, it's likely we'll be the only travellers, a stark contrast to the very popular and heavily travelled routes in Everest and the Annapurna regions.
Our camp will be pre-set up prior to our arrival. With a moving kitchen, we will have fully cooked meals. We will also have a physiotherapist and masseur travelling with us.
Hiking time: 6 hours. Hiking distance: 18km. Sleeping elevation: 3200 meters.
Tents are expedition-style with ample room and can be shared by two people or reserved for one.
Pikey Peak trekking
Breakfast at the camp. After breakfast, we hike to Pikey Khop, base camp for Pikey Peak. As we ascend, don't forget to look around you at the incredible alpine panoramas. We'll wind past old yak sheds, sacred stone walls- where we stop for our picnic lunch, and rhododendrons (in springtime), and may greet a few wandering locals along the way.
Hiking time: 6 hours. Hiking distance: 20 km. Sleeping elevation: 3700 meters.
Return to The Happy House
Morning wake up call will be at dawn with tea / coffee / hot chocolate brought to our tents. Porridge and fruits will be available before we set out for our summit walk. As the sky fills with colors, we soak in the spectacular panorama that reaches from Annapurna to Kanchenjunga, and includes Mount Everest Lhotse, Cho Oyu, Makalu, and Ama Dablam.
We will stay on the top for about 30 minutes enjoying the view and taking it in. Hot beverages will be served on the summit.
Return to the base camp for a hearty breakfast before beginning your return walk back to the Happy House. We will take a different path down cutting through thick forests, spiritual hermitages and farming villages.
Total Hiking time 7 hours. Hiking distance: 14 kilometres.
Sleeping elevation: 2500 meters.
Relax & Explore Phaplu village
Easy morning at the Happy House. Yoga and massage therapies are available throughout the day to treat yourself. We will visit Phaplu Hospital founded by Sir Edmund Hillary and meet with the doctors. You can interact with the doctors and nurses and learn about the health services available in the mountains.
After the hospital, visit the local school and meet with the students and teachers there. The school provides free education to the children of Phaplu. It is the only English middle school in the village. Happy House works closely with the school to provide extracurricular activities like mountain biking and music classes to the school children.
In the afternoon, you can visit the village of Chyalsa to learn about the traditional crafts of the region including hand-knotted carpets, paper making and traditional Thangka paintings.
Total walking time: 2- 3 hours. Sleeping elevation: 2500 meters.
Heli fly-by Mount Everest
Today you get an even better view of Everest's summit (weather allowing) when we take to the skies by helicopter and do a fly-by over Everest Base Camp. Weather allowing we will land at Kala Patthar (5,640m.) for some photo opportunities with Everest in the background. It is the closest most of us will be lucky to get—and it's a life thrill to see the monumental mountain up close. The helicopter will then bring us to Kongde. We will have breakfast there with close views of the Himalayas.
After breakfast we will land at Thupten Choeling monastery. Once the largest Tibetan monastery in Nepal, it is also one of the very few ones in the world where monks and nuns live together. We will have an opportunity for a short meditation session; visit the monastery school, Tibetan medicine hospital of the monastery.
After our visits, we will walk down to the village of Junbesi, the cradle of Sherpa culture. Tour of Junbesi and have lunch.
After lunch, we will return back to the Happy House. Option to walk, mountain bike or drive to Phaplu.
Farewell dinner at Happy House with the entire team.
Everest fly-by total flight time: 2 hours including breakfast.
Hiking time Thupten Choeling to Junbesi: 45 minutes.
Junbesi to Happy House: Walk 3 hrs, Bike 2 hrs, Drive 1.5 hrs.
Return to Kathmandu
Morning yoga and breakfast in the garden.
After breakfast, we will bid goodbye to the Himalayas and fly south towards Kathmandu and check-in Dwarika’s.
We will take a journey back in time visiting the ancient square of Patan. A UNESCO World Heritage site, Patan Durbar Square is a marvel of Newari architecture and arts. The Patan Museum is also situated within one of the old residential courts of the Royal Family, the museums houses some of the most important religious, historical and sacred arts of Nepal. Opportunity to do some souvenir shopping.
Special farewell dinner to be organized.
Happy House to Dwarika’s flight time: 40 minutes.
Airport to hotel transfer time: <15 mins. Sleeping elevation: 1550m.
Departure
After breakfast at the hotel, you will be transferred to the airport for your international departure depending on flight time.
Drive time to airport: <15 minutes.
Welcome home
