Ruby Valley Circuit Trek

You arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu (1,400 m) and are met by our representative for the transfer to your hotel.

Your guide runs the pre-trek briefing. The Ruby Valley Circuit runs between the Ganesh Himal and Langtang ranges, crossing from Dhading district into Rasuwa over the Pangsang Pass (3,850 m). It takes its name from the ruby and other gemstone deposits historically mined in these hills.

It is one of the quietest routes within easy reach of Kathmandu. There is no domestic flight involved, the maximum altitude stays below 3,900 m, and the accommodation is a mixture of simple lodges and homestays in Tamang villages — which is much of the appeal, since the cultural contact here is closer than on the busier trails.

Your guide checks your equipment and confirms permits. The rest of the day is free to rest after your flight or explore Thamel. Overnight in Kathmandu.

A full travel day, in two stages, ending at the trailhead.

The morning drive leaves Kathmandu on the Prithvi Highway and descends west out of the valley before turning off at Malekhu toward Dhading Bensi (634 m), the district headquarters. This first leg is on sealed road and takes around three to four hours through terraced hill country and roadside bazaars.

At Dhading Bensi you transfer to a 4WD jeep for the second stage, and the character of the journey changes completely. The road north is rough, unsealed and slow, climbing on a narrow track through remote farming country with substantial drops below.

This is a genuinely bumpy few hours, but it takes you deep into country that sees very few outside visitors.

Dondure Khola (1,500 m) is the roadhead where the walking begins. Overnight at Dondure Khola.

The first walking day, level in net terms but undulating along the valley side.

Both ends of the day sit at the same altitude, but the trail climbs and drops repeatedly across side streams and spurs, so there is more work involved than the figures suggest. It is a gentle introduction nonetheless.

The route runs through mixed forest and terraced farmland, past scattered houses and small settlements. This is working country — millet, maize and rice on the terraces, water mills on the streams, and paths used daily by local people and livestock.

You are now entering the Tamang heartland of this circuit. The Tamang are of Tibetan origin, and the villages from here on show it: Buddhist chortens and mani walls, prayer flags, and stone houses with carved wooden windows.

Borang (1,500 m) is a traditional village where you stay in a homestay. Around 5 hours. Overnight in Borang.

Another gentle day along the hillsides, with only 100 m of net gain.

The trail contours through forest and cultivated slopes, crossing streams and passing through small settlements. As with yesterday, the profile undulates rather than climbing steadily, and the pace can be relaxed.

The walking gives a close view of hill agriculture — terraces worked entirely by hand, livestock moved between fields, grain drying on rooftops, and irrigation channels running along the contours. In autumn the harvest is in full swing and the villages are busy.

As you approach Chalish the country opens and the views widen across the valleys toward the Ganesh Himal foothills.

Chalish (1,600 m), sometimes written Chalise, is a substantial Tamang village with a gompa and traditional stone architecture. You stay in a village homestay, which in practice means eating with the family and a much more direct experience of daily life than a lodge provides.

Around 4–5 hours. Overnight in Chalish.

A rest day in the village, with the local hot springs as the main attraction.

The natural hot springs are a short walk from Chalish, in the river valley below. The water is warm and mineral-rich, and after three days of walking they are a genuine pleasure — as well as being a place where villagers themselves come, so it is a sociable spot rather than a tourist facility.

The rest of the day is free for the village itself. Chalish is Tamang, strongly Buddhist, and there are gompas, chortens and mani walls in and around the settlement. Traditional crafts including weaving are still practised, and the homestay arrangement makes it easy to see ordinary domestic life — butter tea, millet dhido, animals brought in at dusk.

The day also serves a practical purpose: it breaks the trek before the climbing starts in earnest, with the Pangsang Pass two days ahead.

Overnight in Chalish.

A climbing day of around 500 m as the trek starts gaining height in earnest.

The trail leaves Chalish and climbs steadily through terraced fields before entering forest. The gradient is more sustained than the previous days, and this is the point at which the circuit turns from valley walking into a mountain route.

As you gain height the terraces thin out and the forest — oak, pine and rhododendron — takes over, with occasional clearings offering views back down the valley and ahead toward the higher ridges.

Tipling (2,100 m) is one of the more unusual villages on the circuit. It is Tamang, but unlike its neighbours it has a mixed religious character: alongside the Buddhist gompa there are two Christian churches, the result of missionary activity in the area, and the village accommodates all of them without apparent friction.

It is a large settlement with good views of the Ganesh Himal on a clear day. Around 5 hours. Overnight in Tipling.

The big day of the circuit: a climb of 1,750 m to the Pangsang Pass (3,850 m), then a descent to Somdang.

This is a long and demanding stage and an early start is essential. The trail climbs steadily out of Tipling through forest, which thins as you gain height, and by around 3,000 m you are into juniper scrub and open grass with the treeline behind you.

The final approach to the pass is on open ground and can be windy and cold. The climb is sustained rather than technical, but 1,750 m in a day is serious work.

Pangsang Pass is a broad saddle on the divide between the Ganesh and Langtang ranges, and the panorama is the reward for the whole trek — Ganesh Himal close at hand, Langtang Lirung to the east, and on a clear day Manaslu to the west.

The descent to Somdang (3,320 m), past the old zinc and lead mine workings, takes a further couple of hours. A long 8–9 hours. Overnight in Somdang.

A descent of around 1,080 m into Rasuwa district and one of the finest villages of the region.

The trail drops from Somdang, following the valley down and re-entering forest as it loses height. The walking is steady rather than steep, and after yesterday's effort it is a welcome change of pace. The vegetation thickens through the day and the temperature rises noticeably.

This section crosses from Dhading into Rasuwa district, joining the country covered by the Tamang Heritage Trail.

Gatlang (2,238 m) is the highlight of the descent — a large and strikingly well-preserved Tamang village of stone houses with carved wooden windows, set on a terraced hillside. There is a gompa, a sacred lake (Parvati Kunda) above the village, and traditional water mills still in use.

The village is well set up for homestays, and evenings often involve traditional Tamang music and dance. Around 5–6 hours. Overnight in Gatlang.

The final walking day, descending around 770 m to the roadhead on the Bhote Koshi.

The trail leaves Gatlang and descends through forest and terraced farmland, passing through smaller Tamang settlements and crossing streams on wooden and suspension bridges. The route drops steadily toward the valley floor, and the sound of the river grows as you get lower.

There are open views back toward the ridges you crossed at Pangsang, which by this stage look impressively distant, and forward down the Bhote Koshi valley toward Langtang.

The lower slopes are warm and green, with millet and maize on the terraces and a noticeably heavier feel to the air after several days above 2,000 m.

Syabrubesi (1,467 m) sits at the confluence of the Bhote Koshi and Langtang Khola, and is the main trailhead for the whole Langtang region. It has lodges, shops and hot showers.

Around 4–5 hours. Overnight in Syabrubesi.

The drive back to the capital, around 120 km but a full day on the road.

The road climbs steeply out of the Bhote Koshi valley to Dhunche, the district headquarters and the checkpoint for Langtang National Park, then continues over the ridge system before the long descent toward the Trishuli valley.

This is a spectacular but slow road, cut into steep hillsides with the valley dropping away below and a rough surface in sections. In clear weather there are good views back toward Langtang and the Ganesh Himal from the high points — including, if you know where to look, the ridge country around Pangsang.

Lower down the road passes through Trishuli Bazar before joining the highway and climbing over the Kathmandu valley rim.

You arrive in the late afternoon and transfer to your hotel. The evening is free for a hot shower, souvenir shopping or a farewell dinner. Overnight in Kathmandu.

The last day of the Ruby Valley Circuit Trek.

Depending on your flight schedule there may be free hours in the morning. Thamel is the obvious place for last-minute shopping, and if you have longer, Boudhanath or Swayambhunath connect directly to the Buddhist culture of the Tamang villages you have just stayed in.

Our representative collects you from your hotel and transfers you to Tribhuvan International Airport approximately three hours before your international departure.

You leave having completed a circuit that crossed from Dhading into Rasuwa over the Pangsang Pass (3,850 m), between the Ganesh Himal and Langtang ranges, staying in homestays in Tamang villages — Borang, Chalish, Tipling and Gatlang — on a route that remains largely unknown despite starting only a few hours from Kathmandu.